Award-winning CEOs, that is. A study by two professors, one at Cal and one at UCLA, found that CEOs who won awards—by publications such as Business Week, for example—performed more poorly over time than their comparable, awardless counterparts.

Will the results affect newly appointed Haas School of Business dean Richard Lyons? After all, deans are the CEOs of the college world.

We’ll let the Haasites decide, as it looks like he’s determined to teach at least one class this year. Just try not to compliment him too much, lest it detracts from his deanly duties.

Image Source: Peter Kaminski under Creative Commons
Cal, UCLA study: Beware of ’superstar’ CEOs [San Francisco Business Times]

BusinessWeek released their Best Undergrad B-Schools rankings last week. The usually much-touted Haas School of Business pulled an ass-backward slide from its perennial number three perch to the inglorious No. 11 spot, and all in the space of one year.

What happened, the concerned student may ask? read more »

All this hullaballoo about the construction of Memorial Stadium, and no one seems to care what might have happened to poor old Bowles Hall.

But for anyone who might care, let the Clog allay your fears: that dear Hogwarts-esque dorm will not be snatched from student residents and presented on a silver platter to Haas businessmen after all.

The plan to convert the 1928 landmark dormitory into suites for executives attending the university’s Haas School of Business received an outcry from former Bowlesmen. The controversy was enough for the SF Chronicle to blatantly label it the “Battle of Bowles Hall–tradition vs. money.”

It was also enough to have the Haas project collapse in favor of a more modest proposal for general renovation of student dormitories.

After all the deliberations, the Clog is still curious why there were tree-sitters but no Bowles-sitters. What would Bowles-sitters look like? The two controversial projects were next-door neighbors–it wouldn’t be that hard for the tree-sitters to occupy both areas. Because, yeah, we know trees are important, but that Led Zeppelin mural on the northeast corner of the top floor is just as important.

However, we do concede that it would have been awfully fun to see the Haas Business Executives sing the Bowles Hall Drinking Song.

Image Source: Allison Porterfield, Daily Cal
Plan for Bowles Hall Over; What’s Next for Landmark? [Berkeley Daily Planet]
Battle of Bowles Hall–tradition vs. money [SF Gate]
Haas Plans Educational Center at Bowles [Daily Cal]

Unsurprisingly for a blog with a staff made up of philosophy, rhetoric and English majors, the Clog doesn’t often publish business-related news. But two stories that broke this week caught our attention.

According to The Wall Street Journal, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is now the No. 2 place to receive an MBA in the country. Good for them.

Though the Clog has to confess that on the few occasions in our lives that we’ve had reason to go to that part of campus, we’ve gotten horribly lost and confused. MBAs are nice if you want to get rich, we suppose–but only a liberal arts degree teaches you how to live on $30,000 a year for the rest of your life.

On a semi-related note, a study using data from a local real estate and economic consulting firm found that UC Berkeley is the city’s biggest employer and pumps more money into the local economy than anyone else.

Is anyone else surprised that a report prepared by UC Berkeley staff highlighted the benefits of the campus for the city during the high season of lawsuits? It’s not that the data are wrong, but it’s always fascinating to see how various sides use facts and figures during disputes. Don’t say we didn’t learn anything in those Lib Arts classes.

Haas Ranks #2 in Wall Street Journal’s 2007 Recruiter Poll [Haas Newsroom]
UC Is City’s Biggest Spender, Employer [Daily Cal]