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Enterprise Faculty Briefing: US economic system, ingenious reinvention

Business School Briefing: US economy, ingenious reinvention

Welcome to the Business School Briefing. We bring you insights from Andrew Hill and the Business Education team, plus a selection of the top stories read in business schools. Edited by Wai Kwen Chan and Andrew Jack.

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The US Economy: Views from Chicago Booth

The FT launched a series called the FT-IGM US Macroeconomists Survey, in which we asked economists at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago for their insights into the US economy, interest rates and inflation rates.

The plan is to publish six updates per year, with the next one to appear in early September.

Box plot showing economists' forecasts for US GDP growth in 2021, according to FT-IGM survey of 50+ economists.  The median of the forecast is 6.5%, but there are significant deviations in the forecasts.  18 economists believe tail risk is trending down, while 7 (who are relatively bleak in their forecasts) see more upside potential.  The rest believe that the risks are evenly distributed.

Women at the start

Find out how business schools are trying to encourage women into financial publishing. Take a look at our special report “Women at the Start”: Read career tips from graduates of the financial crisis 2008 and find out how business schools support women in finding careers in the financial sector.

Andrew Hill’s Management Challenge

As Indian entrepreneurs attempt to overcome blocking barriers, they have developed many “jugaad” innovations based on the Hindi word for jury-rigged solutions to tricky challenges. But as I write this week, there have been many examples of ingenious reinvention elsewhere as well, and we should cultivate that kind of ingenuity for future crises.

For this week Management challenge, please send me the best examples you have seen – ideally close to you – of how companies cobbled together answers to the demands of the crisis over the past year. Let me know by emailing [email protected].

After getting rid of the “burning platform” last week, I asked you about alternative metaphors for change management. Georgios Antoniou offers the picture of a suddenly diverted train: “In the next station, where you. . . would have to jump on another train to reach [your original] Aim . . . Other team members are already on their feet collecting their things. Will you (i) start with the preparations (ii) not prepare and jump off the train at the last moment and leave important things behind, or (iii) stay on the train and reach another destination? ”

in the Continue reading, Anne Helen Petersen’s shrewd analysis of the back to office torment of companies in her newsletter Culture Study. The best “corporate attitude” you’ve ever seen is to say, “This is going to be complicated, iterative, and it takes time to figure it out, but we’re determined to get it working”. It’s “straightforward recognition” that trying to get flexibility working will mean “periods of discomfort, frustration, and confusion”.

Business news from Jonathan Moules

A tech start-up that uses machine learning to provide loans to PhD students – including those at Insead and London Business School – has raised £ 1.1m in pre-seed funding to run its business expand. StepX, based in London, models the future income potential of applicants in order to calculate repayments. It was founded by MBA graduate Daniel George, who says the challenges he faced in funding his graduate degree shaped his business idea. The company is supported by BBVA Anthemis Venture Partnership and Triple Point Ventures, among others.

Prospective students increasingly value practical experience as well as formal qualifications. A survey of 3,300 LinkedIn and YouTube subscribers for the admissions consultancy MBA Crystal Ball found that a sizable number saw the primary value of a formal qualification in getting their feet in the door.

My recommendation for Continue reading is this productivity tip sheet from the Harvard Business Review: Four Ways to Get More Done in Less Time.

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Chart with company internships

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Top business school reads

How the British private schools lost sight of Oxbridge
As the number of admissions to state schools at elite universities increases, some parents who have opted for private education regret it

Investor group led by the fortress signs a £ 9.5 billion deal to buy Morrisons
The deal comes two weeks after the UK’s fourth largest grocer turned down CD & R’s unsolicited request

US and Japan wage war games amid mounting tensions between China and TaiwanT
Secret table planning and joint exercises in the South China Sea continue as concerns about Beijing’s stance grow

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