Is Business Broken?

Exciting news! Is Business Broken? has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Business category!

We couldn't be more proud of all of our listeners who helped make this possible. And with this nomination, we're up for a Listener's Choice award.

We’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to vote for us: Please vote here.

Thank you so much!

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AI promises massive gains in productivity and a flourishing of goods and services—but also poses consequences for jobs, corporate power, and society. There will be winners and losers. Today, we're asking: How do we strike the balance between innovation and safety, between competition and concentration, between policy and industry regulation?
At a live event as part of the WBUR Festival, host Curt Nickisch speaks to:
Divya Sridhar - Vice President, Global Privacy Division & Privacy Operations, BBB National Programs
Asu Ozdaglar - Department Head, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Deputy Dean, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
Andrei Hagiu – Professor of Information Systems, Boston University Questrom School of Business
Sen. Barry Finegold - State Senator, Essex and Middlesex Counties, MA

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One of the goals of the Mehrotra Institute is to educate, not just through research or in the classroom, but by creating real-world learning opportunities.
So, for this episode, we're handing the mic to student host Grant Corbett, who chats with JD Chesloff, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Business Round Table about how the current political environment is impacting businesses on the ground. Special thanks to the Raif Dinçkök Student Forum at the Mehrotra Institute for supporting this episode.

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How should companies balance short-term pressures with long-term interests?
Can they do both—and if so, how?

That’s the question we posed at a live event that BU Questrom held in April.

Host Curt Nickisch spoke to Stuart Hart, Professor in Residence at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, and the author of Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future; Anthony Allot, Board Chair and former CEO of Silgan Holdings Corporation; Aneliya Crawford, Head of ESG Advisory at UBS; and Andrew King, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Strategy & Innovation at BU Questrom.

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Last episode introduced the concept of common ownership. That’s where major investors buy significant stakes across competing firms, which can lower competition, raise prices, and affect innovation. But what could be done about that? Is there a way to address these anti-competitive issues?

Host Curt Nickisch talks potential solutions with Florian Ederer, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Markets, Public Policy & Law at BU Questrom; Glen Weyl, founder of the RadicalxChange Foundation and the Plurality Institute;

and Fiona Scott Morton, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics at the Yale School of Management.

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When the same big investors buy stakes in multiple competing companies, are those firms still competitors? When they practically have the same owner, do they set their prices differently? Do they lose their drive to innovate?

This is not a thought experiment. It’s real and widespread—a phenomenon known as common ownership. Is common ownership just smart investing, or is it reducing competition and driving up costs? And what, if anything, should be done about it?

To explain, host Curt Nickisch speaks to Florian Ederer, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Markets, Public Policy & Law at BU Questrom.

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Innovation is what drives progress—but in healthcare, progress can feel frustratingly slow. New treatments, technologies, and approaches have the potential to save lives and reduce costs, yet systemic barriers often stand in the way. Are financial incentives in this regulated market holding innovation back? If so, how badly? What would it take to realign them?

Today, host Curt Nickisch speaks to Jim Rebitzer Professor, Markets, Public Policy & Law, Questrom School of Business, and his brother Bob Rebitzer, National Advisor at Manatt Health.

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As we’ve discussed these last few episodes, there’s a lot that goes into how executives get paid—but what about the people working beneath those executives? How do employees feel about executive compensation, and how can companies balance rewarding top leaders while keeping employees engaged and valued?

Today, we explore how pay structures shape workplace culture, trust, and motivation—and what can be done to make them feel fairer.

Host Curt Nickisch speaks to Charlie Tharp, Professor of the Practice at BU Questrom School of Business and Peter Fasolo, Former CHRO at Johnson & Johnson.

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For our next conversation on executive compensation, we’re exploring some of the big questions researchers are tackling today. Like: How much of CEO pay is driven by luck? Have these pay packages gotten too complex? And are CEOs being fairly rewarded — or punished — for the risks they take?

Host Curt Nickisch is joined by BU Questrom Professors Ana Albuquerque and Charlie Tharp.

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 Today's episode dives into the voice that shareholders have and how executives are paid, including large institutional shareholders. What does that relationship look like between investors and companies, and how does this affect CEO pay?

Host Curt Nickisch chats with Bob McCormick, Executive Director at the Council of Institutional Investors, and Charlie Tharp, Professor of the Practice at Boston University Questrom School of Business.

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