Business & Entrepreneurship

A new study by a group of business school researchers, including Washington University’s Daniel Elfenbein of Olin Business School, used a computational model to interpret decision-making, learning and experiences that end in an entrepreneur’s success and failure in market entry and exit.

An Olin Business School analysis of more than 550 million items sold by individuals on eBay in 2015 and 2016 — transactions totaling $22.3 billion — signals that we’re more likely to buy goods from someone we perceive comes from a similar political persuasion.

Already in the No. 2 spot in the insurance broker company AON-COFCO, Qing “Clare” Wu had achieved what most people dream of. Still, she didn’t want to miss an opportunity to improve her business skills, so she enrolled in Washington University and Fudan University’s joint executive MBA program. While there, she inspired her classmates to take up running, and after graduation gained the top spot at AON.

After earning her degree in Washington University and Fudan University’s joint Executive MBA program, Jo Feng EMBA ’11, began taking on new challenges, such as working in the United States and racing across the Gobi Desert. Unlocking her potential led her to become general manager of the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca China.

For the third time in four years, a Washington University in St. Louis faculty member has received the highest award that the People’s Republic of China bestows on an individual in higher education. Fuqiang Zhang,of Olin Business School, has been selected to receive the Yangtze River Scholar Award.

George Liu, EMBA ’08, learned American management styles at the Washington University/Fudan University Executive MBA program. He was able to grow his silk exporter business as a result.

As Americans begin to file their last returns under a fading tax system, as President Donald Trump concludes his first State of the Union with a great emphasis on the economy, as the world watches this country undergo tectonic changes, it’s time to cut through the politicking and positioning. Washington University in St. Louis compiled researchers and experts across campus to attempt to put the new tax reform into perspective, plainly speaking.

It’s curious that we heard very little from the C-Suite in the deliberations leading up to the Dec. 22 signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. What makes this curious is that the goal of the act was to increase GDP growth above 3 percent by stimulating corporate investments to increase productivity, but no one seemed to be asking CEOs whether the tax cut would have that effect.

Overall, aspects of the tax-reform package will reduce the attractiveness of home ownership and mortgages, and it may even adversely affect home prices going forward.

In a concentrated, continuing effort to link Washington University in St. Louis academic research to everyday business practice, the 10th annual Olin Award recognizes an Olin Business School faculty member who joined two University of Pennsylvania professors in crafting a computer model to guide managers who need to forecast behaviors of newly acquired customers.