Alan Jagolinzer: "Having a Holistic Approach to Information is Critical."

Apr 24, 2023

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0:00 -- Intro.

1:35 -- Start of interview.

2:05 -- Alan's "origin story".

2:43 -- On his background as a U.S. Air Force pilot.

4:42 -- On the evolution of his academic career, including at and Stanford GSB and U. of Colorado Boulder.

7:01 -- On his Professorship at Cambridge Judge Business School and his role as Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting and Accountability.

9:16 -- About the Cambridge Disinformation Summit, on July 27-28, 2023. "I would characterize fraud and greenwashing as disinformation." The difference between disinformation and misinformation.

14:49-- His research on fraud is based mostly on public markets (because public market data is more available than private market data).

18:18 -- On ESG, anti-ESG and (the accounting and auditing of) greenwashing. On creation of the Cambridge Executive Master of Accounting to focus on some of these emerging matters.

24:36 -- Challenges of ESG Ratings. "Despite the fact that it is challenging to measure, I think it's still worth engaging in it."

30:24 -- On the SVB collapse, and its accounting/financial reporting issues.

37:03 -- On geopolitics, the "uncoupling"/"re-balancing" of US/EU and China and the broader geopolitical landscape. "This is the highest geopolitical risk environment that I've ever lived through."

39:00 -- On microtargeting, and research by his colleague David Stillwell, the director of the Cambridge Psychometrics Centre.

40:25 -- On the challenges with TikTok.

42:12 -- On the disinformation challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

44:35 -- On the SEC amendments to modernize Rule 10b5-1 insider trading plans and related disclosures.

47:58 -- Final take-aways for corporate directors: "You need to be paying attention to the information environment, more than just PR." "Your company is a both a political actor and a political target." "Having a Holistic Approach to Information is Critical."

50:03 -- The (recent) books that have greatly influenced his life:

Power, by Jeffrey Pfeffer (2010)
Corruptible, by Brian Klaas (2021)
Foolproof, by Sander Van Der Linden (2023)

52:19 -- His mentors, and what he learned from them.

Annette Beatty, Professor Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University.
Joe Olenoski and Peggy Carnahan, (USAF retired)
Greg Russo, USAF Captain during his pilot training.

54:00 -- Quotes he thinks of often or lives his life by: "The Absence of Negative is Positive."

54:50-- An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves: he has watched every single episode of The Bachelor and Survivor franchises (including Australian Survivor). "It's a huge social manipulation game."

56:12 -- The living person he most admires: "I sadly don't have an answer. I am waiting for some personality to start building community again."

Alan Jagolinzer is a Professor of Financial Accounting and the Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Accounting and Accountability at Cambridge's Judge Business School. His research interests include insider trading, financial reporting, corporate governance, and executive compensation and incentives.

You can follow Alan on social media at:

Twitter: @jagolinzer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagolinzer/

You can follow Evan on social media at:

Twitter: @evanepstein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/

Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/

Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

You can follow Evan on social media at:

X: @evanepstein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/

Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/

To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/

Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License