Darden Ideas to Action

Accounting measures can help boards and investors answer some very important questions about the performance, integrity and compensation of CEOs in surprising ways. Professor Shane Dikolli at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has used analytical modeling and empirical analysis to evaluate CEOs for much of his career, and he and the Batten Institute’s Sean Carr discuss why the insights hidde...

Our lives have become an open book to the companies collecting our data, and marketers are becoming increasingly sophisticated at using that data to compel us to buy their products and services. But we’re entering a new phase of the digital marketing revolution. The artificial intelligence age. University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Raj Venkatesan discusses his book, The AI Marketing Canvas: A Five Stage Roadmap...

The world has been captivated by the stunning collapse of Theranos and its supposedly wunderkind founder Elizabeth Holmes, who now faces trial for fraud. University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Jared Harris worked with Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz to develop a series of cases that reveal how the advanced nature of the technology allowed the ruse to go on so long and the high cost Shultz paid for his part b...

The glass ceiling exists around the world. From the U.S. to India, women work harder to get a foot in the door, a seat at the table or a place at the top of established businesses. But what about women who want to start their own businesses? As University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Gaurav Chiplunkar discusses in this Ideas to Action podcast with the Batten Institute’s Sean Carr, the barriers they face might be ...

Electric vehicles are everywhere. Renewable energy like solar and wind, too. The U.S. is back in the Paris Climate Accord. Progress to stop climate change has come so far, yet still has a long way to go and the road from here only gets harder. Professor Mike Lenox and Senior Researcher Becky Duff at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business talk with the Batten Institute’s Sean Carr about their new book on what it will t...

The future of work is changing, whether you’re ready or not. But getting ready is no simple task. Who can you trust to teach the new skills you’ll need? How much should you pay? What’s more important: credentials or knowledge? University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley has spent the last six years honing the School’s strategy to serve the needs of the next generation of business leaders, and he joins Dard...

New year, new you? Flipping the calendar has become a cliché for goals, resolutions, intentions and self-improvement. Those good intentions fail all too often, not out of desire but out of an inability to change or adapt. Humans struggle with change, and the stakes of that limitation are getting higher as the world enters an era of massive technological disruption and the coronavirus pandemic challenges our way of life. University ...

The Trump Administration is on the way out. The Biden Administration is on the way in. And amid the transition, the largest wave yet of the coronavirus pandemic is resulting in new restrictions in the United States and around the world. It’s a pivotal moment for the U.S. and global economies, and the U.S. Federal Reserve holds a key position of influence. University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Frank Warnock, a f...

Have you ever shown up to a meeting thinking you’ve got great ideas, piercing insights and the motivation to make a positive impact, only to discover the decisions you thought were still on the table have already been made? You’re left wondering if you were the only person who didn’t know. How did that happen? The play Hamilton popularized the phrase “the room where it happens,” which speaks to a very real unwritten playbook for po...

Eliminating discrimination from customer service has been historically difficult, even for organizations with stellar service reputations. Is there a way for companies to better identify their breakdowns and eliminate discrimination from the fast food drive through to the hotel lobby? University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Tami Kim joins the Batten Institute’s Sean Carr to discuss how her research proved discrim...

No event in modern history has driven so much change, so fast, as the coronavirus pandemic. In a world beset by the challenges presented by COVID-19, can we look into the minds of entrepreneurs to discover how businesses and individuals might start to rebuild? University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Saras Sarasvathy, a world-renowned thought leader in the field of entrepreneurship, discusses the logic of thinking...

Panic-buying toilet paper. Baking bonanzas. Home hair-dye kits. The coronavirus pandemic is changing our routines, our social interactions and our relationships with companies and brands. University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Lalin Anik joins the Batten Institute’s Sean Carr to explore the evolution of consumer behavior in response to COVID-19, how brands are reacting, and what the future may hold as people loo...

The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis of unprecedented scale and scope. In response, the world looks to its leaders for clarity, direction, and the reassurance that their actions will mitigate — not exacerbate — the pandemic’s dire humanitarian and economic consequences. While no U.S. president has faced a challenge quite like the current one, what do past commanders-in-chief have to teach us about leading through a crisis? Universi...

Americans cherish the idea of the truly self-made man or woman. So why does an elite pedigree often win the day when it comes to hiring for the top jobs? What prevents managers from rewarding those who make the leap from one social class to another, and more importantly, what are we missing when we favor the well born? Professor Sean Martin, an expert in social class and leadership, discusses why the lack of opportunities for socia...