Olin Award for faculty research turns 10

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In a concentrated, continuing effort to link Washington University in St. Louis academic research to everyday business practice, the 10th annual Olin Award recognizes an Olin Business School faculty member who joined two University of Pennsylvania professors in crafting a computer model to guide managers who need to forecast behaviors of newly acquired customers.
As is customary, a panel of senior executives review the papers submitted, and these executives ultimately apply some of the findings to their own businesses.
“This rare award rewards relevancy and focuses on the exceptional intellectual capital that applies to real business issues,” said Richard J. Mahoney, former CEO of Monsanto and a Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at Olin where he initiated the $10,000 prize. “I can tell you from decades of corporate experience that academic research all too often is overlooked in the business realm. So here at Olin we strive to connect the innovation and evidence of our faculty with a business community where this science can directly benefit both enterprise and consumers.”
St. Louis-based Edward Jones joined with Jackson Nickerson, the Frahm Family Professor of Organization & Strategy, to help to incorporate Collaborative Structured Inquiry from his 2009 Olin Award-winning paper (see chart, below). Emily Pitts, principal for Inclusion and Diversity, called it an “invaluable experience.”
“Working with Professor Nickerson using this process enabled our firm to make significant progress,” Pitts said. “We were able to identify division by division in our headquarters where we had areas of opportunity to improve on topics such as sourcing diverse talent, recruiting, hiring, developing or just creating a more inclusive environment. Ninety percent of all of our Home Office divisions have completed the process and identified tangible solutions. Some divisions have already begun to see measurable progress, and best practices are beginning to be duplicated across the firm to eventually become standard.”

Mahoney said the 2017 winner exemplifies how quality research can ...

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