Beyond Grey Pinstripes

     

Simmons School of Management

All Participating Schools

     
Simmons School of Management 300 The Fenway
Boston, MA, 02115
United States
View A School Profile: Compare to Another School

Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

21

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

19

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

16 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

39

Females as percent of student body: 

100%
Who Are the Students? See what percentage of the 2010-2011 graduating class came to this MBA program from the private sector, the non-profit sector and government jobs
 
Private Sector (84%)
 
Non-profit (16%)
 
Government (0%)


Description of MBA Program: 

The Simmons School Management MBA program educates women for power and principled leadership.

 

Founded in 1973, ours is a thriving management school where the focus on principled leadership (encompassing ethics, social impact, inclusive organizations, and environmental sustainability) is explicit in our mission and at the center of our academic enterprise. Our mission incorporates the vision and expectation that all of our students, whether they are in the MBA program or in one of our Executive Education programs, will think and act as principled leaders in their organizations.

 

We fundamentally believe that business is the most powerful platform for addressing issues of sustainability and equity, and strive to teach our students that socially responsible and fiscally responsible management are mutually reinforcing. Simmons MBA students gain the knowledge and skills to build strong and enduring organizations that are successful by traditional measures and that vigorously align sustainability and social responsibility in their business strategies.

 

The concept and practice of principled leadership is integrated deeply within our MBA curriculum and addressed extensively across all disciplines. By our last assessment, one hundred percent of core classes and 94 percent of elective courses addressed topics related to corporate social responsibility. In addition, one in three core courses and one in four electives contained 75-100 percent social/ethical/environmental relevant content. In recent years we have significantly expanded corporate responsibility content in required courses, with special emphases on ethical management practices across all functional areas, strategic alignment of CSR in for-profit companies and social entrepreneurship.

 

Social, ethical and environmental considerations are introduced at the beginning of the MBA program and reinforced at its conclusion. Through case studies and lectures, the concepts of ethical decision-making, multiple stakeholder accountability, gender equity, and sustainability, and their link to effective organizational strategy and performance, are systematically introduced during our orientation course, Foundations of Business. At the conclusion of the MBA program, students’ first capstone course, Strategy and Leadership, explicitly examines the many ways an organization’s business strategy can enhance both economic and social value. Class sessions delve deeply into the implications of stakeholder issues in the design and implementation of strategy and case studies with strong environmental and social issues are highlighted, including food production, labor practices, positive and negative environmental practices, and ethical strategic and business practices. A focus on principled leadership and strategy complements the attention paid to stakeholder analysis, governance, and ethical decision-making in the second MBA capstone course, Leadership, Governance, and Accountability.

 

Several academic concentrations provide MBA students with opportunities to deepen their exposure to social, ethical, and environmental issues. We offer depth in sustainability practice through an MBA concentration in business strategy and corporate social responsibility. Social venture creation is integral to our MBA entrepreneurship concentration, named one of the nation's best by Princeton Review/Entrepreneur Magazine. More than fifty percent of entrepreneurship students each year choose to do their required practicum with a company where social responsibility is central to the business model. The ethical collection, protection, and use of data are addressed extensively in our concentration in business analytics. Students enrolled in the MBA concentration in health care management are immersed in the real-world political, economic, financial and ethical issues that define health care in the twenty-first century.

 

Additional examples of Simmons leadership in these areas abounds. For instance, Simmons was among the first business schools in the country to adopt in multiple courses the Aspen Institute's "Giving Voice to Values" curriculum. To ensure a stronger integration of knowledge from the world of practice, our CSR elective is co-taught by a faculty member and a leading practitioner in the field (most recently the Senior Director for Corporate Citizenship at Microsoft). Our market research elective assigns student teams to conduct pro bono marketing research projects for social venture organizations.

 

Our strategically-designed MBA study abroad courses focus around two areas of scholarship that have social and environmental impact management at their core: cross-cultural models of women’s leadership and sustainability in emerging markets. Study abroad courses on women and leadership include travel to India, Eastern Europe, and the United Arab Emirates. Sustainability in emerging markets courses incorporate travel to China and India.

 

As part of Simmons School of Management's Strategic Plan, we have prioritized principled leadership and corporate social responsibility in our research funding, hiring and teaching. At any given time, more than three-quarters of Simmons SOM faculty is engaged in research on one or more dimensions of CSR or principled leadership.

 

The work of our internationally recognized Center for Gender in Organizations ensures that our teaching and curriculum are at the cutting-edge of addressing gender and broader diversity dynamics in organizations. CGO publications shape the field of management and are widely cited and used by academics and practitioners worldwide. CGO scholars routinely consult with organizations working in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the European Union.



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

At Simmons, our commitment to practicing social responsibility and sustainability is embodied in our School of Management and Academic Building. Our new home, which opened in January 2009, was designed and built to the stringent criteria of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Materials were chosen for their sustainability as well as their appearance and functionality, and both structure and systems were designed to minimize energy and water usage. The building was awarded Gold-level LEED certification, underscoring our vigilant attention to energy and water conservation, use of recycled materials, and aggressive waste recycling.

 

Our School has led campus-wide efforts to green operations and in 2010, Simmons was included in Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges, noting our commitment to sustainability and energy conservation. As well, Simmons Net Impact is one of only 16 schools globally to earn Gold Chapter ranking.

 

Beyond our deep integration of social, ethical and environmental considerations in our academic curriculum, Simmons SOM is recognized as a leader on our campus and in broader professional arenas for the quality of our assurance of learning systems, which incorporate responsibility to, and shared governance among, our multiple stakeholders. The School further prioritizes sustainability and responsible leadership in our resource allocation to student extra-curricular activity, faculty hiring, and faculty research.

 

We believe that building diverse and inclusive organizations that create equity in opportunity begins with creating equity in leadership: social impact plays a key role in our MBA admissions and we work hard to recruit classes that reflect the diversity of our local and global communities. Twenty-five percent of MBA students identify themselves as of African, Latin, Asian or Native American descent, and 29 percent are non-US nationals.

 

Simmons School of Management was an early signatory to PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education), adopting its principles in April 2008.

Academic Department

Course Name: Advanced Finance
Instructor: J. Barry Lin

Advanced Finance explores the empirical evidence that corporate governance and ownership structure are significant factors in determining corporate choices and firm performance. Managerial agency problem, conflict of interests, and their impacts on corporate decision-making are examined. Corporate fraud and socially- and environmentally-harmful corporate actions are discussed in connection with how these corporate social responsibility issues affect stakeholders as well as society more broadly.

Course Name: Brand Managment
Instructor: Rob Scalea

For many firms, the brand associated with their products and/or services are their most valuable assets, and, hence, much management attention is given to designing, communicating, stewarding, and protecting them. This course is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of brand management and how brands and the stories that define them are crafted and communicated to consumers via integrated marketing communications programs. Students learn to make ethical, fiscally sound, and socially responsible branding and marketing communications decisions which enhance both the performance of organizations and the welfare of consumers and society.

Historically, brand stories were designed for and communicated to consumers through mass media vehicles like television advertising; however, changes in both the business environment and consumer culture have made this strategy less effective. The fragmentation of mass media, the proliferation of alternative ways to reach consumers, the increasing skepticism of consumers to marketers’ messages, and the increasing desire of consumers to co-create the meaning of the brands that shape their lives have forced marketers to reconsider the ways in which they build and communicate their brands.

This course takes a contemporary view of branding as a collaborative process of meaning-making between firms, consumers, and other cultural producers, and includes emerging theory and best practices on open source branding, branding in Web 2.0, brand communications in brand communities, and consumer generated advertising.

Class discussions cover the role that brands play in defining and interpreting our culture and our personal identities and strategies to develop brand stories that tap into powerful cultural ideologies and personal identity projects. Brands which incorporate social missions into their stories are highlighted.

Course Name: Business, Government and the Global Economy
Instructor: Sylvia Maxfield

This course explores the relationship between business, society and the global economy. Through country case studies it explores cross-national differences in norms of acceptable business practice, business-government relations, and the interaction of business and politics. The role of multinational business as social change agents is addressed within a case on Shell Oil in Nigeria and the concept of a “fair wage” in a global context is covered in a case on Nike. BGGE also explores evidence of and possible explanations for changing patterns of income inequality within countries, between countries and between workers and property owners. An important theme running through the course is the social consequences of globalization and how business can ameliorate some of the negative impacts of globalization.

Course Name: Career Strategies
Instructor: Cynthia Ingols, Mary Shapiro

Career Strategies is designed for women MBA students to explore their career interests and strategize their career futures. While the syllabus contains many standard diagnostic instruments and approaches, the classroom discussion is informed by current research and debate on women in management, gender in organizations, work/life balance, and negotiation.

Course Name: Communication Strategies
Instructor: Mary Shapiro

Approximately eighty percent of this required course is focused on identifying and managing the challenges to effective communication posed by diversity, defined here by differences in personal communication styles, world culture, ethnicity and gender. Students undertake multiple analyses to identify the components of their own communication orientation and explore and practice strategies for communicating with people with diverse approaches. One diagnostic explores the degree to which the student subscribes to the values of their birth culture. In order to increase effectiveness communicating across diversity, students learn strategies that include: recognizing their own orientation, identifying the orientation of others, and responding to those differences. Exercises allow students to strengthen their verbal and written communication strategies and understanding that while there is no one universally right way to communicate, given the multiple protocols (personal, organizational, cultural, hierarchical, gender, virtual) that may be at play, the most effective communication strategy in any particular situation is contextually contingent.

Course Name: Consumer Behavior
Instructor: Jill Avery

This course is designed to observe, analyze, and understand consumer behavior in order to better inform marketing decisions. In today’s consumer culture, what and how we consume is a central aspect of who we are, how we relate to others, and how we create meaning in contemporary life. The course includes multidisciplinary answers to this fundamental question, bringing emerging theory from the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, and neuroscience to bear on understanding how consumers choose, what their choices mean to them and enable them to be and to do, and how their choices affect the development of our culture and our society. Students will explore the role that consumption plays in our lives as individuals, in our relationships with others, and in the development, maintenance, and evolution of our culture. The ethical, social, and political ramifications of consumption are discussed throughout the course, including gender and cultural differences in consumption, globalization, anti-consumerism and the green movement, and the use of neuroscience in marketing.

Course Name: Contemporary Topics in Marketing
Instructor: Rob Scalea

The impact of digital and communications technology have created dramatic opportunities and challenges for marketers. Technological advances are having direct impact on and, in fact, shaping social, environmental, and ethical values and consequent marketing practices. This course identifies and evaluates evolving social drivers and sociological cycles that responsible marketers need to understand and address in meaningful ways to reach consumers and customers.

Specifically, the course delves into how these drivers create and affect: established and emerging forms of digital media and social networks; the concept of "personal branding"; corporate social responsibility; ethics in marketing; micro-targeting and modeling of consumer behavior; and the increased role of innovation in marketing today. Ethics in marketing is of particular importance, notably issues of privacy and security of data; the point at which marketing persuasion becomes manipulation; and the increasing use of medical and psychological studies of brain activity and thought processes to maximize marketing effectiveness.

Students will learn about these topics through the perspectives of gender, geography (globality), and socio-economic diversity. The course is designed to provide a foundational understanding of these factors and then help students apply this understanding to generate original thought and develop more effective marketing strategies for companies in the real world.

Course Name: Corporate Social Responsibility
Instructor: Sylvia Maxfield

Corporate Social Responsibility surveys the practice and rationale for CSR and corporate citizenship. The course covers common tools such as stakeholder engagement and management and introduces the framework of market failures as a way to understand and delineate different classes of "social” issues that a business may confront. A central theme of exploration is how best to align core business competencies and core stakeholders to corporate citizenship efforts so that these become strategic or mainstream within the company. Students do a citizenship audit of an existing company and also produce written or digital cases that explore actual or desirable examples of how social issues can be addressed through a shift in strategy for an existing business or a start-up venture.

Course Name: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Instructor: Teresa Nelson

This course explores creativity and innovation as the roots of entrepreneurial behavior. Where do good ideas come from? How are they transformed into opportunities and organizational action? How does innovation play out in industries, products and firms? What is your personal and professional orientation to new venture creation, whether expressed as a founder or team member -- of a new or existing firm? Students develop their own venture ideas often related to socially minded business ideas in the profit and nonprofit sector; historically 25 to 35 percent of the class is engaged in efforts to support social or environmental progress through venture creation. For these students, our focus primarily is on the "for-profit, mission driven" category. As with other entrepreneurship courses at Simmons School of Management, understanding how gender and ethnic diversity impact entrepreneurial behavior and development is a focus of the course.

Course Name: Cross Cultural Studies in Women's Leadership (UAE)
Instructor: Lynda Moore

The purpose of this travel course is to examine women’s leadership in a global context, specifically the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Classes pre-travel and discussions while in the UAE focus on the cultural construction of gender and leadership within the context of global models of leadership and diversity in organizations. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the specific cultural context of the UAE and the factors that impact the advancement of women leaders in the region. The travel experience is dominated by meetings with women leaders across sectors, including representatives of government, university and professional associations.

Students are exposed to theories of leadership, including the cultural context of leadership and the role of gender in leadership. The comparative nature of the course allows students an opportunity to understand the role of cultural attribution in leadership effectiveness, and to develop build the cultural fluency needed to effectively manage a globally diverse and inclusive workforce.

Pages

Type of Offering

Silverman Business Plan Competition
Type: Business Plan Competition
Date: October, 2010

The Annual Silverman Business Plan Competition, open exclusively to Simmons School of Management MBA alumnae and current students, is designed to support women in launching innovative and successful ventures with impact. Participants build competence and confidence as they compete for $10,000 in start up funding. Finalists of the competition receive one-on-one coaching from seasoned entrepreneurs and executives as well as access to the vast Simmons network of venture capitalists, angel investors, bankers and lawyers to move their ventures forward.

The winning business plans for the 2010 competition were Areen Shahbari of PTC Channel (a new Palestinian focused Israeli TV channel) and Katinka Stenius of Modio Ventures (risk, financial and valuation modeling for managers and investors in life sciences).

Race, Gender and the Construction of Positive Identities at Work
Date: May, 2010

How do multicultural women construct a positive sense of self in the context of their work? What tactics do they employ to cultivate positive identities at work during interactions with diverse others? During this session, scholars considered the role of race and gender in shaping employees’ sense of self as virtuous, worthy, growing, adaptive, balanced and multifaceted at work. Also examined were the costs and benefits of various approaches toward positive identity construction at work for women and men of diverse cultural backgrounds.

The Distinguished Scholar Speaker Series highlights new, cutting-edge research relevant to Center for Gender in Organizations’ work and mission. Each lecture combines discussions on theory and practice, offering opportunities to discuss the practical implications of recent findings and ways to apply them to our own situations.

The Green Dean: A Discussion With Deborah Merrill-Sands
Date: November, 2009

During the "Green Dean" event, students were given the special opportunity of speaking face-to-face with the SOM's then Dean, Deborah Merrill-Sands. Dean Merrill-Sands was highlighted by the Boston Business Journal for her role in actively redirecting the operations and missions of the SOM's to more thoroughly include sustainability issues. Students sat with the Dean for an informal "fireside chat" about the value of sustainability in a business school education.

Luck in the Meritocracy
Date: December, 2010

CGO Distinguished Scholars Series presents "Luck in the Meritocracy."

Changing the corporate landscape to open opportunities for all women quickly provokes talk about meritocracy. Are the rules biased, so we need to change them to create a meritocracy? Or do we already have a meritocracy, so opening pathways for women can only mean "lowering" standards of merit? Passionate opponents in this debate will agree on one thing: There's always some luck involved in who gets ahead. Mention luck, and most people shrug, "that's just how it is." But what does it really mean that "luck" plays a role? If promotions are a game of chance, how do we respect those in authority and accept as legitimate the large incomes at the top? "Luck" deserves more than a shrug - at least a more probing discussion, and maybe even an uprising!

From Ancillary to Integrated: CSR as the Modern Competitive Advantage
Date: July, 2010

The Simmons Net Impact Chapter, in cooperation with the School of Management and with the generous support of Eileen Fisher, hosted the fourth annual Corporate Social Responsibility Panel.

Prior to the Panel, expert panelists spoke with students about sector-specific CSR issues and opportunities during exclusive “breakout” discussions.

The expert panelists included:

Sheila Cavanaugh

Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at Fidelity

Chris Hagler

Partner at HaglerHomrich Sustainability Consulting Group

Harriet Hentges

VP of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Ahold USA

Hector Rodriguez

Director of Global EHS & Sustainability at Biogen Idec

Kathrin Winkler

Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at EMC

The Panel discussed the latest shift in CSR, from an ancillary practice to a more integrated component of a business strategy, a modern competitive advantage.

Dealing with the Tough Stuff: Practical Wisdom for Running a Values-Driven Business
Date: January, 2010

A Social Venture Network event with Lisa Lorimer, founder and former CEO of Vermont Bread Company. The talk centered on the new book Lorimer co-authored with Margot Fraser, founder and CEO of Birkenstock, USA “Dealing with the Tough Stuff: Practical Wisdom for Running a Values-Driven Business.” The book offers personal insights, advice, stories, and tools for overcoming common and not-so-common challenges in the world of mission-driven business.

Careers in Organizational Change: The CSR Perspective
Date: April, 2010

An intimate talk with Dan Bross, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Microsoft, discussing career options in organizational change, from a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perspective.

Executive in Residence Signature Event – Patricia Fili-Krushel, EVP, Administration, Time Warner
Date: September, 2009

Named one of Fortune Magazine’s ‘50 Most Powerful Women,’ Patricia Fili-Krushel has led a remarkable career in the media and entertainment industry holding such positions as VP for Business Affairs and Production at HBO, President of ABC Television Network where she led the network to the number one spot in the rankings and head of programming for ABC Daytime where she launched “The View” and SoapNet.

Ms. Fili-Krushel shared her career and leadership story through an interview with Professors Deborah Kolb from the Simmons College School of Management and Kathleen McGinn from Harvard University.

The Dual Agenda: Is it Enough?
Date: April, 2011

Center for Gender and Organizations (CGO) Distinguished Scholars Series.

The Dual Agenda refers to organizational change efforts that link equity and effectiveness. The concept is based on findings from an early 1990s research project at Xerox that found efforts to redesign work practices to achieve a more satisfying integration of work and personal life had a positive effect on work quality and effectiveness. Since then, countless "Dual Agenda" projects, and the attendant research method known as Collaborative Interactive Action Research (CIAR) have been undertaken both nationally and internationally.

This session brings together two of the original researchers from that Xerox project to reflect on the benefits and limitations of a Dual Agenda approach to organizational change. Professors Lotte Bailyn of MIT and Joyce K. Fletcher of CGO draw on several recent projects to re-examine the Dual Agenda. They suggest that a focus on Equity and Effectiveness alone may not be enough to achieve lasting change and offer a "third E" to consider.

Women DO Ask: Negotiating in Gendered Organizational Environments
Date: October, 2010

Despite years of "fourth frame" data discrediting the deficiency myth, the common story used to explain gender gaps in pay and promotion is to blame women because they ‘don't ask.' If only, the story goes, they could improve their negotiating skills, gaps would disappear. In this seminar, scholar Deborah Kolb challenged the stereotype by trying to understand why it is so pervasive when the research is not nearly so convincing. The reality is that women negotiate in gendered organizational contexts that require them to negotiate over a wide range of issues—opportunities, flexibility, credit for their work —and where asking is complicated because it raises difficult issues. Discussion of successful strategies for asking that women have used to connect what is good for them to what is good for their organizations.

Investing In Your Future: What Women Need to Know for Financial and Career Success
Date: September, 2010

Simmons School of Management and 85 Broads, a global network of 25,000 trailblazing women who are inspired, empowered and connected, partnered to host a day of professional development, skill building, networking and career advice. On September 11, 2010 leading experts came together to tackle the latest issues and trends affecting women who seek to advance their careers and secure their financial future.

Entrepreneur CEOs Working Their Social Mission
Date: March, 2010

Presented by the SOMAA (School of Management Alumni Association) Speaker Series and Leading Women Entrepreneurs Series.

How do CEOs create value in their businesses through financial success and social action? Rooted at the intersection of entrepreneurship and philanthropy, the event explored he decisions, priorities and trade-offs that business owners must make to guide their organizations towards achieving both commercial and social value.

The event featured a lively panel discussion with three highly successful Boston area female entrepreneurs – Andrea Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of HouseWorks; Christa Hagearty ’95SM, President and CEO of Dependable Cleaners; and Susan Labandibar, Founder and CEO of Tech Networks of Boston.

The Role of Socially Responsible Investing in a New Age of Regulation
Date: September, 2009

The Simmons School of Management Net Impact & NAWMBA chapters, with the support of EILEEN FISHER, Inc., held the 2nd Annual Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Panel. Panelists included:

Emily Bannister, Senior Research Analyst, Federal Street Advisors

Paul Hilton, Director of Advanced Equities Research, Calvert Investments

Sonia Kowal, Director of Socially Responsible Investment, Robert Brooke Zevin Associates

Low-Wage Workers in the Coming Economy
Date: November, 2009

Low-Wage Workers in the Coming Economy,” featuring Stacy Blake-Beard, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Simmons School of Management and Ellen Ernst Kossek, University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University’s Graduate School of Labor & Industrial Relations, and with introductory remarks from Barbara Dyer and Mark Popovich, President and CEO and Senior Program Officer respectively at the Hitachi Foundation, a major funder of efforts to improve labor market outcomes for low-wage workers. The web conference was moderated by Maureen Scully, Assistant Professor of Management at UMASS Boston’s College of Management.

The Psychology of Stakeholder Reactions to Corporate Responsibility: Implications for Managers
Date: November, 2010

Simmons School of Management partnered with Northeastern University to host a CSR Colloquium featuring Daniel Korschun an assistant professor of marketing at Drexel University. Korschun presented key research findings published in a recent book he coauthored on stakeholder reactions to CSR. He discussed how employees become more customer-oriented as a result of their companies' CSR activities.

Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right
Date: October, 2010

On Tuesday, October 5, 2010, Mary Gentile, author of a cross-disciplinary business ethics curriculum used in Simmons introductory management courses, spoke about her new book Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right, published in August 2010 by Yale University Press.

By empowering people to act upon their values despite social opposition, Giving Voice to Values moves beyond discussions of right and wrong featured in other business ethics curricula. Instead, Giving Voice to Values contains a variety of personal development tools such as recommendations, key phrases for communication, and model scenarios.

Career Services Office (CSO)

The Career Services Office (CSO) at Simmons School of Management works with the Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons Net Impact, and the Office of the Dean, building relationships with organizations committed to corporate responsibility and sustainable business practices, and promoting CSR/sustainability career and educational opportunities to students. The school funds student participation in academic and industry conferences related to principled leadership and environmental/social impact management.

The Career Services Office enjoys strong recruiting and networking relationships with companies with strong CSR commitments, such as Eileen Fisher, Genzyme, Microsoft, Partners HealthCare, Ceres, the Clinton Foundation, and ICIC. Career events highlight organizations addressing CSR strategy and offer a forum where candidates receive frontline information on socially responsible career opportunities.

In 2008 the Simmons School of Management’s Career Services Office was ranked fifth of sixty business schools in the national Net Impact Business as Unusual survey.

The Career Services Office provides MBA students (and alumnae) customized support. CSO offers an array of networking opportunities that personally connect students to prospective employers and industry leaders and provides a powerful career connection to the network of successful SOM alumnae - many of whom serve in independent sector organizations or companies recognized for their commitment to social and environmental concerns.

Center for Gender and Organizations
Business School Housing? Yes
Number of Faculty: 9
Contact Name: Patricia Deyton
Contact Email: patricia.deyton@simmons.edu

The work of the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) serves as a fundamental call to action. Our research and experience repeatedly demonstrate that gender equity and diversity greatly improve work practice and overall organizational effectiveness. Businesses benefit when they view gender equity as a strategic imperative and a source of competitive advantage. It is this vital link between gender equity and productivity at the level of work practice that forms the cornerstone of our work.

CGO research on gender equity, leadership, diversity, and globalization consistently clarifies and advances thinking and practice in these areas. Beyond our research, consulting and speaking activities, CGO convenes public events, seminars, and workshops to highlight new research and to link scholars with practitioners.

Practicing Gender Equality in Sciences: CGO is part of a nine member consortium engaged in strategy development to advance women in the sciences in institutions of higher education in Europe, Australia and the US.

The Carnegie Corporation Project to increase Gender Equity in Institutions of Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: CGO won a second round of funding from the Carnegie Corporation to create a network of the women leading gender equity efforts at five African universities.

Women MBAs Networking Group

The MBA Women Networking Group was formed to maximize the resources, information and connections shared by students in the MBA program at the Simmons School of Management, serving to advance our careers and learning opportunities, while benefiting the entire Simmons community.

Women of Color Club

The mission of the Women of Color Club is to empower, develop, and enrich the lives of the SOM women of color through personal and professional development. This mission is realized through professional development events, social events, resource sharing, and through collaboration with other clubs such as Net Impact.

Pages

Amara Raja Group: Transforming the Lives by Filling Technology Gaps
Author(s): 0

This paper presents a case study of an emerging market company that has transformed lives by bringing and adapting foreign technology to local needs in India.

Journal Title: Vidwat: The Indian Journal of Management Volume: 3 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 33-44
Anglo vs. Asian family business: A cultural comparison and analysis
Author(s): Moore, L.

This paper compares the family characteristics and work cultures of family businesses in Anglo, Southern Asia, and Confucian Asia cultures. Using the GLO BE classification and findings, the Anglo cluster of nations is distinguished by its strong performance orientation but weak family orientation. The Confucian Asian cluster is characterized by a strong performance and family orientation, and strong institutional collectivism. The Southern Asia cluster is distinguished by a strong family and humane orientation – a hallmark of its deep community orientation. Results indicate differing patterns in terms of the involvement of the family in the family business and other key organizational dimensions, although all three cultures share contextual embeddedness. The two Asian regions are similar only in terms of their high operational resiliency and business longevity, in contrast with the Anglo region, which is more moderate. For academicians, results suggest opportunities for examination of the impact of cultural and contextual differences on the relevance of prevailing theories of family business; for practitioners, results provide insights for global family business practice.

Journal Title: Journal of Asia Business Studies Volume: 3 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 46-55
Embracing the Whole Individual: The Advantages of a Dual-Centric Perspective of Work and Life
Author(s): Wilson, F.

In today's often complicated and fast-paced world, individuals are pulled in many different directions. Balancing work and personal roles--including those of parent, spouse, caregiver, volunteer, and so forth--can be a daunting task. In the literature, identity theory speaks to the multi-faceted existence employees face, beyond that of just "worker." The differing roles individuals occupy have traditionally been viewed as competing, implicitly suggesting that attention to one area of a person's life necessarily detracts from the others, and that juggling and managing multiple roles causes stress and emotional strain. To explore the verity of this notion we conducted a study, which is described herein. Of significance, 55% of our sample indicated that they were dual-centric; that is, individuals who value both their work and non-work roles equally. In this article, we build on extant research and find support for the belief that dual-centrics experience more overall satisfaction, greater work-life balance, and less emotional exhaustion. Given the seeming increase in employees' dual-centric focus, it is rational to suggest that one way in which organizations can improve and enhance employee well-being is by embracing them as whole individuals. This article explores that notion, and provides innovative examples from Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list regarding how this objective can be accomplished.

Journal Title: Business Horizons Volume: 52 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 387-398
Family Business in Sub-Saharan Africa vs Middle East
Author(s): 0; Moore, L.

This paper examines the impact of culture on family businesses in two regions of Africa: sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle Eastern region. Nine cross-culturally comparable “etic” dimensions are used to assess characteristics of family firms in both regions, based on the Culturally-sensitive Assessment System and Education (CASE) project. Overall, the characteristics of family businesses in the regions are associated with their distinctive cultures. Several commonalities are found; however, the observed differences suggest directions for the African family businesses to become the engines for national and regional development. Implications for further research and for practice are identified.

Journal Title: Journal of African Business Volume: 11 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 146-162
Is the pipeline of future entrepreneurs strong or weak? A cross-generational analysis of the role of gender and self-efficacy in developing entrepreneurial interest and behavior.
Author(s): 0; Marlino, D.

To capture the talents of the next generations in new venture creation and to maintain the levels of entrepreneurship in our society, a vibrant "pipeline" of potential entrepreneurs is required. Previous research has shown this pipeline may still be weak, especially for women entrepreneurs. This paper explores the relationships between gender, entrepreneurial education, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors using the data from different sample groups in three different stages of education and career development: middle and high school students, MBA students, and early career adults. The results of our analyses underscore the importance of entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a key component in understanding entrepreneurship interest and actual career choice. The positive influence of entrepreneurship education on self-efficacy proved stronger for women than for men. Implications for entrepreneurship educators as well as study limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

Journal Title: Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship Volume: 14 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 105-119
Making sense of women as career self-agents: Implications for human resource development
Author(s): 0; Ingols, C.; Shapiro, M.

In this article, we explore the shifting career paradigm of managerial women in the United States, what it may indicate for the broader professional workforce, and human resource development's (HRD's) role in supporting that change. We examine the literature on evolving career definitions, women's place in that evolution, the rising use of flexible work arrangements (FWAs), and the evolving work goals of women. Findings from our survey of 389 managerial women indicate that they are using FWAs as support mechanisms to enable them to enact their career goals and stay in the workforce. We invite HRD professionals to interpret women's career choices as a signal that the conventional career model with its attending organizational practices and culture is outdated and no longer meets the needs of today's managerial women and of the U.S. workforce in general. We recommend actions HRD professionals can take to move their organization's culture to one that supports career self-agency as a way of attracting and retaining critical talent in the 21st century.

Journal Title: Human Resource Development Quarterly Volume: 20 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 477-501
Maximizing Business Returns to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Role of CSR Communication
Author(s): 0

By engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, companies can not only generate favorable stakeholder attitudes and better support behaviors (e.g. purchase, seeking employment, investing in the company), but also, over the long run, build corporate image, strengthen stakeholder–company relationships, and enhance stakeholders' advocacy behaviors. However, stakeholders' low awareness of and unfavorable attributions towards companies' CSR activities remain critical impediments in companies' attempts to maximize business benefits from their CSR activities, highlighting a need for companies to communicate CSR more effectively to stakeholders. In light of these challenges, a conceptual framework of CSR communication is presented and its different aspects are analyzed, from message content and communication channels to company- and stakeholder-specific factors that influence the effectiveness of CSR communication

Journal Title: International Journal of Management Review Volume: 1 Edition: 12 Page Numbers: 8-19
Moving Forward: Institutional Perspectives on Gender and Entrepreneurship
Author(s): 0

The purpose of this paper is to propose a re-directed and purposeful attention to the design of research on gender and entrepreneurship moving forward. The paper questions the value of more studies on the men v. women binary and encourages research on the institutions supporting the gendered construction.

Journal Title: International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship Volume: 2 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 5-9
Reaching customers at the base of the pyramid – a two-stage business strategy
Author(s): 0

This paper suggests a model of business strategy for reaching out to the Bottom of the Pyramid and for pursuing inclusive strategies.

Journal Title: Thunderbird International Business Review Volume: 52 Edition: 5 Page Numbers: 355-367
Social Sustainability, flexible work arrangements and diverse women
Author(s): 0; Ingols, C.; Shapiro, M.

Purpose: A key challenge facing organizations today is sustainability, in economic, environmental and social arenas. In this paper, Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) are examined as a source of social sustainability.

Journal Title: Gender in Management Volume: 5 Edition: 25 Page Numbers: 408-425
Stock Exchanges in Low Income Countries.
Author(s): Maxfield, S.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and critique the swing in international policy from encouraging lower income countries to erect local stock exchanges in the 1990s to discouraging them on efficiency grounds after the US securities markets collapsed in 2001.

Journal Title: International Journal of Emerging Markets Volume: 4 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 43-55
The Supply of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures Among U.S. Firms
Author(s): Holder-Webb, L.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a dramatically expanding area of activity for managers and academics. Consumer demand for responsibly produced and fair trade goods is swelling, resulting in increased demands for CSR activity and information. Assets under professional management and invested with a social responsibility focus have also grown dramatically over the last 10 years. Investors choosing social responsibility investment strategies require access to information not provided through traditional financial statements and analyses. At the same time, a group of mainstream institutional investors has encouraged a movement to incorporate environmental, social, and governance information into equity analysis, and multi-stakeholder groups have supported enhanced business reporting on these issues. The majority of research in this area has been performed on European and Australian firms. We expand on this literature by exploring the CSR disclosure practices of a size- and industry-stratified sample of 50 publicly traded U.S. firms, performing a content analysis on the complete identifiable public information portfolio provided by these firms during 2004. CSR activity was disclosed by most firms in the sample, and was included in nearly half of public disclosures made during that year by the sample firms. Areas of particular emphasis are community matters, health and safety, diversity and human resources (HR) matters, and environmental programs. The primary venues of disclosure are mass media releases such as corporate websites and press releases, followed closely by disclosures contained in mandatory filings. Consistent with prior research, we identify industry effects in terms of content, emphasis, and reporting format choices. Unlike prior research, we can offer only mixed evidence on the existence of a size effect. The disclosure frequency and emphasis is significantly different for the largest one-fifth of the firms, but no identifiable trends are present within the rest of the sample. There are, however, identifiable size effects with respect to reporting format choice. Use of websites is positively related to firm size, while the use of mandatory filings is negatively related to firm size. Finally, and also consistent with prior literature, we document a generally self-laudatory tone in the content of CSR disclosures for the sample firms.

Journal Title: Journal of Business Ethics Volume: 84 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 497-527
Women and Gender: Risk Taking and Risk Aversion
Author(s): Hass, S.; Maxfield, S.; Shapiro, M.

This paper empirically demonstrates the risk seeking propensity of women and debunks the myth that women are risk averse.

Journal Title: Gender in Management: An International Journal Volume: 25 Edition: 7 Page Numbers: 586-604
Women Entrepreneurs and Venture Capital: Managing the Shadow Negotiation
Author(s): Nelson, T.; Maxfield, S.; Kolb, D.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore issues that explain why women entrepreneurs access only a small percentage of venture capital (VC) investment in the USA.

Journal Title: International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship Volume: 1 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 57-76