Harvard and Wisconsin Tie in Turning Out the Most CEOs in U.S.
I thought it quite interesting that a state known for cheese, packers, and Eric Cox might also be regarded as a CEO-factory. Is Professor DeVaugn next?
Here is the article:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=aIMI5Fx8d9sM
Interestin tidbits:
"There should be more respect for the kind of education you can get from a large public institution,'' says Sim Sitkin, founding director of the Center of Leadership and Ethics at the Fuqua School of Business, at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
MBA Matters:
For CEOs who did finish college, an MBA is the preferred graduate credential. More than a third of the 500 U.S. chief executives -- 37.5 percent -- earned their MBAs, and they were three times as likely to have gone to Harvard Business School in Boston than to any other school.
Interesting CEO stats:
Trying Harder
Equal Opportunity
Ambitious
Dropouts
MBA Preferred
Degree Importance Fades
Giving Back
Track Record
So what do you think? Is there a correlation of school to CEOship? Or is there a higher correlation to factors such as wealth/power/influence?
Either way, an interesting read.
Enjoy!
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2 comments:
The article failed to mention the number of breweries currently listed in the S&P 500 for some reason....
Being from Wisconsin and having spent a fair amount of time in Madison, this article was intriguing to me. I definitely think there is some correlation between the graduate school and the presence of CEO’s. Harvard is a star among grad schools, and it’s no doubt that their stringent acceptance standards and curriculum foster future CEO’s. It is hard to argue as well that Harvard in some respects is a school of privilege, with connections sometimes needed to get in, just as sometimes connections are needed to move ahead in the business world.
In terms of Wisconsin, while the school has a reputation of a party school, it also has a class-first orientation during the week. As with other public schools, they do have the advantage of being able to have a larger student population. Madison is consistently ranked in the top 10 cities in the US in which to live, which could help give it a leg up over a similar college in a city that isn’t as vibrant as Madison.
The article mentioned that UW is heavy into research. It used to be that the largest companies in the US were old, large manufacturing firms. The last 10 years has seen a shakeup at the top as new entrants continue to climb the rankings. The growth isn’t coming from those old-guard manufacturing firms, but rather by nimble firms, many of whom have been driven by breakthroughs in research. A byproduct of stellar research at Madison is reflected by talent staying close to home or getting involved in the development of start up companies. It’s easier to become a CEO there than a traditionally layer-heavy firm. And I don’t suspect that this is the case with just Madison, but also the coast of California, the research triangle in North Carolina, and also Harvard’s home of Boston. In these places, a focus on research in academia translates into an work force based geared towards research at a higher level than in other areas.
That being said, I still believe that regional biases will still be present for new CEO appointments. All things being equal, I would suspect that a board of a company on the east coast that has a couple Harvard grads would be more likely to hire a fellow alum than someone from the left coast with a degree from a public university.
-Steven Sinclair
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