Low price doesn’t always mean low quality, but it could mean a challenge to high-end products
Low quality threatens the high end.What company wouldn’t attribute its profits to the quality product it produces? The answer might be: the company that competes on price. According to research from Washington University in St. Louis, producers of lower quality products actually have better prospects for gaining market share and improving their bottom line. The findings indicate the Chinese manufacturers could easily gain an edge over American producers. More…
International Business Outlook Conference at Washington University
WHAT: International Business Outlook Conference An annual conference organized by Washington University Olin School of Business MBA students. Event includes breakout sessions and keynote speakers from experts in doing business globally.
WHEN: Friday, April 7, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: The Charles F. Knight Center, Washington University Hilltop Campus
WHO: Keynote speakers include David N. Farr, Chairman, CEO & President of Emerson, Sir Tom McKillop, Former CEO of AstraZeneca and current Chairman (Designate) of The Royal Bank of Scotland, Jai Nagarkatti, President & CEO of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation.
For a rundown fo the day’s events go to: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/IBOC/events.cfm
Olin School of Business involves the region’s community in discussions on the global business climate
In its fourth annual International Business Outlook Conference (IBOC), the Olin School of Business will once again provide the St. Louis business community with a chance to explore the most pressing challenges to conducting international business. The MBA student-organizers chose to highlight intellectual property rights and international finance for this year’s conference. IBOC takes place Friday, April 7, from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the Knight Center on Washington University’s Hilltop Campus
Globalization forces companies to align financial and operational departments, WUSTL professor says
In the global economy, running a business is especially risky when finance and operations are ignorant of the other’s business. The risk factors go beyond the usual challenges of matching supply and demand to include unanticipated commodity price shocks, volatile exchange rates, and unexpected supply disruptions as a result of forces beyond our controls, such as physical disasters and terrorist attacks. Rather than let companies discover the perils the hard way, Professor Panos Kouvelis of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis is spearheading efforts in academia to create models of how finance and operations can work together to achieve maximum success.
Former Prime Minister John Major to Speak at international business conference
A daylong conference on April 20 exploring the international business environment will feature the Rt Hon John Major CH, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as one of its keynote speakers. MBA students in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis organized the annual International Business Outlook Conference (IBOC), which includes presentations on topics ranging from the global supply chain to business in China.
The conference starts at 7 a.m. Mr. Major’s addresses the meeting at 3 p.m. with media availability from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m. The conference takes place at the Charles F. Knight Center for Executive Education on the Washington University campus.
Has America lost its entrepreneurial edge?
HarringtonThe uncertain economy of the last few years has some wondering if American innovation and ingenuity is in decline, but not Kenneth Harrington and Robert Skandalaris. Harrington, director of the Skandalaris Entrepreneurship Program at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and Skandalaris, founder and Chairman of Noble International Ltd, are collaborating on a book on entrepreneurship and find it alive and well. But in a recent article, they caution that “people, organizations, institutions, and governments that don’t have a strategy to lead in entrepreneurial innovation will be displaced or at serious risk of becoming obsolete.” The Washington University business school launches its 2004 Olin Cup Entrepreneurship Competition this month with special events, speakers, and workshops. Washington University recently received a major grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to expand entrepreneurship education campus-wide.
Law school presents Access to Justice speaker series
The Counsel for the NAACP, the Chief Judge Emeritus and Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and experts on American Indian water rights, globalization, civil rights, women’s legal history, disability rights, death penalty, and economics are part of the spring lineup for the School of Law’s sixth annual Public Interest Law Speaker Series.
A nation’s potential for economic investment, growth hinges on five key factors, study finds
Joe Angeles/WUSTL PhotoSobelGlobalization is creating divisive tensions between developed and developing nations. Many fear globalization, blaming it for their societal ills. Yet, globalization has produced opportunity and improvements in social welfare for those nations able to take advantage of its benefits. Nations who fail to take full advantage of globalization may have only themselves to blame, according to a study in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of International Management.