"B-school Blog Round-Up" via MBA in Google Reader

The Kleenex Story: Unintended Use

2009-11-10T21:38:00Z

The history of Kleenex tissue offers an important lesson. Here's the story. Kimberly Clark launched its Kleenex tissue products in 1924. At the time, the company targeted adult females and marketed the product as a means of removing make-up. The first magazine ad ran in the Ladies Home Journal with the tag line: "the new secret of keeping a pretty skin as used by famous movie stars."

Several years after the launch, Kimberly-Clark's head researcher began using the tissues to blow his nose due to hay fever. He wanted the marketing folks to advertise the product for this use as well. They resisted at first. Around this same time, many customers also were using the Kleenex tissue in place of their handkerchiefs. Kimberly Clark learned about this unexpected customer behavior. Finally, in 1930, Kimberly Clark ran two ads at the same time. One focused on blowing your nose, while the other emphasized make-up removal. They evaluated customer response. More readers responded that they used the tissue to blow their nose. Ad campaigns changed, sales took off, and the rest is history.

What's the lesson of the story? Companies need to be mindful that customers may use their products in unexpected ways. Perhaps most importantly, firms must resist the temptation to dismiss this unanticipated customer behavior. The customers may, in fact, be telling you something incredibly important, if only you keep an open mind. Give Kimberly Clark credit for coming around in time, and investigating this unexpected behavior. As a result, they created one of the most successful brands of the 20th century.

Paige Huetteman: Job Searching...

2009-11-10T08:17:00Z

I feel like I've been recruiting for the last 1.5 years straight. While I realize that is a stretch of the imagination as I did have a 3 month internship in there, it's all weighing down on me right now. I just completed a second round NPV analysis...

Greg Little: Field Trip

2009-11-08T15:10:00Z

It’s not too often that you get to experience childhood again. Waking up this last Wednesday morning brought back memories of elementary school: waking up early, your heart racing with excitement to get to school… it’s field trip day! As you get...

MBA Channel: The greenest MBA: Corporate Social Responsibility

2009-11-09T15:44:50Z

Click here for the article of MBA Channel, 27th October, 2009.

A number of business schools are leading the charge in teaching, research and student activities related to sustainability. These efforts fall into three broad categories: social enterprise, environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Fifteen outstanding “green” programs have been profiled weekly...

Admissions Tip: The Comparison Trap

2009-11-09T09:23:05Z

Subway: Overcoming Headquarters Bias

2009-11-07T18:17:00Z

This Business Week story explains the origins of Subway's incredibly successful "$5 foot long" marketing campaign. Brand managers at corporate headquarters did not concoct the campaign. The idea did not originate on Madison Avenue. Instead, it began with a promotion launched by a small Miami-based franchisee named Stuart Frankel. Other local franchisees latched onto the idea, after seeing how profitable the strategy had become for Stuart Frankel. Frankel and his peers had some convincing to do though. It took awhile, but they finally did persuade corporate to adopt the concept for the entire chain.

Interestingly, this campaign does not represent the first such innovation from the front lines at Subway. The famous "Subway diet" campaign featuring Jared Fogle emerged form the field as well! A fellow student wrote about Fogle's unique Subway diet, and Men's Health magazine wrote an article about him later. Soon, a local Chicago-area franchisee noticed the story, and he began trying to convince corporate headquarters to adopt Jared's story as the centerpiece of an advertising campaign. Again, the idea met resistance from corporate, but after regional success in the Midwest, franchisees finally convinced headquarters that the idea had tremendous merit.

These two stories both illustrate the power of harnessing creativity and innovation at the front lines of organizations, where local knowledge resides. At the front lines, employees interact with customers every day, and they often generate new ideas that could serve consumers better.

What's the challenge? I describe it as headquarters bias. In too many instances, the corporate office simply thinks they know better than the field employees (sort of like the intellectuals and politicians in Washington always think they know better than the average citizen). Give Subway credit for not allowing the initial "headquarters bias" to completely shut down these ideas. After initially resisting, they recognized the value of the ideas and spread them throughout the chain's locations.

Can We Simplify Financial Regulation?

2009-11-06T13:50:17Z

There's a common saying that you never pay attention to your electricity provider unless the lights don't come on. Well, it's the same thing with the various regulatory systems throughout the world. For the most part, they tend to be invisible, unless there's a problem.

Unfortunately, over the past year the financial regulatory system has been extremely visible, and not in a good way. As the post-mortems on the economic downturn continue, regulatory bodies are being put in the spotlight. Why didn't they prevent the crisis or at least send early warning signals? How did the examiners allow institutions such as Lehman Brothers, AIG, Bear Stearns, and Citibank to assume so much risk? How did various Ponzi schemers slip through the regulatory nets for so many years?

Even at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's annual conference in New York last week, the head of the SEC, Mary Schapiro, said, "the right questions were not asked...to mitigate the risk before we coasted to the brink."

Given the chorus of criticisms, momentum is building to fix or change the financial regulatory framework. Many are calling for new regulations and new regulatory bodies, such as a consumer protection agency. Others are suggesting that all of the regulatory agencies be combined into some sort of "super regulator." Another suggestion is to give new powers to existing bodies to fill some of the gaps in regulating hedge funds or new financial products. There's also a movement afoot to create a "systemic regulator" that will look at issues that cut across the entire financial system.

Clearly not all of these reform proposals will be developed or enacted. But before rushing into any of them, it may be useful to step back and think about simplifying the system, rather than just reforming it. As a starting point, try to name all of the agencies or institutions that have a role in regulating the U.S. financial system (how much time do you have?): There's the Treasury Department, the New York Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and state insurance commissions (50 of them, of course) — and probably a few more. In addition, there are standard-setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board; rating agencies such as S&P and Moodys; and market organizations such as the New York Stock Exchange. That's a daunting list, and it's not even complete.

Given this level of complexity, the idea of adding more or different regulatory bodies to the mix seems questionable. How can you strengthen a fragmented system by making it more fragmented? Instead, as Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase said in his speech at the securities industry conference, the "regulatory landscape needs to be simplified."

Of course, simplification of a patchwork quilt of institutions — all of which have different charters, histories, and governance mechanisms — is not easy and may even be impossible. But perhaps the first step is for President Obama, or Treasury Secretary Geithner, to convene a "regulatory summit" meeting to bring together all of the different institutions and get them talking with each other. Through a facilitated dialogue, they could identify the responsibilities that fall between the cracks (e.g. regulating hedge funds), the different methodologies and assumptions being used, and better ways of sharing data for the purposes of early risk or fraud warnings.

Getting regulators to talk with each other won't be easy, and won't solve everything, but it might be a way to make progress. What do you think?

Ron Ashkenas is a managing partner of Robert H. Schaffer & Associates http://www.rhsa.com a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the forthcoming book Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done

How to Ask for Help — Without Looking Stupid

2009-11-06T13:24:54Z

Last week, more evidence emerged in the Securities and Exchange Commission's debacle over the mishandling of the Bernie Madoff über-fraud. While the SEC failed repeatedly to uncover the greatest Ponzi scheme in our country's history ($50 billion and counting), the New York Times revealed a tale of "unseasoned people uncertain about what to do and unwilling to ask for help."

But learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success.

You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the help you need is inexcusable, especially when the stakes are high. Asking for help in the workplace is a good thing. In fact, asking for help the right way can show how smart you are: it demonstrates that you've got good judgment and shows that you know what you know and what you don't know. Moreover, getting help up front saves endless time, energy and resources on the back end; in the Madoff case, it could have saved billions of dollars and immeasurable heartache.

Of course, it's not just asking for help — it's asking the right way. I recently coached a young man in commercial real-estate who relayed a conversation he had with his boss about starting a new regional initiative for his firm's brokers. Several times he asked, "How should I do this?" or "How should I think about this?" I cringed every time.

Instead, think about the following strategy to get the best answer — and show how smart you are — the next time you ask for help:

Start your question with what you know. Do your homework first. Get enough background information to put your issue or problem in context. Give the other person an idea of what you've completed to date or what you know already and then proceed to explain what's outstanding, where or how you're struggling, or what you need help with.

Then, state the direction you want to take and ask for feedback, thoughts or clarification. Form an opinion on what you think the answer should be. Don't just ask, "How should I reach out to the brokers?" Instead propose a course of action and get your boss's feedback: "I'm thinking of sending out a mass email to the brokers but I'm not sure if that's the most effective format...what do you think of that approach?"

If you don't know the direction to take, ask for tangible guidance. Instead of asking "What should I do?" ask specifically for the tools you'll need to make that decision yourself, such as a recent example of a similar analysis or a template for a given task. Or, ask for a referral to someone who has worked on a similar initiative or project in the past.

In the vast majority of cases, you'll get a lot further in your career by asking the tough, smart questions. Had the SEC junior staffers pressed senior management for more guidance and help, Bernie might have been stopped long ago.

Jodi Glickman Brown is the founder and president of communication consulting firm Great on the Job. She is the author of the forthcoming book Great on the Job, to be published by St. Martin's Press in early 2011.

A Must-Read for Future Marketing and Brand Management Executives

2009-11-03T19:00:22Z

Broad Residency in Urban Education Lets MBAs Make a Difference in the Social Sector

2009-11-04T17:00:10Z

Can You Twitter Your Brand Promise?

2009-11-06T14:17:00Z

Check out this blog post by David Hill. He describes a terrific idea that he learned about during presentation by Marc Gobe, author of Emotional Branding. Gobe asks the question: Can you Twitter your brand promise? In other words, are you able to provide a clear and incredibly concise explanation of your pledge to your customers? Twitter allows 140 characters. Can your firm's brand promise be described in less than 140 characters?

Let's demonstrate the concept. Consider Federal Express. What is the company's brand promise? "Absolutely, positively overnight." - 33 characters! That's just beautiful. Not only is the promise concise, but it is completely accurate and very clear. In short, Federal Express has a proven track record of delivering on this promise; it's not just words.

How about Target? "Expect more, pay less." 22 characters! We all understand precisely what this means too. Target meets the test.

One last terrific example. What about Ritz Carlton? "Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." 50 characters! They pass with flying colors. Anyone who has stayed at a Ritz Carlton knows that they deliver on this promise; it's not just rhetoric.

So now it's time for you to try to Twitter your firm's brand promise. Can you do it? Remember... not only must you be clear and concise, as well as accurate... you have to avoid creating a generic phrase that could apply to a host of rivals. You need to outline a promise that truly stands out from the crowd.

How should I use alumni and current students to my advantage in the application process?

2009-11-04T19:14:00Z

—Julie R. Barefoot, Associate Dean and Director of MBA Admissions, Goizueta Business School, Emory University

There are several ways that you can proactively use alumni and current students to your advantage:

Speak with alumni and students at an MBA recruiting fair or at an on-campus recruiting event and ask them specific questions about their experiences at the school— about the classroom environment, interactions with faculty, relationships with classmates, the availability of courses, extracurricular activities, and how an MBA from that school has prepared them for their career.
Visit campus and attend an MBA class. During your visit, ask current students about what the program experience is really like—ask them what they like best about their program and what areas the school needs to improve. Ask similar questions to students, alumni, and admissions professionals, and see if you receive similar responses!
Ask an alum who knows you well to serve as an additional recommender or to provide informal feedback about you to the MBA Admissions Committee via email or letter. The MBA Admissions Committee is very interested in receiving feedback from their alumni and current students. After all, who would know better about what kind of student will succeed at their alma mater than an alum or current student?

However, please know this caveat: It is critically important that this recommendation is substantive in nature about the quality of your work experience and your ability to contribute in a meaningful way to MBA class discussions. What you don’t want is for the alum or student to write that you “come from a good family” or that you’d be a good addition to the school community without giving specific details about why that would be true. This recommendation should note in what context the alum or student knows you and for how long, and why they believe that you would be a valuable addition to the incoming MBA class—with some specific reasons to support their comments.

Your recommender should also be up-to-date about your work experience and your MBA plans—asking an alum who is not familiar with the details of your current job situation or your MBA goals to write on your behalf is not a good idea.

So, in summary, alumni and current students can be a valuable source of program information and potentially, can have a positive impact on the admissions decision—if the information that they share with the Committee is relevant to the admissions decision and supportive of your ability to be a positive contributor to the program.

Big lessons we can learn from Little Chef

2009-11-03T00:53:55Z

Hard work and relentless attention to detail: that’s management for you. Talk is cheap. Visions can inspire, for a moment or two. But without graft – and competence – things go wrong. Any business, no matter how successful, will struggle if it forgets this. There are no quick fixes for organisations that have big commercial [...]

How to Deal With a BlackBerry Junkie

2009-11-02T21:58:29Z

Hey, you! Pay attention! Now! Two Northwest pilots had their licenses stripped away because they reportedly flew off-course, incommunicado, while scheduling future flights on their personal laptops instead of paying attention to their existing flight. Can you believe it? I do.

Mobile devices are the great distractions — and distractors — of the Information Age. I've heard nurses whisper about doctors who check their Blackberries in the middle of laparoscopic procedures and anesthesiologists who fiddle with their iPods while monitoring vital signs. We want what we want when we want it and we want it now! Even if that means we (inadvertently) overfly Minneapolis by 150 miles.

Netiquette is nice and multimedia manners are marvelous but the central issue here is performance and productivity. The same laptops those pilots were allegedly using to debate scheduling seniority can also be used to real-time recalculate fuel level reroutes. When you toss in a laptop or mobile device, anyone — in theory — can become more efficient and effective. That's as true for neurosurgery teams at Massachusetts General Hospital as for SEAL teams in Kabul. Wouldn't you want your surgeon to be able to have all the info they need, when they need it, to boost their real-time operational effectiveness?

Unfortunately, these technologies are — to paraphrase military folks — inherently "dual use." That is to say, we can use them either to better focus on the task at hand or to multitask something else. Every university professor lecturing in America wonders which students are assiduously taking notes on their laptops and which are assiduously playing Scrabulous. Do professors really want to play "Big Brother" or block the digital deployment of their students', um, personal educational technologies? Of course not. And anyway, they can't — any more than King Canute could hold back the tide.

But what about when your firm is making an "agency-of-record" pitch to a much-desired client and the client's alpha-dog Chief Marketing Officer keeps pecking away on his BlackBerry while your team presents? (This actually happened.) What should you do?

No, the team lead didn't keep quiet until the CMO looked up. No, the team lead didn't politely ask if BlackBerries could be put away until the presentation's end. The team pressed on. Like the Charge of the Light Brigade.

And no, the firm didn't win the business. And, yes, everyone was bitter about the CMO's publicly divided attentions. This company now vows never to let client gizmos distract from the business at hand ever again. They'll ask for undivided attention or they'll walk. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Would you tell a C-level prospect or a key client to put his iPhone away? Really? Have you ever done it? And what would your emotional — and professional — reaction be to an expensive consultant or mission-critical vendor politely insisting that you shut down your laptop or turn off your phone?

I've seen Starbucks and McDonald's employees (politely) decline to serve customers chatting away on their phones as they try to order their skinny lattes. Manners aren't the issue; it's done to keep the line flowing smoothly.

Remember, digital device checking can be deceiving. Google CEO Eric Schmidt (no less) has publicly run searches to real-time "fact check" comments by his fellow executives during meetings. He's not unique. When someone makes claims during a presentation that don't quite sound right, I've Googled or Binged and found — big surprise — that the speaker is often guilty of exaggeration well beyond the boundaries of acceptable puffery. I may look like I'm ignoring the presenter but, in fact, I'm taking him or her more seriously than they might like.

Some companies — Microsoft is one — have declared that certain meetings should be device-free. Attendees have to check their Zunes and mobile what-nots at the door. Frankly, I don't think that this is remotely practical unless the highest-ranked executive in the room honors that constraint. Surreptitious texting has become as American as apple pie, as Indian as curry, and as Nordic as lutefisk.

Demographic and technological trends would suggest that by 2015, the typical meeting will have more devices being monitored than people in the room.

Is there a solution to this growing problem? Why, yes...and I've seen it work with my own undistracted eyes.

Make meetings more interactive. Push for participation. Call on — and call out — that CMO. Create expectations that inhibit leaning back and promote the lean forward. If people think they can get away with diverting their attention, they will. Do you think commercial airline pilots all over the world will think twice before they spend more than 15 minutes on their laptops doing non-flight-related calculations? I do. Do you think students will think twice about IM-ing their sweetheart if there's a better than even chance they'll be called on in class? I do. Do you think a CMO will think twice before checking her messages if two of the best-regarded advertising agencies simply shut up — or decline to present — until she makes it clear to everyone in the room that she's fully engaged? I do.

You manage attention not by regulating devices but by managing expectations. If those pilots had even once successfully interacted with an air traffic controller or one of the other pilots trying to hail them, they'd have likely kept their licenses. They didn't. The best way to command undivided attention — and respect — is to lead by example.

What example are you setting? Pay attention.

A researcher at MIT Sloan School's Center for Digital Business and a visiting fellow at the Imperial College Business School, Michael Schrage is the author of Serious Play and the forthcoming Getting Beyond Ideas. His research focuses on the behavioral economics of innovation through models, prototypes, simulations and experiments.

Did I Get Your Email?

2009-11-02T21:11:33Z

There are two of me. There's the me who gets up, changes my son's diaper and puts on my 17-year-old shoes that I know need to be replaced at some point but can't seem to get around to replacing. And then there's the me who lives in Los Angeles and gets my email. And I get his.

We're both named David Silverman and we both work for the same company. Despite attempts to dispel confusion on the internal email system — I am David S. Silverman and he is David R. Silverman — things still go wrong because people type "David Silverman" into Outlook and press send, blithely relying on autocomplete to find their intended David.

What's amazing and terrifying is the contents of the messages I get. Suffice it to say that my doppelganger is involved in matters of far more sensitivity to the firm than I. And because people are incautious before clicking "send" I get all kinds of documents I shouldn't.

I also get his physical mail. The other day I got a confidential CD intended for "him." And yesterday I got an envelope from a law firm that had been stamped by our internal compliance group. It was, of course, for David Silverman. I called the company, worried that I was about to be drawn into some North-by-Northwest web of mistaken identities. It turned out to be about some other, hitherto unknown, third version of me who has overseas bank accounts. Good for him, I suppose, but what if I tried to use his account numbers which had just slipped into my hands?

The problem is also not limited to email or to snail mail or to David Silvermans. My desk phone also has a split identity with the former occupant of my office who, judging by the messages I get, has an important role to play in the world of international criminal trials and a robust social schedule.

But he has nothing on the former owner of my BlackBerry's phone number. That guy is some sort of mysterious Latin playboy who frequently gets calls from intoxicated revelers who appear to be calling from capitals of East African nations and exhorting him to "come out and join the party and meet the ladies we've got for you." As you may imagine, it has proven difficult to explain these 4am calls to my wife.

On the opposite side, my own mail has taken its own circuitous routes, some known, some unknown. One item that recently bit me was a five-figure bill for back taxes from from my failed company. They were not prepared to accept my valid excuse that I did not live at the place they'd mailed the notice to, and that my lack of response was due to my not living there. While "Dave's not here" was the reality, it seems that interest and penalties accrue regardless.

Add this to the account statements I get at home for the former occupants, the occasional email that confuses me with the most successful David Silverman, and the unknown quantity of my own email and mail that is distributed to random people who live where I lived, and we have quite a mess.

Even without identity fraud, it seems that we are cursed to live in a world where the expectation of perfect information-delivery renders the hapless recipient of a wrong number or email as "assumed guilty." (There have been several occasions where exactly that happened to me. "Hey Steve." "This isn't Steve." "Then why do you have his phone?")

What to do about confusion? My suggestion is as follows.

Try your best to let people (and tax authorities) know when you've moved. Fill out the information with your postal service. Email everyone. Put it on Facebook, LinkedIn, and wherever else your identity resides.
Leave a note along with postage and envelopes at your former residence asking them nicely to forward anything that slips through and looks important.
Put your name on your voicemail. Enough already with "You have reached 333-4200." Save us all some errors and let us know who we've called.
Be kind to others so that they may be kind to you. If you get something that isn't yours, pay it forward — literally — by forwarding it.
As the sender, remember that your message may not get through to your intended recipient. Matter-of-factly follow up (rather than assuming that they're avoiding you) and be careful with sensitive information (duh).

What do you think? Have you been mistaken online or offline? Do random people run up to you and think you're their bald friend Steve? (Happens to me at least once a month. Who is this Steve?) What have lengths have you gone to to ensure you get your own correspondence?

Sukanya Ragunath: A little bit of Virginia

2009-11-03T02:16:00Z

It was with some vengeance that I was completely unproductive this weekend. I went down to Maryland/DC for a day. It was a beautiful day, just a touch windy and was perfect to walk along the Potomac as we stopped by the Indian embassy for a friend...

Britt Eichner: Exam week is the best week of the quarter

2009-11-03T04:01:00Z

Imagine being able to sleep later than 7 am, to watch prime-time television, to spend the whole day in pajamas, to have time to go grocery shopping, to have time to cook (not just heat) dinner… For Darden FY students, the above activities are just...

Atish Dipankar: From Engineering to Economics

2009-11-02T13:54:00Z

Stack means LIFO and Queue means FIFO. The most basic data structures in computer science. Well, apparently, they are also inventory costing methods used in Financial Accounting. So what's the best thing about coming to a B-School from an...

NYT: "Imagining a World of No Annual Reviews" - interview with Carol Bartz, CEO Yahoo

2009-11-02T21:22:44Z

Click here for the article of the New York Times, October 17, 2009.

This interview with Carol Bartz, chief executive of Yahoo, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.

....

Q. What should business schools teach more of, or less of?

A. I think there ought to be some classes for people to get more philosophical about who they are and what motivates them, and therefore why they act like they act.

Some of the most fantastic training I’ve had over the years is the tests and the feedback I’ve gotten on what drives me as a person, and to sort of face up to it. What’s important to me and therefore why would I make certain decisions? For instance, I grew up dirt poor. I am constantly in fear of being poor. I’m so far from being poor, it’s crazy, but I’m constantly in fear of being poor. And I know that drives a lot.

Now you could say the dark side of that is maybe that would drive me to make risky decisions that I shouldn’t make. It actually drives me the other way. It drives me to be more conservative, so I’ve had to teach myself to get out of that conservative zone.

It also turns out that I’m an introvert. You would not believe that, would you? And I know I am because introverts have to refuel by being alone. Extroverts — Bill Clinton’s a famous extrovert — have to go to a party. At the end of the day, he comes home tired, and he wants to party. I come home. I suck my thumb and don’t talk to me. I learned how to get down time. Even an hour by myself feeds me.

What motivates you? What are you scared of? Knowing that will help inform how you lead, how you make choices, how you face the day. And I don’t think we do enough of that.

...

One Way to Help the “Lost Generation”

2009-11-02T15:00:08Z

A recent BusinessWeek cover story called today’s graduates “The Lost Generation,” citing statistics that young people who graduate in recession years continue to earn less over the long-term course of their careers.

This weekend, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert addressed the same issue, writing:

“These recent graduates have done everything society told them to do. They’ve worked hard, kept their noses clean and gotten a good education (in many cases from the nation’s best schools). They are ready and anxious to work. If we’re having trouble finding employment for even these kids, then we’re doing something profoundly wrong.”

Like BusinessWeek and Herbert, I am very worried about the situation for recent college graduates. Today I want to share with you what I’m doing about it:

I have and always will pay any interns who work for me. If you are a business owner, I ask that you do the same.

The reason I call myself a Generation Y career and workplace expert is because I spend my days studying and talking to college students, recent grads, university career services professionals and employers of entry-level workers. Lately, a major topic of these conversations has been the fact that so many ambitious, energetic, intelligent college graduates are currently working for free as unpaid interns.

Bob Herbert has noticed this as well. “As jobs become increasingly scarce,” he writes, “more and more college graduates are working for free, at internships, which is great for employers but something of a handicap for a young man or woman who has to pay for food or a place to live.”

Certainly unpaid post-college internships have been popular for many years, particularly in glamorous, highly competitive fields such as magazine publishing, fashion and politics, or in the nonprofit world where employers simply can’t afford to pay. Over the years I have regularly advised students, particularly those interested in internship-heavy professions, to get the best experience they can, which often means working for free.

But, before the recession, most students did internships before graduating, to receive college credit or to gain “real world” experience over the summer. Today, a large number of college-educated young people are working as unpaid interns after graduation, in the hopes that they may one day receive paid positions. This holds them back from becoming financially independent, and it means that students with no family support are excluded from many opportunities because they have to make money to support themselves.

Bottom line: companies that can afford to should pay their interns. Right now lots of businesses that could pay interns are taking advantage of the recession and bringing in recent grads to work for free, simply because they can.

If you are a business owner of any size and you employ or are thinking about employing an unpaid intern, I encourage you to reconsider and pay that young person a decent wage. A relatively small amount of money, such as $100 or $200 a week , probably won’t impact your bottom line, but will help a young person get by and get experience.

I recently hired a part-time assistant, who is a 2009 college grad. She works 10 hours per week and I pay her a fair hourly wage. She works additional hours for another business owner, who also pays her for her work. I have paid an intern in the past and will pay all interns in the future.

If you are concerned about older workers or rural workers or single moms or any other demographic hit hard by the recession, then hire and pay an intern or part-time worker in that situation. (For more on adult internships, read Marci Alboher’s column on the topic.)

I know that my paying interns won’t move the needle on job creation or GDP, but it’s a small step toward helping the next generation avoid becoming “lost.” I want to see young people succeed and receive payment for work they perform. This is why I will always pay my interns and I encourage you to do the same.

Resources for hiring interns:
UrbanInterns.com
CollegeRecruiter.com
Internships.com
Craigslist.com