Smith School In the News
The Smith School's world-class faculty are routinely quoted in leading business and other media, while Smith's innovative programs and research projects also receive attention. Below are some highlights.
September 2021
USA Today – Sept. 17 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez (Thinking About a Career Switch? Here's What You Should Keep in Mind.) and Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin (Follow this Advice When Negotiating for Your Next Job) are featured as career-advice guest contributors. … Related coverage at Localiq.
Maryland Today – Sept. 17 – “Spotlight on Faculty and Staff for Convocation” includes
Distinguished University Professor and Special Advisor to the Dean Ritu Agarwal receiving the President’s Medal for “extraordinary contributions to the intellectual, social and cultural life of Maryland.”
Clear Admit – Sept. 16 – Senior Director of Admissions for MBA and Specialty Masters Programs Maria Pineda highlights Nicole Coomber and Vijaya Venkataramani as faculty of interest to prospective MBAs, as part of the “Admissions Director Q&A” series.
Bizwomen (The Business Journals) – Sept. 15 – “Gender Pay, Promotion Gaps Wider in Academia Than in Industry, Research Shows” overviews Nature-published research ‘Trends in gender pay gaps’ by Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal and Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation Waverly Ding.
Science Newsnet – Sept. 15 – Logistics, Business and Public Policy Professor and Chair Martin Dresner describes ‘Aviation’s (post-pandemic) Unprecedented Opportunity.’
Bloomberg Law – Sept. 14 – Associate Professor of Management Evan Starr contributes to “Gaming Industry Nondisclosures Become Key Test of #MeToo Laws ”: Broad nondisclosure agreements tend to be concentrated in the tech industry, but it is by no means the only industry where they are widely used, [said Starr] who has studied the impact of restrictive agreements. Starr said employees in states with laws restricting the reach of nondisclosure agreements are more willing to share information about their work experiences online. That willingness to speak can help end problematic employment practices perpetuated by NDAs, Starr said.
Salon – Sept. 12 – “The Psychological Toll of Wanting Your Kid to be ‘Perfect’” quotes Assistant Dean of the Full-Time MBA Program Nicole Coomber: "Autonomy is an important piece of this where you have to actually buy into whatever the goal is," [Coomber notes]. Requiring that a child practice piano for hours each day when they'd rather be playing soccer "can really backfire," she added. Kids can end up feeling like their parent's project or product — and push back by quitting. No matter how much bravado accompanies that move, there's often also a sense of having let themselves and their parents down.
CoinDesk – Sept. 12 – Professor of the Practice in Finance Clifford Rossi helps explain “DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and the 3 Cs”: There is a reason banks ask mortgage applicants for pay stubs and bank statements, and it’s not some twisted desire to make borrowers reveal their innermost secrets. “The foundation for determining the credit quality of secured consumer loans such as mortgages ... has been well-established over the years by the three Cs of underwriting,” [said Rossi]. In Rossi’s formulation, the Cs stand for “Creditworthiness or willingness-to-pay, Capacity to repay the obligation and Collateral (equity stake).” Other versions of this old banker’s saying also include a fourth C, for Capital (savings), and sometimes a fifth, for Conditions (reasons for taking out the loan). “Reliance on any one of the Cs might miss other important aspects of the borrower’s risk profile that could ultimately pose greater or lesser collective risk to the owner of that risk,” said Rossi, a former banking executive and regulator…
TalkMarkets – Sept. 11 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks.”
WJLA ABC-7 – Sept. 11 – Commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks, Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss is the subject of ‘Professor Recalls Arduous Journey out of NYC on 9/11, Shares Lessons Learned.’
U.S. News & World Report – Sept. 9 – Executive Director of MBA and M.S. Admissions Shelbi Brookshire contributes to “10 Ways to Nail Your MBA Interview: During group or team challenge interviews, an overbearing presentation is a deal-breaker, so it's essential to listen and collaborate well with others. During video calls, it's crucial to appear professional throughout, [says Brookshire]. "Test your technology, ensure you have good lighting and join the virtual interview on time… Brand and presence are still as important in digital formats.
SCIENMAG – Sept. 9 “What AI Analysis of 100 Million Social Media Interactions Can Teach Product Managers” overviews just-published research in the Journal of Marketing by Assistant Professor of Information and Decision Science Kunpeng Zhang and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives P.K. Kannan.
AdvisorSmith – Sept. 9 – Professor of the Practice in Finance Clifford Rossi gives insights through a “Cyber Liability Insurance” Q&A.
WBAL TV (NBC-Baltimore) – Sept. 9 – Station President and General Manager Dan Joerres makes a recently aired segment featuring Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss the focus of his “Remembering 9-11” editorial: University of Maryland Professor Elinda Kiss was in the World Trade Center complex on 9/11. Twenty years later, she chooses to remember the spirit of America, not the attack on America. "I don't want to ever see a situation like Sept. 11. I don't want to ever see us attacked. But I wish we could all be a little friendlier like we were in September many years ago," Kiss said. … Related: Maryland Today’s “9/11: 20 Years Later” includes Kiss recounting her ground zero experience of the 9-11 terror attacks.
Knowledge@Wharton – Sept. 7 - How Companies Can Benefit from Employees’ Emotions cites Myeong-Gu Seo as co-author of new research (‘Creative and Cross-Functional Benefits of Wearing Hearts on Sleeves’) in Organization Science.
Communication Intelligence – Sept. 5 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez comments extensively through “Why Specifically Compassion Is a Core Need and Helpful Leadership Asset.”
USA Today Network via The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Sept. 5 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin’s op-ed gives “Tips to Getting, and Being Happy with, Your Next Job.”
USA Today Network via The Arizona Republic – Sept. 5 – Op-ed by Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez covers ‘Tips for the Process of Changing Jobs.’
Poets & Quants – Sept. 4 – “Best & Brightest Executive MBAs Of 2021” includes testimonials for Maryland Smith profiled honorees by Executive MBA Program Academic Director Rob Sheehan for Jessica Zeiser and Associate Research Professor Joseph Bailey for Kabir Mulchandani.
TalkMarkets – Sept. 4 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks.”
Psychology Today – Sept./Oct. 2021 – “A Table for One” (print-only, but adapted from the magazine’s blogpost How It Feels to Be Alone in Public) is based on Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner’s “Inhibited from Bowling Alone” study. … Related: “How to Enjoy Being Single,” via Psyche, includes: In one memorable study, [Rebecca Ratner] recruited 86 participants from a university campus and invited them to attend an exhibition at an art gallery. Some were alone, others were in pairs with an existing acquaintance. Before they saw the exhibition, they were asked to estimate how much they would enjoy the experience – and, after they’d had a look around, they had to rate their actual enjoyment. ... The lone participants tended to envision a dim view of the experience without a partner. Yet Ratner and [co-author Rebecca] Hamilton found that the presence of a companion made no difference to their overall enjoyment. Importantly, the experience seemed to reduce their feelings of self-consciousness. After visiting the exhibition by themselves, the lone participants were less likely to assume that others had formed a negative judgment, as compared with their fears before the experience.
Tech Xplore – Sept. 4 – Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior Cynthia Kay Stevens explains “Employer Pitfalls of the TikTok Resume Trend.”
Inside Higher Ed – Sept. 2 – “The Grass May Be Greener for Women in Industry” quotes Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal and overviews her Nature-published research, ‘Trends in gender pay gaps,’ co-authored with Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation Waverly Ding.
FIND MBA – Sept. 2 – Assistant Dean for Part-time MBA and Online Programs Paulo Prochno comments in “Competition for a Place in the Next Academic Year is Heating up for Prospective Students”: “The online mode of delivery reduces some of the opportunity costs of pursuing an MBA,” [says Prochno]. “The year of the pandemic was an exception, as many people thought it was a good moment to pursue an MBA, given the uncertainties in the work environment. But now that most companies are hiring again, the need to get an MBA is still there.” So he expects the boost in applications to continue on into the next academic year. “With the forced move to online work brought [about] by the pandemic, many people who didn’t think that they could perform well in an online setting changed their minds,” says Prochno. At the same time, after more than a year fully online work, many professionals are feeling the need for in-person interactions. “With that, programs that offer more flexibility in shifting from online to in-person [teaching] as needed will be increasingly more attractive,” he adds. … Of course, with an increase in attractiveness comes heightened competition for an Online MBA place. What is his advice for standing out in the application process? “Highlight your skills and professional achievements,” Prochno advises prospective students. “A crucial element in a good MBA program is the exchange among students, so applicants need to show they will bring interesting perspectives to the classroom discussions.”
Fortune – Sept. 1 – Maryland Smith is ranked No. 20 in Fortune Education’s “Best Executive MBA Programs in 2021” and alums Dawn Walton, Alex Attumalil and Sylvia Bugg are featured in “Executive MBAs Helped Launch the Careers of These 10 C-Level Executives.”
WalletHub – Sept. 1 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang previews Labor Day weekend automobile retail in an “Ask the Experts” segment.
August 2021
Associated Press – Aug. 31 – Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani comments in “Millennial Money: Be ready to work for Labor Day bargains”: Some people padded their savings accounts by staying home during the pandemic. And some set aside the advance payments of the child tax credit they received, [points out Kirmani]. As a result, Labor Day staples like car sales, appliance deals and mattress markdowns might not be a given in 2021 — or, not as impressive. Products in low supply aren’t expected to be discounted much, if at all. That’s the case with some cars, Kirmani predicts. … Comparison shopping on the internet is the best option for finding the lowest price, according to Kirmani. Seek out deal comparison sites and sales roundups that do the homework for you or start monitoring prices yourself before Labor Day so you can judge the value of a sale. … If you want it but could go without for a few months, try holding off until some of the supply chain issues are under control. Black Friday sales — which Kirmani says are historically better than Labor Day — will be coming in November. But it’s difficult to predict what those sales will look like this year.
Minneapolis Star Tribune – Aug. 30 – “Maybe These NDAs Really Protect Only the Bad Employers” references a working paper, Non-Disclosure Agreements and Externalities from Silence, co-authored by Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr.
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education – Aug. 26 – Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal expands on her recent study co-authored with faculty colleague Waverly Ding in “Gender Pay Gap Greater in Academia Than Industry Among Non-Tenured Faculty.”
The Economic Times – Aug. 26 – Distinguished University Professor and Special Advisor to the Dean Ritu Agarwal is named to the Advisory Council on Responsible Digital Transformation for the new Centre for Digital Transformation: The centre is an initiative of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Bank of America “to become a vibrant knowledge hub for academia, policymaking and the private sector by facilitating cutting-edge research on digital transformation and innovation.” … Coverage also by FinTech and Finance News.
Capital.com – Aug. 25 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Thoughtworks Ready for IPO, but Still Searching for a Price”: [Kass] said it’s not uncommon for companies to delay such information prior to an IPO. Examples include Facebook in 2012, and more recently, Robinhood Markets and Snowflake. Kass said the company and its underwriters might not have a grasp on the market prices yet, along the lines of Snowflake’s experience. The night before its IPO, the company estimated its value at $90 per share. The morning before the market opened Wall Street predicted $120 a share. In fact, the price was $240 per share. That price held up, Kass said. Snowflake “had no idea what the market was like,” Kass said. “The underwriters had no feel for it.” … Kass noted that Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are experts at walking through IPOs. But something did catch his eye about the offering. “Apparently this offering isn’t just raising cash for the company but is an opportunity for early investors to cash out.”
LiveHelpNow – Aug. 24 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments in “Shopping Cart Abandonment: Prevent It, Manage It, Reduce It.”
Christian Science Monitor – Aug. 23 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in “Dawn of the Electric Vehicle Age? One Car Shopper’s Experience”: In many ways, today is reminiscent of the early days of automobiles, when cars powered by steam, gasoline, and electricity were all vying for supremacy. Vehicles were expensive, so mostly wealthy people were buying them. Back then, the widespread opinion was that gasoline, steam, and electric vehicles would all find their place in the 20th century, [says Kirsch]. “The big surprise was ... only internal combustion really survived past World War I.” … If successful, the incentives could jump-start EV sales. If not, U.S. automakers could be stuck with a big backlog of unsold electric cars. “I’m of two minds. The sort of policy wonk in me says this is just about a managed transition,” But “as a professor of entrepreneurship and someone who thinks a lot about capitalism, our history with managed transformations is pretty poor.”
Lab Manager Magazine – Aug. 23 – “To Be More Creative, Teams Must Feel Free to Show Emotions” overviews research at Organization Science by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Myeong-Gu Seo… Related coverage in B2B News Network’s (Aug. 25) Daily News Roundup (scroll down).
Forbes – Aug. 22 – Associate Professor of Information Systems Jui Ramaprasad comments in “Taliban Takeover Presents New Challenges for Social Media Companies”: “It is still unclear what role platforms like Twitter and Facebook want to take in managing the information that they facilitate the spread of,” [said Ramaprasad] “Though Facebook has instituted the Oversight Board – “The Facebook Supreme Court” – and Twitter has become more active in suspending and even banning accounts, e.g. Donald Trump, a clear policy on what constitutes the criteria for suspension or account locking,” said Ramaprasad. “If Donald Trump was banned for potential for further inciting violence, one would think that the Taliban would be as well. But this is the result of shying away from clear, uniform and consistent policies and implementation of these policies.” … Given those facts, the social media companies may now have to be far more straightforward about what is allowed to be posted on the platforms, and what should be subject to removal. “Indeed, concisely outlining what constitutes a violation of platform policy – e.g., the spreading of ‘conspiracy theories, disinformation, and hate speech’ – is not always straightforward in implementation, it is not sustainable to continue to evaluate these on a case-by-case basis.”
BombBomb Customer Experience Podcast – Aug. 22 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust discusses “How Artificial Intelligence is Driving the Feeling Economy.”
Insurance.com – Aug. 19 – Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss comments in “How Do You Get a Life Insurance Policy for Seniors”: When looking for the best term life insurance make sure to consider whether you would prefer level term or yearly renewable. "Term insurance is useful primarily for income replacement if the insured dies while he or she is working and has a surviving spouse or children who are dependent on that income," [says Kiss]. "This policy is best when there is a specific need, such as retirement debt that needs to be paid off. But it will not pay out if the policyholder dies after the term expires." … Whole life insurance policies are usually easier to get for seniors than term life insurance. "Whole life insurance is primarily useful for avoiding taxes. The ability to accrue and borrow against the cash value has a drawback: The insurance company will deduct the amount outstanding from the death benefit," notes Kiss. … However, final expense life insurance is often no medical exam required life policies. Instead, you may have to answer a few health-related questions to get covered. "Be aware that the cost per $1,000 for this type of policy is very high because there are no medical questions required; therefore, healthier people may pay the same high rates as those who are not as healthy," cautions Kiss.
Nature – Aug. 18 – “Academia, a Promised Land?” by Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal and Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation Waverly Ding is a “Behind the Paper” series interpretation of their research that reveals a wider gender pay and promotion gap in academia relative to industry among science and engineering doctorate holders.
Daily Maverick (South Africa) – Aug. 18 – Research – “The Feeling Economy: Managing in the Next Generation of AI” -- by Maryland Smith professors Roland Rust and Vojislav Maksimovic is central to “Women Prepare for Their Time to Shine,” a guest piece produced by the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business to promote its annual Women in Business Conference.
The Times (of London) – Aug. 17 – “Breakthrough Innovation Study Wins $75,000 Prize” announces Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy Rachelle Sampson winning one of the UK’s largest academic prizes – the Panmure House Prize for: …Her proposed research (with a team including Maryland Smith colleague Brent Goldfarb) that looks at U.S. patents between 1980 and 2017. The project aims to demonstrate that long-term-oriented firms – supported by government-funded R&D, stronger scientific orientation, a more centralised organisation and greater investment– are more likely to produce breakthrough innovations such as Dupont’s nylon or AT&T Bell Labs’ transistor.
Nasdaq – Aug 17 – Maryland Smith is cited among seven U.S. schools reporting women comprising 45 percent of incoming MBA enrollment in “Women Enrollees Top Men for First Time at This Elite MBA Program.”
BusinessBecause – Aug. 17 – Assistant Dean and Executive Director of Career Services Neta Moye recommends Amy Edmondson’s “The Fearless Organization” as essential reading in “MBA Reading List: 19 Books To Read Before Your MBA.”
Seeking Alpha – Aug. 16 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass writes “Berkshire Hathaway is Undervalued by 17%.”
The Hill – Aug. 16 – Professor of Finance and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy Michael Faulkender writes op-ed “Biden is Dead Wrong About the Trump Tax Cuts, Spending and Debt.”
TalkMarkets – Aug. 15 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass reports “Major Changes To Berkshire Hathaway’s Portfolio During The Second Quarter Of 2021,” plus “Companies That Have Reverse Stock Splits Underperform” (Aug. 14) and “Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks” (Aug. 14).
Baltimore Sun Education – August 2021 – Maryland Smith’s AI Leadership for Healthcare certificate program is featured among “Degree and Certificate Programs [that] Drive Health Care.”
Global Association of Risk Professionals – Aug. 13 – A Risk Intelligence column, “What a Difference a Pandemic Makes: Risk Management Is Having Another Moment,” highlights work by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi to promote governmental risk management: Consider [Rossi], who was Citigroup’s consumer lending division CRO during the 2008 crisis. These days, Rossi is collaborating with faculty colleagues on projects that he characterized as being “at the nexus of climate science and financial risk analytics,” with “applicability” for corporations, official entities like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and local governments. Additionally, Rossi revealed that he has lately had the chance to flex his risk muscles assisting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of an Office of Management and Budget mandate to federal agencies to incorporate enterprise risk management (ERM) into their decision-making.
01net (Italy) – Aug. 13 - “How Brands can Use Facebook Data for Popularity Tests” overviews research by Assistant Professor of Information and Decision Science Kunpeng Zhang and Associate Dean of Master’s Programs Wendy Moe, whose work yielded a new machine learning algorithm that can scroll through social media posts to understand how consumers perceive specific brands.
Slate – Aug. 12 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments extensively in “The Stock Market is Still Weird from GameStop,” including this quote: “GameStop without a billion dollars is just kind of a flailing, languishing mall stock. With [$1B], maybe it’s a total relaunch. Right? A billion dollars is a hundred series A rounds. That’s a lot of pivots, a lot of new bets, a lot of R&D...”
SciTechDaily – Aug. 12 - “Privilege and Politics Influence Vaccine’s Racial Disparity – ‘Structural Inequities Pose a Serious Threat To Progress’” covers Center for Health Information Decision and Systems research co-authored by professors Ritu Agarwal and Gordon Gao… Related coverage at News-Medical.Net: “Socioeconomic Privilege and Political Ideology Correlate to Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination” and Medical Xpress: “Study Shows Privilege, Politics Influence Vaccine's Racial Disparity.”
Financial Times – Aug. 10 – “The NDA Boom is Bad for Both Employers and Workers” references Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr and his research: [‘Bundling Postemployment Restrictive Covenants’] published recently by Natarajan Balasubramanian, Evan Starr and Shotaro Yamaguchi suggests that roughly 57 percent of US workers are covered by NDAs, ranging from 44 per cent in accommodation and food services to 69 per cent in professional services. Tech companies often make visitors sign them at the front desk.
Maryland Today – Aug. 9 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang discusses retail trends indicating “’Relaxed’ as the New ‘Business Casual.’”
China Daily – Aug. 9 - “West's Vaccine Hoarding Harms Poor Countries” references and quotes Research Professor Kislaya Prasad from his recent op-ed at Fortune.
Newswise – Aug. 9 – In a “Myth of the Scholar-Athlete” essay, Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems Emeritus Henry C. Lucas discusses implications of SCOTUS earlier this summer siding with college athletes against the NCAA, allowing an increase in education-related compensation.
TalkMarkets – Aug. 7 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “6 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s Second Quarter Report.” … Also at TalkMarkets, Kass reported the “Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks for Aug. 7.”
July 2021
Morningstar – Aug. 5 – “Who Dares Loses: Buffett on Luck, Taxes and a Challenge” revisits Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass’ insights, initially via CNBC, on Warren Buffett’s views on luck and the ‘ovarian lottery’: [Kass] was the first to publish Warren Buffett’s views on luck and the ‘ovarian lottery’ based on notes Kass took when Buffett was speaking at a 2013 graduate student event. Kass recalls: “Warren Buffett has stressed the importance of luck in his life, focusing not only on where he was born but also when. His primary skill of allocation of capital has worked well for him in the United States and in his lifetime. Having the good luck to win the ‘ovarian lottery’ is a major determinant in success in life in general and in business in particular.”
Maryland Today – Aug. 4 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd III describes how the pandemic has forced marketers to be nimble and adjust their promotional campaigns, in “A Fraught Summer Olympics Keeps Marketers on Their Toes.”
The Social Media Monthly – Aug. 3 – Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan writes an op-ed titled “How Digital Marketing Can Drive Traffic to Stores.”
ValuePenguin – July 31 – “When Can I Deduct Health Insurance Premiums on My Taxes?” includes Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger giving financial and tax planning advice in a Q&A (scroll down).
TalkMarkets – July 31 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of the 8 Largest Stocks.”
Maryland Today – July 30 – "Privilege, Politics Influence Vaccine's Racial Disparity" reveals how social determinants of health—from home internet access to accessibility of health-care facilities—correlate to racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccination among white and Black populations, according to new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Maryland Smith professors Ritu Agarwal, Gordon Gao, Jui Ramaprasad, Smith senior research scientist Michelle Dugas, and Smith doctoral students Gujie Li and Junjie Luo.
InvestorPlace – July 30 – "3 Auto Stocks to Buy as They Transition to Tech-Stock Status" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "Legacy automobile companies such as Ford and General Motors can be valued more like technology companies when they are able to demonstrate that their forthcoming electric vehicles are perceived to be competitive technologically with industry leaders such as Tesla and Nio. Although Ford and General Motors do not have cult-like figures such as Elon Musk running their firms, there is still an opportunity to increase their valuations above current levels."
HousingWire – July 29 – Professor of the Practice in Finance Clifford Rossi writes "Risks of Nonbank Mortgage Sellers and Servicers Revisited" to expand on his previous (July 28) HousingWire op-ed on "Why Ginnie Mae's Proposed Liquidity Standards are Sorely Needed."
TechTarget – July 29 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez comments in "U.S. Lawmaker Seeks National Four-Day Workweek": The four-day workweek was not gaining much traction in the U.S. until the COVID-19 pandemic "sort of revitalized the conversation," [said Suarez], The pandemic began "to trigger some questions that were suppressed, like, 'Why am I working so hard?'" Suarez said. Many businesses discovered, for example, that they could maintain connectedness, human contact and efficiencies even by working remotely. "We began to look for meaning and fulfillment, and not just jobs," he said... The four-day workweek was a natural extension of the remote work conversation. "In a culture that values overcommitments and overwork, and saturation of emails and business as a badge of honor, we're beginning to say when we detach, when we let go, we experience something more fulfilling," Suarez said. The tension with the four-day workweek is that firms must maintain the same pay with reduced hours and retain the same level of performance, Suarez said. If you're going to reduce hours, you need to maintain continuity of operations, and that will force you to streamline business processes, he said. Some firms that have tried a four-day workweek have seen a spike in productivity, "at least initially," Suarez said.
B2B News Network – July 28 – 'Psychological Safety at Work' cites research by Dean's Professor of Management Subra Tangirala: Most organizations cannot provide that level of psychological safety. Partly that's because people don't enjoy hurting each other's feelings or taking away the opportunity to save face. Those are the findings of new research by an international team of management academics [composed of Tangirala, Elad N. Sherf, Sofya Isaakyan and Hannes Guenter] "When employees speak up publicly, we see that managers are often threatened by it. Managers have this tendency to react negatively to public voice because they feel that they lose control of the conversation and look inept in front of everyone," said Tangirala. "This can have a very bad effect on organizations because employees who are not part of in-groups of the managers usually only have opportunities to reach the managers in public meetings."
Maryland Today – July 28 – 'Don't Put Your Emotions in a Box at Work' features research newly published in Organization Science by management professor Myeong-Gu Seo.
Barron's – July 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass' "Exception to the Rule" commentary is published as part of "Barron's Roundtable: Sizing up the Stocks": To the Editor: The suggestion that stocks are overvalued based on the "Rule of 20," which posits that the sum of inflation and the stock market's price/earnings ratio should add up to 20, and is based on data going back to 1957, omits an examination of interest rates ("By This Key Measure, the Stock Market Is Trading at Dot-Com-Era Levels," Up & Down Wall Street, July 16). The 10-year U.S. Treasury rate averaged 5.75% from 1957 through 2021, and 6.65% through 2007, prior to the Great Recession. However, it currently equals only 1.31%, its lowest level over this 65-year time period. Since interest rates are to asset prices what gravity is to matter, the Rule of 20 cannot be applied to determine if current stock market valuations are excessive.
WalletHub – July 24 – Professor of the Practice in Finance Clifford Rossi and Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani give consumer advice on credit-building (Rossi) and auto insurance reviews (Kirmani).
Associated Press via ABC News – July 22 – Associate Professor of Logistics Management Philip Evers helps explain Amazon's "key for business" initiative in "Amazon's Mission: Getting a 'Key' to Your Apartment Building," : [Evers said] Amazon's desire to get the device into as many buildings as possible may be a way to keep competitors out. "The landlord may say, 'You know, I'll do this for one company, but maybe we don't want it for every delivery company that's out there'," he said. He added that Amazon could find other uses for the service, like having delivery people pick up returns left in the lobby instead of making shoppers schlep to the post office. Amazon declined to share any future plans.
International Business Times – July 22 – Op-ed co-authored by management and entrepreneurship professors David Kirsch and Brent Goldfarb addresses "What Bitcoin's Link With Tesla Means For Public Trust In Our Financial Markets."
Wall Street Journal – July 21 – Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr comments in "The Noncompete Clause gets a Closer Look": Around 32% of U.S. companies include the clauses in all of their employment contracts regardless of position or pay, according to a survey… Use of noncompete clauses surged partly because templates can be found easily online and pasted into contracts, [said Starr, one of the authors of the survey]. … Even in states where the clauses would be voided by courts, companies still add them because they expect few employees to challenge, Mr. Starr said. He added that he has seen a noncompete clause for a volunteer role at a nonprofit organization in California. "If you ban noncompetes for some or all workers, there needs to be some way to incentivize firms to comply," he said. … Mr. Starr sees places for compromise. "The uncontroversial parts are that low-wage workers should by and large not be bound by noncompete agreements, and that you shouldn't be able to surprise a worker with a noncompete on day one of a new job," he said. The FTC could also look at limiting the duration of noncompete clauses, many of which require former employees to sit out of the labor market in their field for two years or more, or at limiting their geographic scope, he and other experts said. … The increase in remote work complicates the question even further. "Setting a federal benchmark can go a long way toward mitigating some uncertainty for firms and workers," Mr. Starr said.
Lab Manager Magazine – July 20 – "Have Something to say? Your Boss Wants You to do it in Private" overviews research by Dean's Professor of Management Subra Tangirala.
Bloomberg Radio – July 17 – Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr discusses President Biden's call the FTC to ban or limit employee noncompetes (starting at 6:57) in the second part of a Bloomberg Law podcast titled "Elon Musk Stars in His Own Courtroom Drama."
Fair Play Talks – July 17 - "Empathetic Leadership Crucial for Employee Wellbeing, Say Experts" extensively quotes Professor of the Practice Gerald Suarez.
Washington Post – July 14 – 'Fact Checker: Biden Bungles Story About Low-Wage Noncompete Agreements' quotes Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr: In the EPI survey, of the 65 construction firms that replied, 30.7% said all employees were subject to noncompete agreements. "With the widespread use of noncompetes we found in construction, Biden's example seems quite plausible to me," Colvin said. [Starr at the Robert H. Smith School of Business] also said the asphalt example did not seem surprising: "Certainly noncompete clauses can and do include geographic restrictions broader than the state." The White House official did not provide a specific example to back up Biden's statement but noted that the EPI study found noncompete agreements remain prevalent in a host of blue-collar jobs.
Journal of Accountancy – July 13 – EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance Lawrence Gordon contributes to "Fit Cybersecurity Into Your Accounting Courses": Tell students why cybersecurity matters. Some accounting students may wonder why they need to learn about cybersecurity, viewing it as solely a matter for IT. So discuss the "why and how" with students. "The most important tip would be to get your students to understand how, as an information system, accounting relies on cybersecurity, as do all information systems," [said Gordon]. Explain how cybersecurity is a vital component of internal controls, and how disclosure issues and decisions must be addressed. "What's the cost of a cybersecurity breach? That's an accounting issue," he said, as an example. ... Vary the assignments. Accounting faculty can offer a mix of assignments for students around the topic of cybersecurity. Gordon provides students with "problems and little scenarios" and asks them probing questions, such as "How much should a firm invest in cybersecurity?" and "What's the impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity?" He also asks students to read articles online that explain topics such as how to do a penetration test, a way of testing a computer network or application to find security holes.
The Swaddle – July 12 – "Experiencing Rude Behavior Reduces Our Critical Thinking Skills, Study Shows" quotes Assistant Professor of Management Trevor Foulk and cites his research: The application of anchoring bias is most commonly observed in medical cases — a theory researchers were able to prove in the present study. "If you go into the doctor and say 'I think I'm having a heart attack,' that can become an anchor and the doctor may get fixated on that diagnosis, even if you're just having indigestion," [Foulk explained]. "If doctors don't move off anchors enough, they'll start treating the wrong thing." In the present study … residents at a hospital were given an incorrect suggestion before they had to diagnose a patient, and before the simulation, they had one doctor behave rudely towards the residents. The result was that the residents kept treating the "anchor" suggestion despite new discoveries. "Basically, what we're observing is a narrowing effect. Rudeness narrows your perspective, and that narrowed perspective makes anchoring more likely." … The culture of rude and uncivil behavior is rampant in any job setting, and the present findings aim to take stock of the damage negative attitudes can cause. "In important domains, where people are making critical decisions, we really need to rethink the way we treat people," Foulk said. "We hear 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' It's almost like being able to tolerate people's treatment of you is like a badge of honor. But the reality is that this bad treatment is having really deleterious effects on performance in domains that we care about — like medicine. It matters."
Agility PR Solutions – July 12 – "Social Media Science: How Brands Can Use Facebook to Figure out if People Like Them" overviews research by Assistant Professor of Information and Decision Science Kunpeng Zhang and Associate Dean of Master's Programs Wendy Moe.
Idaho Statesman via Yahoo News – July 11 – "Albertsons Ignored Safety Issues Before Fiery I-84 Crash that Killed Airmen, Families Say" quotes Thomas Corsi, academic director of the MS Supply Chain Program: "Albertsons did not come close to meeting the industry standard of care applicable to it and violated its own policies in both selecting Krujex Freight Transport Co. and the continued use of that carrier's services to deliver product to Albertsons stores through the date of the fatal crash on June 16, 2018, and thereafter," [Corsi] wrote in a court document. … Corsi, who has served as a professor at the Maryland university since 1976, wrote that Albertsons should have never hired Krujex, which had a poor safety record. And the trucking company should have passed on hiring Tsar. … "I have concluded, based on my background and experience, that a cause of the subject crash was the KFTC driver's failure to respond to the slow-moving traffic queue ahead, most likely due to performance decrements associated with fatigue," Corsi wrote. … Corsi said Krujex and Albertsons, which operates its own fleet of 250 trucks, bore "direct responsibility" for the crash. The grocer, he said, had an "unquestioned responsibility" to assess Krujex's ability to safely transport its products.
Maryland Daily Record – July 10 – Associate Professor of Marketing Yogesh Joshi comments in "A New McCormick Product Sold Out in Under an Hour – Again": [Joshi] said that partnerships between influencers and brands can be powerful marketing tools for two reasons. Not only are the influencers able to drum up excitement around the product, but they are also able to help companies develop products that they know will be popular among their colleagues and fans. "Finding the right person is quite important because when you have the right person, the input you get for the product you're trying to make is very relevant," he said. "Not only have you engaged the influencer, but you've also created a product that's of a higher quality. It kind of works hand in hand." … Even if it wasn't the company's plan, limited runs of items can be strong marketing tools, Joshi said. Common with products like Nike sneakers, a limited-edition product (especially one that sells out as quickly as this seasoning did) can lead to a lot of buzz and conversation that will still benefit the company even when the product is no longer limited. "Scarcity is a fairly popular tactic that brands sometimes use to launch and promote new products," he said. "If there are many people who are interested, it creates demand and conversation around it, and a lot of that stays around."
NPR – July 9 – 'Biden Moves to Restrict Noncompete Agreements' quotes Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr: Even in states that ban noncompetes, companies have continued to include them in employment contracts, an issue that [Starr] hopes the FTC will address. … "I think the focus should be on trying to deter their use in the first place," says Starr, instead of just making them unenforceable. … In his research, Starr has found that many workers are unaware of state laws prohibiting noncompetes, so when faced with threatening letters from their employers they are unlikely to put up a challenge. Unlike Beck, Starr anticipates the FTC will issue a ban on noncompetes covering most workers. He says banning them for low-wage workers is largely uncontroversial, and there is growing evidence that a ban would benefit high-skilled workers as well.
NPR – July 9 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd discusses "Name, Image, Likeness and College Athlete" in a panel discussion hosted by Louisville affiliate WFPL (at 11:15-13:55, 25:15-26:57,45:50-5:10 in the embedded audio file).
TechTarget – July 9 – "Biden Noncompete Agreement Order a Warning for Businesses" quotes Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr: Biden's executive order "signals a broad federal interest in reforming noncompete policies, which is something that we have never seen before," said [Starr], who recently testified on Connecticut's noncompete legislation. … "Noncompetes clearly fall under the purview of the FTC per the Sherman Act, because they are restraints of trade," Starr said. "But for whatever reason, the federal government has not generally regulated noncompetes, leaving it mostly to states. So it will be interesting to see where the FTC goes from here."
Naturopathic News and Review – July 5 – "Being Rude Can Lead to 'Anchoring' in Medical Scenarios" overviews research co-authored by Assistant Professor of Management Trevor Foulk.
Investing.com – July 5 – "Dollar Weakens as Payrolls Result Eases Rate Hike Concerns" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: However, while Friday's jobs report said that nonfarm payrolls grew by a higher-than-expected 850,000 in June, the unemployment rate was also higher than expected and the pace of hourly earnings growth slowed, easing concerns that the central bank would raise interest rates sooner than expected. This report "would probably not convince the Federal Reserve to change its current policy [said Kass]. ... Republished by Yahoo Finance.
Poets & Quants – July 3 – Poets & Quants MBAs to Watch – Class of 2021 features, among new full-time MBA grads worldwide, profiles of Maryland Smith's Maria Herold and Rachel Loya.
TalkMarkets – July 3 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks."
Quartz – July 2 – "A Shipping Container Shortage is Snarling Global Trade" quotes Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya: The shortage of shipping containers is yet another symptom of the havoc the pandemic has wrought on international supply chains. As a result, freight costs are rising, which in turn leads to higher prices for consumer goods."This matters in the near term because the supply issues will have a direct impact on inflation,"[said Acharya].
VentureBeat – July 2 – Findings by information systems professor Kenpung Zhang and Associate Dean of Masters Programs Wendy Moe are reviewed in "Researchers Develop Algorithm to Identify Well-Liked Brands."
The Social Media Monthly – July 2 – Associate Professor of Information Systems Jui Ramaprasad's op-ed addresses "How Do We Stop Social Media Ads That Target Teens and Minors."
ValueWalk via FinTechZoom – July 2 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass' blogpost "Charlie Munger Loves Zoom" is republished.
E&E News – July 1 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "Condo Collapse Could Stoke Miami Climate Fear in Homebuyers": So how might the Champlain Towers South disaster shake things up even more? [Rossi said] there are several short- and long-term possibilities. He said the collapse — regardless of its cause — could "dampen interest" in South Florida properties similar to the 12-story Champlain Towers South… The condominium disaster in Surfside, Fla., "will certainly have buyers [who are] interested in buying into the condo market down there — and other Florida cities, for that matter, that are located close to the shore — to think twice about purchasing a property," said Rossi, who also previously worked as Citigroup Inc.'s chief risk officer."And that could have somewhat of a chilling effect even in a pretty hot market like it is [in Florida] today and in many places around the country," Rossi added. … (Growing awareness of sea-level rise, in addition to"hyper-salient events" such as major hurricanes or the Surfside collapse… can lead to a diminishing of the premium that people are willing to pay for coastal living) … Rossi echoed that point. If the investigation shows the building collapsed solely due to construction or maintenance errors, there may not be any long-term implications for the local market. But it would be different if the investigation provides"incontrovertible evidence" of contributing environmental factors common to the entire region, Rossi said."That could be a catalyst for more people rethinking retiring down in areas like that and saying it's not worth the potential risk out there that we face — to be situated that close to the shore."
June 2021
OZY – June 30 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd comments in "The Ground Shifts Under College Sports": (The University Athletic Association of the Philippines is an international facsimile of the NCAA — boasting a strong college sports system yet without any rules governing payments or compensation.) Shouldn't the home of capitalism and the free market follow the Filipino way? The current model is"not in keeping with market forces," [Boyd tells OZY]."If you have the talent, you should be able to work with people to be compensated."
U.S. House Committee on Financial Services News – June 30 – "Hybrid Hearing – Addressing Climate as a Systemic Risk: The Need to Build Resilience within Our Banking and Financial System" includes testimony from Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi (beginning at 39:30 in embedded video).
Quartz – June 29 – Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr contributes to "An Airport Executive Warns its Concessionaires Not to Steal one Another's Employees": If both airport eateries were independent franchises under the same parent company, then"it's kind of a legal gray area,"[says Starr]. Quartz reached out to Star Concessions to clarify if the company owns both eateries but did not hear back at the time of publication.… A no-poach policy could hurt employee's mobility and hurt any wage gains. The workers are also not aware of no-poach agreements, says Starr. If you submit an application to the stall next door, and the application asks for your private employment—that information could get you kicked out of the applicant pool if a Sbarro had an agreement with Auntie Anne's not to hire from each other, he says.
Bloomberg Law – June 29 – Assistant Professor of Management Evan Starr comments in "Employee Noncompete Clause Limits Adopted by Three More States": States also are beginning to enact provisions allowing for civil penalties against companies that use illegal or abusive noncompete contracts, and in some cases making it easier for workers to win attorney fees in court cases where employers seek to enforce noncompetes, [said Starr]. The new Illinois legislation allows the state attorney general to pursue enforcement action against employers related to noncompete contracts and potentially win civil penalties. Penalties are a less common feature of state noncompete laws, but the idea could catch on as a way to deter companies from using them in situations where they're illegal or unenforceable, Starr said. His research shows that even in California, where noncompetes are banned and unenforceable under state law, a significant portion of workers are asked to sign them anyway, he added. … "No court in California would sanction a noncompete agreement, and yet these agreements have chilling effects on workers," Starr said. "Workers don't want to fight out a lawsuit," and in many cases might not know state law makes the contracts unenforceable.
Supply Chain Brain – June 26 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya discusses implications of a U.S. oversupply of COVID vaccine in "What to do About the Vaccine Surplus."
TalkMarkets – June 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks."
ESPN's The Undefeated – June 25 – "The Low-Key Cool of 'Jake, From State Farm' Has Actor Kevin Miles Superstarring" quotes Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd: "Jake is like the guy next door, the boy next door that grew up," [said Boyd] "The perception is there that, man, you went out of your way, Jake. You gave me the inside deal." Insurance can be dull, and it can take antics and hyperbole to stand out. But Boyd calls Jake's charisma, charm and conventional good looks something that can win for State Farm. "He's become a franchise success," said Boyd. That success marks a universal, all-American appeal. But don't misunderstand. Without the slightest patina of performative ethnicity, he still feels authentically Black.
Maryland Today – June 25 – Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss gives consumer finance advice in "A Hot Housing Market Calls for Cleaning Out Your Closets or Your Bank Account."
InvestorPlace – June 24 – 'Overlooked Blue Chip Stocks for Eagle-Eye Investors' quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "So far in 2021, blue-chip stocks have outperformed high-risk high-return investments. As of June 5, 2021, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which consists of 30 large blue-chip companies, has increased by 13.6%, while the Nasdaq (made of more high-risk, high-return stocks) has risen by only 7.2%. The S&P 500, which is heavily weighted by the large blue-chip stocks, is up by 12.6%. This relative relationship is likely to persist throughout the balance of the year… Interest rates are likely to be stable or increase slightly in the second half of 2021. Any increase in interest rates should result in high-risk, high-return stocks further underperforming blue-chip stocks since future cash flows of high-risk companies will be discounted at a higher rate resulting in lower valuations relative to blue-chip companies that have more reliable income streams over the near term." … Also at Business Insider's Markets Insider.
Poets & Quants – June 23 – "5 Biggest Surprises Of Online MBA Programs" quotes Maryland Smith online MBA graduate Jose DeJesus: "In a traditional classroom, you have very little visibility into your classmates' lives," [adds DeJesus]. "With an online program, you see people taking class from hotel rooms, trains, at home, and in offices. There is something powerful in seeing how everyone "grinds" it out through the program. Everyone is facing different pressures but still looking to learn and better themselves. There is nothing more motivating than that."
Maryland Today – June 23 – "Returning a Favor via Social Media Could Drive Healthier Habits, UMD Research Shows" overviews research from the Center for Health Information and Decisions Systems by Senior Associate Dean Ritu Agarwal and Professor Gordon Gao.
Bloomberg – June 23 – "Warren Buffett Steps Away From Middleman Spot in Gates Divorce" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "Buffett maybe wants to steer clear of the personal conflict between Bill and Melinda Gates and keep his own personal relationships with both of them separate from this decision," [said Kass]. Still, the investor's statement Wednesday signaled continued support for the foundation, and some Buffett family foundations, with $4.1 billion in donations. "He's sending the very positive signal that he's certainly maintaining his very generous contributions," Kass said.
Baltimore Sun – June 22 – Marketing professors Jie Zhang and P.K. Kannan comment on the post-pandemic business-attire market in "Baltimore-Area Women Come Face-to-Face with an Old Foe After a Year of Pandemic: The Underwire Bra."
The Mortgage Reports – June 21 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi weighs in to "Late-2021 Mortgage Rate Predictions: How High Will Rates Go?": 30-year mortgage rates by late 2021: 3.6% (and) 15-year mortgage rates by late 2021: 2.6%... "These projections are based largely on what happens to the yield curve between now and the end of the year," explains Rossi, "which is likely to steepen a bit more as fixed-income markets build inflationary expectations into their views. "The Fed has signaled a commitment, at least for the time being, to keep short-term rates very low, so we could see a steeper yield curve ahead — which will affect the direction and level of mortgage rates."
FocusTechnica – June 21 – "When Employees Lack Power at Work, They Get Paranoid – And Aggressive" overviews research by Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk.
Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) News – June 19 – "Swans, Rhinos and Elephants Are Animating Risk Debates" quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Risk awareness, informed by an integrated view of risks, "is incredibly important and is a function of the type of event that may have occurred at an earlier time (e.g., South Korean MERS epidemic of 2015), and also what I refer to as risk sensitivity," [says Rossi]. "Risk sensitivity is in turn dependent upon a set of management cognitive biases and the level of risk aversion of management – the point being that management teams that exhibit greater degrees of risk aversion and less bias (e.g., herd mentality, recency bias, etc.) wind up being more sensitive to risk events and risk-taking than other managers, which heightens their risk awareness to uncertain events. "We still tend to be far more siloed in assessing risk than we should be," Rossi continues, "and as we learned from the global financial crisis, we often find risks collide with one another. For example, subprime mortgage credit losses contributed to a liquidity crisis and to massive reputation risk, legal, regulatory and market risks during that period."
Maryland Daily Record - June 18 – Clinical Professor Oliver Schlake comments in "140 Years Later, Otterbein's Ovens Are Still Baking Away": The longevity of a family-owned business such as Otterbein's can be a rarity in the United States. … [Schlake said] there are several factors that could inhibit the growth of family-owned business in the U.S. … Schlake's family has owned a bakery in Germany for at least 75 years, but he said family businesses can struggle to survive in the U.S. He attributed this to a number of reasons, including the hesitancy among some business owners to be open to organic growth, which is growth by increasing output and enhancing sales from within. For a family-owned business to have success in the U.S., Schlake said it is important to uphold traditions and "have an active, symbiotic relationship with the community." "You expect people to pay a premium because you're selling them something that is more satisfying than just getting food," Schlake said. "It's not just calories … you're eating an experience, you're eating into a tradition." At the same time, Schlake said relying too much on tradition can be "a very dangerous trap" for family-owned businesses. It is important to strike the balance between upholding traditions and evolving.
The Big Think – June 18 – "Don't be Rude to Your Doctor" overviews research by Assistant Professor of Management Trevor Foulk.
ValueWalk – June 17 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives insights in "21 for 2021: Midyear Stocks to Watch."
STAT News - June 17 – "Gender Bias Toward Men in Patent Awards Results in Less Biomedical Innovation for Women" quotes Associate Professor of Management Waverly Ding and references her research: Thinking more broadly this way about the implications of a lack of female patent holders may still be relatively new. Waverly Ding, who studies gender issues related to entrepreneurship and science and author of a 2006 Science study showing the gender gap in patenting, pointed out that people haven't really thought about the consequences of her findings on society at large. "If we have a more diverse innovation workforce, then we're going to have better results in terms of the quality and the type of patents we're getting," Ding said, adding, "But we have never really looked into this assumption, and no one had tried to quantify what it means to have women's representation." … None of the female researchers STAT spoke to were surprised at the study's findings. "Women bring their unique perspectives, their interests, their preferences," said Ding.
ABS News and Research – June 16 - "Apple Stock Split: History, Reasons & Brief Analysis," quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Kass argues that stock splitting was a practice used by companies to keep their stock prices in the mid-double-digit range. Moreover, companies did this as often as possible because broker commissions were fixed, and investors preferred trading in "round lots" of 100 shares. In contrast, if an investor purchased less than 100 shares, broker commissions were amplified, the reason behind holding "round lots."
US News & World Report - June 14 – "What Are Congress Members Trading?" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: [Kass says], "Since members of Congress do have access to inside information such as the outlook for the overall economy, specific industries, and individual companies, large transactions on either the buy side or the sell side might serve as a useful signal as to major changes that could be forthcoming that could affect the securities involved." … Related: Kass, via TalkMarkets, gives "The Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of the 8 Largest Stocks" (June 12).
Poets & Quants – June 12 – "Best and Brightest Online MBAs: Class of 2021" profiles Maryland Smith's Yenny Andrade Castillo and Jose DeJesus, with the overview including: At the same time, the University of Maryland's& Yenny Andrade Castillo has spent nearly a decade at the World Bank. "Working for the World Bank has been a rewarding experience. I've traveled on missions to the Philippines, Malaysia and South Africa, and I've seen the developmental impact of the World Bank's work in helping poor people," she writes. "At the same time, I've progressed in my professional career, advancing from an assistant position to associate portfolio officer in the Private Equity Funds unit at IFC."
StudyFinds ("Research in a Nutshell") – June 11 – "Rudeness can Lead to Serious Mistakes in Life-or-Death Situations" covers "Trapped by A First Hypothesis: How Rudeness Leads to Anchoring," co-authored by management professor Trevor Foulk and forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Psychology… Related coverage includes posts at News-Medical.net, Scienmag, Medical Xpress and a recent at Hidden Brain: …Turns out, rude experiences can trigger the anchoring bias – our tendency to focus on one piece of information when making a decision, even if the information is irrelevant. After experiencing rudeness, doctors and medical residents were more likely to anchor to an incorrect diagnosis, for example. Rudeness made it harder to think clearly and make good decisions. "Rudeness narrows your perspective, and that narrowed perspective makes anchoring more likely," said Trevor Foulk, one of the study's authors. "We really need to rethink the way we treat people." It can't hurt to ask: What can I do to be a little bit kinder today?
Southern Maryland Chronicle – June 10 – "Cars are About to Cost a lot More in Maryland After the Pandemic" quotes Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya: Chip shortage, [according to Acharya], left most of the auto manufacturers hungry for even the basic components of their cars or trucks… Most cars nowadays have capabilities like artificial intelligence. They can parallel park the vehicle, keep you within the lane, protect your bumper to get harmed in case of a potential collision by avoiding the same and help you keep focused on the road by barring all sorts of distractions. With these cars, you also get some mind-blowing entertainment options, infotainment systems, and internet connectivity. According to the professor, we are nowadays driving "smart devices on wheels."
Supply Chain Masters (Belgium) – June 9 – "Research: Why Managers Ignore Employees' Ideas," co-authored by management professors Subra Tangirala and Vijaya Venkataramani, is republished from Harvard Business Review.
WalletHub – June 9 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang answers "What's the Deal with Credit Card Deals?"
Financial Post – June 8 – Management professor Trevor Foulk discusses his recent workplace behavior research in "Forget Everything You Thought You Knew About Power."
Yahoo Finance – June 8 – "10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Warren Buffett" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Last year, Buffett sold huge stakes in bank stocks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) amid financial volatility caused by the coronavirus crisis. This move was the result of, in the words of a finance professor David Kass at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, "extreme caution" practiced by Buffett as bank stocks are prone to losses and vulnerability during difficult times such as the one heralded by the pandemic.
Science Newsnet – June 8 – "Eye Tracking Study Shows How Online Ads Help Consumers Shop Faster" covers a recent study co-authored by Distinguished University Professor and PepsiCo Chair in Consumer Science Michel Wedel.
TalkMarkets – June 5 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of the 8 Largest Stocks."
Maryland Daily Record – June 3 – "UMD Honors Five Exporting Businesses for Resilience During COVID-19" reviews the same-day Maryland Business Adapts event organized by Center for Global Business and quotes CGB Executive Director Rebecca Bellinger: "While each company's pivots were assessed on their own merits against an award rubric, we were quite pleased that the five companies ultimately chosen were diverse in ownership, business model, industry and adaptive strategies."
dot.LA – June 2 – "Quincy Jones' New NFT Platform Wants to Take the Guilt Out of Artist NFTs" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: [Kirsch said] it's unclear if OneOf's platform can pull in enough users to make it work. "What's really going to matter is if people want these tokens or not," he said. "Are people interested? Are there superfans for whom access to an NFT of one of their artists whom they follow is worth paying money for? That's what's going to make or break this in my view."
Valor Economico (Brazil) – June 1 – "Giving Employees a Voice in Changing Scenarios Increases Resilience, Says Study" quotes Dean's Professor of Management Subra Tangirala and summarizes his research: In experiments they did with some teams, they asked managers to encourage people to express themselves; to create spaces where they were heard; to recognize or reward the speaker. When the three actions took place, the researchers stated that the performance was higher, compared to that obtained by the teams that did not undergo this intervention. "Not only to prevent productivity, after the shock of change, from falling even further, but also to recover more quickly," [said Tangirala].
May 2021
Wall Street Journal – May 29 – "Paycheck Protection Program Closes to New Applications" references Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender and his recent study: A December study by Michael Faulkender, who was assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the Trump administration and worked closely with the SBA to administer the PPP, said the program saved 18.6 million jobs. Mr. Faulkender and co-authors based their estimate on an analysis of county-level unemployment-insurance claims. Mr. Faulkender said that as the nation entered a sudden economic crisis last year, the SBA and Treasury had to balance getting money to businesses quickly with fraud-prevention measures…
GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) – May 29 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "The Archegos Collapse: Not Just a Family Office Affair: A nonbank fund's failure exposes a risk and regulatory blind spot": "Counterparty Risk Management 101 should have been happening," [said Rossi] Banks should have been able to answer the basic questions, he continued: "Who are your counterparties, and how do you ensure you have appropriately assessed their risks?" … Archegos was "regularly putting up $15 of collateral to borrow $85." That alone should have been a red flag, Rossi argued. He believes that anyone "borrowing from a regulated financial institution should have some oversight."
BusinessBecause – May 29 – BusinessBecause Online MBA Guide 2021 quotes Assistant Dean for Part-time MBA and Online Programs Paulo Prochno and Career Center assistant director Julie Neill: (Prochno): "An online program covers traditional MBA ground that prepares students to take more senior management roles, giving them a view on how the different functions contribute to the overall results of a company. This requires both hard and soft skills. The latter can be developed through lively synchronous sessions that include virtual breakout rooms for small group discussions through which students exercise such skills as emotional intelligence and collaborative problem-solving" (Page 20) … (Neill): " An online MBA has the added advantage of preparing leaders to collaborate with a diverse group of peers in a virtual environment, a skillset that will undoubtedly become increasingly important in the future of work." (Page 17).
InvestorPlace – May 28 – "Money Moves for Recent Grads: Top Finance Tips for Recent Graduates" quotes Clinical Associate Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss: If you're anything like me, figuring out your budget probably feels a bit like guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar. But as [Kiss told InvestorPlace], it might not be fun, but "it is important to start and stick to a budget." She went on to say: "You can download a personal finance app on your phone (e.g., Mint.com) to track your spending and account balances. You need to understand your living expenses from utilities to rent to transportation; you will face some monthly expenses that previously were negligible or nonexistent. This will be a large portion of your monthly budget." … Related: Wealth Creation Investing quotes Kiss in "Retirement Funds For Rookies: Everything New Grads Need To Know" (May 26).
Times of News – May 28 – Associate Professor of Management David Waguespack explains "Implications of Dwindling Oscars Viewership and Movie Audience Fragmentation."
American Marketing Association – May 27 – "When to Release Free and Paid Apps for Maximal Revenue" overviews research co-authored by marketing professors Jie Zhang and Michel Wedel and Maryland Smith PhD graduate Seoungwoo Lee.
Haptic – May 27 – "Feeling Intelligence will be Dominant in the Economy" by Europe-based Haptic R&D Consulting overviews the book, The Feeling Economy: How Artificial Intelligence Is Creating the Era of Empathy, co-authored by Distinguished University Professor David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust.
Harvard Business Review – May 26 – Associate Professor of Management David Waguespack co-authors "Dispersed Teams Succeed Fast, Fail Slow."
Science Newsnet – May 26 – "Why Italy's Economy Stopped Growing" explores an NBR working paper co-authored by Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino. … Related coverage by NbaRevolution (Italy).
MarketScale – May 26 – Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan discusses 'store within a store' strategy for large retailers, via a video embedded in a reposting of "Walmart Closing Most In-Store McDonald's."
CNBC – May 25 – Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta is cited for helping select the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 list.
Science Newsnet – May 25 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger explains "The 280E Tax Code as an Obstacle for Cannabis Firms and the SAFE Banking Act." … Related coverage at Financial Daily Newswire.
CBS News (online) – May 24 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments extensively through "Should You Invest in Dogecoin? Expert Suggests Keeping Away from Controversial Cryptocurrency Market."
Business Insider – May 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in 'Warren Buffett Built a $4 Billion Chevron Stake in 6 Months — Then Halved it Last Quarter': Berkshire may also have cut its Chevron position because it wanted to take some profits off the table, [Kass told Insider]. "Buffett may have decided to realize a 35% profit in a short period of time," Kass said, pointing out that Berkshire spent an average of $83 per Chevron share, and the company's stock price surged as high as $112 last quarter. The Berkshire chief may also have determined that oil prices were more likely to fall than rise in the coming months, weakening the near-term outlook for Chevron stock, Kass added… Berkshire slashed other bank holdings, and eliminated its JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs stakes entirely last year. Those disposals might indicate that Buffett is bracing for a wave of defaults, Kass said. The investor may have plowed over $2 billion into Bank of America stock over 12 days last fall because he considered the lender to be less risky than its peers, he added. "Buffett's exit from GS, JPM, and WFC is perhaps a reflection of his fear of very bad outcomes from the pandemic with numerous defaults on bank loans, especially commercial loans," Kass said. "Bank of America has less exposure to commercial loans than JPM and WFC." … Additional coverage of David Kass: 'Year-To-Date Percentage Returns of 8 Largest Stocks' (May 22), via TalkMarkets.
American University Law Review – May 22 – Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue co-authors "Tracing the Invisible: Information Fiduciaries and the Pandemic" as a call for "for more robust solutions to protect individuals' privacy—whether those individuals are currently visible or invisible to pandemic technology—if pandemic technology is to provide the universal coverage necessary for a public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic."
Maryland Matters – May 22 – "TikTok and Google Docs: Small Businesses Thrive After Adapting to the Pandemic" quotes Distinguished University Professor David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust: The pandemic sped up the online shopping trend that existed prior, [said Rust]. "We are in an environment where a substantial percentage of the buying is going to happen online and that is probably always going to be true," Rust said. … Ninety percent of consumers will buy products from a brand they follow on social media, found a 2020 study by software company, Sprout Social Inc. Any smart business goes where the people are and, during the pandemic, they weren't walking down the street, Rust said.
American Banker – May 21 – "What Could be in Store for Banks after Biden Climate Change Order" quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: But despite the executive order, regulators are likely to continue moving carefully on climate change until they get their arms around current climate models and how they can measure bank exposure, [said Rossi] "You can make some terrible economic decisions based on this," said Rossi, a former senior risk executive at Citigroup, who is studying the effects of climate change on housing. "We have to understand what's going on first with the climate models we use before making assessments."
ValueWalk – May 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass explains why 'SPACS Have Fallen from Favor.'
Baltimore Sun – May 18 – Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender writes "As the U.S. Returns to Normal, so Must the Federal Reserve."
Quirk's Media – May 18 – "How a Zero-Sum Mindset Can Undermine Workplace Negotiations" overviews Associate Professor of Management Rellie Derfler-Rozin research on the impact of zero-sum thinking in the employment negotiation process… Related coverage in Communications of the ACM's "Myths About Workplace Negotiations."
Bloomberg Opinion – May 16 – 'Meritocracy Is the Key to Boosting Economic Growth' highlights research by Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino: [Pellegrino shows] that countries with high meritocracy scores have enjoyed much more of a bonus from new technology than countries with low scores such as Italy. Italy's loyalty-based management style had no negative consequences for productivity growth in the decades before 1995. But when the IT revolution took off, loyalty-based management reduced Italy's productivity growth by between 13 and 16 percentage points. This result suggests that the meritocracy dividend is growing along with the IT revolution: Meritocracy is not just the secret sauce of economic growth in the long term, but also a secret sauce that is becoming ever more potent.
Salon – May 16 – A 'Quest for Perfect Parenting' piece sourced from multiple studies and PhDs quotes Associate Clinical Professor of Management Nicole Coomber: Lack of feedback is also an issue, [says Coomber]... "In terms of parenting, what kind of job has less clarity on deliverables and goals and less feedback, right?" she asks. "When you put people in a job that is completely amorphous, and they don't know if they're doing a good job or a bad job, that is a recipe for perfectionistic tendencies."
MarketScale – May 15 – "Walmart to Close Most In-Store McDonald's By End Of Summer" quotes Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan: "If you look at it from the viewpoint of McDonald's," Kannan said, "During the COVID pandemic, 70 percent of their sales came from drive-throughs, and even as they are looking forward when Walmart is changing their store formats … McDonald's is facing a challenge because they must also upgrade with these new stores."
TalkMarkets – May 15 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of the 8 Largest Stocks."
Phys.org – May 13 – "Research Reveals Negative Effects of Hotel App Adoption on Customer Spending" features a newly published findings by Dean's Chair in Marketing P.K. Kannan in the Journal of Marketing Research.
Science Newsnet – May 13 – "What it Means to Be Green (in the fund management industry)" previews an upcoming webinar co-hosted by Maryland Smith's Center for Financial Policy and Center for Social Value Creation… "Pitfalls of a Zero-Sum Mindset" (May 12) previews a Maryland Smith-hosted webinar delivered by management professor Rellie Derfler-Rozin on her recent research on the impact of zero-sum thinking in the employment negotiation process.
Washington Post – May 12 – "'Help Wanted' Signs Point to Big Summer Travel Problems" quotes Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust: But smaller companies didn't have that luxury (retaining employees by shifting them to other divisions), and now they are paying the price. "With fewer workers, the quality of service in hospitality is likely to be affected in the coming months," [says Rust]. "And there's not much that travelers can do about it."
FIND MBA – May 12 – Director of Online Programs Danielle Wang contributes to "In a Locked-Down World, Online MBAs Create a Sense of Community": [Wang] says that a significant and ongoing challenge for online students is accessing the breadth of resources that are typically available to their counterparts taking on-campus courses. This includes taking advantage of networking events and career-coaching services. Successful online students have common attributes, she says. "Drive to succeed and self-management are particularly important." Also critical are time management skills, given that students complete the majority of their coursework at their own pace. "They need to be constantly vigilant about setting and meeting weekly learning goals, including staying ahead of coursework deadlines," says Wang. She also notes the pandemic has crystalized some of the benefits of remote study, including the ability to adjust to unexpected work demands, job changes or relocations.
American Marketing Association – May 11 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust co-authors "How Social Media and AI Enable Companies to Track Brand Reputations in Real Time" as an overview of his newly published study in the Journal of Marketing.
Marketing Directo (Spain) – May 11 – "Advertising and Art Put Eyes on Each Other: Are Brands the Medici of the 21st Century?": quotes Assistant Professor of Marketing Yajin Wang: Still, "the younger generations seem more open when it comes to celebrating success. And they seem to understand that if you want to be a famous artist, you are not going to be famous solely because of your works."
Customer Talk (Netherlands) – May 11 – "Emotional Artificial Intelligence: Still a Long Way to Go" cites research by Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue: Analyzing and categorizing people based on their inner emotions is misguided according to a large group of people. A study [by Rhue] found that emotion recognition technology assigns more negative emotions to people of certain ethnic races and their faces as twice as angry. then stamps other faces. The problem with emotional recognition – aside from the inherent biases – is that human emotions are not limited to facial expressions or voice intonations. When an individual laughs, it does not always mean that he is actually happy.
Maryland Today – May 10 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya explains why a pandemic-driven shortage of computer chips means "Cars (are) About to Cost More."
Poets & Quants – May 9 – Associate Dean of Master's Programs Wendy Moe comments on Jasmine Snead and Virginia Pierrie – both selected and profiled (Snead here and Pierre here) for "100 Best & Brightest MBAs: Class of 2021": "…[Pierrie] was a key team member in communicating decisions to the students and providing the administration with feedback on how her classmates were handling the [COVID-prompted] transition [to virtual activities]. Early feedback helped both faculty and staff adjust and provide the best experience possible for our students. In addition, she worked with her fellow MBAA board members and each of the individual clubs to transition their programming online." … [Snead] designed and implemented the first ever "Winternship Challenge" in partnership with the Office of Career Services. This challenge helped motivate her fellow classmates over the winter break in their job search and was so successful that it was held again the following winter… [Snead as] VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has led the MBA Association to host events that educated her classmates as to the effects of systemic racism and what they could do as individuals to change it… She has inspired many in the Smith community to do more for our program and the college to make sure that our commitment to diversity goes beyond the surface and starts to influence how we think about curriculum and the culture of the full-time MBA program.
Sina Finance – May 8 – Clinical Professor of Finance David, in an interview, explains "Buffett's Rejection of the Climate Change Proposal is to Protect the Interests of Individual Shareholders": …Regarding the shareholders proposal for enhanced disclosure of climate change at this meeting, [Kass] believes that Buffett's approach is to protect the interests of shareholders, but such an approach may lose some customers in the long run…
Arirang Korea – May 8 – Research Professor and Center for Global Business Professor Kislaya Prasad discusses 'Global Imbalance in the COVID-19-Vaccine Rollout' (video, at 6:15) as part of the South Korea news channel's weekly Foreign Correspondents program.
TalkMarkets – May 8 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-to-Date Percentage of 8 Largest Stocks."
Fast Company – May 7 – "Welcome to the Post-Sellout Era" quotes Assistant Professor of Marketing Yajin Wang: It's almost quaint now to recall how Moby was pilloried by fans for selling out when his 1999 album Play became the most licensed of all time. All 18 tracks were featured in a TV show, movie, or commercial, and in some instances all three (nothing says upscale hotel lobby to me more than track three, "Porcelain"). When Honda licensed indie darling Vampire Weekend's "Holiday" for a Civic commercial a decade later, there appeared to be no blowback whatsoever. "Younger generations seem to openly celebrate being successful. There's an understanding that if you want to be a famous artist, it can't just be about your artwork," says [Wang].
eeDesignit – May 6 – "Harnessing AI for a More Equitable Workplace" overviews research by Associate Professor of Management and Statistics Margrét Bjarnadóttir… Related coverage at Tech HR Series.
Forbes – May 5 – Rajshree Agarwal writes op-ed: "Lessons From The 2009 American Recovery And Reinvestment Act For The American Jobs And Infrastructure Plan."
InvestorPlace – May 5 – Dean's Professor of Information Systems Anand Gopal gives insights from his research for 'Gun Stocks Amid Surging Firearm Sales': [Gopal], who recently published the study "Traders, guns, and money: The effects of mass shootings on stock prices of firearm manufacturers in the U.S.," wrote in an email to InvestorPlace, "Stock prices for U.S. firearm manufacturers appear to fluctuate based on two factors — an increase in the probability of firearm regulation and the short-term perception of danger to life and property."… As long as the fear of restrictions hangs over the sector, gun stocks will do well. As Gopal wrote, "This raises the question — are the current prices already factoring in the Biden Administration's intentions and the ongoing crises with the pandemic and unrest on the southern border? My sense is that no, these prices will continue to rise till we hit the next inflexion point — the 2022 midterm elections."
Bloomberg – May 3 – "Abel's 'Extreme Confidence' Seen as Ticket to Following Buffett" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "There's only one Warren Buffett," [Kass] said in a phone interview. "But he brings other strengths to the table," Kass said of Abel. "He exudes extreme competence."... Related coverage quoting Kass includes: Entrepreneur "Warren Buffett Reveals Who Will Be His Successor Once He Leaves" (May 3), (May 3) and Business Insider Meet Greg Abel, the 58-year-old Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman just tapped as Warren Buffett's successor (May 3).
NTD Business – May 3 – Clinical Professor of Business David Kass comments in "Buffett and Munger Talk Earnings, SPACS" (Video – 2-minute mark): Reporter: Berkshire Hathaway, reporting and operating income of $7 billion. That's 20 percent higher than the same period last year. Its assortment of insurance, manufacturing, transportation, retail and utility businesses are generally recovering as the economy reopens. Kass: "Their first-quarter earnings I thought were excellent. It looked like they were firing on all cylinders." … Related: Kass gives "6 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway's 2021 First Quarter Report," via ValueWalk (May 3) and 'Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of 8 Largest Stocks,' via TalkMarkets (April 1).
Debtwire – May 1 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "FHFA gets an earful on climate risk; FHLB, GSE and CRT projected losses near USD 50bn": (newsletter-subscriber access only): Data firms, academics and investors have been busy enhancing and assessing models that in some cases show lenders are woefully underestimating costs associated with natural disaster risks and climate change. Risk officers at large mortgage companies are "scrambling" to understand what those costs will do to profits, some in anticipation of regulatory scrutiny, [said Rossi]. "This is a brave new world for anybody who is credit investing in the space," Rossi said. "Within the last six months, I've seen the interest (in climate risk modeling) shoot up in intensity," with that being closely correlated with the new presidential administration, he added. A common thread through his letter, as was also evident in a study published by Rossi in August 2020, is related to how investors and the government-sponsored enterprises aren't properly accounting for rising climate risks, in light of the storms that have walloped parts of the US in recent years and expectations around increasingly severe weather…
April 2021
Vox – April 30 – "How the US Won the Economic Recovery" (in response to COVID) cites Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender and his supporting data.
Salon – April 30 – Assistant Dean of the Full-time MBA Program Nicole Coomber contributes insight referencing management-faculty colleague Trevor Foulk to "What Women Know About the Science of Perfectionism": In a milder iteration, perfectionistic thinking can make you feel less fulfilled and inspired. [Coomber] pointed to the work of her colleague Trevor Foulk, Ph.D. on "maximizing" which he later explained, "basically means looking for the best, most optimal solution." On the other hand, "satisficing" entails establishing minimum criteria and being cool with anything that fits the bill. Foulk and a colleague found associations between a maximizing mindset and decreased motivation. As Coomber put it, "If you are always seeking the best, most optimal outcome then you actually enjoy work less." That helps explain why self-oriented perfectionism is a risk factor for burnout.
Maryland Today – April 30 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd III explains the rise and collapse of a European soccer Super League in "Why European Soccer Fans Gave Super League a Red Card ."
Quartz – April 28 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "Banks Still Aren't Accounting for the Emissions They Finance": Picking winners in the low-carbon economy will not be easy, [said Rossi]. Eliminating obvious culprits like coal-fired power plants is only a first step. Assessing transition risk for a specific investment requires assumptions about the trajectory of the economy and the climate itself, said Rossi. … Conventional climate models are ill-suited to the task because they don't yield very accurate insights at the level of geographic granularity or time horizon most relevant to investment planners—what the climate will be like for a specific factory in 10 years, for example. Likewise, the economic models banks can use to translate those climate forecasts into market forecasts—and thus make decisions about transition risk—are loaded with uncertainty about the economic toll of climate impacts and the pace of the clean energy transition. In other words, many financial institutions won't know precisely what to do with the data on portfolio emissions even after they have it. "This is not something they're well-equipped to handle," said Rossi.
Maryland Today – April 28 – "The Ugly Side of Beauty AI" features research-related insights from Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue.
NPR – April 27 – Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in "Did Emergency PPP Loans Work? Nearly $800 Billion Later, We Still Don't Know": Michael Faulkender, who as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy in the Trump administration helped craft the loan program, argues that it played a much larger role, helping to save more than 18 million jobs during its early months. "I think relative to how devastating things could have been, PPP was extraordinarily successful." … Faulkender argues that without the loan program, even more people would have been dumped into the unemployment system, which was already overwhelmed by millions of laid-off workers seeking benefits... Faulkender stresses that the program was originally designed as a kind of economic lifeboat — to keep workers and businesses afloat and together for what was expected to be a brief shutdown, lasting perhaps two months.
CoinTelegraph – April 24 – Accounting lecturer Samuel Handwerger writes "NFTs and US taxes: What you should know." ... Also picked up by Investing.com, among other outlets.
TalkMarkets – April 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks."
Forbes – April 22 – "Understanding Social Media, The First Amendment And The Calls To Incite Violence" quotes information systems associate professor Jui Ramaprasad: "While banning users is one option, platforms are also starting to think – and should think – about how information/misinformation is spread, and which content should be privileged… When algorithms are behind this process of determining what we see on our feed – no matter what platform we are on – it is not clear that the "true" information is privileged over the false."
Science Newsnet – April 21 – "'Best White Paper' Shows Potential Way to Harness AI for a More Equitable Workplace" covers research by Associate Professor of Management Science and Statistics Margrét Bjarnadóttir… Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd gives 'Business Lessons from Europe's Soccer Turmoil' (April 22).
SiriusXM BYU Radio – April 20 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya explains the global semiconductor shortage including its supply chain implications, via "Chip Shortage."
WYPR (On the Record) – April 20 – Assistant Dean of the Full-time MBA Program Nicole Coomber discusses "Navigating the Return to the Office."
American Banker – April 19 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "AI Enables Banks to Spot Bias Claims in Customers' Complaints": Using AI technology to manage risk has been embedded in most financial institutions' compliance and risk management systems for years. "Risk managers identify and rank-order where hot spots are from a compliance standpoint.," said [Rossi]. Complaints that may appear unrelated to bias do not mean there is no reputational or business risk, Rossi said. Finding those specific complaints can be a challenge as well given that the CFPB received roughly 542,300 complaints last year and nearly 60% of them were about credit reporting, according to a recent CFPB report. "All this information comes in and just like in the old days, you get people looking over complaints — and some might gloss over some important contextual comments that would have been addressed if they had been elevated earlier.
TalkMarkets – April 17 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the 'Year-to-Date Percentage of the 8 Largest Stocks.'
CGTN America – April 16 – Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani discusses "How Corporations are Responding to Georgia's New Voter Laws."
Going Concern – April 14 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger writes op-ed "Where Does Janet Yellen Want to Be Taxed?"
WNHN/Pacifica Radio Network – April 14 – Associate Professor of Accounting Nick Seybert discusses his recent research ("Recruiting Dark Personalities for Earnings Management"), via "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen (1:30-25:30)."
Sinclair/WJLA ABC-7 – April 14 – "Companies Defend Voting Rights as GOP Lashes out Against 'Woke Corporations'" quotes Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani: "It's much harder for mass-market companies like Coca-Cola or Delta to take a stand because they run higher risks of backlash from part of their consumer segment," said [Kirmani]. "Why would they do it? They do it because there's a big risk of backlash if they don't." … "There are many consumers, particularly millennials and younger consumers, who care deeply… They have been saying for several years they want corporations to represent values, presumably values with which they agree."
Consulting-Specifying Engineer Magazine – April 13 – Dean Prabhudev Konana describes, in a Q&A, "How Tech is Shifting the Educational Landscape."
SupplyChainBrain – April 13 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya explains 'The Global Semiconductor Shortage.'
MarketWatch – April 12 – Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance Albert "Pete" Kyle comments in "'Optimism has Huge Risks': Why New Investors, Excited by GameStop's Rollercoaster Ride, Should Rethink Their Rose-Colored Glasses": …Woo cut his rating to sell after being at hold since June 2019. He also lowered his stock price target to $10 — far below Monday's closing price of $145 — from $12, which makes him the most bearish of the seven analysts surveyed by FactSet. But this does show one thing. "Optimism has huge risks to it," said [Kyle]. "Because the last person who becomes optimistic and jumps in the stock market is the one who gets clobbered by the inevitable decline that will occur when people become pessimistic again." … Kyle said it's hard to glean the full takeaway from the Schwab survey because the poll participants might already be inclined to trade in the market, and therefore have a rosy view of it. The "more naïve a trader" is more likely their expectations informed by the market's latest activity, he said…
Capital Monitor – April 12 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "Climate Stress Tests are Flawed, but Here to Stay": ...As well as making clear that the first round of climate stress tests should not dictate capital buffers, banks, lobby groups and others have also raised concerns about the accuracy of a test that looks 30 years into the future, when bank balance sheets tend to be much shorter term. [Rossi], is concerned that supervisors will consider the job done and "take their eyes off the ball of the next crisis… My concern is that regulators will feel comfortable once they've ticked this off their list, but they're using scenarios that are only as good as our last crisis… Covid provided the perfect example – our adverse scenario modelling was based on a 2008-style crisis, which was nothing like what we saw in 2020. And none of our scenarios worked."
DOMESTIKA Curious Minds Podcast – April 12 – Distinguished University Professor and PepsiCo Chair in Consumer Science Michel Wedel explains the social media marketing effectiveness of Knolling (flat lay photography), via "Always be Knolling."
Science Newsnet – April 12 – Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender describes "A U.S. Corporate Tax Hike's Potential Cost on Global Competitiveness."
TalkMarkets – April 10 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "2021 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 8 Largest Stocks."
Associated Press via Washington Post – April 8 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust comments in "Cash-rich Restaurateurs Take Advantage of Pandemic to Expand": When "desperation sets in for everyone," a kind of creative destruction may result, said [Rust]. Companies then look to dismantle established processes to make way for more sustainable methods of service. Before the pandemic, said Rust, many restaurants had little reason to put away cash. They often operated on models that required revenues to circulate back into the business, a feedback loop that is rock-solid if income is guaranteed... Overall, "forces are pushing for concentration… Chains are pushing out moms and pops," many of which don't have enough capital saved to weather the pandemic storm.
Maryland Today – April 8 – "Alexa, What Time Should I Take My Meds?" covers research into enhancing telehealth for patients' self-care, by Associate Professor of Management Science and Statistics Margrét Bjarnadóttir, France-Merrick Chair in Management Science Bruce Golden and doctoral student Lida Apergi.
Baltimore Sun – April 6 – 'Award-winning Luxury Men's Clothier J.S. Edwards Closing' quotes Assistant Professor of Marketing Yajin Wang: Without weddings and large events canceled and with indoor dining limited for much of the last year, there wasn't a need for luxury clothing, [Wang] said. Instead, casual wear became the attire of choice for many who have been working from home... "I do think that trend is likely to stay at least to some extent" as businesses choose to cut costs by closing office buildings after a year of working remotely has proved to be more efficient, Wang said.
Search Engine Land – April 6 – "Should You Still Advertise at the Point of Purchase? Data Says 'Yes'" assesses new research by Distinguished University Professor and PepsiCo Chair in Consumer Science Michel Wedel: These results show that advertising at the point of purchase (like on Google Shopping or Amazon) can help shoppers find the advertised product more quickly, in part by helping them eliminate products that didn't have the features they were looking for. The researchers concluded that the ads, rather than convincing shoppers to buy a certain product, helped guide them to find and buy a product they'd already decided to purchase.
Fast Company – April 5 – "Jaw-dropping Study: Executives Who Manipulate Earnings are Hired for Their Lack of Ethics" covers research by Associate Professor of Accounting Nick Seybert… Related coverage at
Ladders: "Companies are hiring bosses with these qualities for a terrible reason" (April 6).
CBC Radio – April 5 – Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani discusses strategy behind "Big Brands [Taking] Aim at the State of Georgia's New Voting Laws."
Fortune – April 4 – Research Professor and Academic Director of the Center for Global Business Kislaya Prasad writes op-ed "Unless the U.S. Changes its Vaccine Policy, the World will Look at us Like Hoarders." … Also featured by Maryland Today: "U.S. Should Share Vaccines to Cover the Globe" (April 6).
TalkMarkets – April 3 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives "2021 Year-to-Date Percentage Returns of 7 Largest Stocks."
Associated Press via ABC News – April 1 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in "Biden Aims to Juice EV Sales, but Would his Plan Work?": [Kirsch] said the Biden plan isn't really a tipping point that will turn consumers from combustion to electric vehicles. "There will be some good changes that will happen because of the scale of this investment, and those should not be minimized," Kirsch said. "I think electrification was coming anyway." … Yet Kirsch says that no matter how effective Biden's plan is or isn't in fighting climate change, the spending on modernizing the transportation fleet and infrastructure is long overdue. "What we're doing is playing catch-up on some long-delayed investment," he said.
MIT Technology Review – April 1 – Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue discusses the popularity and implications of beauty filter software, via the podcast segment "In the AI of the Beholder."
March 2021
ScienceDaily – March 31 – "Firms Recruit Dark Personalities for Earnings Management" features new research in the Journal of Business Ethics co-authored by Associate Professor of Accounting and Information Assurance Nick Seybert. … Also covered at Phys.org, World News Monitor, others.
Philanthropy News Digest – March 28 – "Citizen-Donors of the World" examines a study by marketing professors Yajin Wang and Amna Kirmani that explores "residential mobility" as correlating with higher levels of donations to people and causes outside their local community.
Enterprise Radio – March 27 – Maryland Smith Distinguished Research Fellow and National Taiwan University professor Ming-Hui Huang discusses 'The Feeling Economy' book co-authored with Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust, via "How People Can Effectively Partner with Advanced AI in the Coming Feeling Economy."
Politico – March 26 – Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in " Congress's Trillion-Dollar Question: How Many Jobs did Small-Business Rescue Save?" : One estimate by [Faulkender] put the number of jobs saved in May at 18 million. Faulkender led the Treasury Department team that implemented the program with the SBA… PPP funds relieved pressure on state unemployment insurance systems, which faced huge operational challenges, Faulkender said. He also points to the fact that the U.S. avoided losing jobs at all last May when some economists were expecting 20 percent unemployment. "We did not see the depths of what we could have seen and we recovered faster than we otherwise would have," he said.
Technical.ly – March 26 – " 8 Digital Health Trends Emerging from the Pandemic " quotes CHIDS Managing Director Kenyon Crowley: Alongside telemedicine, tools that can screen a patient at home or diagnose a symptom remotely are also showing promise, said [Crowley]. The pandemic showed "the ability to move more care services to the home environment, where appropriate," he said. "If Amazon is getting to the point where it can send a package in two to three hours, the ability of a clinical service provider to have a test at your door in a day or two is not far off."
B2B News Network – March 26 – ' Intentionally Bad Bosses ' highlights, as part of a broader roundup story, new research co-authored by Associate Professor of Accounting and Information Assurance Nick Seybert: Recruiters and human resource professionals are tasked with weeding out potentially bad bosses…except when that is exactly what higher management want. Questionable ethical standards? Narcissistic tendencies? Those qualities define a person willing to participate in manipulating earnings which can get them the job. "Dark personality traits are often framed as an accidental byproduct of selecting managers who fit the stereotype of a strong leader," says [Seybert]. "However, our research found that this is often no accident." The research found that dark personalities "can fulfill a specific nefarious purpose." If a company feels they need to inflate their earnings, then people with dark personalities are hired to do exactly that.
Medical Bag – March 25 – Senior Associate Dean Ritu Agarwal and Professor Gordon Gao comment extensively in " Provider Confusion Often the Cause of Patient Access Rights Violations " (Republished).
CNN Business – March 24 – Clinical Professor of Management and Assistant Dean of the Full-Time MBA Program Nicole Coomber shares insights into teaching her own classes remotely while managing her childrens' virtual schooling in " How Four Working Mothers are Doing a Year into the Pandemic ."
CityBizList – March 24 – " Global Opportunities for Businesses in Maryland " describes a pair of collaborative initiatives between the Maryland Department of Commerce and Maryland Smith's Center for Global Business: the Maryland Global Consulting Program and the Global Marketing Virtual Internship Program.
Financial Times – March 23 – " Change of Menu: Kraft Heinz Bets on Old Brands to Win New Consumers " quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: [Kass] said: "Everyone is looking at this. This is [3G's] largest investment, and they have a great reputation for cutting costs, but the question is how successful will they be in growing a company's top line and bottom line?" … European rivals Nestlé and Unilever "have both been innovating to some extent in the food product area", said Kass. Unlike them, Kraft Heinz has not moved into plant-based substitute meats, though Patricio points out it does make bean burgers and "protein pots."
TalkMarkets – March 20 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the " One Year Percentage Return of 7 Largest Stocks ."
Ladders – March 18 – "Got a Powerful Boss? They Probably Have This Problem" quotes Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk and summarizes his research forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Psychology: "Power is generally considered a desirable thing, as leaders often seek power, and it's very rare for leaders to turn powerful roles down," says [Foulk]. "However, this view is qualified by the fact that many leaders feel exhausted and overburdened by their work. Our work helps shed light on this paradox, as it helps us understand why leaders might want powerful positions (they achieve more goal progress and feel that their work is more meaningful), but also face substantial consequences (their jobs feel more demanding in a way that causes anxiety and physical pain)."
FIND MBA – March 17 – Assistant Dean for Part-Time MBA and Online Programs Paulo Prochno contributes to "How to Secure a Competitive Online MBA Place": Another school enjoying a bump in applications is the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. "Some people lost jobs or were furloughed, so they decided it was a good time to start an MBA," says [Prochno]. "Others were looking at the future and thinking that two years from now, companies will be in growth mode. Also, working online has cancelled commuting, so people have more time available to do an MBA."In 2020, Smith launched a new Flex MBA program, enabling students to switch back and forth between online and on campus learning. "Those changes do make the program more attractive to new students, so the idea is to grow the whole pie," says Prochno. … Also at FIND MBA: Maryland Smith is among "Top 10 Online MBA Programs for Employer Funding" (March 17).
Women's Wear Daily (via Yahoo News) – March 16 – "Walmart and Target Push Essential Advantage" quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: "Walmart well utilized its logistic and technological strengths to expand its market position during the pandemic," said [Zhang]. "The surge in demand for online shopping, including purchases of essential products, created a great opportunity to broaden the reach of its e-commerce business to many new customers… Walmart's widespread store locations not only continued to serve a large number of American shoppers in the offline space, but also allowed the retailer to utilize stores as fulfillment centers to meet online demand and to shorten delivery times."
The Daily Beast (via Reader Supported News) – March 15 – Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan comments in "Newsmax Ratings are Collapsing but Insiders Claim Victory": While some Newsmax insiders feel that the plummeting viewership is much ado about nothing, as other cable news networks also experience a post-inaugural erosion, others suggest that the fledgling network's days of hoping to compete head-to-head with Fox are all but over, and that Newsmax will inevitably return to the fringes. "I would look at it from the viewpoint of consumer marketing," said [Kannan], who has studied the dynamics of the cable industry. "Let's say you have Post and Kellogg cereals and each has a brand of raisin bran, and then a new, healthier version comes out with no sugar and some raisin bran eaters might like the healthier option even though it's bland. So they're going to focus on the consumers who want the healthier version and take them away from Post and Kellogg." … "After a while, you see that it starts dissipating. I don't think it's going to go back to the level of, say, August 2020"—when "Newsmax was not a player" and drawing a total viewership in the barely measurable 30,000 range. "But over time it will slowly erode. They will have to fight for their survival, like they were doing before."
Poets & Quants – March 15 – "Meet the Masters of Supply Chain Management" includes a profile of Maryland Smith's Angela Murca.
MBA Crystal Ball (India) – March 15 – "Best Entrepreneurship Ideas after MBA" features a Q&A with Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship Managing Director Holly DeArmond.
TalkMarkets – March 13 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "One-Year Percentage Return Of 7 Largest Stocks."
Wall Street Journal – March 11 – "What came before the $9 billion bet on flying taxis," references research by- Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch on New York City's 1987-1912 electric taxi industry: In New York, the electric-taxi business boomed. In June 1898 alone, nearly 1,600 customers traveled a total of 4,400 miles, according to [Kirsch]. They paid 30 cents a mile, more than $9.75 in today's money. (Horse-drawn cabs charged 50 cents a mile.)
Tadias Magazine – March 11 – Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, explains the new African Continental Free Trade Area designed to help member states overcome chronic burdens on commerce and their economies.
Renal and Urology News – March 10 – Senior Associate Dean Ritu Agarwal and Professor Gordon Gao comment extensively through "Provider Confusion Often the Cause of Patient Access Rights Violations," including: ..Agarwal said there are numerous examples of adverse outcomes associated with lapses in health information privacy, including discrimination and denial of employment. "Unfortunately, the rules and regulations have not evolved with the rest of the healthcare industry, which has increasingly focused on patient empowerment and engagement as a key element of health and wellness." … The use of AI poses significant challenges that will need to be addressed. "Patient health data is like a gold mine," Dr. Gao said. "There needs to be more changes to HIPAA for a "fair use" of the data so the algorithms can learn from it. This can lead to better decision support for doctors, which will benefit all of us. "By no means," he continued, "are we suggesting to weaken privacy protection. Rather, by leveraging technology, we can achieve the dual goal of enhancing privacy protection and improving information sharing for better care."
Scientific American – March 9 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in "Big U.S. Banks May Curb Lending to Fossil Fuel Companies": "It's good for regulatory oversight, from their standpoint," said [Rossi]. "By getting ahead of this and making these declarations about these commitments, it puts them in a positive light with regard to the regulator," he added. "[They're] demonstrating that they're being proactive as opposed to waiting until it's foisted onto them." … That left observers wondering how the banks intend to make good on their commitments—or if they themselves know. "I'm not at all surprised that the description of their commitments are fairly hazy and will remain that way for some time," said Rossi, the risk management expert. "It's more of a strategic vision, maybe aspirational in some sense. The board and the CEO are saying, 'That's the direction we need to go; we want that as our target.' And now they'll circle the troops and get them marching down a path."
Business Insider – March 9 – Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk's research and comments contribute to "How to tell if your personality traits are a bad match for remote work- and what research says to do about it": Highly neurotic people often have trouble disconnecting from work and the remote environment exacerbates these tendencies, says [Foulk], who's published research in this area. "In an office, it's easy for neurotic employees to see all of their co-workers packing up for the day, and think, 'It's time for me to do the same.' But now, they're not getting those visual cues as much," he says. "When you combine that with the fact that basically anytime is now work time, it can create a scenario where any minute they're not working, they feel guilty about it." If this describes you, Foulk recommends creating a social system that signals when the workday is considered "over" by your group. Perhaps you and your team members can turn off your green Slack lights at the same time; or maybe you and your favorite colleagues develop your own ritual for signing off. … (Republished by FNTalk.com).
TalkMarkets – March 6 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the "One-Year Percentage Return Of 7 Largest Stocks."
CBS New York – March 5 – Albert Pete Kyle, the Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, comments throughout "Stimulus Check Update: Are Relief Payments Bad For The Economy?": "I would err on the side of moderation and conservatism in the sense of not make it too big… Because the dangers of doing too much are really catastrophic. The dangers of doing not enough are that you can do more…"
Nikkei (Japan) – March 5 – "Buffett, is it a shadow of mythical power? Pros and cons of deviation from reality" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "Mr. Buffett, who has a very optimistic outlook for the future of the United States, may not have wanted to look away from his predictions by touching Corona," said David Kass…
LSE Business Review – March 4 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Cynthia K. Stevens co-authors "Cross-understanding will help complex and diverse teams achieve mutually agreeable solutions" … Also at Qrius (formerly The Indian Economist).
TechTarget – March 4 – "Employee-Poaching Risk Increases with Remote-Work Hiring" quotes Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: Workers in Washington, D.C., may no longer have to worry about noncompete agreements. Its new law broadly prohibits noncompete agreements. "The D.C. bill is among the most expansive in the country," said [Starr]. D.C.'s law imposes financial penalties on employers that attempt to impose noncompete agreements in violation of the law. The law also requires employers notify employees about the noncompete law. But remote work will challenge state boundaries, over which state noncompete laws apply, Starr said.
Bollyinside – March 4 – "Maryland Smith Experts Assess Bitcoin's Viability As A Currency And An Asset" features insights from Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb and Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass.
The Connected Enterprise (podcast) – March 3 -Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust discusses his book, The Feeling Economy, via "The Feeling Economy: Roland Rust on AI and New Business Opportunities." … Related: Rust writes guest piece, "The Feeling Economy and Customer Empathy," for StrategyDriven (March 3), and his Feeling Economy co-author Ming-Hui Huang writes, via Ms. Career Girl, "The Female Advantage: Why women will be on top when AI Rules the Business World" (March 2).
Science Newsnet – March 3 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi gives insights on "Climate Risk Management for Financial Organizations."
February 2021
Washington Post – Feb. 26 – Assistant Professor of Management Trevor Foulk's research and comments help explain "Homecomings used to feel special. But that was before we spent all our time at home": In a two-week study conducted [by Foulk] at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, subjects reported feeling like themselves again within the 14-day span of the research. [Foulk] said most stressors are episodic — they happen and are finished, like losing a job or going through a breakup. "Because we've generally thought of stressors that way, no one ever really asked, 'Do we start recovering even while the thing is happening?'" … The study suggests that people rebound more quickly than you might expect. Despite the continued presence of the stressor, "our psychological immune system was still working in a surprisingly efficient way," Foulk wrote. … But we adapted, after a fashion. As the pandemic dragged on, Foulk said, our days came to revolve around home as they once had around work. "That's what you miss now," he said.
Maryland Today – Feb. 26 – Senior Associate Dean Ritu Agarwal explains "How COVID-19 is changing healthcare."
Forbes – Feb. 25 – Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Professor of Entrepreneurship, writes "How and Why To Mentor In Your Chosen Village."
ERE.net – Feb. 24 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing
Roland Rust writes "The 'Feeling Economy' and Its Impact on Hiring" based on his book "The Feeling Economy.
Maryland Today – Feb. 24 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger gives "4 Reasons to File Your Taxes Early" headlining Maryland Today this morning.
Sciencenewsnet – Feb. 24 – "People who move give more to global causes" covers research co-authored by marketing professors Yajin Wang and Amna Kirmani.
Maryland Today – Feb. 23 – Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems Emeritus Henry C. Lucas explains how "How a Patchwork of Federal IT Is Slowing Vaccinations."
SmartBrief – Feb. 22 – "Community connections help independent restaurants stay afloat amid pandemic" reviews a Maryland Business: Rebooted webinar co-moderated by Clinical Professor of Marketing Judy Frels and Washington Post food writer Tim Carman.
HealthWorks Collective – Feb. 20 – "How Will the Supply Chain Support Vaccine Distribution?" quotes Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya: …However, many items that are regularly delivered to those vaccine destinations above also require cold storage, so proper delivery is more important than actually creating spaces to keep the vaccines cold. "if any point along the vaccine supply chain is not able to maintain the requirements of the cold chain, then we can have issues of spoilage and obsolescence," says Suresh Acharya, Professor of Practice at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.
TalkMarkets – Feb. 19 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass updates "The One-Year Percentage Return of the 7 Largest Stocks."
The Social Media Monthly – Feb. 19 – Information systems professor Jui Ramaprasad writes "How McDonald's Found a New 'Authenticity' With McRib Memes."
The Future Raise – Feb. 19 – "How Tesla's Bitcoin Play Fits into Cryptocurrency Taxation" features insights from accounting lecturer Samuel Handwerger… Also published at OLT News, Bit-Smart and Crypto News BTC.
Luzerner Zeitung (Switzerland) – Feb. 19 – Marketing Professor Jie Zhang comments in "Ski slope, aquarium and a ferris wheel: is this what the future of the American shopping center looks like?": [Zhang] points out that in the future shopping centers will have to offer consumers much more than just a shopping experience. But Zhang also says it might be years before such a mall can operate at full speed. At the moment, many people would not want to be in an enclosed space for long periods of time – let alone on a roller coaster or in an indoor pool. Operators are therefore well advised to carefully consider investments.
CNN Business – Feb. 18 – "Here's What We Can Learn from The GameStop Craze" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "The real fear is that the air may be coming out of this speculative bubble and will infect other stocks," said [Kirsch]. Kirsch added that the huge rally in Tesla and the current market infatuation with so-called "blank check special purpose acquisition company stocks, or SPACs, could eventually subside. … In other words, anyone who is looking to buy or sell a financial asset has to do their homework. "It's good to democratize the stock market, but look where it leads us, … There is a need for more market literacy"
Market Realist – Feb. 18 – "Bill Gates Once Helped Steve Jobs With a $150 Million Investment in Apple" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "Apple's $2 trillion valuation represents about 10 percent of GDP for the U.S. and about 7 percent of the S&P 500," [Kass] told NBC News at the time. "Its iPhone is ubiquitous. It has transformed the way we live. Its ecosystem is self-sustaining."
ScienMag – Feb. 18 – "Social Tool Tracks Brand Reputation In Real Time And Over The Long Term" describes a Brand Reputation Tracker -- a framework for assessing brand reputation in real time and over time – developed by an international team of researchers including Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing.
The Business Monthly – Feb. 17 – "Forum on Strategic Retail Management" previews Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang moderating a Feb. 24 retail-strategy discussion with James Thomson of Buy Box Experts and Katherine Cullen and Adam Lukoskie of the National Retail Federation – as part of the Maryland Business: Rebooted webinar series.
OilPrice.com via Yahoo Finance – Feb. 17 – "Chevron Is Buffett's Latest Billion-Dollar 'Mystery' Investment" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "He is undoubtedly building a large position now and may reveal it in his next 13F," [Kass] told Business Insider in November. "Buffett has received confidentiality treatment several times in the past," Kass noted.
Business Creators Radio – Feb. 16 – "How Humans Can Effectively Partner with Advanced AI in the Coming "Feeling Economy" is an interview with Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, based on his book, "The Feeling Economy."
Business Insider – Feb. 13 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in "Tesla's big bitcoin buy won't worry the SEC, experts say, and could legitimize crypto as a diversification strategy": "To me, it feels a little bit like coming up with a new story," [Kirsch] told Insider. "You don't have to buy bitcoin to accept it for payment." He also said that he saw some connections between Tesla's move and the recent battle over the stock price of GameStop, a struggling retailer whose shares were run up by a trading community on Reddit, forcing some Wall Street hedge funds that had shorted the stock to cover their positions. Kirsch expressed concern that Tesla was jumping into bitcoin soon after being included in the S&P 500 index, putting Tesla's shares into the retirement portfolios of everyday investors with retirement funds. "The risk is multiplied," he said. "It's not necessarily a legal concern, but it goes to trust in markets and stability." But a consensus does appear to have developed around Tesla's bitcoin play. "This legitimizes bitcoin for others," Kirsch said. "And it brings bitcoin into the mainstream."
TalkMarkets – Feb. 13 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the 'One-year percentage change to date of the 7 largest stocks.'
Washington Business Journal – Feb. 12 – "For University of Maryland's new business school dean, helping first-generation students is key" introduces and profiles Prabhudev Konana as Maryland Smith's Dean.
GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) – Feb. 12 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments extensively in "Risk Management Silicon Valley-Style," including: "At this point [big tech companies'] policies regarding use of their platforms seem much more like a visceral reaction to current events in terms of some of the actions being taken for whatever strategic objectives they may have, rather than a methodical exercise in risk management."
Clear Admit/Metro MBA – Feb. 11 – "New Flex MBA for Part-Time Students at Maryland Smith" reports on Maryland Smith's newly designed MBA program for part-time students taking courses through the school's Baltimore, Rockville, and Washington, D.C. locations. Also reported via Poets&Quants (Scroll down), Maryland Daily Record, others.
Forbes – Feb. 9 – Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Professor of Entrepreneurship, writes "Being Enterprising In Your Own World To Change The World."
The Guardian – Feb. 9 – I thought buying things would make me feel better. It didn't': The rise of emotional spending" quotes Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan: … It turns out that companies know when I am weak – and this is when they target me. "Companies will know what kind of content you engage with at different times during the day," says [Kannan]. Marketers even analyse the circadian rhythms of their users and schedule their content at times when they are particularly receptive to buying things online.
MultiBriefs – Feb. 9 – Drawing from their book "The Feeling Economy," Roland Rust and Ming-Hui Huang co-author 'Are Knowledge Workers Doomed?'
Maryland Today – Feb. 8 – Marketing professors Henry C. Boyd III, Judy Frels and Amna Kirmani review the Super Bowl 55 commercials in "Super Bowl Ads That Scored—Even When the Game Didn't."
Maryland Daily Record – Feb. 8 – "'It's the future': Canton salon now accepts bitcoin payments" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb: [Goldfarb] said bitcoin's volatility makes it ineffective as an actual currency. If it's expected to go up, consumers will want to hold it until it's at its most valuable; if it's expected to go down, they will get rid of it as quickly as possible. "That's bad if you're a currency, because you really want currency to lubricate trade, not get in the way of trade," he said… Despite not believing in the bright future for bitcoin, Goldfarb noted that there is little risk in using it as part of your business model unless you put all of your money into bitcoin, which will be next to impossible unless many more companies begin to accept it as payment. "Rent isn't in bitcoin and electricity isn't in bitcoin," he said.
AMEinfo (Business news for Middle East region) – Feb. 7 – 'Electric vehicles and batteries in the driver seat in 2021' quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "EV entrepreneurs have figured out they can ride the Tesla wave," said [Kirsch] It's a phenomenon he thinks has all the hallmarks of a bubble, with Tesla's mind-blowing $800-billion valuation stoking imaginations.
TalkMarkets – Feb. 6 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass updates the "One-year percentage change of the seven largest stocks."
PR News – Feb. 5 – "Realigned CSR, Online BrandMarketing, Fun Shopping to Mark 2021" includes an outlook contributed by Michel Wedel, PepsiCo chair in consumer science:"The pandemic accelerated the shift toward online and mobile shopping. A large part of this shift will be permanent, as consumers have incorporated new behaviors into their altered lifestyles. The shift toward online is beneficial for branded products because of the trust and consistency they provide…"
WTOP – Feb. 4 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd III previews Super Bowl 55 ads in "Super Bowl commercials: Expect a different tone this year."
School for Startups Radio – Feb. 4 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust and host Jim Beach discuss (31:20-53:30) Rust's book "The Feeling Economy: How Artificial Intelligence Is Creating the Era of Empathy," including the assertion: "AI does the thinking tasks. People just pushed into things where they have a differentiation advantage over AI, things like emotional intelligence and empathy."
CNET – Feb. 1 – "Reddit's AMC, GameStop surge happened because of anger over Wall Street" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "In one sense, this is 'Occupy Wall Street' via the trading desk rather than from Zuccotti Park."
Food Logistics Magazine – Feb. 1 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya writes guest column on "The Importance of End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility."
Diamondback – Feb. 1 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in "UMD students profit off of GameStop gains during Wall Street frenzy": When investing in the stock market, an individual can either invest a long or a short, [Kass] said. The individual investors invested in a long, which is when a person buys shares of a company, expecting it to do well. If the prices of shares go up, the investor makes a profit. With a short, which is what hedge fund managers had been doing with GameStop's stocks, an investor borrows a share of a company from a stockbroker, expecting the stock to decrease in price. The short seller then sells the borrowed shares, planning to buy back the share at the lower price, making profit from the difference. However, Wall Street has claimed that since the individual investors coordinated together to drive the market up, it constitutes market manipulation, said Kass. But he does not consider that manipulation.
January 2021
Tom's Guide – Jan. 31 – "Comcast's Data Caps During a Pandemic are Unethical" quotes Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal: According to [Agarwal] this strategy goes back to AT&T's dominance in landlines throughout much of the 20th century. In an article for Forbes, Dr. Agarwal writes, "economic law dictates that consumer prices come down and quality goes up with competition. But AT&T executives successfully lobbied for the reverse."
CNET – Jan. 30 – "Reddit's AMC, GameStop stock surge is all about screwing over Wall Street"
quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "In one sense, this is 'Occupy Wall Street' via the trading desk rather than from Zuccotti Park," said [Kirsch]. "We are seeing that 3 million small investors in a Reddit forum, when acting in a coordinated fashion, can seriously distort regular price movements." … Related: International Business Times' "Reddit's WallStreetBets Group Goes Rogue After Wild Week Of Trading" quotes Kirsch from CNET.
Barron's – Jan. 29 –Letters to the Editor includes "Borrowing for Growth" by Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Kudos to Matthew C. Klein for his persuasive argument that additional borrowing by the federal government to fund investments that boost growth, such as for infrastructure, public health, education, and scientific research, would effectively pay for itself while being unlikely to add to inflation and raise interest rates… Even though federal debt has increased by $15 trillion since the end of 2008, the current historically low interest rates have enabled the federal government's net interest payments relative to gross domestic product to equal only 2%. This is its lowest percentage since the 1950s and is one-half of the 4% paid in the 1980s and 1990s. With the interest rate of 1.84% on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond, the return on the proposed investments by the federal government is very likely to exceed its very low cost of capital.
Slate – Jan. 28 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch contributes to "All the Ways the GameStop Roller-Coaster Could End": "It's sort of Occupy Wall Street by the trading desk instead of by Zuccotti Park," says [Kirsch]. "That's real. It's a social movement. It's organized market action." … "At least a company like Tesla has a story…I don't buy it, but they've got a narrative for why the company is worth something. Every time something threatens that narrative, they have a chief executive who's able to recast it. As soon as we come to some sort of denouement, he takes the ball and throws it down the field, so, gotta go chase it. It's very hard for me to see how the GameStop narrative gets you to $25 billion. If it's just literally these Reddit people buying and buying and buying, at some point they run out of money."
InvestorPlace – Jan. 28 – "7 Stock Predictions For Biden's First Year" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Although former Vice President Joe Biden is planning to raise taxes on high income earners and corporations, he is also planning to spend more to stimulate the economy by assisting those who were hurt by the lockdowns and overall reduction in economic activity induced in response to the coronavirus. Additional investment and spending on infrastructure should create many jobs. Professor Kass further suggests, "The stock market should do well over time as President Biden's economic policies will result in greater stability in both domestic issues and international relations." … Related: Kass gives the year-to-date 'Percentage Change Of 7 Largest Stocks,' via TalkMarkets (Jan. 30).
CBS New York – Jan. 27 – "Is GameStop's Soaring Stock An Indicator Of Possible Market Bubble?" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: … "Many millennials, younger investors, opened accounts, for example, through Robinhood and other brokerage firms, which, in turn, actually around the same time, stopped charging commissions or fees to trade in the stock market…So basically a frictionless system, encouraging investment. So, a lot of the money that couldn't be spent in the economy, because a lot of it was shut down, temporarily, would be reallocated to investment in the stock market." Related: Kass quoted the following day in Sinclair Broadcasting's "Internet prank or 'revolution'? Making sense of the GameStop stock surge" (Jan. 28): "There was this feeling of, 'Let's get even with these hedge funds, let's get back at them… The hedge funds are indeed hurting, and, unfortunately, it's not just the hedge funds that get hurt… This has a ripple effect… I think we need to see, are more guardrails needed, because is there potential for systemic risk here?... This could build up over time. Somehow or other, we need to figure out a way to calm things down."
ScienceNewsNet – Jan. 27 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd III gives strategy via "A Pandemic Playbook for Super Bowl Advertisers."
Washington Business Journal – Jan. 26 – Maryland Smith's No. 10 ranking is spotlighted in "UMd. is among top online MBA programs, according to U.S. News & World Report." … Related at Maryland Today: "U.S. News Ranks Online Business, Engineering Programs Among Nation's Best."
TechRepublic – Jan. 25 – "Can the US solve its COVID-19 vaccination supply chain problems?" quotes professor emeritus Sandor Boyson: A survey of 1,800 medical suppliers recently exposed the fact that 360 different variations of needles are "capped," meaning that there are shortages. According to [Boyson], "850 million needles and syringes are required for successful delivery of the vaccine."
Talk Markets – Jan. 23 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass reports the "One Year Percentage Change of 7 Largest Stocks."
Los Angeles Times (via Yahoo Finance) – Jan. 22 – "Lucid Motors prepares to go public thanks to Saudi money and SPAC mania" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "EV entrepreneurs have figured out they can ride the Tesla wave… When you combine [SPACs] with Robinhood investing, the gamification of finance, fractional share ownership, and novice investors, there's a lot of opportunity for opportunistic behavior." … Related: Silicon Valley Business Journal republishes Kirsch's comments in "Lucid Motors Suitor's Stock Soars on New Report" (Jan. 22).
Tadias Magazine – Jan. 22 – "Professor Lemma Senbet's Unchartered Journey" profiles the career of William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance Lemma Senbet.
Digiday – Jan. 21 – "Why ethical dilemmas are putting brands and their media buying in the spotlight" quotes Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan: "In coming up with the Kaepernick ad, Nike knew that the issue resonated with its core consumer segments — younger, more urban, and more progressive… While there was a backlash from conservative media and groups, it did not affect Nike as a brand much and sales remained steady or even increased."
InvestorPlace – Jan. 20 – "7 Stocks to Buy as the Biden Presidency Begins" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: "Additional investment and spending on infrastructure should create many jobs. An easing of tensions with our trade partners in Europe and with China, including the reduction or elimination of tariffs, should lead to a substantial increase in international trade and improved economic well-being for all countries involved."
The Street – Jan. 19 – Research Professor and Center for Global Business Academic Director Kislaya Prasad comments throughout "'A Return to Normal' – What the Economy Will Look Like Under Biden."
Minutehack (UK) – Jan. 19 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust and co-author Ming-Hui Huang write "Feeling Intelligence will Become Dominant in the Economy within 15 Years." … Related: TecHR Series' "The Feeling Economy: How AI is Creating the Era of Empathy" (Jan. 21) covers the release of the authors' "The Feeling Economy" book.
DataBird Business Journal – Jan. 13 – 'The Countries that are most Women-Friendly have Several Times the GDP of the Average Country' comprises a Q&A with Roland Rust, David Bruce Smith Chair, on his forthcoming "The Feeling Economy" book co-authored with Ming-Hui Huang of National Taiwan University… Related coverage: Real Leaders Magazine op-ed, "Why it's Time to Embrace AI and Prepare for the Feeling Economy" (Jan. 13); book review at The Magic Pen (Jan. 11); and "Profiles of Success" – a Q&A at Money for Lunch (Jan. 6).
Marketplace Radio – Jan. 12 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments in "Walmart Wants to be Your Bank": "The biggest benefit of getting into this venture is to strengthen its position in retailing," said [Zhang]... Zhang thinks the company might encourage spending through extra discounts, rebates and rewards. Plus, Walmart already has deep relationships with two core groups: its 2.2 million employees and its existing shoppers. "Walmart's core customer base primarily consists of low-to-middle-income households… Some of them don't own a regular bank account."
Forbes – Jan. 12 – Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, writes "The Meaning Of Work For A Happy Life (And New Year)."… Related: Agarwal's "Three Myths That Undercut The Antitrust Case Against Google" is one of five columns featured in Forbes Favorites 2020: The Year's Best Leadership Stories (Feb. 27).
CBS New York – Jan. 12 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments throughout "Surging Stock Market Reflects 'Very Bright Outlook' For Economy, Finance Prof Says."
Morning Consult – Jan. 12 – Professor Emeritus Mike Ball writes "Who's First for Vaccines, And What's Missed Along the Way." … Related coverage: 'Focus on Distribution Speed' in U.S. Supply Chain Management Council News (Jan. 13).
InvestorPlace via Business Insider – Jan. 8 – "NIO Stock Puts Delisting Scare in the Rearview Mirror" quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: [Kirsch] recently wrote: "For decades, the electric vehicle has been seen as the car of tomorrow but never quite the car of today."
Memphis Commercial Appeal – Jan. 7 – 'How on-time FedEx, UPS and US Postal Service were for Holiday Shipping Season' quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang:"Larger retailers invested in data analytics and selling products "with fairly consistent demand" are in a better position than others to provide accurate volume forecasts, said [Zhang]… Zhang is quoted by same outlet in "FedEx in 2021": "Consumers are being partly pushed by this pandemic to shifting their purchases online," she said. "Once they get more used to the convenience and the benefit of online shopping and figure out how to deal with some of the hassle, they're going to stay with it."
SME Horizon – Jan. 6 – "Crowdfunding Potentially Levels Entrepreneurs' Fundraising Playing Field" summarizes research co-authored by Professor of Information Systems Il-Horn Hann.
The Hill – Jan. 4 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes "Pulling Back the Curtain on Bank Climate Stress Tests."
Daily FT (Sri Lanka) – Jan. 4 – "Lankan-born Raschid makes Sri Lanka proud in computer science" profiles Professor of Information Systems Louiqa Raschid as part of announcing her being named an EEEI Fellow.