Remember the old days of looking for a job--when you combed through the want-ad pages of the newspaper or conducted a massive letter-writing campaign with sleek stationery and piles of envelopes...and then waited for replies?
Those days are gone. The process has gone electronic and proceeds swiftly--with Company websites, recruiter sites, job boards, Google searches, and now professional and social networks (Linkedin, Doostang, Facebook, etc.). The Consortium Finance Network wants to help you make sense of it all or help you exploit these technical advantages.
CFN will sponsor a webinar Wednesday, September 9 at 7 pm EDT on how best to conduct your search electronically or navigate more effectively in Cyberspace. Jason Alba, CEO of JibberJobber.com, will host the session. Beyond electronic tools for a current job search, he'll focus, too, on ongoing career management.
JibberJobber is a special website to help professionals manage their careers. Jason also authored the publication "I'm on Facebook, Now What?" and produced the DVD "Linkedin for Job Seekers."
Register for the session at RSVP: http://bit.ly/pallA.
CFN hopes this will be the first of a series of webinars on relevant topics in career management, finance, and diversity. Other webinars are on the drawing board, but if others have ideas, share them with us.
Tracy Williams
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
How Mentors Can Help
How can mentors best help Consortium students?
The Consortium Finance Network kicked off its new mentor program last week, involving more than 50 Consortium finance students and over 25 mentors (most of whom are Consortium alumni at various stages in their careers).
Mentors, whether participating in the CFN program or acting informally, can enhance relationships with students and help in many ways. It may not matter whether the mentor is a recent b-school graduate or is at the peak of a long career. Mentors share experiences, provide moral support, and introduce students to other mentors and helpful contacts.
A new mentor fresh out of school might be the best at helping students understand the arduous, time-consuming recruiting process and understand what's behind the corporate presentations on campus or how networking at prospective firm helps. That mentor will know the process, will advise best on how to prepare for second- and third-round interviews, will undertand the tough school-vs.-recruiting juggling effort, and may know exactly what recruiters are looking for at entry-level positions.
Experienced mentors may understand better the cycles of business and finance, the long-term opportunities and growth sectors, the "big picture" on what banks and corporations need in entry positions, and the paths from the first year to senior management.
All mentors should first understand thoroughly what students' objectives and even dreams are. They should nurture comfortable, sustaining relationships. And if they can't provide solutions or guidance, they should introduce students to their own contacts--peers, colleagues, other mentors--who can help. The mentor acts as a door-opener.
What might Consortium students in finance these days seek from mentors?
Many are transitioning from other careers and exploring opportunities in finance for the first time. Many, therefore, are seeking clues on how best to handle the transition or how they can embark on a new path without being disadvantaged.
The best examples are the many Consortium students with outstanding backgrounds in a wide variety of fields, but who are now contemplating investment banking. How can they promote their past experiences as advantages in investment banking, or how can they convince the well-known banks they are qualified to be associates in corporate finance, private equity, mergers and acquisition, or public finance?
In the wake of the financial crisis, all Consortium students are asking lots of questions: Is investment banking for me? Will there be opportunities in sales and trading? Are hedge funds still hiring, and is that a realistic career path for me? How can I get access to the world of private equity or venture capital? Will there be sufficient deal flow or investing opportunities over the next few years? Is quantitative finance still a respectable pursuit? What can I do with my MBA skills in consumer banking? What is risk management? What would be my role in corporate treasury? What are the career paths in private-wealth management? And can I change my mind and transition from one specialty to another--from trading to banking or from brokerage to private-wealth management?
Not surprisingly, Consortium students want to understand better what they've heard often--the lifestyle and compensation. Are the hours as long and is the workpace as difficult as I heard? Will there be some flexibility? Can I handle it? How can I best manage or endure the hours and pace? What will the compensation be (post-crisis)? Is it all worth the time, effort, and persistence?
Mentors who are involved in these finance sectors and have endured some of the same occasional hardships (and career successes) will be able to provide some insight or introduce students to others who can supplement the guidance.
Consortium students also want to understand the diversity picture: What firms appreciate and value diversity? What firms value the backgrounds of Consortium graduates? Will the recruiting process be fair? Is there subjectivity in how they choose? Once I join a firm, will the appraisal process be objective? And how can I, too, create a buzz about myself, my work, and my commitment?
Whether the topic is diversity or the technical aspects of a specific topic, mentors owe it to students to be candid and open. The better relationships are indeed based on sincere dialogue. The best relationships, however, are those that last for years and help inspire students to become mentors themselves one day.
Tracy Williams
The Consortium Finance Network kicked off its new mentor program last week, involving more than 50 Consortium finance students and over 25 mentors (most of whom are Consortium alumni at various stages in their careers).
Mentors, whether participating in the CFN program or acting informally, can enhance relationships with students and help in many ways. It may not matter whether the mentor is a recent b-school graduate or is at the peak of a long career. Mentors share experiences, provide moral support, and introduce students to other mentors and helpful contacts.
A new mentor fresh out of school might be the best at helping students understand the arduous, time-consuming recruiting process and understand what's behind the corporate presentations on campus or how networking at prospective firm helps. That mentor will know the process, will advise best on how to prepare for second- and third-round interviews, will undertand the tough school-vs.-recruiting juggling effort, and may know exactly what recruiters are looking for at entry-level positions.
Experienced mentors may understand better the cycles of business and finance, the long-term opportunities and growth sectors, the "big picture" on what banks and corporations need in entry positions, and the paths from the first year to senior management.
All mentors should first understand thoroughly what students' objectives and even dreams are. They should nurture comfortable, sustaining relationships. And if they can't provide solutions or guidance, they should introduce students to their own contacts--peers, colleagues, other mentors--who can help. The mentor acts as a door-opener.
What might Consortium students in finance these days seek from mentors?
Many are transitioning from other careers and exploring opportunities in finance for the first time. Many, therefore, are seeking clues on how best to handle the transition or how they can embark on a new path without being disadvantaged.
The best examples are the many Consortium students with outstanding backgrounds in a wide variety of fields, but who are now contemplating investment banking. How can they promote their past experiences as advantages in investment banking, or how can they convince the well-known banks they are qualified to be associates in corporate finance, private equity, mergers and acquisition, or public finance?
In the wake of the financial crisis, all Consortium students are asking lots of questions: Is investment banking for me? Will there be opportunities in sales and trading? Are hedge funds still hiring, and is that a realistic career path for me? How can I get access to the world of private equity or venture capital? Will there be sufficient deal flow or investing opportunities over the next few years? Is quantitative finance still a respectable pursuit? What can I do with my MBA skills in consumer banking? What is risk management? What would be my role in corporate treasury? What are the career paths in private-wealth management? And can I change my mind and transition from one specialty to another--from trading to banking or from brokerage to private-wealth management?
Not surprisingly, Consortium students want to understand better what they've heard often--the lifestyle and compensation. Are the hours as long and is the workpace as difficult as I heard? Will there be some flexibility? Can I handle it? How can I best manage or endure the hours and pace? What will the compensation be (post-crisis)? Is it all worth the time, effort, and persistence?
Mentors who are involved in these finance sectors and have endured some of the same occasional hardships (and career successes) will be able to provide some insight or introduce students to others who can supplement the guidance.
Consortium students also want to understand the diversity picture: What firms appreciate and value diversity? What firms value the backgrounds of Consortium graduates? Will the recruiting process be fair? Is there subjectivity in how they choose? Once I join a firm, will the appraisal process be objective? And how can I, too, create a buzz about myself, my work, and my commitment?
Whether the topic is diversity or the technical aspects of a specific topic, mentors owe it to students to be candid and open. The better relationships are indeed based on sincere dialogue. The best relationships, however, are those that last for years and help inspire students to become mentors themselves one day.
Tracy Williams
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Mentor Program Kick-Off
Today the mentor committee officially launched the program by introducing mentors and mentees!
It is our hope that the program will provide for a fulfilling partnership for both mentee and mentor. The mentor committee worked hard to find commonality between mentors and mentees and it is our hope that both will discover similar interest and talents, as well as common struggles they have faced while pursuing a career in finance.
To make the most of the program we encourage teams to discuss what each member hopes to gain from the relationship and to set goals that they would like to accomplish. A mentor’s role, for instance, could range from weekly discussions with a mentee to actively helping a mentee develop leadership skills, or defining the wide range of career possibilities within the field of finance.
The following documents and sites have been created by the Consortium Finance Network to enhance the mentor program:
· Mentor Program Overview: A guide to expectations and communication based on academic and corporate recruiting calendars
· The Consortium Finance Network Guidebook 2009: A resource guide for new students which answers many frequently asked questions
· Consortium Finance Network on LinkedIn: The place for CFN news, job postings, online networking and program updates
Many thanks to all the mentors and students who have signed up to participate in the inaugural year of the mentor program. Additionally, I would like to thank Tracy Williams, Camilo Sandoval and José Calunga, who have been instrumental throughout the initial planning stages and launch of the mentor program. All of your efforts contribute to the success of the Consortium's diversity mission!
It is our hope that the program will provide for a fulfilling partnership for both mentee and mentor. The mentor committee worked hard to find commonality between mentors and mentees and it is our hope that both will discover similar interest and talents, as well as common struggles they have faced while pursuing a career in finance.
To make the most of the program we encourage teams to discuss what each member hopes to gain from the relationship and to set goals that they would like to accomplish. A mentor’s role, for instance, could range from weekly discussions with a mentee to actively helping a mentee develop leadership skills, or defining the wide range of career possibilities within the field of finance.
The following documents and sites have been created by the Consortium Finance Network to enhance the mentor program:
· Mentor Program Overview: A guide to expectations and communication based on academic and corporate recruiting calendars
· The Consortium Finance Network Guidebook 2009: A resource guide for new students which answers many frequently asked questions
· Consortium Finance Network on LinkedIn: The place for CFN news, job postings, online networking and program updates
Many thanks to all the mentors and students who have signed up to participate in the inaugural year of the mentor program. Additionally, I would like to thank Tracy Williams, Camilo Sandoval and José Calunga, who have been instrumental throughout the initial planning stages and launch of the mentor program. All of your efforts contribute to the success of the Consortium's diversity mission!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
CFN: Keeping Up
MLT (Management Leadership for Tomorrow) was featured last month on CNN's "Black in America 2" special. The TV program featured its leader John Rice and peeped in on the most recent class of MLT participants, as they completed assignments in New York.
MLT is well known to many Consortium students and alumni, because it helped many of them become stronger applicants for business schools (including Consortium schools). Indeed, there is significant overlap between the programs. The CNN program, however, brought to mind how many of the MBA-oriented diversity programs and its students bump into each other literally--the Consortium, Toigo, Jumpstart, and MLT.
They overlap among the students who participate. It's not unusal for an MBA student at, say, Dartmouth or Michigan to be members or participants of all four. The objectives of all of the programs, however, remain similar and common. Students who've participate in more than one see unique advantages in their involvement in all.
In many ways, the programs don't compete. They interact and take on special roles in an overall diversity mission. Each program offers something different, but something very important. Toigo focuses on financial services; Jumpstart focuses on investment banking and consulting, and MLT emphasizes preparation for business school. The Consortium has a broader general-management objective and, of course, provides substantial financial assistance (full tuition).
CNN's special on MLT just as well could have been a special on any of the four--or better, all four....
Moody's, the global ratings-agency firm, is proving that it seeks to hire top, diverse talent even in the current environment. It has begun to highlight and tend to it relationships with diversity pipeline groups--including the Consortium.
Last month, it hosted a seminar and networking event at its New York City headquarters. Senior managers--including CEO Raymond McDaniel and top economist Mark Zandi--made presentations to over 100 in attendance. Moody's also discussed career opportunities in its primary groups (analytics and investor services, most notably) and allowed guests to meet senior people in many of its subgroups.
The firm, along with its ratings peers S&P and Fitch, has been in the eye of the credit crisis. But the firm remains profitable with ambitions to grow more internationally and broaden its services. It's no longer just a ratings firm.
At the networking session, besides the Consortium, representatives and alumni from diversity groups NSHMBA, MLT, WITI, and ALPFA attended. Daisy Auger-Dominguez at Moody's leads its diversity-recruiting effort....
With the financial crisis all but over, now comes the flood of dramatic tales of collapse, tension, fall-out and demise. The latest book tells us about the collapse of Lehman Brothers: "A Colossal Failure of Common Sense," by Lawrence McDonald, a Lehman VP in distressed-debt trading. In his perch in its raucous trading room, he claims to have had a ringside seat to Lehman's implosion.
McDonald was not a senior manager or an insider. He tries to convey his overwhelming disappointment of having reached his career-long dream of becoming a respected Wall Street trader at a major firm, but having that dream squashed in one dramatic September, 2008, weekend--because of (in his view) ineptness and insulated behavior in top management. Read the book (if you can bear to read more second-guessing about the crisis) not to understand how Lehman collapsed, but to experience what it feels like to be on the inside of the sudden collapse and disappearance of one of the most storied names of Wall Street history....
Tracy Williams
MLT is well known to many Consortium students and alumni, because it helped many of them become stronger applicants for business schools (including Consortium schools). Indeed, there is significant overlap between the programs. The CNN program, however, brought to mind how many of the MBA-oriented diversity programs and its students bump into each other literally--the Consortium, Toigo, Jumpstart, and MLT.
They overlap among the students who participate. It's not unusal for an MBA student at, say, Dartmouth or Michigan to be members or participants of all four. The objectives of all of the programs, however, remain similar and common. Students who've participate in more than one see unique advantages in their involvement in all.
In many ways, the programs don't compete. They interact and take on special roles in an overall diversity mission. Each program offers something different, but something very important. Toigo focuses on financial services; Jumpstart focuses on investment banking and consulting, and MLT emphasizes preparation for business school. The Consortium has a broader general-management objective and, of course, provides substantial financial assistance (full tuition).
CNN's special on MLT just as well could have been a special on any of the four--or better, all four....
Moody's, the global ratings-agency firm, is proving that it seeks to hire top, diverse talent even in the current environment. It has begun to highlight and tend to it relationships with diversity pipeline groups--including the Consortium.
Last month, it hosted a seminar and networking event at its New York City headquarters. Senior managers--including CEO Raymond McDaniel and top economist Mark Zandi--made presentations to over 100 in attendance. Moody's also discussed career opportunities in its primary groups (analytics and investor services, most notably) and allowed guests to meet senior people in many of its subgroups.
The firm, along with its ratings peers S&P and Fitch, has been in the eye of the credit crisis. But the firm remains profitable with ambitions to grow more internationally and broaden its services. It's no longer just a ratings firm.
At the networking session, besides the Consortium, representatives and alumni from diversity groups NSHMBA, MLT, WITI, and ALPFA attended. Daisy Auger-Dominguez at Moody's leads its diversity-recruiting effort....
With the financial crisis all but over, now comes the flood of dramatic tales of collapse, tension, fall-out and demise. The latest book tells us about the collapse of Lehman Brothers: "A Colossal Failure of Common Sense," by Lawrence McDonald, a Lehman VP in distressed-debt trading. In his perch in its raucous trading room, he claims to have had a ringside seat to Lehman's implosion.
McDonald was not a senior manager or an insider. He tries to convey his overwhelming disappointment of having reached his career-long dream of becoming a respected Wall Street trader at a major firm, but having that dream squashed in one dramatic September, 2008, weekend--because of (in his view) ineptness and insulated behavior in top management. Read the book (if you can bear to read more second-guessing about the crisis) not to understand how Lehman collapsed, but to experience what it feels like to be on the inside of the sudden collapse and disappearance of one of the most storied names of Wall Street history....
Tracy Williams
Sunday, August 2, 2009
CFN: Planning Ahead
The Consortium Finance Network has several initiatives in process for the fall. We urge your participation and welcome your feedback, as we plan now.
The mentor program will be rolled out in the next few weeks, once we complete student-mentor match-ups.
We appointed CFN school champions at most Consortium schools. Once they start school, we look forward to their updates on what's happening on campus--recruiting, company presentations, topical issues in courses, mentoring, alumni coming back, etc.
We hope to schedule webinars for alumni, sponsors and students--one focusing on how all of us can best use Linkedin and other online networks, another featuring a prominent senior banker who can offer career-related advice to all.
We are considering a "speed-networking" event in New York late fall, where top finance leaders will discuss industry topics and their careers in small roundtables.
If you have ideas or input on any of the initiatives, share with the CFN steering committee.
The mentor program will be rolled out in the next few weeks, once we complete student-mentor match-ups.
We appointed CFN school champions at most Consortium schools. Once they start school, we look forward to their updates on what's happening on campus--recruiting, company presentations, topical issues in courses, mentoring, alumni coming back, etc.
We hope to schedule webinars for alumni, sponsors and students--one focusing on how all of us can best use Linkedin and other online networks, another featuring a prominent senior banker who can offer career-related advice to all.
We are considering a "speed-networking" event in New York late fall, where top finance leaders will discuss industry topics and their careers in small roundtables.
If you have ideas or input on any of the initiatives, share with the CFN steering committee.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Diversity: Staying in the Front Seat
Are diversity initiatives taking a back seat in the face of the past year's financial turmoil--especially at financial institutions?
Banks, insurance companies, investment managers and other financial institutions made important, noticeable advances on the diversity front in the past decade. You could see that in many circles. More and more women and people of color began to populate trading desks and entry-level corporate-finance programs. More became fluent in exotic derivatives, valuation models, and optimal asset allocation. And more began to take lead roles in deals in corporate or municipal finance.
They became interested in venture capital and private equity. Those who started out years ago progressed to vice president, branch manager, and senior research analyst. Some had started their own brokerages or funds.
In business schools across the country, blacks and Latinos plotted careers as bankers, as traders, as financial consultants, as financial engineers, and M&A advisers. Many could envision the day they would become heads of trading desks, managing directors, sector heads, or top-ranking researchers or salespersons.
Watching mentors and prominent examples, they grew confident in a finance career path. They wanted to be the next generation of CFO's, deal-doers, star analysts, creators of new financial products, or prominent fund mangers. They watched as African-Americans led Merrill Lynch and American Express. African-Americans had become top bankers at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Women had become CFO's at Lehman Brothers and Citigroup and "All-American" equity-research analysts.
But have all the progress and sense of urgency slowed down?
Financial institutions last year found themselves with backs against walls, fighting for their lives--scrambling to avert loan and trading losses, reduce and rationalize staff, cut expenses, boost capital, and respond to regulators and the general public. Many understandably worried about panic among depositors and runs on their banks.
Did diversity and the special passion to ensure all aspects of financial services were inclusive and reflected all faces of the general population get pushed to the bottom of corporate agenda?
Most institutions will contend that throughout it all diversity remained high in importance. But keeping it there was a daunting challenge. Last summer, Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street firm that had made admirable progress on the diversity front the last decade, was hustling to maintain its existence. Reducing its balance sheet, shifting top management, confronting a frightened public, avoiding comparisons to Bear Stearns and injecting more capital were an all-consuming preoccupation. Diversity initiatives were likely shoved aside.
Lehman wasn't alone. In a severe crisis, firms' diversity council meetings with senior management are postponed. Diversity follow-up programs, initiatives and scorecards draw less attention. Firmwide enthusiasm and celebration of inclusiveness dwindle. A culture that had been one where minorities finally felt happy and felt belonged turns fierce, mean and Darwinian. Funding for diversity-pipeline programs (SEO, Inroads, Toigo, and Consortium) gets cut or rationalized away. Recruiting budgets are sliced, and recruiting itself becomes erratic or inconsistent.
As the crisis last year ballooned, financial institutions swiftly reduced staff. Those in under-represented groups suffered from "LIFO" staff reduction: last hired, first eliminated--especially at entry-level positions. Just like that, a half-generation of progress was at risk of being dismantled. The next generation of top minority deal-doers, senior analysts, senior vice presidents and managing directors got tripped up right at the starting gate.
Worse, there was the risk that those who followed might get discouraged. They could get disenchanted if they saw few women and minorities ahead of them and could ask themselves, "Why?" or "Why bother?"
The best firms kept the passion in good times and bad. As the world of finance pondered bailouts, new capital, and trading losses, the best firms--faced with the same--reaffirmed their commitment. It wasn't easy, but they did.
They are the ones, who while fighting for existence, still managed to keep diversity high on the agenda, convened diversity-council meetings, and ensured there was a significant pipeline of diverse talent headed their way. And they did so eagerly--while distracted, anxious, and burdened. They had a long-term perspective on inclusiveness.
Top business schools had an important role, too, in helping to keep diversity on the agenda. They reminded corporate recruiters they don't need to go far to find diverse talent. Talent is in their backyards. They made sure the next generation of talent was well-prepared, ready to contribute. And they helped convinced under-represented groups a career in finance is still worth the effort.
Fortunately markets have stabilized and anxieties eased, but the challenge remains. It took decades to get the spirit of inclusion near the top of the agenda. It took just a few months for it to slip and take a back seat. It will take everybody to get it back to where it needs to be and make sure it stays there.
Tracy Williams
Banks, insurance companies, investment managers and other financial institutions made important, noticeable advances on the diversity front in the past decade. You could see that in many circles. More and more women and people of color began to populate trading desks and entry-level corporate-finance programs. More became fluent in exotic derivatives, valuation models, and optimal asset allocation. And more began to take lead roles in deals in corporate or municipal finance.
They became interested in venture capital and private equity. Those who started out years ago progressed to vice president, branch manager, and senior research analyst. Some had started their own brokerages or funds.
In business schools across the country, blacks and Latinos plotted careers as bankers, as traders, as financial consultants, as financial engineers, and M&A advisers. Many could envision the day they would become heads of trading desks, managing directors, sector heads, or top-ranking researchers or salespersons.
Watching mentors and prominent examples, they grew confident in a finance career path. They wanted to be the next generation of CFO's, deal-doers, star analysts, creators of new financial products, or prominent fund mangers. They watched as African-Americans led Merrill Lynch and American Express. African-Americans had become top bankers at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Women had become CFO's at Lehman Brothers and Citigroup and "All-American" equity-research analysts.
But have all the progress and sense of urgency slowed down?
Financial institutions last year found themselves with backs against walls, fighting for their lives--scrambling to avert loan and trading losses, reduce and rationalize staff, cut expenses, boost capital, and respond to regulators and the general public. Many understandably worried about panic among depositors and runs on their banks.
Did diversity and the special passion to ensure all aspects of financial services were inclusive and reflected all faces of the general population get pushed to the bottom of corporate agenda?
Most institutions will contend that throughout it all diversity remained high in importance. But keeping it there was a daunting challenge. Last summer, Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street firm that had made admirable progress on the diversity front the last decade, was hustling to maintain its existence. Reducing its balance sheet, shifting top management, confronting a frightened public, avoiding comparisons to Bear Stearns and injecting more capital were an all-consuming preoccupation. Diversity initiatives were likely shoved aside.
Lehman wasn't alone. In a severe crisis, firms' diversity council meetings with senior management are postponed. Diversity follow-up programs, initiatives and scorecards draw less attention. Firmwide enthusiasm and celebration of inclusiveness dwindle. A culture that had been one where minorities finally felt happy and felt belonged turns fierce, mean and Darwinian. Funding for diversity-pipeline programs (SEO, Inroads, Toigo, and Consortium) gets cut or rationalized away. Recruiting budgets are sliced, and recruiting itself becomes erratic or inconsistent.
As the crisis last year ballooned, financial institutions swiftly reduced staff. Those in under-represented groups suffered from "LIFO" staff reduction: last hired, first eliminated--especially at entry-level positions. Just like that, a half-generation of progress was at risk of being dismantled. The next generation of top minority deal-doers, senior analysts, senior vice presidents and managing directors got tripped up right at the starting gate.
Worse, there was the risk that those who followed might get discouraged. They could get disenchanted if they saw few women and minorities ahead of them and could ask themselves, "Why?" or "Why bother?"
The best firms kept the passion in good times and bad. As the world of finance pondered bailouts, new capital, and trading losses, the best firms--faced with the same--reaffirmed their commitment. It wasn't easy, but they did.
They are the ones, who while fighting for existence, still managed to keep diversity high on the agenda, convened diversity-council meetings, and ensured there was a significant pipeline of diverse talent headed their way. And they did so eagerly--while distracted, anxious, and burdened. They had a long-term perspective on inclusiveness.
Top business schools had an important role, too, in helping to keep diversity on the agenda. They reminded corporate recruiters they don't need to go far to find diverse talent. Talent is in their backyards. They made sure the next generation of talent was well-prepared, ready to contribute. And they helped convinced under-represented groups a career in finance is still worth the effort.
Fortunately markets have stabilized and anxieties eased, but the challenge remains. It took decades to get the spirit of inclusion near the top of the agenda. It took just a few months for it to slip and take a back seat. It will take everybody to get it back to where it needs to be and make sure it stays there.
Tracy Williams
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Darden's Response to the Crisis
It was inevitable that top business schools wouldn't stand still after witnessing a succession of threats to the financial system the past two years. Several schools announced earlier this year how they intended to respond to the financial crisis, change curriculum, provide analyses, or produce case studies of specific events.
A team of NYU-Stern professors just published a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the events before, during and after crisis. Restoring Financial Stability: How to Repair a Failed System (Wiley Finance) is the result of contributions from the team and offers a chronicle of what happened, detailed analyses of what happened, and solutions for how a bursting of the financial bubble can be avoided in the future. The book takes an academic approach and could be an anchor text for future b-school students who want to understand 2008 more thoroughly.
Meanwhile, Virginia-Darden has shown how a top school can respond not just with useful texts and new case studies, but how it can "exploit" the crisis by teaching it to students and strategically injecting all aspects of the b-school experience with analysis, solutions, lessons, and even reflection.
For example, it has hosted panels featuring top professors, alumni and other business leaders--all discussing the crisis and proposing next-step solution. Some of them are available on YouTube.
It has introduced courses that address the crisis in specific ways. A course "Hot Topics in Finance" invited alumni from banks to describe their experiences the past two years. A course in securitization showed how a flood of mortgage securitization contributed to the crisis and explained how liquid markets can become illiquid overnight.
Even such courses as "First-Year Ethics" and "Responsible Decision-Making" are covering crisis-related topics and highlighting where management at certain institutions might have misunderstood risks they took or have been misguided by compensation programs that rewarded excessive risk-taking.
The demise of Bear Stearns and Lehman, the collapse of AIG, and the Government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide ample opportunities for professors to prepare case studies and let students dissect events and second-guess decision-makers at those firms. Darden professors have written several related cases.
"Bear Stearns and the Seeds of Its Demise" (by Susan Chaplinsky) presents the series of events that led to Bear's collapse. And it plants students in the middle by posing them as a hedge fund interacting with Bear two months before JPMorgan acquires it over a weekend in March, 2008. The case challenges students to decide what they would do, based on the facts at hand and the rumors engulfing Bear's management.
Darden's career-services office has also stepped up by assisting students in interview preparation at financial institutions and by holding workshops for alumni in financial services.
Darden isn't the only top school to have responded in a focused, purposeful way. Other top schools, too, are tweaking courses in ethics, finance and business policy and preparing new cases or introducing crisis-specific subjects. Darden's response is an example of how top schools can turn an upheaval in markets and the economy into learning opportunities for students. And it shows how b-schools are already scrambling to present solutions to help avoid this kind of collapse in the future.
(For more information about Darden's response to the crisis, see http://www.darden.virginia.edu/ or contact its communications director Juliet Daum at daumj@darden.virginia.edu.)
Tracy Williams
A team of NYU-Stern professors just published a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the events before, during and after crisis. Restoring Financial Stability: How to Repair a Failed System (Wiley Finance) is the result of contributions from the team and offers a chronicle of what happened, detailed analyses of what happened, and solutions for how a bursting of the financial bubble can be avoided in the future. The book takes an academic approach and could be an anchor text for future b-school students who want to understand 2008 more thoroughly.
Meanwhile, Virginia-Darden has shown how a top school can respond not just with useful texts and new case studies, but how it can "exploit" the crisis by teaching it to students and strategically injecting all aspects of the b-school experience with analysis, solutions, lessons, and even reflection.
For example, it has hosted panels featuring top professors, alumni and other business leaders--all discussing the crisis and proposing next-step solution. Some of them are available on YouTube.
It has introduced courses that address the crisis in specific ways. A course "Hot Topics in Finance" invited alumni from banks to describe their experiences the past two years. A course in securitization showed how a flood of mortgage securitization contributed to the crisis and explained how liquid markets can become illiquid overnight.
Even such courses as "First-Year Ethics" and "Responsible Decision-Making" are covering crisis-related topics and highlighting where management at certain institutions might have misunderstood risks they took or have been misguided by compensation programs that rewarded excessive risk-taking.
The demise of Bear Stearns and Lehman, the collapse of AIG, and the Government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide ample opportunities for professors to prepare case studies and let students dissect events and second-guess decision-makers at those firms. Darden professors have written several related cases.
"Bear Stearns and the Seeds of Its Demise" (by Susan Chaplinsky) presents the series of events that led to Bear's collapse. And it plants students in the middle by posing them as a hedge fund interacting with Bear two months before JPMorgan acquires it over a weekend in March, 2008. The case challenges students to decide what they would do, based on the facts at hand and the rumors engulfing Bear's management.
Darden's career-services office has also stepped up by assisting students in interview preparation at financial institutions and by holding workshops for alumni in financial services.
Darden isn't the only top school to have responded in a focused, purposeful way. Other top schools, too, are tweaking courses in ethics, finance and business policy and preparing new cases or introducing crisis-specific subjects. Darden's response is an example of how top schools can turn an upheaval in markets and the economy into learning opportunities for students. And it shows how b-schools are already scrambling to present solutions to help avoid this kind of collapse in the future.
(For more information about Darden's response to the crisis, see http://www.darden.virginia.edu/ or contact its communications director Juliet Daum at daumj@darden.virginia.edu.)
Tracy Williams
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