Leigh Thompson

Artificial intelligence apps are power-hungry, and there’s growing concern that electricity demand could strain the grid. On the Big Brains Podcast, UChicago Prof. Andrew Chien shares his research on the best way to sustainably supply power to data centers.

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#ThrowbackThursday Last year, Gary A. Wagner, Michael Araki, and I published a paper in the Journal of Business Venturing titled: "Labor Market Reform as an External Enabler of High-Growth Entrepreneurship: A Multi-Level Institutional Contingency Perspective" In this study, we examine how reforms that weaken the legal enforceability of non-compete agreements (NCAs) affect high-growth entrepreneurship (HGE) across U.S. regions. While prior research has focused mostly on how NCAs suppress new venture creation, we shift attention to their effects on the growth of entrepreneurial ventures. Using a multi-level, staggered difference-in-differences design across 270 metropolitan areas and 15 industries from 2004–2017, we find that: ✔️ Weakening NCA enforceability increases regional high-growth entrepreneurship ⚠️ But this effect is weakened in industries experiencing federal regulatory expansion 👏 However, local pro-market reforms can offset those negative federal effects Our findings highlight that labor market reforms are not universally enabling—their impact depends on the broader institutional environment. We also extend the External Enablement of Entrepreneurship framework by introducing two disabling mechanisms—resource escalation and resource elongation—that explain how institutional frictions can suppress the growth potential unlocked by labor reforms. As the U.S. continues to debate the future of non-compete agreements—including the Federal Trade Commission's (currently stalled) attempt at a nationwide ban—our work offers timely insights into how such reforms interact with other institutional forces to shape entrepreneurial outcomes. #entrepreneurship #institutions #noncompetes #publicpolicy #highgrowth #research #publications

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AI and Policy: Building Principles, Not Barriers I was honored to join the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEC) in Indiana for a timely and thought-provoking panel discussion on the question: Should we develop policies for AI curriculum development for entrepreneurship education? As AI continues to reshape how businesses are created, scaled, and led, we must ensure that policy does not aim to limit AI, but instead provides guiding principles for its responsible and inclusive use. We need a shared understanding of how AI can be ethically integrated into entrepreneurship education, with a focus on transparency, equity, and human-centered values. Thank you to the GEC community for fostering global dialogue at the intersection of innovation, education, and policy. These are the conversations that will define the future of work and learning. A thank you to Dr Faith Bradley for her support in providing ideas for my talk. She is a leading scholar in this area, and the entrepreneurship domain should listen more! #GEC2025 #EntrepreneurshipEducation #AIinEducation #PolicyAndInnovation

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What makes strategy distinct as a discipline? Purdue’s Jeffrey J. Reuer and Ohio State’s Michael Leiblein are spotlighting that very question. Their new journal encourages strategy scholars to engage more directly with practice by publishing essays that explore both perennial and emerging challenges. Contributions from executives and consultants add urgency and relevance to the academic conversation. Read the Daniels Insights post: https://lnkd.in/gqCK9sK6

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Online food delivery is doing more than changing where we eat—it might be reshaping how we cook, build routines, and think about health. 🍽️📱 As Yash Babar, Assistant Professor at the Wisconsin School of Business, explains: “This isn’t just about convenience… it’s about how technology is reshaping daily routines, with ripple effects for public health.” 👉 Read the full research and insights here: https://bit.ly/3YNEmTv

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Behavioral strategy has become an important force in strategic management scholarship. To illustrate, the Behavioral strategy IG is one of the largest interest groups in the Strategic Management Society and the top strategy journals regularly feature behavioral strategy papers. Drawing on psychology and behavioral economics, behavioral strategy highlights how cognition, biases, emotions, and social context shape strategic decisions. Scholars increasingly use behavioral insights to explain persistent performance differences, managerial judgment under uncertainty, and deviations from optimal choice. Behavioral strategy enrichens classical strategy perspectives, such as the resource-based view, competitive dynamics, and strategy process research. By integrating micro-level behavior with firm-level outcomes, behavioral strategy offers more realistic explanations and actionable implications, strengthening the dialogue between theory, empirical evidence, and managerial practice today globally. (For an introduction to behavioral strategy, see https://lnkd.in/e37phjUu) Increasingly, colleagues include modules on behavioral strategy in their strategy classes, but are often unsure what to include. A few years ago I taught an elective solely dedicated to behavioral strategy. The syllabus is uploaded. I was warned that it was “too theoretical.” But it wasn’t. Students loved the content (the course received a 5 in overall evaluation). So, perhaps the syllabus may be of inspiration to those of you who may want to include some behavioral strategy content in your strategy class. 

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Strategy, leadership, and communication took center stage today at Ohio University. ✅ Business Communication – Profs. Shawnee Chapman & Tom Norton: students strengthened storytelling and professional English for global business impact. ✅ Management – Prof. David Boss: explored LIFO to understand behavioral styles and boost team effectiveness. ✅ Project Management – Prof. Omar Alhawari: focused on selecting, prioritizing, and monitoring projects for high performance. These sessions are shaping agile, globally minded leaders.

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What does it take to be a “Top 10 Undergraduate Business School to Watch” by Poets&Quants? For Kogod, it includes: ✅ An “AI for All” strategy that embeds #AI throughout Kogod coursework, provides AI credentials and badges to students, invests in faculty and staff training, partners with the private sector, and ensures Kogod is constantly evolving as technology evolves. ✅ An overhauled undergraduate core curriculum that is more flexible, more interdisciplinary, and more focused on employment-ready skills in AI, professionalism, and sustainability. This annual list from Poets&Quants has previously featured University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business), USC Marshall School of Business, NYU Stern School of Business, and other top business schools around the country. Read the full article and Q&A with Kogod Dean David Marchick to dive deeper into how we're preparing the next generation of business leaders → https://lnkd.in/ePzcwKGC 

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On May 28th, I introduced the BLOOM-AI Framework, a model designed to align AI tools with Bloom’s Taxonomy while preserving the essential role of educators. The core idea is simple: Let AI support the “what” so educators can focus on the “how” and “why.” That post received over 70,000 impressions and 200+ reposts, a clear signal: educators are eager for practical, research-informed ways to integrate AI without losing cognitive depth or human connection. It reassigns lower-order tasks (remembering, understanding) to AI, freeing educators to lead higher-order thinking (applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating). It also maps tools to VARK learning modalities to promote diverse engagement. To meet the overwhelming interest in the Bloom-AI Framework, I’ve written a full whitepaper that goes deeper, providing clarity, structure, and actionable guidance. Inside, you’ll find: * A practical breakdown of how to separate AI-supported foundational learning from human-led cognitive development * Strategies for mapping AI tools to each stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy * A step-by-step roadmap for faculty and institutions ready to implement the framework * Real-world examples from across disciplines, showing how this model works in business, education, STEM, and more Let’s Collaborate: If you're exploring how to bring this into your department or institution, I’d love to help. Let's collaborate. Message me here or visit www.randalschober.com for more details. Together, we can build AI-supported learning environments that are innovative, inclusive, and human-centered. #AIinEducation #BloomAI #HigherEd #InstructionalDesign #FacultyDevelopment #FutureOfLearning

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QS University World Ranking vs Unicorn Founder Ranking The QS World University Rankings focus on academic excellence, research output, and reputation. But how do these rankings compare when measuring entrepreneurial success? We selected only US universities in the ranking and compared to our US unicorn rankings.    Top performers in both rankings: Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranks #1 in QS, #3 by unicorn founders (184)  Stanford University ranks #3 in QS, #1 by unicorn founders (296)  Harvard University ranks #5 in QS, #2 by unicorn founders (205)    Universities that outperform their QS ranking in unicorn ranking: University of California, Berkeley: #17 in QS but #4 by unicorn founders (125)  University of Pennsylvania: #15 in QS but #5 by unicorn founders (76)  Columbia University: #16 in QS but #7 by unicorn founders (72)  Yale University: #21 in QS but #6 by unicorn founders (74)  Princeton University: #25 in QS but #11 by unicorn founders (45)   Universities stronger in academics: Caltech: #10 in QS but #15 by unicorn founders (13)    Academic quality and entrepreneurial success could be different. MIT and Stanford excel at both, while Berkeley punches far above its QS weight in producing unicorn founders. This tells us that building unicorns may require something beyond traditional academic excellence— proximity to venture capital, entrepreneurial culture, and strong alumni networks matter. Thank you to Stanford University Venture Capital Initiative for supporting this research. 

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A rigorous two-year study led by Prof. Michael Kremer, a Nobel Laureate and Director of the Development Innovation Lab (University of Chicago), highlights the effectiveness of Personalized Adaptive Learning (PAL) in improving student learning outcomes at scale.⁣ ⁣ Key findings from the study:⁣ • 𝟏.𝟗 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐀𝐋.⁣ • 𝟐.𝟑𝐱 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬.⁣ • 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 = 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝟎.𝟎𝟔 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.⁣ ⁣ Here are a few articles on the results in the media.⁣ ⁣ The results from this study are encouraging. 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. How can technology help teachers make this possible? MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA | Commissioner of School Education, Andhra Pradesh | Samagra Shiksha Andhra Pradesh | Central Square Foundation | Jairaj Bhattacharya | Shashank Pandey | Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja | Gouri Gupta | Harish Doraiswamy | Anustup Nayak | Romonika D Sharan | Debesh Banerjee | Rahul Garg

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MBAs from top business schools are struggling for jobs. The percent of job-seeking students, 3 months after graduation per The Wall Street Journal : 🎓 25% at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business 🎓 21% at Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business 🎓 16% at Harvard Business School 🎓 15% at University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business 🎓 10% at Columbia Business School Many B-School's career centers are doubling down on: - Using AI to match students to prospective employers (Harvard) - Connecting students to alums and job coaches (Fuqua) - Providing curriculum emphasizing career readiness (Georgetown) HELPFUL FIXES. BUT ARE THEY ANSWERING THE REAL STRATEGY QUESTIONS? 🎓 Are MBAs mastering actual/real skills that will provide value to employers starting day-1 on their job? 🎓 Do MBAs have deep expertise/mastery of important concepts, or do they have superficial familiarity masquerading as mastery? 🎓 Have MBAs cultivated the humility to know what they don't know. 🎓 Are MBAs sufficiently differentiated so hiring employers don't have to create their own cases, tests, exams, and so forth to discern high-quality from low-quality graduates? 🎓 Are MBA's willing to learn frontline skills before they can move to middle and upper management? In recent years, layoffs have befallen middle/upper management, with CEOs prizing the skillset of frontline employees. Starbucks, Walmart, Google etc.

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