In the News: Faculty Talk Workplace, Tariffs, and Education

Associate Professor of Management Wendy Murphy and students
Listen

From local television stations to national newspapers, Babson professors and leaders shared their expertise in workplace structure and tariffs on goods. 

Three Workplace Lessons from the USWNT

Associate Professor of Management Wendy Murphy shared three relationship lessons organizations can learn from the U.S. women’s national team in a story on HighQConnections.com. Murphy wrote of the benefits of lifting others up, and exemplified how the team took time to meet with youth fans and sign autographs. She also explained how the team’s inclusive support and exuberant celebrations led to its success.

Making Entrepreneurship Education More Accessible and Appealing to Women

In an interview on Entrepreneur and Innovation Exchange, Vice Provost Candida Brush discussed how higher education institutions can make entrepreneurship education more accessible and appealing to women. To attract more women, Brush said, institutions must approach entrepreneurship from a broader perspective and stress that it is not entirely about starting a business. She also advised institutions to leverage entrepreneurial course offerings in atypical fields of study, and to teach entrepreneurship values through clubs and organizations outside of the classroom.

The Value of ‘Quiet’ Employees

Associate Professor of Global Leadership Rob Cross weighed in in a Wall Street Journal article on the quiet yet important employees of an organization. Reporter Chip Cutter writes that some companies are rewarding employees for helping others on a project or through complex issues. Cutter also says companies are using new data to determine how women navigate their work differently than men do, and Cross said women are more likely to take on collaborative demands, which can negatively impact productivity.

Weighing in on Tariffs

Economics Professor Kent Jones shared insight in a Boston 25 news investigation into the possible use of stickers to avoid paying tariffs on the regional and national sale of Chinese-made surge protectors. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has since launched an investigation into the surge protectors, which could present safety risks. Jones said tariff dodging is common, and a 25 percent tariff, which the type of surge protectors became subject to earlier this year, would eliminate almost all of the profit most companies would receive.

Posted in Insights

More from Insights »

Latest Stories

Male college student meets with campus counselor
Here’s How Colleges Can Better Support Students’ Well-Being to Improve Their Success College students are reporting lower rates of depressive symptoms and anxiety for the third year in a row, but the mental health crisis is far from over, writes Babson College’s Ryan Travia for The Conversation.
By
December 10, 2025

Posted in Insights

Chicken sandwich
The Rise of Chicken, the Decline of Pizza Hut, and Other Franchising Trends Ab Igram MBA’96, of Babson’s Tariq Farid Franchise Institute, surveys the state of franchising. From the familiar names to the up-and-coming ventures, he talks chicken, sandwiches, and, uh, pet waste scooping.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
December 9, 2025

Posted in Insights

The Retailing Management course with Jaylen Brown and Joel Kamm MBA’12 outside their pop-up event.
Hands-On, All-In: Babson’s Retailing Management Students Create Unforgettable Pop-Up Experience The Retailing Management class, composed of mostly fourth-year students, brought experiential learning to life, executing a campus pop-up event with Jaylen Brown’s 741 Performance brand, culminating in all they’ve learned at Babson.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
December 8, 2025

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership