contents

A Letter from the Dean

Public Offerings
The 2009 Haskins Award honors Judith Rodin; Stern faculty ring out NASDAQ’s trading day; the Volatility Institute is launched; Estée Lauder’s Demsey talks management at an After Hours event; the Directors’ Institute debates board oversight of risk management; a NERA roundtable ponders the future of securities litigation

Stern in the City
Gretchen Shugart gets a standing ovation for TheaterMania.com,
By Jenny Owen
Alan Ennis of Revlon takes a by-the-book approach to managing,
By Rika Nazem

Cover Story – Amid Commerce and Culture
The Global Alumni Conference provides a forum to discuss the financial crisis, family businesses, indie films, urban planning, and NYU’s Global University –while enjoying the vibrant culture of Barcelona, By Joanne Hvala

The Oracle of Wall Street Speaks His Mind
10 questions for Henry Kaufman

Leading Indicators
Stern’s CEO Series: Volkswagen Group of America’s Stefan Jacoby talks about VW’s US strategy, global manufacturing, branding, and alternative energy sources

Prospectus
Faculty appointments, awards, honors, and noteworthy papers

Office Hours –
Faculty Research

When the Going Gets Tough: A Trio of Papers. New research into organizational behavior provides insights into what makes employees tick, why people make ethical missteps, and the pros and cons of hiring for experience

How to Inspire Motivation
By Steven L. Blader

Bad Behavior
By Mary C. Kern and
Dolly Chugh

Unpacking Prior Experience
By Gina Dokko, Steffanie L. Wilk, and Nancy P. Rothbard

Keeping the CEO in Line
Internal governance can curb a wayward boss, By Viral V. Acharya, Stewart C. Myers, and Raghuram G. Rajan

Peer to Peer
Student Life in Washington Square and Beyond: Recruiting trek to Abu Dhabi and Dubai explores economic and cultural opportunities; First group of Indian students visits Washington Square from Mumbai in new exchange program

Alumni Affairs
Alumni News and Events: More from the Global Alumni Conference in Barcelona, Stern’s top alumni ambassadors, NYU Alumni Day, and a new online alumni community

Class Notes

Past Performance
Coming to your iPod soon? The 20-year-old Stern faculty band is a rock’n’roll’n’jazz juggernaut that sets School functions on fire, By Marilyn Harris

 

 

 

We’ve heard about the financial aspects of the recent economic crisis, but what about the human capital side? A down economy, with bottom lines suffering and massive unemployment, presents a host of potential problems and opportunities for corporate managers. Employees may behave differently than in rosier times, and it takes canny management to be alert to the new dynamics. For instance, those workers fortunate enough to have jobs may nonetheless have been subjected to pay freezes or even cuts, a sure drag on incentive. How then does their employer hope to motivate them to do more than just “mail it in”? And with corporate profits squeezed, pressured employees may be more focused on their losses than their gains, a mindset that could tempt them to stretch ethical boundaries more than they might have when gains were the norm. As for those companies who are, or expect to be, in a hiring mode, they have an unusually large pool of job applicants from which to choose. Should an applicant’s relevant experience automatically make him or her a better hire, or are there unforeseen complexities when they bring their experience to the new organization?

The following excerpts of three papers by Stern faculty present research that will provoke a thoughtful contemplation of the dynamics of human organizational behavior and how to manage it.