BusinessWeek recently ran a pair of articles examining cheating at business schools. First, BW asked their top 25 MBA programs for the schools’ latest statistics on cheating. Full statistics were available only from Duke, the University of Chicago and the University of Virginia. Another fifteen schools provided information on their ethics policies, though no statistics on violations of those policies, and seven schools did not provide any information. The companion article goes on to question why so few of the leading business schools track data on cheating. Furthermore, the reporter proposes that it is important for students and administrators to “have a grasp” of how often cheating occurs on campus and of the school’s response to these incidents, since this tends to serve as a reminder that the ethics or honor code is an important part of campus life.
In a very different vein, a recent BizDeansTalk post by Tuck’s Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Services, David J. Celone, discusses the tradition of alumni giving at American institutions of higher education and considers how this tradition could be created at European schools. Celone points out that American institutions have a significant financial advantage over their European counterparts because high rates of alumni giving at U.S. business schools provide the cash to develop new programs, hire additional professors, expand campus facilities, and generally enhance the scope and quality of the program. For instance, Tuck raised more than $4.5 million in small donations from alumni last year, money that will be used to support Tuck’s current building projects and other campus initiatives. As more European business schools look to become internationally recognized institutions, alumni giving is likely to become an important topic of discussion on their campuses. To see if a school has the foundation to support a strong alumni giving program, Celone offers a list of ten questions to ask the alumni community regarding their experiences in the program, the relationships they created on campus, and the value they place on the education the program offers. With positive answers to any of the ten questions, Celone believes that a college or university has opportunity to build a tradition of perpetual alumni giving.
Finally, two business plan competitions recently announced this year’s winning teams. First, a team of five second-year students at Kellogg took home first prize in the annual Kellogg Cup with their plan for Crux, a branded beverage that combats dehydration and other effects associated with alcohol consumption. The team, all members of Kellogg’s Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formulation course, won the $7,000 grand prize and are considering whether to launch the business this summer. Across the pond, a team of three London Business School students won the European Business Plan of the Year Competition with their plan for the Currency Warehouse, an innovative service catering to the growing student segment of the currency exchange market. The team took home the 5,000 Euro grand prize in a competition against teams representing eight other leading European business schools. Currency Warehouse has already attracted interest from venture capitalists, and with their graduation around the corner, the team is looking for full-time founding partners to join them in starting and running the business. These competitions show once again the numerous opportunities available at business school to create, refine, and attract interest in a new business idea.
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