Thanks to a generous gift from Fintech71, The Ohio State University will offer the first in a university-wide effort to boost the region's FinTech ecosystem through the FinTech @ Ohio State and Beyond conference. The virtual event will be held October 27-28.

Interviews with career and human resources experts, companies, business leaders and job seekers found continued concern about the economic impact on companies and individuals as jobs go unfilled. Some said the biggest problem is a shortage of qualified applicants. Others say good candidates are ignored or offered inadequate pay, and many people who need jobs still struggle with access to affordable child care and fear of catching COVID-19 at work. Professor of Management and Human Resources Howard Klein says there's a mismatch happening between the job search strategies of individuals and the expectations of employers.

With the pandemic grimly persisting, American homes could face a meager holiday season, forced to do without some of their favorite items missing from store shelves. Retailers, meanwhile, have been adapting their supply strategies from a "just in time" approach to a "just in case" approach, says Associate Professor of Logistics Terry Esper.

Fixing the broken supply chain will take time and patience, substantial amounts of money, imagination by key leaders in the transportation and logistics industry and significant policy changes. Terry Esper, associate professor of logistics, says he’s encouraged that federal and local officials seek to spend more than $1 trillion on infrastructure to rebuild highways, roads, bridges and ports.

How can business and education converge to combat racism in public schools and drive meaningful change? The Leading Anti-Racism Change in Education program is piloting one approach and helping local school districts solve specific challenges.

Tanya Menon, professor of management and human resources, shares tips and insights designed to empower women to advocate and negotiate for themselves.

Meet the "who's who" of local leaders that is helping to guide the Fisher Leadership Initiative’s leadership scholarship, outreach and connections with the business community.

In the high school lunchroom version of business school, finance majors were the popular jocks and logistics majors were... the math club. But nowadays, they're sitting at the cool kids' table. Terry Esper, associate professor of logistics, talks about how the field went from obscurity to newfound popularity, especially among current students.

John Gray, professor of operations and an expert on pharmaceutical supply chains, looks at the latest recall impacting one of the largest producers of generic drugs.

Product limits can trigger a "scarcity mentality" for buyers, and that can affect the supply chain even more, says Ken Boyer, the Fisher Designated Professor of Operations and Business Analytics.

Terry Esper, associate professor of logistics, says taking a consumer-centric approach to the supply chain does not mean that companies should abandon their focus on their direct customer. Instead, they should adopt a perspective similar to bifocal glasses, with one lens focused on their customer and one lens on the consumer.

Retailers have been trying to crack the code on e-commerce profitability for the past several years. One tactic that more firms may employ in pursuit of profitability, says Assistant Professor of Marketing and Logistics Annibal Sodero, is partnering with Amazon to serve as product pick-up locations.

Competition for market share at rock-bottom prices has led to shortages, price spikes, allegations of price-fixing and substandard and even dangerous practices. Professor of Operations John Gray says secrecy surrounding how and where drugs are made, combined with the shift to low-wage countries, doesn’t bode well for quality.

Employers are offering major perks to attract seasonal employees, but finding added workers for the holidays could pose a challenge. W.C. Benton Jr., the Edwin D. Dodd Professor of Management, said the current level of competition for holiday workers is unprecedented.

Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens and grocery third-parties like Instacart are investing in micro-fulfillment centers to speed up delivery times, curb final-mile costs and get products closer to consumers. Annibal Sodero, professor of supply chain, said Walmart’s move to more automated micro-fulfillment centers (MFC) usage is about efficiency in the final mile, which can be 27% to 30% of total logistics cost. 

While Amazon has not officially announced it will open large retail spaces, several news outlets have reported the company is seriously considering it. Associate Professor of Marketing and Logistics Terry Esper said the move would be a no-brainer for Amazon, mirroring Walmart or Target, where people can buy online and then pick up in-store.

The National Rifle Association canceled its annual meeting for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. The cancellation is the latest setback in a series of recent financial and legal troubles. But the NRA isn't doomed, far from it. The new normal may simply be a smaller NRA with a lighter footprint says Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor in Accounting and an expert in the nonprofit considerations behind the NRA.

Walmart announced Tuesday that it will be expanding its delivery service to handle shipments from other businesses in a "white label" shipping service called GoLocal. The infrastructure that the organization already has in place helps solves some of the challenges of last-mile delivery, says Assistant Professor of Marketing and Logistics Vince Castillo.

As Ohio’s Attorney General weighed in Friday on the investigation into misspent money by former leaders at the Columbus Zoo, Dave Freel, senior lecturer in management and human resources and an expert in ethics, reemphasized the importance of transparency in building trust in public-private partn

The carryout boom continues even as nearly all restaurants are open for in-person dining. Joe Goodman, the chair of Fisher's Department of Marketing and Logistics, says the wider adoption and familiarity with food-ordering apps is helping maintain the popularity of carryout ordering.

Carol L. Newcomb’s legacy of service to Fisher is represented by the national prowess of its executive education program, a program she helped revive and shape beginning in 1997. In recognition of her work, as well as her commitment to and support of Ohio State, Newcomb was honored with the university’s Distinguished Service Award.

Columbus area business leaders in 2020 promised to make their companies more diverse and inclusive. As leaders weigh in on what they have done in the past year, Tanya Menon, professor of management and human resources, says a broader look needs to be taken at how the success of diversity-focused programs and positions is measured.

Increasingly, the super wealthy are capitalizing on the NFT boom to support charitable causes. But this could present charities with a host of new problems, including increased risk surrounding donations made using crypto assets, says Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor in Accounting.

Commodities and goods are in short supply, particularly paper. How does that impact small businesses? Professor of Logistics Keely Croxton talks about the tightrope many suppliers must walk when deciding when and if to scale up their production capacity. 

A CBS News investigation is raising questions about spending by the national animal welfare nonprofit ASPCA.