‘Shark Tank’ for business minds: DMSB Day highlights faculty research pitches and corporate collaboration The inaugural DMSB Day convened academic scholars and graduates from the corporate world for an event modeled after the TV show. by Cyrus Moulton November 22, 2024 Share this story Copy Link Link Copied! Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter WhatsApp Reddit Stine Grodal, Northeastern University distinguished professor, makes her pitch at D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Faculty with the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University have many ideas on how to improve the business world. At a recent event called DMSB Day, local business leaders were all ears. “DMSB Day should be must-see TV for the Northeastern community and corporate and nonprofit leaders near and far,” said David G. Behenna, an entrepreneur, 1981 DMSB graduate and vice chair of the DMSB Boston Executive Leadership Council. Here’s what you need to know about the event: 11/14/24 – BOSTON, MA. – Scenes during the D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day held in the Alumni Center on Nov. 14, 2024. The event featured 12 top researchers “pitching” their research to an audience of alumni, corporate partners, and DMSB colleagues. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University 11/14/24 – BOSTON, MA. – Scenes during the D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day held in the Alumni Center on Nov. 14, 2024. The event featured 12 top researchers “pitching” their research to an audience of alumni, corporate partners, and DMSB colleagues. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University 11/14/24 – BOSTON, MA. – Scenes during the D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day held in the Alumni Center on Nov. 14, 2024. The event featured 12 top researchers “pitching” their research to an audience of alumni, corporate partners, and DMSB colleagues. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University 11/14/24 – BOSTON, MA. – Scenes during the D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day held in the Alumni Center on Nov. 14, 2024. The event featured 12 top researchers “pitching” their research to an audience of alumni, corporate partners, and DMSB colleagues. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University 11/14/24 – BOSTON, MA. – Scenes during the D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day held in the Alumni Center on Nov. 14, 2024. The event featured 12 top researchers “pitching” their research to an audience of alumni, corporate partners, and DMSB colleagues. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Faculty at D’Amore-McKim School of Business pitched industry leaders at a “Shark Tank-style” DMSB Day. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University What is DMSB Day? The inaugural D’Amore-McKim School of Business Day convened academic scholars and graduate leaders in the corporate world for an event modeled after the television show “Shark Tank,” where faculty pitched their groundbreaking research ideas to improve the business world. Faculty had five minutes each to describe their top research ideas. These were followed by a 20-minute round table discussion with a panel of judges — where faculty answered questions, elaborated on their pitch and discussed potential next steps. Eleven faculty members participated; their pitches divided among several rounds. Sixteen business leaders with ties to D’Amore-McKim served on panels of judges. What inspired the event? The event was planned to emphasize and strengthen ties among DMSB staff and business leaders. “Learn across borders and lead with impact — this vision drives everything we do at D’Amore-McKim School of Business,” said David De Cremer, Dunton Family dean and professor of management and technology at DMSB. “The event is about building a foundation for that future, bridging academia with business to create real change.” What were some of the pitches? The variety of the pitches showcased the academic breadth and depth of the D’Amore-McKim faculty. “What is the best way to organize hybrid work?” asked Zeynep Aksehirli, associate teaching professor of management at DMSB, in presenting her research using organizational network analysis to inform and optimize hybrid work strategies. Meanwhile, Laura Huang, distinguished professor of management and organizational development at DMSB, highlighted how two different types of questions — promotion-focused questions that emphasize vision and opportunity; and prevention-focused questions that emphasize risks and barriers — can influence perceptions and evaluations in a pitch scenario. Several faculty also pitched ideas based around the adoption of artificial intelligence. Karthik Krishnan, associate professor of finance, presented research investigating the economics of implementing AI, with a focus on the trade-off between AI operational costs and gains in worker productivity.Stine Grodal, distinguished professor of entrepreneurship and innovation, warned employers about “the high-tech trap.” This is when business leaders who are attracted by the possibilities of a shiny new technology like AI implement said technology to perform novel — but not more mundane but essential — tasks. What did the judges think? “Amazing concept and extraordinary talented professors,” said Vivek Sharma, executive chairman of Suven Pharma and vice chair of the DMSB Boston Executive Leadership Council. “Pitches were practical in nature and were solving real-life situations. Excellent idea and I hope it expands to other parts of Northeastern University and beyond.” “DMSB Day bridged the gap between the classroom and the boardroom,” said Ron Caplan, president of PMC Property Group, 1972 DMSB graduate and a member of the DMSB Dean’s Executive Committee. Who were the winners? There were three top pitchers: Nicole Boyson, a professor of finance who researches lawsuits related to defined contribution retirement plans like 401(k) or 403 (b) plans, will receive funding to access a dataset. This data will help her examine whether lawsuits concerning companies’ retirement plans encourage the sued companies’ peers to proactively improve their plans. Udi Hoitash, the Lilian L. and Harry A. Cowan professor of accounting, will assemble a team to help on his project to finetune a large language model so it can “understand” accounting narrative and numbers. The project can benefit financial statement preparers, analysts and auditors. Research from John Bai, associate professor of finance, focused on what he and collaborators call the “human-AI discrepancy,” a quantitative measure that captures the semantic differences between the answers to analyst questions provided by a chatbot versus those provided by executives during earnings calls.