From the earliest weeks of the pandemic, Maryland Smith’s Nicole Coomber was noticing a worrying trend. Upwardly mobile professionals across her social media networks were opting to step back from their careers, overwhelmed by the new demands of their work lives and home lives.

In August alone, 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs, the most since the Labor Department began tracking these stats 20 years ago. They join the 16 million Americans who had handed in their resignations over the previous four months, another record. Some were burned out—exhausted by pandemic stresses and added workload at home and at work. Others were rejecting return-to-the-office mandates, seeking work with greater flexibility. After 18 months of toiling in a pandemic, expectations about what makes a good job had altered.

“The reason we do research is for all those moments of true inspiration,” Maryland Smith’s Rajshree Agarwal told a group of undergraduate students last Thursday. “My PhD students inspire me as they showcase how entrepreneurship and innovation helps create solutions to the world’s thorniest challenges and unmet needs.”

There’s no single path to organizational growth, but research from Maryland Smith is showing how today’s organizations can achieve their goals by looking at Japan’s early industrialization and how firms grew by adding new products.

Maryland Smith students are encouraged to be fearless in expanding their knowledge and experience in business. For some students, this includes playing a role in the world of research.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sept. 20, 2021 – COVID-19 was a test like no other for global businesses. Some failed. But many others persevered, adapted – and thrived.

Finding the right team is critical for a startup’s success and most aren’t taking the right approach, finds new Maryland Smith research. With the right strategy – a mix that has founders both liking each other due to shared values and experiences, and having the proper complementary skills and capabilities – startups can foster better team dynamics and have more success raising funds, being productive, and earning profits.

Lately, it seems the place to be for job seekers is TikTok, where users are posting video resumes – and racking up impressive page views – as they look to set themselves apart in increasingly competitive candidate pools. On the popular video app, a one-minute video can draw hundreds of comments and shares, resulting in multiple job leads – even interview requests. For job seekers, those kinds of stats are compelling, as is the prospect of being able to tell their stories in a way that goes beyond the humdrum, one-page resume. But, for employers, there are additional points to consider with the TikTok resume trend, says Maryland Smith’s Cynthia Kay Stevens.

Before COVID-19 disrupted business at brick-and-mortar stores, GameStop already was struggling. A shift was under way. Gamers were downloading games directly to their consoles instead of purchasing, in-store, new and used video game software and hardware.