Travelling Soldier

August 27, 2006

Diverse Backgrounds and Personalites can Strenghten Groups.

A recent research article from Standford Graduate School of Business’s knowledgebase discusses the impact of diversity on work-group performance.

Diversity"In a recent article disentangling what researchers have learned over the past 50 years, Margaret A. Neale finds that diversity across dimensions, such as functional expertise, education, or personality, can increase performance by enhancing creativity or group problem-solving. In contrast, more visible diversity, such as race, gender, or age, can have negative effects on a group—at least initially."
Overall, studies reveal that teams with group conflict based on diversity tend to perform better than those with more similarities. What have your experiences with diveristy in your workgroups been like? Have you find this research to be true?


 

“In fact, the worst kind of group for an organization that wants to be innovative and creative is one in which everyone is alike and gets along too well,” she says. And the key to making nearly any kind of diversity work is managing it well.

Manchester Business School has about 86% of international diversity within a class of less than 100,certainly MBS rocks in group activities… aint it??

TEST your Business Quotient- I

Recently,B-School Challenge was conducted in India where Top-B Schools grads competed against each other.Here are some questions that were asked in those events.

1. By the year 2000, the company was recognised as the world’s lowest cost producer of steel. In 2005, the company was recognised as the world’s best steel producer. Which Indian company?

2. The first one opened in 1965 in New York City at the corner of First Avenue and 63rd Street on Manhattan’s upper East side. The first menu was a chalkboard and it quickly became the meeting place for young adults grossing over $1 Million in revenues in the first year. It was further popularized by the 1978 movie by the same name, starring Donna Summers. Nowadays, this is used extensively in advertising and promotion materials around the world. What?

3. Tea was rationed during World War II, but it was not until 1953, just after rationing finished, that this company launched the tea bag to the UK. It was an immediate success. Which company?

4. Built in 1826 by James Robertson, an infamous illicit distiller of Aberdeenshire, rival distillers burnt it down in 1841. The unit was rebuilt in 1845. Its famous prefix came after a visit and tasting session by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who were camping in the nearby Balmoral castle in 1848. Name the brand.

5. ABCTCL is a Rs. 300 crore ISO 9002 certified company. What is its 16 page, all colour, monthly tabloid called?

6. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently given the go-ahead to which Indian pharmaceutical firm for a three-ingredient fixed dose anti-AIDS cocktail pill for adults?

7. Which Indian company has a license to distribute the premium fashion watch brand Tommy Hilfiger in India?

8. She was named after a department store. Although she is generally considered African American, she is biracial, with a white English-born mother and a black American father. Who?

9. "I do not sell products. I sell an entire civilization in a jar." Quote from whom?

10. The music industry is to sue it for allegedly providing links to pirated tracks. "We’ve started the process and as far as we’re concerned we’re on a track to litigation," John Kennedy, chairman of the IFPI, told Bloomberg.com. Who?

11. For the first time, the U.S. authority manufacturing it has said that it is costing more than its value to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices. "It is going to disappear soon unless something changes in the economics of commodities" is the popular perception. Gallup polling has shown that two-thirds of Americans want to keep it from disappearing. What?

12. He’s the only head of state to use the internet daily as a means of communicating with his subjects as well as people outside the country. The royal site also details royal activities – state visits, aid to the poor - and some of this East Asian country’s modern history. Name him.

13. The Indian Railways are running two passenger locomotives (Thanjavur to Nagore section) and six diesel trains with a special fuel. What is it?

14. The radio station WHRB (95.3FM Cambridge), is run exclusively by students, and is given space on the university campus in the basement of a freshman dormitory. It is also home of the notorious radio "Orgy" format, where the entire catalogue of a certain band, record, or artist is played in sequence. Which university?

15. Suvir Sujan and Avnish Bajaj, both Harvard Business School classmates, joined together to form which popular Web site?

16. What would you be going for "when you care enough to send the very best"?

17. Fund-raising under the guise of market research (using an opinion poll or contact poll) is an abuse of the MRA and ESOMAR guidelines, and is called what?

18. In June 2004 the UK’s Private Eye reported that this fast food chain was handing out meal vouchers, balloons, and toys to children in pediatric wards. Which chain?

19. The beloved founder of this company signed his companywide memos "Dad". However, his company was taken over after a long and harsh 18-month battle. The new owner is worlds apart in culture, bragging about a policy of firing the least-effective ten percent of employees every year. Which company?

20. The original assets of which company were a hundred acres of garden along the Allegheny River - 30 acres of horseradish – along with 24 horses, a dozen wagons and a vinegar factory in St. Louis?

21. "Take Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach and Mark Twain. Combine their brains and shave their heads. What’s left? ___ ___.” Fill in the blanks.

22. This brand of jewellery sponsored The Jodhpur Polo Season of the year 2004. The brand has now planned to host a grand party in Delhi in Feb in presence of the Yuvraj of Jodhpur to honour the champion teams with diamond studded trophies. The brand is named after a Greek mythological princess who was known for her passion for exquisite jewellery. Name the brand.

23. With which celebrity couple would one connect Vivid Mercantile Pvt. Ltd, Lira Tradecom Pvt. Ltd, Imperial Mercantile Pvt. Ltd and Stallion Commercials Pvt. Ltd which were in the news a while ago?

24. In 1992, Kaplan and Norton introduced this as a method intended to give managers a fast, comprehensive view of the performance of a business. What method??

25. This office building has its own zip code, 60606. It towers at a height of 442 meters and more than 25,000 people walk through the doors of this fully automated building every day. Name it.

Source:INDIANBLOGGER.thanks

August 4, 2006

MBS Gets New Director

The University of Manchester has appointed Professor Michael Luger from Kenan-FlMBSagler Business School, part of the University of North Carolina, to be the new Director of Manchester Business School from January 2007.

Professor Luger is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Competitive Economies at Kenan-Flagler Business School, recognised as one of the United States’ leading business schools in rankings such as The Financial Times, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. 

Luger

He has published and presented extensively on economic development issues including infrastructure, research and technology parks, university impact, clusters, tax incentives, workforce dynamics and competitiveness in the new economy.

Professor Luger said, "This is a unique and exciting opportunity to help Manchester Business School achieve its ambition of becoming the best Business School in the UK, and among the top 10 in the world.  I was attracted to the position by the size and scope of the School, and by the vision and energy of the University’s leadership.  I look forward to working with administrators, staff, alumni, students and friends of Manchester Business School in this next stage of development."

Professor Alan Gilbert, President of The University of Manchester, said: "I welcome the appointment of Professor Luger to Manchester Business School.  He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and is well-placed to help the School achieve its strategic vision of being a world-class centre for business and management education and research."

Before joining the Kenan-Flagler Business School, Professor Luger spent 12 years as chairman of the Department of Public Policy and was the Carl H. Pegg Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina.  He has taught at Duke University and the University of Maryland.  He has also worked at the Greater London Council and is a former Director of Planning for the Model Cities Bureau in Scranton, Philadelphia. 

Professor Luger has an AB (architecture and planning) and MPA (public affairs) from Princeton University, and an MRP (planning) and Ph.D. (economics) from the University of California at Berkeley.

Professor Michael Luger will replace Professor John Arnold, who will step down at the end of this year after 12 years leading Manchester Business School. 

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