Professors at the Boston College Carroll School of Management have offered up insightful quotations in interviews with a number of high-profile media outlets, as well as in articles of their own. A quip from Professor Ran Duchin even ended up as The New York Timess featured quote for the day.


Youre buying a narrative. Youre not just buying the coffee.

Ran Duchin, New York Times Quotation of the Day, August 22

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Duchin, the Coughlin Family Professor in the Seidner Department of Finance, was by the Times about Starbuckss hiring of Brian Niccol as its top executive. Niccol lives in Southern California and will commute to Starbuckss Seattle headquarters aboard the corporate jet. Duchin, whos studied remote CEOs, said Niccols carbon-intensive commute is an implicit stand on issues like sustainability. And Starbucks does hold itself out as a sustainability leader, offering evidence on its website of its environmental bona fides. Hence Duchins quote about people buying the narrative (of sustainability), not just the cold brew or the apple crisp oat milk macchiato.

But bad optics may end up being the least of the coffee chains problems. Duchins shows that many remote CEOs dont work outtheir companies underperform on a number of measuresand many firms that try them end up returning to a local leader. In a follow-up interview, Duchin added that Starbucks, with caf矇s on six continents, could be an exception, since its CEO likely spends much of his time traveling. He said too that companies arent being irrational by betting on an itinerant boss. Theyre taking a risk to snag a better-qualified CEO than they mightve otherwise hired. Niccol, for example, previously ran Chipotle and Taco Bell.


Decreeing that people must stay silent on political issues also seems to run counter to the call for employees to bring their whole selves to work.

Michael Pratt and a colleague in MIT Sloan Management Review, Sept. 30

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During another contentious presidential election season, Michael Pratt, a professor of management and organization, and a colleague have weighed in on in the workplace. They say in an online article that forbidding political talk is unrealistic in a world where nearly everyones social media postings are just a click away. Instead managers should put in place a process that enables people to exchange views without fear of retribution. To do this, they need to gather information on the issues employees care about, insist on norms of civil discourse and help people understand the complexity of opposing views.


This problem has been so evident since 1990, and so were in 2024. And I don't think we're really going to move on this until 2030. And so a 40-year lag between the time the problem is identified and the time it's fixed is a little long for my taste.

Alicia Munnell on PBS News Hour, August 12

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The Social Security trust funds are paying out more in benefits than theyre taking in payroll taxes. Munnell, the Peter F. Drucker professor of management sciences and director of the Center for Retirement Research, that retiree benefits will have to be cut in the coming years unless somethings done. Potential solutions are straightforwardhigher payroll taxes, later retirement ages, or both. But politicians have been loath to apply them because, Munnell said, Nobody wants to raise taxes or cut benefits.


Students are using [AI] tools, and theyre using them well. Its up to [the professors] to push them further and help them use those tools.

Sam Ransbotham on GBHs All Things Considered, August 29

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Universities, including Boston College, are grappling with what guidelines they should set for students use of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT. Ransbotham, a business analytics professor, saidstudents need to be proficient in AI, as proficiency will help determine who keeps their jobs in the AI age. His students already appear to know this: I just quickly did a show of hands in my classes this morning about whos using certain tools, and all the hands [went] up. Educators challenge, he said, will be teaching students to to achieve excellence, rather than just settle for chatbot-delivered mediocrity.


A lot of [investing] fads and vibes and things like that really are just similar examples of, This sounds like a good story.

Samuel Hartzmark in Fortune, June 16

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Can tarot cards foretell interest rate hikes? Do Capricorns rack up big gains in January? Fortune says some Gen Zs think soand of course they tout those views on TikTok. One interviewee quit her job as a tarot reader to day trade. Hartzmark, a finance professor and a Hillenbrand Family Faculty Fellow, chasing fads like this, saying stock buys should be based on superior information or insight, not occult and astrology. But he said he understood why people fall for silliness: The illusion of control. Financial decisions are complicated and scary. He added: The psychology here is nothing new. How it manifests itself is a little bit different due to technological change.


Were all realizing [AIs] hereespecially in a business school. How can you ignore this tsunami?

Jerry Potts in The Boston Globe, Sept. 3

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Professors are having to rework their courses to account for widespread student use of artificial intelligence, Potts . A lecturer in the Management and Organization Department, Potts now strives to create assignments where students must synthesize ideas and draw on their personal experiences, not simply parrot back facts. Ive had to rewrite all my assignments to be much more focused on connecting dots that arent out there on material that students cant readily retrieve from AI, he said. Potts has even run his coursework through an AI chatbot, both to understand how students might be using the technology and to surface ideas that might improve his class.


There are few costs associated with most of the allyship behaviors uncovered in our research, yet the benefits are substantialchief among them being the retention of working mothers in the labor force.

Benjamin Rogers and colleagues in Harvard Business Review, July 25

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Returning to work after childbirth is challenging for mothers in the United States, which lacks paid federal leave. Research by Rogers, an assistant professor of management and organization, and colleagues has identified four allyship behaviors that can help postpartum mothers in the workplace: helping navigate HR policies, creating flexible work environments, validating both professional and maternal identities, and offering emotional support. In an online the researchers note that anyone, not just fellow parents or HR staffers, can act as an ally to a postpartum mom.


For public company shareholders who have nothing to do with the local community, they dont internalize the benefits of what [CEOs] do for the community.

Nadya Malenko in The Boston Globe, Sept. 10

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An activist hedge fund has pressed for changes at Rapid7, a Boston cybersecurity company. That could spell trouble for its CEO, Corey Thomas, because sometimes activists demand new management. Thomas is a standout in Boston business circleshe serves on the boards of both the Boston Federal Reserve Bank and the local chamber of commerceso his departure would be a loss for the community. But out-of-town activists dont care about that, Malenko, a finance professor and the Wargo Family Faculty Fellow, Theyre focused on a companys financial returns.


Tim Gray is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in financial topics. He contributed to The New York Times for two decades and is a contributing writer for