Babcock students, faculty, and alumni are frequently in the news for their accomplishments. From furthering industry knowledge to winning national competitions, the people of Babcock are always making a difference.

The 7 secrets of really, really lucky companies - by Drake Bennett
04/12/09, The Boston Globe
Smunt, Timothy

Nothing succeeds like success - and few books succeed like books about success. Since the 1982 publication of "In Search of Excellence," by the McKinsey consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, the business-success book has grown from a genre into a juggernaut. The most influential among them, like "The Leadership Engine" and "Reengineering the Corporation" and "Built to Last" and "Good to Great," sell millions of copies, are translated into dozens of languages, and shape the habits of managers from Detroit to Dubai. While the particulars vary, the basic idea underlying the literature is the same: that the secrets of success can be divined by careful study of the institutional habits of the world's business all-stars - companies that set the standard for their industries, that thrive in tough times, companies that win the war for talent, companies that are built to last. In the imperturbable focus on core values of Hewlett-Packard or the restless innovativeness of Google or the ruthless accountability of GE, there are lessons for us all. Recent years, however, have seen a proliferation of critiques of books like "Good to Great," fueled in part by the same quantitative urge behind the push for evidence-based medical care. In last fall's issue of The Academy of Management Perspectives, two separate articles took issue with "Good to Great." One of them, by Bruce Resnick and Timothy Smunt, professors at Wake Forest University's Babcock School of Management, found that if the 15-year window during which Collins looked at each of his "great" companies was moved by as little as a few months, the exceptional stock market performance that distinguished them all but disappeared.

The 7 secrets of really, really lucky companies, by Drake Bennett
04/12/09, The Boston Globe
Resnick, Bruce

Nothing succeeds like success - and few books succeed like books about success. Since the 1982 publication of "In Search of Excellence," by the McKinsey consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, the business-success book has grown from a genre into a juggernaut. The most influential among them, like "The Leadership Engine" and "Reengineering the Corporation" and "Built to Last" and "Good to Great," sell millions of copies, are translated into dozens of languages, and shape the habits of managers from Detroit to Dubai. While the particulars vary, the basic idea underlying the literature is the same: that the secrets of success can be divined by careful study of the institutional habits of the world's business all-stars - companies that set the standard for their industries, that thrive in tough times, companies that win the war for talent, companies that are built to last. In the imperturbable focus on core values of Hewlett-Packard or the restless innovativeness of Google or the ruthless accountability of GE, there are lessons for us all. Recent years, however, have seen a proliferation of critiques of books like "Good to Great," fueled in part by the same quantitative urge behind the push for evidence-based medical care. In last fall's issue of The Academy of Management Perspectives, two separate articles took issue with "Good to Great." One of them, by Bruce Resnick and Timothy Smunt, professors at Wake Forest University's Babcock School of Management, found that if the 15-year window during which Collins looked at each of his "great" companies was moved by as little as a few months, the exceptional stock market performance that distinguished them all but disappeared.

Retail Notes: Coupon programs go online
02/01/09, Winston-Salem Journal
Herbst, Kenny

Supermarket chains may have found an answer for thrifty customers who forget and leave their coupons at home. Kenneth Herbst, an assistant professor of marketing at the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University, said that the ability to download coupons easily and quickly brings value to customers. "From Lowes' perspective, it could increase customer loyalty because it provides a reason and incentive for shoppers to visit Lowes' Web site," he said.