#89 Professor Robert Salomon: A Dean at NYU Stern and an Award-Winning Educator on Globalization

#89 Professor Robert Salomon: A Dean at NYU Stern and an Award-Winning Educator on Globalization

This past month, CompanyRoots had the honor of interviewing Professor Robert Salomon, the Vice Dean of Executive Programs and a Professor of International Management at NYU Stern. Professor Salomon is an award winning scholar and author who has been conducting research for nearly 20 years on international expansion, governance, as well as trade and globalization. A highly acclaimed educator, Prof. Salomon was awarded the NYU Stern Faculty Leadership Award and has been described as a “Favorite Business School Professor” by Poets and Quants. 

Professor Salomon is a first generation American, with his mother immigrating from Spain and father from Italy. Growing up, Salomon spoke English and Spanish, and spent most of his summers in Spain from the ages of 7-17. As a result, he developed a wider global perspective during his summers in which he noticed how different the culture, language, products, and people were vastly different in Europe compared to the United States. Such exposure propelled Salomon to explore global studies and the differences that define the very disparate markets among countries. 

Wall Street Journal has described Salomon as a professor who provides “brilliant distilled advice on business strategy.” Accordingly, Salomon believes the concepts of socratic method and interactive discussion are a catalyst for great innovations. In Prof. Salomon’s Corporate and Global Strategy and International Business courses, he gives students an idea to conceptualize and later introduces a related problem application which pushes students to grapple further with that idea. Much of his teaching preferences are influenced by many European school’s socratic classroom dynamics, which he had observed during his time as a Visiting Professor at the IESE Business School in Spain. 

The European educational system is an example of a pattern of more collectivist ideals in comparison to the individualism that is idealised in the West – this being one of the most evident cultural differences that affects business and politics across the borders. Prof. Salomon’s book, Global Vision, describes how a country’s grassroot institutions at the macro-level are political, economical, and cultural. For businesses looking to scale internationally and appeal to a larger global demographic, Salomon emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the friction created by the mentioned institutions when they do not have a proper understanding of them. Since such differences can later directly translate into risk, the first step is to make time understanding them. In our data-driven world, there are many available resources to gauge and understand the implications of a foreign country’s macro-level institutions. Therefore, by creating a distinguished risk metric, managers and administrators are better enabled to assess and overcome existing and future risks. 

When discussing the way COVID-19 has been affecting global expansion, Professor Salomon references Steve Altman, the Executive Director of NYU Stern’s Center for the Globalization of Education and Management. Altman and Salomon noticed how there was an immediate drop in the flows of globalization since the start of the pandemic, a concept which encompasses goods and services, capital, knowledge, and people. However, there was a relative growth with data and information flow due to the spike in online communication and collaboration. Now, as the pandemic’s effects have created a new standard of normal, Salomon notes that goods and services are up to about 80-90% of what they were initially pre-pandemic, with capital flows also experiencing a 70-75% increase; though people flows still remain considerably low. Although the future of globalization had been frequently speculated to drastically halt due to COVID, the data trends have proved otherwise as the flows have begun to re-emerge. Additionally, the factor of vaccine availability becoming more ubiquitous can serve as positive reinforcement to the revitalization of globalization, even if it happens at a slower rate. 

For the next generation of leaders who are still currently navigating their path through education and innovation, Professor Salomon recommends that they should pursue their passion if they truly want to make a positive impact on society. By denoting oneself to something they truly find interesting will make one enjoy their work rather than feeling obligated responsibility. Additionally, Salomon recommends that students surround themselves with talent and inspiration that can motivate them to work harder and further fuel their own passions while always being open and engaged to new ideologies and cultures.

You can watch the full interview here.

Interviewers: Rahul Kavuru and Srikar Parsi

Author: Neha Jampala

Editor: Ayan Lateef

Graphic: Sraavya Penumudi

Video Editing: Chinmay Korapati