Eccles Business Buzz

By: David Eccles School of Business
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to the Eccles Business Buzz Podcast. My name is Frances Johnson, and your host for our podcast show. We know the Eccles community is only as strong as its alumni network and as I have built relationships with alumni across the nation, I’ve learned how truly remarkable our network is. Our goal is to share alumni stories, perspectives, and voices on topics that are driving conversations around the globe and within our school today. The core values of the Eccles community will underlie everything we discuss here: Entrepreneurial Grit, Continuous Curiosity, Empathetic Global Citizenship, and Impacting Your World.

    Eccles Business Buzz is a production of David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.
    All rights reserved.
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Career Success Economics
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Episodes
  • S8E1 Harnessing the Potential of the Eccles School feat. Allison Boxer

    S8E1 Harnessing the Potential of the Eccles School feat. Allison Boxer
    Mar 27 2025
    Season 8 of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast kicks off with a conversation about the school's recent strategic planning process, and the newly identified priorities of student success, societal impact, and legacy and reputation.Allison Boxer is the James Lee Sorenson Presidential Endowed Chair in applied research at the Eccles School, as well as an assistant professor at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy and the Sorenson Impact Institute. Allison played a key role in guiding the planning process of the new strategic direction of the David Eccles School of Business.Frances and Allison discuss the importance of strategic planning, the school's focus areas for the future, and the efforts to gather extensive stakeholder input. The episode delves into the three strategic priorities of student success, societal impact, and reputation and legacy, and outlines the ongoing steps toward implementation.Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University fm.Episode Quotes:Why having new strategic plans and priorities now is important for the Eccles School.[02:28] The real point of strategic planning is to bring clarity to what's most important to an organization and align everyone, staff, faculty, [and] students around key priorities so that we're all rowing in the same direction. And especially when an organization has a new leader, as we do with Dean Dirks, a strategic planning process can really help set the context and lay out the key priorities so we're all on the same Putting student success as the top strategic priority[10:41] I think our job or the job of strategic planning is to synthesize those [differing] perspectives. And we can't take every perspective, but there is a lot of coalescence into specific ideas. And so that's really what we're looking for. The other point of strategic planning is to make choices. We said at the beginning we can't be all things to all people. So, look at the context and all of the data and decide where it might be the best direction to go. These three, I'm really excited about these priorities. For the business school, the first and foremost is driving student success. That is number one. There is no question about it, and it is due to our mission. We are here for the students. The students are the reason we exist. I think the students are the reason every faculty and staff member comes to work every day. So, the students are central to everything we do at core to our mission. The key here is really helping every student seek and reach their peak. Creating future leaders who will make a lasting impact in Utah and beyond.[11:42] We are seeing across the country in a fantastic way, universities, higher education institutions, really taking on this second mission area, which is creating societal impact. For a business school in our setting, thinking about our context, it's really about extending our reach beyond campus to help people, businesses, and the economy thrive in Utah and beyond. We think of this in a couple ways. We think of it as an academic impact. The research has long-term impact on how things are done, as well as business impact and how, the number one way we do that is by creating amazing graduates who go into the workforce and the economy. But there's so many other connections that we can have beyond campus walls to really have an impact on the business community in Utah and beyond. How Allison envisions these strategic plans to be implemented. [23:40] I want the strategic plan to be dirty, not dusty. I don't want this plan to sit on a shelf and gather dust. It was a really cool exercise we did for that one year. I want it to be on people's desks with dog-eared pages and coffee stains as a sign that it's a part of their daily life and being referenced and that we're really using it. I think that's the key implementation as this document lives over the coming years.Show Links:Allison Boxer | LinkedInAllison Boxer | Faculty Profile at the David Eccles School of BusinessAllison Boxer | Sorenson Impact InstituteDavid Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | InstagramUndergraduate Scholars ProgramsRising Business LeadersEccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine
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    28 mins
  • The Eccles Business Buzz Podcast is Back for Season 8!

    The Eccles Business Buzz Podcast is Back for Season 8!
    Mar 13 2025

    I’m so excited to welcome you back for Season 8 of the Eccles Business Buzz Podcast! In just a few short weeks, we’ll kick things off with fresh conversations about the new strategic priorities for the David Eccles School of Business and how we’re building on our successes to reach ambitious new goals.

    This season, I’ll take you behind the scenes of our strategic planning process, explore how our programs and experiential learning are shaping confident leaders, and dive into the cutting-edge research that’s transforming the world of management. Plus, I’ll check in with Dean Kurt Dirks as he reflects on his first year on the job.

    The first episode drops March 27th, with new episodes every other Thursday. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and invite a friend or fellow alum to tune in with you. I can’t wait for you to join me!
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    2 mins
  • S7E10: The Role of AI in Sustainable Business Growth feat. Jay Barney

    S7E10: The Role of AI in Sustainable Business Growth feat. Jay Barney
    Jan 23 2025
    We conclude our series of conversations about Artificial Intelligence and how it's changing the world around us. Today’s episode focuses on the use of AI by businesses, specifically as a sustainable competitive advantage, and why AI may not be the magic pill that it seems like at first.Here to help untangle the whole issue is Jay Barney. Jay is the Presidential Professor of Strategic Management at the David Eccles School of Business.Jay addresses common misconceptions about AI's ability to provide a competitive edge, likening its impact to previous technological innovations such as personal computers and the steam engine. He asserts that while AI can drive innovation and efficiency, it cannot by itself offer sustainable competitive advantage as it is widely accessible. Jay emphasizes the importance instead of unique organizational processes and the human element in maintaining a competitive edge, and discusses the potential pitfalls for early AI adopters. Frances and Jay also explore how businesses can leverage AI within the context of strong organizational processes and culture to generate real value.Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University fm.Episode Quotes:Will Gen AI be a source of advantage or disadvantage for firms?[02:51] We're not arguing that Gen AI is not going to have a profound impact on the way we do business. In fact, because the impact is going to be so profound, all firms will have to respond to it. And that's not likely to be a source of advantage by itself for any firm. That's the great irony.What benefits do companies gain in deploying Gen AI? [14:59] Jay Barney: There are millions of things that Gen AI can do. Most of them fall in a couple of big buckets, right? One of them is pulling costs out. And by the way, how are you going to pull costs out? By taking human beings out of the process. Now, that has huge social implications. This started by the way in the sixties with lean manufacturing. We're pulling people out and using automation robots and supply relationships and all those things. And it's a continuation of that long-term trend of reducing human contact in our business, which, by the way, points to how important that residual human contact is. The stuff that's left over, all this other stuff…[15:39] Frances Johnson: Gets even more important.[15:41] Jay Barney: Even more important. Exactly right. And another one is going to be an innovation.Skills students need in the age of Gen AI[17:15] Frances Johnson: As you think about the students you're teaching, the students we have at the Eccles School, our recent graduates and alums who need to make themselves competitive in that leftover 10%, what do you see as the skills or the capabilities that are critical for them to have?[17:35] Jay Barney: Well, this is not specific to this Gen AI conversation, but it's all about building socially complex relationships among individuals so they are willing to share, work together, [and] create ideas that only come out of those kinds of human processes. For example, "Go Gen AI, give us a list of seven toothbrushes." Great! "How do we make those?" Ask Gen AI. It'll give you 15 choices on how to get them made, how to distribute. But at some point, someone is going to have to make creative decisions about, "Is there really demand out there?" Gen AI doesn't know that because it can only analyze what is, not what might be. And so, that's going to require another set of skills that may be even more human in nature. So, I think that the ability to build a team, to generate a sense of commitment to each other, to the organization, its purpose, to inspire are sources of sustained competitive advantage. I have yet to be inspired by a Gen AI experience, amazed, shocked, amused, entertained, uninspired.Show Links:Jay Barney | LinkedInJay Barney | Faculty Profile at the David Eccles School of BusinessJay Barney | jaybarney.orgJay Barney | Amazon Author PageDavid Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) • InstagramEccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) • Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine
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    31 mins

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