Smith School In the News

December 2023

Jacksonville (IL) Journal Courier – Dec. 31 – Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning Nicole Coomber comments throughout “Analyzing the New Workday Dead Zone: Bosses, Don't Expect Anything Between 4 and 6 p.m.”

TalkMarkets – Dec. 30 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass writes “Berkshire Hathaway is a Counter-Cyclical Asset” and gives the “2023 Percentage Returns To 5 Largest Stocks.”

International Business Times – Dec. 29 – “What Could Trigger The First Interest Rate Cut In 2024 – Clues From Greenspan's Fed" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: David I Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland, adds progress in inflation and an unexpected external shock resulting from a significant geopolitical event to the factors that could trigger an interest rate cut. “If the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, core PCE, declines below 3% toward the Fed's projected level of 2.4% in 2024, a rate cut is very likely,” he told IBT. “Similarly, the unemployment rate exceeding the Fed's projection of 4.1% in 2024 would likely lead to a rate cut as the Fed attempts to prevent a recession. An external shock from a major geopolitical event that might create an economic slowdown would also lead to a rate cut.” 
… Previous IBT pieces quoting Kass: 
- “US Stocks And Bonds Head Into The New Year With Plenty Of Tailwinds” (Dec. 28): David I Kass, Clinical Professor of Finance at University of Maryland, believes that the rally in stocks and bonds will broaden in 2024, not only in the U.S., but also in Europe, too. In addition, he provides a good insight on the direction of interest rates and the U.S economy. “The Federal Reserve's economic projections released on December 13 indicate a likely reduction in the Federal Funds rate from 5 1/4% - 5 1/2% currently to 4 1/2 - 4 3/4%, or three cuts of 1/4% each in 2024," Kass said. "Core PCE inflation is also projected to decline from 3.2% in 2023 to 2.4% in 2024. The historically low U.S. unemployment rate of 3.7% is projected to increase to only 4.1% in 2024.”
- “Why The Magnificent Seven Rally Could Last For Many More Years” (Dec. 27): At current prices, both Meta and Alphabet are the most undervalued with forward P/E ratios of 19 and 20, respectively," David I Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told IBT. “Their forward P/E ratios approximately equal that of the S&P 500 (about 19) but are likely to achieve superior growth in the years ahead. Similarly, Apple with a forward P/E of 28 and Microsoft with a P/E of 29 appear to be undervalued or fairly valued with substantially greater projected growth than that of the overall market.”

Fox Business – Dec. 28 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses U.S. economic policy and trends, via Kudlow (starting at :40) and Evening Edit (Dec. 30). Related – also from Dec. 30 – Faulkender further discusses the U.S. Economy via 77 WABC’s Larry Kudlow Show (40:20-52:30) and in comments in the Daily Caller News Foundation’s “Americans’ Finances Took A Beating In 2023 Amidst Persistent Inflation And High Interest Rates.”

Baltimore Sun – Dec. 27 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi writes “Factoring Climate Risk in Pension Choices Not so Simple.” Opening: In a recent commentary in The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman tried making the case as to why incorporating climate risk into investment decisions for the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (SRPS) follows sound financial principles (“Md. comptroller: Climate risk is an investment risk, so why is Congress trying to prevent me from considering it?” Dec. 18). The comptroller is correct that all potential risks to the pension fund should be examined, including climate risk, however, that holds only if the underlying processes and analytics used to assess that risk are accurate and validated. In this case, they are far from robust and would not be something I, as a former risk manager and banker, would be comfortable in using to make decisions for my personal investments, let alone a portfolio over $62 billion.

Voice & Data – Dec. 23 – EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance Lawrence Gordon comments in “Your Bills in India. As Cheap as a Haircut!” (The voice and data rates in India are the most affordable in the world. Have telcos in India cracked some magical formula and can others catch up?): Asking an Economics expert should help. [Gordon] unwraps this side. “In the US, for example, a few major telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile make up a very large percentage of the market. In India, there seems to be a larger number of key players in the telecom industry. India’s population is such that a company can more easily reach economies of scale. This is an important factor since telcos have to invest a substantial amount into building infrastructure. Besides, there are substantial fixed costs for the player in this sector.” Gordon reminds us how all this is more complicated than just looking at comparative advantages. “There are national security issues that come into play when thinking about the telecom Industry.” He also touches on the role of the state. “I would assume that the government plays a significant relative role in terms of incentivising the sector and regulating it to keep prices low, given that the country’s per capita GDP is quite low. … As to whether the lower rates are sustainable, Prof. Gordon chooses to reverse the question and ask if the higher rates are sustainable. “In the long run, my answer to the latter question would be No.”

Maryland Today – Dec. 21 – “Task Force on Antisemitism and Islamophobia Members Named” includes Clinical Professor of Information Systems Hassan Ibrahim as “among [UMD] students, faculty, staff and administrators, who bring a range of perspectives, including those from different religious, cultural and other backgrounds, to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive approach to addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus.”

Voice of America – Dec. 21 – “Chinese Still Largest Group of Foreign Students in US” includes: “And just going through all the examinations, taking TOEFL, and also physical exams as well. Took a lot of vaccines. But I will say, it's worth the trouble if you're determined to come,” [Shawn Zhan] said. The Test of English as a Foreign Language assesses the English language ability of a student who wants to enroll in an English-speaking university. Zhan is in his last school year at the University of Maryland. He is graduating with a degree in economics and plans to stay in the U.S. for graduate school. “I'm going to continue in the business school program in MSBA, the Master of Science in Business Analytics, for one more year,” he said.

Seeking Alpha – Dec. 18 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “10 Stocks for 2024”: Summary: U.S. stocks in 2024 are expected to perform well due to projected decreases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 has historically shown positive returns and is a good long-term investment. Recommended stocks for 2024 include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Occidental Petroleum, Uber Technologies, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

American Banker – Dec. 18 – “Progressive Groups Target Asset Managers After Their ESG Support Wanes” quotes Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi: Clifford Rossi, a former chief risk officer at Citigroup, said that declining support from asset managers for shareholder proposals related to climate and social issues is due in part to new regulations enacted in recent years, which loosened the rules for filing and holding proxy votes. But he indicated that there could also be other factors. “These filings are trying to get a better handle on understanding why there's been such a sudden change in course by these large asset managers,” said Rossi. He described asset managers as stuck in a position where any decision "will invite scrutiny from both sides.”

Black Enterprise – Dec. 18 – “Master the Art of Salary Negotiation: 4 Tips to Secure your Financial Future” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin: Salary negotiations are never predictable. So, it’s imperative to understand the basics of negotiation 101. From setting expectations and anchoring high to maintaining appropriate body language, the mental psychology of negotiation can be complex. “The goal is to learn how to get to a place where you are happy with the negotiation outcome, and your partner is also happy with the outcome and wants to negotiate with you further in the future. This is an invaluable skill in the dynamic business environment, in which reputation builds very quickly and is very important to maintain,” according to [Derfler-Rozin].

Yahoo Finance – Dec. 15 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Warren Buffett Just Bought 10.5 Million More Shares in Major Oil Company – What It Means for Investors”: David Kass, clinical professor of finance at University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, noted that Buffett has expressed his admiration for OXY CEO Vicki Hollub, who has stressed her desire to have OXY earn rates of return that exceed its cost of capital, reduce the amount of debt on its balance sheet, buy back shares of its common stock and pay a cash dividend. Indeed, during the company’s May annual shareholder meeting, Buffett said Hollub was “an extraordinary manager of Occidental,” according to a transcript. ... “Buffett’s purchase of OXY shares earlier this week signals his approval of OXY’s purchase of CrownRock,” said Kass. “Over 80% of OXY’s petroleum reserves are located in the United States -thus minimizing geopolitical risk.” Kass added that Buffett’s additional purchases of OXY stock earlier this week signals his confidence not only in the management of OXY, but the overall economy. “Buffett is a long-term investor with large investments in both OXY and Chevron whose value is primarily determined by the price of oil,” he said. “This indicates that he is expecting oil currently trading at $70 per barrel to return to a 40-year average of $80 in the years ahead.”

Fortune – Dec. 14 – “How Apple Finally Cracked the India Market—at Exactly the Right Time” quotes Anil K. Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship: Apple has caught another break in recent years: India’s middle class, whose annual household income is between $6,000 and $37,000, more than doubled from 2005 to 2021, and now accounts for one-third of India’s population. What’s more, the smartphone market has matured to the point that consumers in emerging countries like India are upgrading their devices from their introductory models, a trend that Apple will benefit from as a “premium aspiration brand,” says Anil Gupta, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and author of several books on India and China. …Workers like Narayani are one cog in Apple’s larger India ecosystem that could one day feed itself. “A large installed base of iPhones in India will also create a large and growing market for Apple to capture revenues from services consumed by iPhone users on apps downloaded from the App Store,” says Gupta. “Given India’s economic growth, I consider it highly probable that, within 10 years, iPhones could have a 15% market share in India.” … Also at Yahoo Finance.

GoBankingRates – Dec. 14 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Do Warren Buffett’s Latest Investment Moves Signal Recession ‘Right Around the Corner’ – Experts Weigh In”: David Kass, clinical professor of finance at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, noted that Buffett’s recent net sales of equities in Berkshire’s portfolio through Sept. 30 is indicative of his view that the stock market was fully valued, offering relatively few equity investments that were attractive at current prices and interest rates. However, Kass added that on Dec. 13, Berkshire filed a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) form which revealed its purchase of an additional $590 million of shares in Occidental Petroleum a few days earlier, resulting in Berkshire increasing its stake in Occidental to more than 27%. “Buffett’s previous cautious investment behavior in 2023 related to stock market valuation, and not a forecast of a recession,” he said. “Buffett historically has not altered his investment strategy based on macroeconomic forecasts. He is a long-term investor who holds on to his portfolio throughout economic cycles and adds to his equity investments over time.”

Daily Caller News Foundation – Dec. 11 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in “Here’s The Secret Behind Biden’s Jobs Numbers. Hint: It’s Not Manufacturing”: “There are essentially two economies right now – the private sector economy and the government economy,” [Faulkender] told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “With massive deficit spending and a complete disregard for its cost, the government is expanding its activities, and the result is hiring in the government, health care, and social assistance industries.” … “Because of the higher inflation and interest rates that have resulted, the private sector economy is struggling and not doing much hiring,” Faulkender told the DCNF. “After accounting for the end of the auto strike, manufacturing employment declined in November and pending home sales are at the lowest level since the housing crisis. The problem is that these massive deficits are unsustainable; an economy built on something unsustainable will not be able to continue. I fear that this current approach will cause massive harm to the American people when a bond market auction fails, and the Treasury is forced to implement immediate across-the-board cuts.” … Related: Faulkender discusses the latest Fed policy developments, via Fox Business’ The Evening Edit (Dec. 13).

Business Insider – Dec. 9 – “Check Out the NDA Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper was Forced to Sign Before She Could Clean his Toilets” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: “This sort of thing is common with celebrities who are trying to protect their image, their reputation," said Evan Starr, a professor at the University of Maryland who studies nondisclosure agreements and reviewed Wedaa's agreement at Business Insider's request. What is rare, though, is for the full text of the agreement to enter the public record. … Wedaa was paid $250 for signing the agreement, a transaction that Starr speculated could have been intended to make the agreement more enforceable. If a dispute were to arise over the NDA, "Bezos' side can argue that this isn't coercion, it was an exchange, they agreed to these conditions in exchange for this amount of money," Starr said.

U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means – Dec. 7 – “Hearing on Hidden Cost: The True Price of Federal Debt to American Taxpayers” includes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender’s testimony, with his opening statement including: The impact on the American people of higher debt service costs is not limited to merely the potential for higher future taxes to cover these growing expenditures. Growing interest costs have the potential to crowd out funding for other government services. Additionally, mortgage rates paid by American home buyers directly result from long-term borrowing rates for the U.S. government. Since January 2021, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have risen from an average of 2.77% to 7.22%. This translates to a monthly principal and interest payment on a $250,000 mortgage rising from just over $1000 per month to $1700. The best way for us to improve access to home ownership for young people is to get interest rates back down, which means deploying fiscal and regulatory policies in ways that result in lower inflation and therefore lower interest rates. We should stop relying entirely on the Federal Reserve to curb the inflation that has crushed household budgets over the last three years.

Baltimore Sun – Dec. 7 – “Alum’s $10 Million Gift to Goucher Comes with a Clouded [Purdue Pharma] Connection” quotes Associate Professor (Logistics, Business and Public Policy) Gideon Mark: [Mark said] that while board members are not responsible for a company’s day-to-day operations, “they have ultimate oversight over the company.” ... “The buck’s got to stop somewhere,” Mark said, “and it stops with the board.”

Maryland Today – Dec. 7 – “Bookshelf” highlights Management: An Interactive Approach co-authored by Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning Nicole Coomber: This textbook focuses on developing critical thinking skills essential for successful managers and business leaders, incorporating a blend of topics and integrating global, inclusive and ethical perspectives with practical, real-world examples.

Yahoo Finance – Dec. 6 – “University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business and UMD's School of Medicine Partner to Expand Business Education Opportunities for Medical Students and Faculty” describes the newly expanded MD-MBA degree program and includes: “In today's environment, excellent patient outcomes also depend on the financial well-being of both patients and providers," says Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana. “Physicians with business acumen are better equipped to create innovative solutions for the benefit of their patients.” Related coverage via Maryland Daily Record, others.

FIND MBA – Dec. 5 – “Top 10 Online MBA Programs for Artificial Intelligence” includes: The Smith School of Business offers an Online MBA program with a robust focus on AI, data science and analytics. The program emphasizes the importance of data analysis and its practical applications in modern business environments. Students gain a strong foundation in quantitative skills and data-driven decision-making, which are crucial in today’s data-centric business landscape.

Fox Business – Dec. 5 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses a “rise of recession fears” in “Government Driven Economy is Not Sustainable Growth.”

Wired – Dec. 4 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr expands on his research in “Innovation-Killing Noncompete Agreements Are Finally Dying”: [Starr] who coauthored the study on the prevalence of NCAs, says that the agreements do correlate with greater investment. But overall, innovation still suffers: Employee mobility, entrepreneurship, information flow across firms, and the effort employees put into their work all suffer when NCA enforcement goes up, Starr writes in an October report for policymakers that summarizes noncompete research. … Research shows that NCAs also harm workers. Starr’s report points to several recent studies which found that workers who labor under noncompetes earn less than those without them, and that when states enforce the agreements more stringently, wages fall. … Had OpenAI staff jumped to Microsoft to work on AI, they may have had to tread carefully. Instead, Altman and his loyal staff were reunited at OpenAI. “It’s interesting to think about a world where Sam Altman did have a noncompete,” says Starr. “What would happen if he was fired and he had to sit out of the AI world for two or five years? We might all suffer because of that.” Perhaps. Although reasonable minds may differ.

DataQuest – Dec. 2 – Lawrence Gordon, EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, comments extensively on automotive cybersecurity in “There’s a Rat Under the Hood,” including: [Gordon notes], “Of course, the technical computer science/engineering aspects of automotive cyber-security are critical issues that need to be addressed. The automakers and regulators are cognizant of these cyber-security issues and are (and have been for about a decade) addressing them. In contrast, I don’t think most auto-buyers (i.e., consumers) are very knowledgeable about cyber-security issues related to the smart devices in modern cars. The above notwithstanding, in my opinion the elephant in the room is the ‘economic aspects of automotive cybersecurity’.” … Being hacked hurts—and everyone, no matter what seat they are in. The economic aspects of automotive cybersecurity involve several issues, as Prof. Gordon outlines. “First, the cost of initially incorporating a high level of cybersecurity into cars is costly. Thus, the question that immediately comes to mind is who will bear that cost? As I see it, the automakers will initially bear this cost, but ultimately the majority share of this cost will be passed on to the auto-buyers. Second, cyber-attacks on automobiles can be very costly to auto-buyers. To the extent that automakers don’t have to reimburse car owners for their losses resulting from cyber-attacks, these costs are externalities from the automakers’ perspective (i.e., consumers absorb the costs). To the extent that automakers have to reimburse car owners for their losses (e.g., as a result of lawsuits or regulations), these costs will be borne by the automakers.”

ComicBook.com – Dec. 1 – Justice League: Zack Snyder Addresses Reports About Snyder Cut Fans Using Bots references earlier comments by Associate Professor of Management and Organization David Kirsch: …This seemingly resulted in some surprising trends, such as a single-day spike on February 27th where over 25,000 votes were cast, as opposed to the usual daily average of between 4,000 and 15,000 votes. David Kirsch, a University of Maryland professor who is cited in the article, also argues that the activities of the accounts voting for Snyder "certainly do not look like they were generated by a human user.”

November 2023

Yahoo Finance Live – Nov. 29 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass joins a discussion on “Munger-Buffett Legacy Cannot be Easily Reproduced”: KASS: He brought that sort of a second opinion, so to speak, to Buffett. And the two of them just were certainly thinking on the same wavelength and together made just a team that I don't think could easily be reproduced. I've said before, there's only one Warren Buffett, and of course, there's only one Charlie Munger. And certainly, as a team, there was only that one Buffett-Munger team. But I think certainly going forward, Munger's input to the investment process at Berkshire will continue in terms of his principles… KASS: I think there's every reason in the world. I don't see Berkshire doing any worse, let's say, in the years ahead. Certainly, Berkshire has substantially outperformed the market over its 55-year history under Warren Buffett. In recent years, it's been tracking the S&P 500. But going forward, in Buffett's recent words, it's been built to last. I think it is well-diversified, growth opportunities. And then with Greg Abel coming in at some point when Warren is no longer there, I think the succession plan is in place, and the outlook is just as bright as it has ever been.

The Diamondback – Nov. 29 – UMD Students Find Community Through Ranked Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Opportunities” quotes Dingman Center Venture Programs and Operations Coordinator Alex Onufrak: This university’s business school hosts the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides advising and holds an annual entrepreneurship pitch competition. [Onufrak said] the center’s accessibility to students helps create success among all entrepreneurs on campus. “We’re open to the entire campus, we engage every discipline, we help support ventures from [the] idea stage all the way to when they’re raising money.”

NPR – Nov. 28 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Investor Charlie Munger, the Longtime Business Partner of Warren Buffett, has Died”: “They complemented each other in their approach to investments in a very nice way,” says David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland. Munger was a “value investor,” who liked to buy stocks when a company's share price was low relative to its fundamental value. But he also believed in the power of trusted brands — and in valuing growth. Munger grew up in Omaha, Neb., not far from Buffett's childhood home. According to Kass, a local physician introduced them to each other, and "they hit it off immediately." Today, Buffett may be better known, but Kass says Munger played a big role in what was a really unique business partnership. Related: Germany’s Handelsblatt quotes Kass in “Buffett's companion Charlie Munger dies at the age of 99” followed by “What Charlie Munger's Death Means for Berkshire Shareholders.”

Wiley Online Library – Nov. 27 – “Advancing Scholarly‐practice and Theory Through Participatory Inquiry and Prospective Theorizing” features new research by Associate Professor Toby Egan, including: “Our current situation as researches and scholar-practitioners leads us to questions such as: ‘How might we access a broad and informed understanding of [Human Resource Development (HRD)]-related problems and key issues?’ ‘Who needs to be at the table for such investigations?’ and ‘How might we arrive at practical, good theory, including those aimed at our greatest challenges?’ We suggest that the future of impactful HRD research, theory and practice will involve (a) the renewal of HRD as a participatory endeavor and (b) the importance of theorizing that is forward-thinking and prospective…”

Daily Mail (UK) – Nov. 24 – “Don't Get Stung on Black Friday! Experts Reveal How to Spot if an Online Sale is REALLY a Good Deal – as Many Products were LESS Expensive Earlier in the Year” quotes Dean’s Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: ‘A tactic which is used pretty widely by a lot of retailers involves raising the regular prices of a product so you can then advertise it as a deeper percentage discount,’ [Zhang] told DailyMail.com. ‘It really plays into that consumer psychology and makes shoppers feel like they are getting a really great deal. I would advise people to always be cautious of percentage discounts.’ …Zhang notes that a host of companies – both in store and online – are guilty of rapid price fluctuations around sales seasons. ‘Several big-name retailers have had legal cases against them on these kinds of issues,’ she said. ‘But online is like a wild west, there are a lot more no-name retailers and sellers to be wary of.’

Daily Caller News Foundation – Nov. 23 – “These Four Key Economic Indicators Paint A Grim Picture For 2024 “ quotes Dean's Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “The two indicators that are most troubling are that (1) consumer expectations are low — this is a problem because consumption is 65-70% of national output — and (2) tighter credit conditions since income has not kept up with inflation and many households have exhausted their pandemic savings,” [Faulkender] told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Therefore, they are reliant on credit to maintain their current consumption levels. Both of these point towards a pullback in economic activity, consistent with the reduction in retail sales that we saw in October.” … Interest on the U.S.’ sovereign debt cost the government $659 billion in fiscal year 2023 and could increase even more in 2024, according to The Washington Post. The sum was larger than the $476 billion spent on interest in 2022 and the $352 billion spent in 2021. “Based on these recent outcomes, I would not be surprised if we were (right now) on the front end of a recession,” Faulkender told the DCNF.

Associated Press (via MSN) – Nov. 22 – “Black Friday is Almost Here. What to Know About the Holiday Sales Event’s History and Evolution” quotes Dean’s Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang, including: Jie Zhang, a professor of marketing and the Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, points to a 1951 mention of “Black Friday” in a New-York based trade publication — which noted that many workers called in sick the day after Thanksgiving in hopes of having a long holiday weekend.

GARP – Nov. 21 – Professor of the Practice Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi discusses trends, threats and opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate markets in a “Real Estate Risk in Volatile Times” podcast produced by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. … Related from GARP: Rossi was part of a recent expert panel for an “Emerging Risks in Global Real Estate” webinar.

Washington Post – Nov. 21 – A Common, Illegal Tactic Retailers Use to Lure Consumers quotes Dean's Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: They “mark up the prices and then offer seemingly deep discounts to make the deals look more attractive,” said Jie Zhang, a professor of marketing at the University of Maryland. “This is a form of deceptive pricing.” It’s a tactic meant to trick shoppers into thinking they’re getting a better price than usual. This usually involves a retailer raising the price on a particular item — say a flat-screen TV — for a short period, only to mark it down to the original price while marketing it as a limited-time, steep discount. Sometimes it’s more brazen, involving products never actually listed at the full price and only appearing with a supposed markdown. The tactic is done “pretty often,” Zhang said, and “it’s hard for consumers to detect.” … Related: “‘It’s To Trick Us’: Shoppers Slam Target Over Alleged Fake Black Friday Prices” at Bored Panda (and similarly on other consumer-information blogs) quotes Zhang from the Washington Post article.

New York Times – Nov. 20 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr comments in a column on Sam Altman’s firing by OpenAI and subsequent hiring by Microsoft, “What Happens When a Founder Leaves”: A downside of noncompete agreements is that they put smart people such as Altman on ice, Evan Starr, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, told me. That is bad for innovation and, he said, offsets the benefit of increasing the security of investment.

Expansion Solutions Magazine – Nov. 20 – Tej Anand, academic director for Smith’s MS in Information Systems programs, comments in “Health Care Challenges, Solutions Cross Vast Spectrum”: “This complex ecosystem consolidation is driven by the desire of stakeholders to garner a bigger slice of the health care spending pie and increase their negotiating power and leverage,” said Anand. “Larger health systems get bigger by acquiring smaller players and in many regions of the country there is now a concentration of only one or two such systems to serve all the health care consumers in that region.” Stakeholders are also “seeking to vertically integrate, with payment and benefit administrators acquiring health systems and vice versa,” he said, pointing out that Optum Health, a subsidiary of United Healthcare, acquired physician practices across the country; and CVS Health acquired Caremark and Aetna. Stakeholders are “also placing bets on the most likely places where health care spending is likely to increase and racing to grow in those areas,” said Anand, noting that this trend also encompassed Walgreens acquiring VillageMD and Carecentrix; CVS Health acquiring Signify Health to complement its Minute Clinics; and Amazon acquiring PillPack and OneMedical.

Maryland Today – Nov. 20 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang explains how low inventories could affect Black Friday and holiday shopping in “Weeks of Black Friday Sales? It’s Not Your Imagination.”

Expansion Solutions Magazine – Nov. 20 – Professor Emeritus Charles Olson comments in “Strong Oil, Gas Markets, Cleaner Coal in 2024”: “One trend is that there is much more oil, gas and coal available to the market than we knew of in the past―at least 10 years’ worth, according to Chevron,” [said Olson], and “100 years’ worth” of coal, “which is being replaced to a degree by hydrogen, which has become more available via the Inflation Reduction Act.” He also added that’s crucial information in regard to manufacturing steel, since coal is often used to make it, though that course is changing. “Cleveland-Cliffs,” for instance, “is more often using hydrogen instead of coal, because coal is dirty and hydrogen is clean,” said Olson. “I think this approach will catch on, because it’s economical and there is much pressure from environmentalists and society, in general, to operate in a more efficient, cleaner way.” But he doesn’t think coal will go away altogether. “It’s still dirty relative to gas, but it’s cleaner than it was. And we’ve had to use more coal in recent years due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict and the market in Europe.” The production processes for oil have also become much more efficient due to the use of fracking to get product out of the ground. “It used to cost the oil companies $50-$60 per barrel to break even,” he said, “but today, that number is $30 per barrel.” There has been similar progress with gas. The oil companies don’t have to drill as far down to harvest the crude oil due to fracking, “which saves time and money. Refineries are cheaper, too, because they have also increased efficiency,” Olson said.

WTOP – Nov. 17 – Associate Professor of Operations Management Yi Xu comments in “Your Thanksgiving Dinner Should Cost a Little Less This Year. Here’s Why”: [Xu] noted that’s the biggest reason why dinner will be about 4.5% cheaper, on average, this year. “We have had a good season for turkey farms. We don’t have significant bird flu, those kinds of things going on this year,” he said. “Also, things like eggs, those things are down as well … Some milk products, dairy products are down as well. Those are also important items for Thanksgiving dinner.” … But overall, what you’re seeing now might be the new normal for the next several years. “Food prices depend on a lot of things in addition to general inflation in the economy,” Xu said. According to Xu, supply and demand is influenced by a lot of things besides just disease. “Factors such as geopolitical issues, those will impact the supply of food in dramatic ways, just like oil. But I think in the long term, as long as the general inflation rate is stabilized, probably the food prices will stabilize as well.”

GARP – Nov. 17 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi, in his latest CRO Outlook column for the Global Association of Risk Professionals, writes: “Operational Risk Capital Proposal: Time to Hit the Pause Button.” Summary: The so-called Basel III Endgame could lead to significant amendments in operational loss estimation at big banks. But these recommended regulatory revisions could have unintended consequences, and all parties involved would be wise to reconsider B3E’s operational risk impact before pushing forward.

International Business Times – Nov. 17 – “Why High-Interest Rates Have Not Pushed The U.S Economy Into A Recession Yet”: quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “The primary reasons high-interest rates have not yet pushed the economy into a recession are the historically low unemployment rate of 3.9%, David I Kass, Clinical Professor of Finance at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, told the International Business Times. Professor Kass sees another set of macroeconomic factors that have helped American households keep on spending money, like a shallow average home mortgage rate of 3.8%; consumer balance sheets with large cash balances from the recent monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to the pandemic; relatively little consumer debt as compared to the Great Recession (2007-09); and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (less food and energy) currently at 3.7% down substantially from 9.1% in June 2022 (CPI). He's also pointing out that previous recessions resulted from the Federal Funds rate being increased to much higher levels than the current 5 1/4% – 5 1/2%.

Phys.org – Nov. 16 – “Study Suggests Corporate Culture Thwarts Efforts to Hire Innovative Candidates” covers recently published findings co-authored by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Waverly Ding, Dean’s Chair in Organizational Behavior Debra Shapiro and Smith PhD graduate Hyeun J. Lee, now at the University of Toronto, including: Despite the rhetoric from CEOs about the importance of recruiting for innovation, entrepreneurs face an established hiring bias. According to a recent study in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, recruiters are 23 to 29% less likely to rank a former startup founder as a top candidate against their corporate executive peers. The authors demonstrated that recruiter characteristics can have a lot to do mitigating this bias, as does the size of a company.

Carrier Management Magazine – Nov. 16 – Smith experts' insights are featured separately in “How Employees Can Help Cut ‘Quiet Cutting’ Out of Their Careers” (Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez) and “Analyzing the New Workday Dead Zone” (Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning Nicole Coomber).

FIND MBA – Nov. 15 – Graduate career consultant Adam Shpall comments in “Online MBA Networking: Unlocking Digital Connections for Career Success”: “Connecting online and arranging virtual meetings has the advantage of being able to reach a broader audience and is more efficient than meeting people in person,” [says Shpall]. “While many would say that nothing replaces face to face in-person networking, connecting online has become significantly more commonplace and if done effectively, will have a lasting impact.” Additionally, he points out that over the past several years, the degree of online networking opportunities has exploded, many lending themselves to the virtual environment. “Many programs which we used to offer in-person are now being conducted remotely,” Shpall says. “These virtual adaptations have the potential to reach a much larger audience of students, alumni and employers – and they are also easier to orchestrate and more cost effective. ”One example of an event the Smith School now more regularly conducts online is mock interviews in which alumni from companies coach current Online MBA students, including those headquartered far away from the campus in Maryland, such as Amazon and Microsoft on the US west coast…Indeed, the Smith School’s Shpall says that networking as an Online MBA graduate has enumerable benefits for one’s career. “When you go through a rigorous MBA program, you build strong bonds with classmates who are all going through the same experience as you,” he concludes. “These classmates come to learn to trust you in terms of the quality of work you can deliver, and these connections can be maintained for a lifetime.”

Maryland Today – Nov. 14 – “Congrats! You’ve Been Elected. Now What?” quotes Senior Faculty Specialist Sarah Wolek: The online toolkit offers guidance on building an inclusive team, encouraging public engagement, leading productive committee meetings, and creating a website and transition report. [Wolek] had a similar experience after being appointed last spring to represent District 16 in Maryland’s House of Delegates. “You have so many things that are coming at you, from relationship building and connecting with stakeholders, to learning the ropes of the institution you are going to be a part of,” she said. “You may be walking into an institution that has a storied history, culture and way of working that you’re not used to, and so as an outsider coming in, you're not only having to learn the work, you're also learning how the work is done so you can be most effective.”

International Business Times – Nov. 12 – “Stocks Roar Back Led By Technology Shares – Will Moody's And Inflation Spoil The Rally?” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “The Federal Reserve will be paying careful attention to the upcoming Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index reports next week, as well as the Personal Expenditure Index, which will be released on November 30,” David Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, told IBT. “With the current unemployment rate of only 3.9%, the Federal Funds rate of 5 1/4%-5 1/2% may be increased by 1/4% at the next FOMC meeting on Dec. 12-13, 2023,” he added. “If these measures of inflation indicate that little or no progress is being made in reducing the rate of price increases.”

Daily Caller News Foundation – Nov. 11 – “Americans Are Increasingly Failing To Make Debt Payments AsInflation Continues To Put ‘Strain On Consumers’” quotes Dean's Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “Consumers pay for things three ways: income, savings and credit,” [Faulkender] told the DCNF. “We know that wages have not kept up with inflation over the last 2.5 years and that many households have spent all of the savings accumulated during the pandemic. Therefore, in order to maintain their spending levels, they have been adding to their credit card balances, such that aggregate balances have now eclipsed $1 trillion. Rising credit card debt in a rising interest rate environment with incomes not keeping pace will put more and more households into financial difficulty, resulting in delinquencies.”

IEDP – Nov 10 – “How Team Member Selection Goes Wrong”: (New Study Reveals How Perceptions of Competence Versus Interpersonal Skills Can be Inaccurately Judged When Choosing Team Members) features research by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin, with co-authors including Smith PhD graduate Hyunsun Park, and includes: The study’s key finding is that there is a marked difference in the accuracy of team members’ perceptions of a candidate’s competence and their perception of that person’s interpersonal skills. The competence aspect relates to task-related performance and providing task-related ideas and suggestions. The interpersonal performance in the team relates to behaviors aimed at supporting the team’s social and collaborative dynamics. Both matter and should be balanced when decisions are taken.

Maryland Today – Nov. 10 – Frank Goertner, director of federal and veteran affairs and director of the Graduate Program in Technology Management, and Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship Managing Director Michael Hoffmeyer are among veterans at UMD reflecting on their military service and how they carry it forward in their academic roles in “An Enduring Call to Serve.”

Harvard Business Review – Nov. 8 – Management and Organization professors Trevor Foulk and Vijaya Venkataramani co-author a summary of their recent research in “How Creative Collaboration Can Strengthen Relationships.” Summary: We know that creativity can lead to better products or services. But can it also help us get along with each other at work? A research study set out to answer this question and found that, indeed, when people are put in a position to be creative, they tend to view others more fondly because they recollect each person’s unique contributions to the process. This may only work in situations where psychological safety is present, however, as unsafe environments can lead to negative group outcomes and perceptions.

Entrepreneur – Nov. 7 – “Top 50 Best Undergraduate Programs for Entrepreneurs in 2024” highlights Smith’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship: Dingman Center: This award-winning hub, established in 1985, creates an inclusive environment to educate, empower and equip students with skills to be an entrepreneur and provides the resources to make their ideas a reality.

Business Insider - Nov. 6 - "Warren Buffett Swapped Cash for Bonds, Sold a Chunk of Chevron, and Sped up Buybacks in October. Here are 3 Tasty Nuggets From Berkshire Hathaway's Earnings.” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Berkshire previously disclosed that it sold HP stock worth about $500 million in September, which explains some of the cost-base decline in consumer products. As for the commercial segment, David Kass, a finance professor and Buffett blogger, suggested on X that Berkshire may have sold its $800 million stake in General Motors. The release of Berkshire's quarterly stock-portfolio update in mid-November will confirm or refute his suspicions.

TalkMarkets - Nov. 4 - Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “5 Highlights Of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2023 Third Quarter Earnings Report” and the “2023 Percentage Returns To 5 Largest Stocks” (for Nov. 4).

Fox 5 DC - Nov. 3 - Accounting lecturer Samuel Handwerger discusses the Smith School’s Justice for Fraud Victims program and its collaboration with Prince George’s County law enforcement in "UMD Business Fraud Prevention Seminar Aims to Curb Online Financial Crimes.”

Fox Business - Nov. 1 - Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the economy and economic policy in ‘Biden and Powell Differ on U.S. Economy’ Evening Edit segment, including: “…You’ve trapped people into renting for potentially the foreseeable future, because the price of houses hasn’t really moved all that much but interest rates have more than doubled. The result is that you have people unable to make the kinds of monthly payments. So instead of building equity and starting homeownership, they’re staying in rental properties for a much longer time period, and [President] Biden doesn’t want you to take that into account at all…” … Related: Faulkender comments in Axios’ “‘America First’ buzzsaw for the IRA,” including: Expect IRA changes to be a Day 1 issue, said Faulkender, the [America First Policy] institute's chief economist. "We are going to review every rule, every notice, everything the administration has done in its implementation of that statute…”

October 2023

Maryland Daily Record - Oct. 31 - “UMD Smith School, Montgomery College Launch Pathway to Business Analytics Master’s Degree Program” announces: a ‘2+2+1’ track structured for students to complete the master's portion in one year, following two years each at the associate and undergraduate levels through which master's level credits are accumulated… Related coverage includes Yahoo Finance, which quotes Professor of the Practice and MS in Business Analytics Academic Director Suresh Acharya: “We took a very market-driven approach,” says Acharya, noting (according to Coursera-reported U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data) that business analyst jobs – collectively with those for management analysts and operations analysts – are on track for growth up to 25% by 2030. Much of this growth, he adds, is expected in the Washington, D.C. area, including Montgomery County.

The Economic Innovation Group - Oct. 31 - Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr produces a research brief “Noncompete Clauses: A Policymaker’s Guide through the Key Questions and Evidence.” Introduction: In the wake of growing anecdotal and empirical evidence, the centuries-old debate over how to regulate noncompete clauses has hastened towards a contentious resolution: ban them. These post-employment restrictions, known simply as “noncompetes,” prohibit departing workers from starting or joining a competing firm for a period of time and often in a circumscribed geographic area. Historically, most U.S. states have enforced noncompetes on a case-by-case basis, seeking to balance the harms to workers and society that stem from direct restraints on competition with the firm’s need to protect its legitimate business interests. The status quo, however, is on the verge of significant change. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission proposed to ban noncompetes nationwide; for the first time in over a century, a state (Minnesota) has passed a ban on noncompetes, while another state’s proposed ban awaits the governor’s signature (New York); and the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board declared that noncompetes violate the National Labor Relations Act. This recent policy action follows the many state policies passed since 2015 which have banned noncompetes for physicians, tech workers, and workers earning below specified thresholds. Why did this historic debate over noncompetes move so abruptly towards banning them? Alongside increased media scrutiny and hard-to-stomach anecdotes of noncompetes unnecessarily derailing the lives of workers, new empirical evidence on the prevalence and harms of noncompetes and their enforceability has tilted the scales.

The Mortgage Reports – Oct. 30 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi contributes to “Housing Market Predictions: The Real Estate Forecast for the Next 5 Years,” including: “…Home prices have remained well above long-term fundamentals in many metro areas, with some areas seeing further pressure from pandemic-era demographic shifts that have occurred in certain high-cost densely populated areas to other markets in Texas, Tennessee, and Florida, for example. Financially vulnerable segments, such as low- and moderate-income and minority borrowers, are most affected by these headwinds. Little relief on either supply or mortgage rates is expected until inflation moves back to the Fed’s 2% target. Mortgage originators are under severe pressure financially with non-depository mortgage lenders most vulnerable. The mortgage market is experiencing a dramatic downturn with refinances at historically low levels, which if it continues, only puts a further drag on the overall economy in 2024 that will face several risks next year.”

Baltimore Banner – Oct. 30 – “New Grocery Store to Fill Void Left by Price Rite Closure in Southwest Baltimore” quotes Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou: “For a local grocery store, it cannot be opened in a neighborhood where the number of households is really small. If it’s really small, that’s just not going to be economically viable.”

Barron’s – Oct. 27 – In a “To the Editor” submission, Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “The Case for Spinoffs”: Regarding “Big-Name Stock Spinoffs Are Going Mainstream. Here’s Why.” (The Economy, Oct. 18): In addition to the tax-free nature of these transactions to both the parent corporation and the recipient shareholders, this restructuring permits the spun-off company to make its own managerial decisions without having to go up a corporate ladder for time-delayed approvals. Further, these companies’ managers would probably have their interests closely aligned with shareholders through substantial stock ownership and stock options. Spinoffs, on average, have outperformed the market, including several associated with John Malone’s Liberty Media. One outstanding performer has been Chipotle Mexican Grill, which was spun off by McDonald’s in January 2006. Its compounded rate of return has been 28% a year, which has handily outperformed McDonald’s return of 15% a year over the past 17 years.

Maryland Today – Oct. 27 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang explains “shrinkflation” in a Halloween context, via “Honey, They Shrunk the Candy.”

TechTarget – Oct. 25 – Information Systems professor Balaji Padmanabhan contributes to “The Human Problem with Generative AI in HR,” including: But there will be pitfalls to HR's adoption of AI, including the risk of putting too much trust in AI recommendations, [said Padmanabhan]. The complacency risk “will never go away,” Padmanabhan said. “And once the comfort level increases, that risk may actually increase in time.” … One of the initial generative AI applications is writing job descriptions. Here, Padmanabhan can see how complacency might take over. He said employees might stop checking future job description outputs once the AI system correctly constructs the first 10 job descriptions. Padmanabhan said other generative AI risks include the “huge problem” of incorrect answers. LLMs don't understand the underlying knowledge in their data; instead, they learn how to connect words. “They're learning the structure of language, which is what they’re meant to do,” he said. Padmanabhan said generative AI needs verification systems to double-check any outputs. One model might be verification as a service, where humans with expertise in benefits, for instance, review an LLM’s responses.

Fortune – Oct. 25 – Research co-authored by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr is a focus of “A Company’s Pro-choice Stance on Abortion is the Equivalent of a 12% Wage Increase, New Research into Job Seekers’ Interest Shows”: In We’ve Got You Covered: Employer and Employee Responses to Dobbs v. Jackson, my coauthors, Pawel Adrjan, Svenja Gudell, Allison Shrivastava, Jason Sockin, Evan Starr and I provide the first evidence on the impacts of a company making a public announcement to cover out-of-state abortion care on recruitment of new workers and job satisfaction amongst existing employees. The results we uncover are based on the analysis of data from Indeed and Glassdoor, consisting of 3 billion job seekers’ clicks on U.S. job postings and 6.5 million company reviews.

HousingWire – Oct. 25 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi writes “How to Avert an Impending Homeowners Insurance Crisis” (timed with the FHFA’s property insurance symposium in November) including: To ensure the vitality of both homeowners insurance and mortgage markets, a combined private-public insurance solution at a national level is required to distribute natural disaster risk more efficiently, thereby lowering the costs and access to insurance and helping reduce pressures from a housing affordability crisis already in full bloom. This could be attained by creating a new government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) under the regulatory purview of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that already regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The existing National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) would be restructured into this new hazard insurance GSE.

MIT Sloan Management Review – Oct. 25 – Dean’s Professor of Management Subra Tangirala co-authors “There Actually Is an ‘I’ in Team,” covering his research, with Smith PhD graduates Elad Scherf and Alex Ning Li. Summary: Research shows that when dealing with fundamental change, teams that retrain individuals before focusing on collaboration have better results.

AACSB Insights – Oct. 24 – People and Places includes (scroll down): The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in College Park has launched a collaboration with Montgomery College, a community college in Rockville, Maryland. The partnership provides a pathway for students in Montgomery’s new Associate of Arts in Business Analytics program to earn a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) from the Smith School. Through the 2+2+1 track, students can spend two years at Montgomery, two years in the undergraduate program at Smith School, and one year completing their MSBA degrees. Students practice using Excel, R, Tableau, and SQL; learn to summarize, visualize, and analyze data; study ethical issues in data management; and take part in project-based capstone projects. … Related coverage via “UMD Smith, Montgomery College Initiate Pathway to a Business Analytics Masters” at Science Newsnet, Yahoo Finance, others.

Baltimore Banner – Oct. 23 – “Eddie’s of Roland Park Thrives as a Family Business Even as Other Grocers Close” quotes Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou: Local grocers have to be innovative in their appeal and approaches to keep customers, said one marketing expert. Focusing on hyperlocalized tastes is one good strategy, said Bobby Zhou, associate professor of marketing with the Robert H. Smith Business School at the University of Maryland. Zhou added that local grocery stores can also build personal relationships with their customers to stand out from larger chains. “When you go to Walmart and Target, consumers can hardly relate to the employees there, but if you buy stuff from people who are actually from the community, the psychological distance is automatically shortened. You feel good about supporting the community,” Zhou said.

WTOP – Oct. 21 – “Businesses are the Biggest Targets of Financial Crimes. Help is Being Offered in Prince George’s Co.” references the Nov. 3 Business Fraud Prevention Seminar at the College Park Marriott presented by Smith’s Justice for Fraud Victims and Prince George’s County Police Financial Crimes Unit and free with advance registration.

International Business Times – Oct. 19 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “What P&G Price Hikes Tell About Basic Consumer Goods Inflation And US Economy”: P&G's solid financial performance is a story of brand strength for must-have products and a resilient economy driven by robust consumer demand. “P&G has been able to raise prices as a result of both its pricing power on its well-established brands that are perceived to be of high quality, as well as the financial strength of consumers,” David I Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, told IBT. “As a result of the recent monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to the pandemic. Consumers with higher than average incomes have been relatively price insensitive and generally have had an inelastic demand for household goods.” Kass doesn't expect the tailwind from robust spending to continue, as consumers run out of accumulated savings and the government stimulus programs are depleted. “Consumers are likely to become more price sensitive, which should lead to the substitution of lower cost goods and, therefore, a reduction in goods inflation,” he added.

The National Desk via WJLA – Oct. 17 – “Fearing AI-induced Financial Crisis, SEC Chair Pushes for Guardrails” quotes Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi: While Gensler framed the likelihood of a financial crisis as a certainty, that prediction is not universal. A broad financial crisis based on predictive models would require many of the country’s largest banks to lack human oversight of them and move forward without questioning the generated results. “I can't recall that any model that I'm aware of that has actually ever precipitated a financial crisis. I'm fond of saying that all models are wrong, some are useful, and they're only meant to be guideposts,” [said Rossi] who also worked in high levels of risk management for several large banks. “I can't imagine the industry just blindly implementing models and not having human intervention or overrides on those models.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has cited issues about flaws in data sets to make recommendations in automated tenant screening programs. “The issue there is that there's a lack of transparency and explainability associated with these models, and that creates or invites a huge potential for fair lending issues,” Rossi said.

Psychology Today – Oct. 17 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk writes “Halloween Special: Why Do We Find Clowns So Creepy?”

Financial Economists Roundtable – Oct. 16 – Dean's Chaired Professor Lemma Senbet co-authors the newly released 2022 Statement of the FER, “The Controversy Over Proxy Voting: The Role of Asset Managers and Proxy Advisors.” From the summary: This discussion concludes with a set of policy recommendations, such as: (a) requiring disclosure of advisory firms’ other businesses, (b) increasing the transparency of the business model of proxy advisory firms, particularly around the rationale for their general guidelines for voting recommendations, (c) ensuring that the regulatory burden on proxy advisory firms does not discourage entry, and (d) increasing the regulatory oversight of the voting process with a view to incorporating investor preferences in proxy voting.

Business a.m. – Oct. 16 – “Surviving the Attention Economy: How to Keep Audiences Engaged” features research co-authored by Dean’s Professor of Marketing Wendy Moe and includes: Why do some articles captivate readers and encourage them to keep reading, while others make them lose interest after just a few sentences? And how does the content (i.e., the language used) shape whether audiences stay engaged? This study addresses these questions by utilizing natural language processing of over 600,000 reading sessions from 35,000 pieces of content, combined with controlled experiments.

WYPR Radio – Oct. 16 – Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue discusses her research as it applies to ‘Bias and AI Technology’ (16:35-25:37).

Daily Caller News Foundation (via MSN) – Oct. 15 – “Runaway Inflation ‘Unlikely’ To Be Reeled In Under Biden Administration, Experts Say” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender, including: “We must continue to remember that it is not only monetary policy that determines inflation, [Faulkender told] the DCNF. “It is also fiscal and regulatory policy. Yes, monetary policy can get us back to 2% if the Fed keeps raising interest rates high enough. The problem is that the Biden Administration keeps pouring gasoline on the inflation fire by running $2 trillion deficits while imposing costly regulations that take supply offline.”

GARP – Oct. 13 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi writes, for his latest CRO Outlook column, “How to Reduce Bank Failures: A Novel Approach. Summary: “Poor risk governance, culture and infrastructure have been responsible for many financial meltdowns, including this year’s SVB and Signature Bank fiascoes. Regulators keep trying to fix this problem by increasing capital requirements, but there is a better solution: a quality score that assesses the effectiveness of banks’ risk management.”

Poets & Quants – Oct. 13 – “The Favorite Professors Of Executive MBAs” excerpts Smith executive MBA grad Glen Martin’s 2023 Best & Brightest Executive MBAs profile: “At the Robert H. Smith School of Business, I had the pleasure of learning from some truly extraordinary professors. However, there was one professor who stood out to me: Dr. Cristian Dezsö and his macroeconomics class. His enthusiasm and humor made the class so enjoyable; not to mention his impressive professional insights on domestic and international economics. He had a unique ability to explain complex ideas in simple terms, all while tying in the bigger picture and showing us how it affects our society.”

Bloomberg Businessweek – Oct. 11 “Business Schools Seek to Build Entrepreneurs with New Programs” quotes Dingman Center Managing Director Michael Hoffmeyer and MBA graduate Jasmine Snead Ferguson, including: “As the market in terms of demand for MBA broadly has declined in recent years, I think business schools have become much less complacent and much more competitive in terms of really understanding, ‘What are the  needs in the market?’,” [says Hoffmeyer]. … Jasmine Snead Ferguson had launched a business, Aurora Tights, before she started as a full-time MBA student at Maryland’s Smith school in 2019… At Smith, much of her coursework covered facets starting and running a business, specifically as a woman of color. And as part of Ladies First, an initiative to increase the number of women involved in entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, Ferguson says she often received meaningful advice from a mentor, especially about how to frame seeming disadvantages as opportunities, when meeting with prospective funders and more.

Washington Post – Oct. 10 – The Fall Guide to Graduate and Executive Education extensively quotes Dean Prabhudev Konana including: “Universities Meet Demand as Adoption of AI Accelerates,” including: “AI systems, particularly Generative AI, have evolved fast and will get better and more ubiquitous,” [said Konana].“We should embrace, not resist, AI, and be aware of the strengths, weaknesses, dangers and opportunities.” … “We encourage faculty to embrace generative AI for its pedagogical value,” Konana said. “Students must learn to use AI to drive their creativity and recognize AI limitations on societal and ethical issues.” … For example, Konana said, students should learn to use ChatGPT for simple, low-level text while focusing on higher-level thinking—as they’re likely to do in their jobs someday. “You don’t use exactly what ChatGPT gives you; you use it like scaffolding and create on top of it. Any generative AI produces content based on past work,” he said. “It is not forward-looking. Students must learn to be forward thinkers, recognize flaws in AI output, and understand limitations.” … At the University of Maryland-Smith, “We’re evolving our curriculum to address AI in the context of marketing, supply chain, finance, problem solving, and adoption strategy—including risk and algorithm development ethics,” Konana said. “To accelerate this, we hired information systems professor Balaji Padmanabhan, who specializes in contextual AI and designed one of the first technology-focused MBA electives while at the Wharton School.”

Washington Post – Oct. 7 – “Holiday Shopping Season is Here, at Least According to Retailers” quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: The start of the holiday shopping season has been inching back for years, long abrading the novelty of Black Friday, which got its name because the rush of sales the day after Thanksgiving could change the retailers’ books from red to black. Powerful retailers like Amazon usually set the bar for early promotions, forcing competitors to follow, [said Zhang]. Bookshop.org, an online platform for independent book stores, is offering free shipping to directly compete with Prime Day. And Amazon’s July Prime Day event coincided with big sales from Target and Walmart, boosting online retail sales by 0.6 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “It really is this vicious cycle,” Zhang said. “Everybody tries to beat their competitors, be the first to be on the market for holiday sales … and it just pushed everyone to be earlier and earlier.”

Wall Street Journal – Oct. 6 – Dean Prabhudev Konana describes Smith’s strategy to answer a ‘nationwide shortage of accountants’: Professors even waved students away from accounting, warning students that classes would be very rigorous. “Many students subsequently flocked to marketing and supply-chain management, said Prabhudev Konana, the dean of the University of Maryland’s business school, where the number of accounting majors fell by about 30% since 2018. Konana is now trying to integrate recently buzzy issues such as blockchain and cryptocurrency into the curriculum to broaden accounting’s appeal again. “Rather than start to teach about debits and credits in the very first class, get them excited,” he said.

Reuters – Oct. 6 – “US Would Struggle to Block Exxon's Politically Unpopular Megadeal” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: It could not be learned how long Exxon and Pioneer plan to give themselves to complete their deal or whether the latter will negotiate a hefty break-up fee to allow for the possibility that regulators thwart their tie-up. David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland and former FTC antitrust economist, said regulators would have to show they have conducted a thorough analysis of Exxon's deal for Pioneer given the key role the Permian basin plays in energy production. “(The basin) is a very significant factor in this case,” he said.

DataQuest – Oct. 4 – “The Poison is Not in a Dart. It’s in the AC Duct” quotes EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting Lawrence Gordon: Data poisoning usually refers to situations where the training data used in ML models is intentionally corrupted by a hacker, if we see it from the gaze of Cybersecurity expert Prof. Lawrence A. Gordon, EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. “Thus, in terms of the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) triad considered in cybersecurity, data poisoning is a form of data Integrity cyber breach. Given the growing importance of ML models (which fall under the umbrella of AI), it seems (at least to me) that data poisoning should be a serious concern to organizations.”

Fox Business – Oct. 3 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains implications of U.S. Treasury bond prices declining (beginning at 38-minute mark), via the Kudlow show: “[Further contributing] to the decline in bond prices today and the sharp increase in yields was the JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report that came out this morning. We were not expecting an additional million job openings… and that really spooked the market because you have a Federal Reserve that believes that a strong job market means inflation and therefore increases the likelihood of future rate increases beyond what we were thinking about a week ago, and so that’s sending bond yields much higher, anticipating the Fed’s going to keep interest rates higher for longer. That’s going to destroy [home] affordability even more because the 30-year mortgage interest rate is set off of the 10-year bond yield and so expectations of more interest rate increases by the Fed are going to raise interest rates on mortgages and that’s going to send affordability to even worse levels…” Related: Faulkender discusses “Effects of Government Spending” via TBN Centerpoint (10/4).

September 2023

TalkMarkets – Sept. 30 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns of The 5 Largest Stocks.”

Baltimore Sun – Sept. 29 – Accounting lecturer Samuel Handwerger explains LLCs and shell companies as part of “As the Archdiocese of Baltimore Faces Potential Bankruptcy, Untangling its Assets Proves Murky,” including: [Handwerger] said the practice of creating corporations to shelter assets is a “typical” strategy in the business world, and is practiced by for-profit and nonprofit companies alike. There is a difference between control of an asset and ownership of one, Handwerger said. Just because one person controls something doesn’t necessarily mean they own it — even if they have the final say over whether it can be sold. Such thin degrees of separation are legal, so long as the corporations actually function independently. If there’s commingling of assets, like bank accounts for the parish with the larger archdiocese, then it’s possible a judge could determine the assets aren’t in fact separate. “It’s unfortunate for the victims,” Handwerger said. “There are corporate formalities in order to keep that shell strong and protect those assets, and my suspicion is [the Baltimore diocese] probably did that.”

Daily Caller News Foundation – Sept. 28 – “Mortgage Rates Spike To 22-Year High As Houses Become Increasingly Unaffordable” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “When the President[Biden] took office, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was approximately 2.7%,” [Faulkender] told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Such a dramatic increase in house payments has not been accompanied by anywhere near that increase in paychecks. Over the time since inauguration day, real wages have declined approximately three percent, meaning an hour of working results in three percent less an American worker can purchase than just 2.5 years ago.”

Science Newsnet – Sept. 28 – In “How a Repatriation Tax Challenge Before SCOTUS Could Upend the Tax Code,” Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger describes implications of Moore v. United States, a case before the Supreme Court that challenges the Mandatory Repatriation Tax provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Almanac – Sept. 26 – “Albert S. “Pete” Kyle: Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize” documents Smith’s Kyle, Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, accepting the Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize for his research on market microstructure, on Sept. 22, 2023, in New York.

Washington Post – Sept. 25 – “Their Podcast is in Trouble. A Biden-led Crackdown May Save Them” references research by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr to add context to how a noncompete clause in a contract for two former sports-talk radio hosts could test new National Labor Relations Board guidance: Roughly 30 million workers collectively lose as much as $300 billion a year in wages because of noncompete agreements, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (The FTC has proposed its own ban on noncompete agreements, but it is not due out until next year and is likely to face immediate legal challenge.) Evan Starr, a University of Maryland economist, has found that as much as 18 percent of the labor market is covered by a noncompete agreement.

WalletHub Expert Opinions – Sept. 22 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger, in essay form, gives “Best Student Credit Cards” advice.

Science Newsnet – Sept. 22 – Clinical Professor and Associate Area Chair of Marketing Mary Beth Furst describes “Why the UFC-WWE Merger is a One-Two Marketing Punch.”

Harvard Business Review – Sept. 21 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner co-authors “Research: Consumers Choose Shared Experiences Over Quality Ones.”

International Business Times – Sept. 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments on recent Fed-related developments in “Stocks, Bonds, And Oil Under Pressure from Massive Headwinds”: David I. Kass, Clinical Professor of Finance at University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, provides further insight into the recent FOMC decision. “Although the FOMC voted 12-0 to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent as expected, its statement (“inflation remains elevated”) and Chair Powell's subsequent press conference was hawkish in tone,” he told IBT. “The quarterly economic projections of Federal Reserve Board members and Federal Reserve Bank presidents revealed that there was likely one more 1/4 percent rate increase this year and only two 1/4 percent rate cuts in 2024.”

HHS/Stockholm School of Economics – Sept. 21 – “European Quant Marketing Workshop” previews the next-day “Digital Customer Engagement” presentation by Dean’s Professor of Marketing Wendy Moe, including: In this workshop, Professor Wendy Moe will provide an overview of how metrics and models of customer engagement have evolved. She will then discuss recent research that examines how certain linguistic features affect consumers' engagement with content.

TechXplore – Sept. 21 – “New AI-Powered Analytical Model Tracks Baseball Players' Path to the Big Show” describes an analytical model from Associate Clinical Professor of Information Systems Adam Lee and graduate student Chung-Hao Lee that could help teams predict the likelihood of prospects reaching the majors. Republished from Maryland Today.

Fox Business – Sept. 20 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the Federal Reserve pausing an interest rate hike and the potential federal government shutdown in “The Fed has a lot of Work Cut Out for Itself.”

The Messenger – Sept. 20 – “1 in 5 Americans Willing to Go Into Debt for the New iPhone 15, Survey Finds” quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: “Smartphones have become an essential tool for most people's everyday lives. They are also indispensable for how we stay connected with others and express ourselves to the public,” [Zhang] told WalletHub. “Not surprisingly, so many people feel the need to get the latest and greatest phones, even if they have to get into debt for it.”

Seeking Alpha – Sept. 20 – “Coca-Cola: Economic Castle Continues to Grow with $106.1B in Brand Value” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass’ blog notes on organizing a Smith-student-group visit with Warren Buffett in 2013: Based on these numbers, it is unsurprising that Coca-Cola has been able to maintain its robust economic castle, otherwise known as moat, with a leading market share of 43.7% in the global non-alcoholic beverage sales, as similarly expounded by Warren Buffett in 2013: I came up with this term 40+ years ago because in capitalism, you have these economic castles. You need 2 things – a moat around the castle, and you need a knight in the castle who is trying to widen the moat around the castle. How did Coca-Cola build their moat? They deepened the thought in people’s minds that Coca-Cola is where happiness is. The moat is what’s in your mind. (Professor David Kass, University of Maryland).

NSS Magazine (Italy) – Sept. 19 – “Why is Solo Dining Becoming More and More Complicated?” references extensively Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner’s “Inhibited from Bowling Alone” research, including: The trend of bars and restaurants turning away solo patrons – a practice noted and criticized on social media as well – runs the risk of further discouraging people from going out and doing things alone. This is because the habit of giving up on something just because one is alone is already quite prevalent. [Ratner] explained to The Washington Post that people tend to believe they have less fun when alone, underestimating how enjoyable an experience going to a museum, theater, cinema, or a restaurant alone could be. In her study titled "Inhibited from Bowling Alone," conducted with marketing professor Rebecca Hamilton, Ratner found that people think they have less fun when alone, but in reality, this is not the case…

Yahoo Finance – Sept. 19 – “Business Fraud Prevention Seminar Forthcoming from UMD, Prince George's County” includes: The (Nov. 3) seminar will explore the latest financial fraud tactics against businesses and practical counter methods, says JFV director and Smith Accounting and Information Assurance Lecturer Samuel Handwerger. “The digital age is fueling financial crimes against the business community in several ways.”

U.S. News & World Report – Sept. 18 – “US News Best Colleges” shows UMD rising in the business category (as reported by Maryland Today): to 21st overall, and No. 11 among public institutions, improving in four top-25 specialties:

• Entrepreneurship: No. 21 overall; No. 9 among publics
• Management information systems: No. 6 overall, No. 5 among publics
• Management: No. 20 overall, No. 13 among publics
• Supply chain management/Logistics: No. 14 overall, No. 11 among publics

Pensions & Investments – Sept. 15 – “University of Maryland Finance Professor Wins Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize” details Albert “Pete” Kyle’s selection for the prestigious honor for his research on market microstructure, based on his 1985 Econometrica paper, “Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading.”

Wiley Online Library – Sept. 17 – “Option Momentum” features new research co-authored by Professor of Finance Steve Heston and forthcoming in the Journal of Finance. Abstract: This paper investigates the performance of option investments across different stocks by computing monthly returns on at-the-money straddles on individual equities. We find that options with high historical returns continue to significantly outperform options with low historical returns over horizons ranging from six to 36 months. This phenomenon is robust to including out-of-the-money options or delta-hedging the returns. Unlike stock momentum, option return continuation is not followed by long-run reversal. Significant returns remain after factor risk adjustment and after controlling for implied volatility and other characteristics. Across stocks, trading costs are unrelated to the magnitude of momentum profits.

WalletHub Ask the Experts – Sept. 13 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments on results of WalletHub’s “2023 iPhone Survey (More than 1 in 5 Americans think that the new iPhone is worth going into debt).”

Newsweek – Sept. 13 – Actor Matt Damon’s co-authored op-ed “We're Working to End the Water Crisis—With the Right Kind of Investment” cites Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender’s paper ‘Understanding the Rise in Corporate Cash’ (in The Review of Financial Studies): At least 2 million Americans don't have running water or a working toilet at home, costing the U.S. economy $8.58 billion each year. At the same time, U.S. companies are holding $5.8 trillion in cash on their balance sheets, more than triple their $1.6 trillion in 2000. That's one huge reason for them to join the growing momentum in balance-sheet ESG investments, which has helped make impact investing a trillion-dollar market.

Maryland Today – Sept. 13 – “Accolades: Faculty and Staff Awards and Honors” includes: Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, was named an Academy of Management fellow and was appointed to the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee. It advises the directors of the Department of Commerce's statistical agencies (the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau) and the commissioner of the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Guardian – Sept. 10 – “Going Solo: Why Eating and Travelling on my Own is Such a Pleasure” quotes Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner: “When people do things alone, they enjoy themselves more than they expect to,” says professor of marketing Rebecca Ratner, who has studied how people feel about the idea of undertaking hedonistic activities alone, and then how much they enjoy actually doing them. “People also overestimate the benefits of being with someone else,” she says.

Financial Times – Sept. 10 – “How the Masters in Management Brand is Building Abroad” includes: Digital tools and techniques that were widely adopted in teaching during Covid-19 remain important — although many younger students are keen to return to in-person learning. As we report, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland is launching a new Online Master of Science in Management Studies this year, while Audencia offers students the option of taking one semester in its degree fully online.

GARP – Sept. 8 – In his latest CRO Outlook column for the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director and Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “SVB and Signature Bank Fallout: Why We Need a New Approach to Regional Bank Regulation and Risk Management”: Summary: Regulators seem intent on once again increasing capital and liquidity requirements for banks of a certain size – but data shows that mid-sized financial institutions remain less risky than larger banks. What’s needed, instead, is a more proactive safety and soundness strategy that addresses the root causes of recent bank scandals: poor governance and ineffective risk management.

Health Reporter – Sept. 7 – “Supply Chains of Crucial Drugs Threatened by Climate Risks” covers analysis by Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi and Master of Quantitative Finance students Matthew Rumrill and Harini Mantripragada. Related coverage in Maryland Today’s ‘Pharma Facilities Sit in Path of Tornadoes, Other Weather Disasters.’

Financial Times – Sept. 6 – Rellie Derfler-Rozin, academic director of the Master of Science in Management Studies Program comments in “Why Young Business Students Want to go Back to School”: Accordingly, the majority of MiM programmes are delivered full-time on campus, with only a few exceptions such as the Robert H Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, which has launched a new online Master of Science in Management Studies this year, alongside its traditional on-campus programme. “Following the pandemic, we learnt we can do more things online,” says Rellie Derfler-Rozin, academic director of both programmes. As more degrees go digital, she says that business schools should reassess the role of the campus in the post-pandemic world. “As educators, we have a responsibility to be more thoughtful about the value of being in-person, and how to make those experiences even more meaningful.”

Bloomberg – Sept. 6 – Trump Plans Harsher Trade and Tax Policies for His 2024 Comeback Bid cites Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender as chief economist for the America First Policy Institute and its role in shaping economic policy for a potential Republican-led administration in the White House.

TalkMarkets – Sept. 2 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns of The 5 Largest Stocks.”

Fox Business – Sept. 1 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the August 2023 U.S. jobs report.

August 2023

Newswise – Aug. 31 – Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director and Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi and Smith Master of Quantitative Finance student Harini Mantripragada examine ‘Hurricane Risk Implications for Low-to-Moderate-Income Mortgage Borrowers.’

LeMonde – Aug. 30 – “The company will not be the place for resolving political conflict” reviews Associate Professor of Management Evan Starr’s co-authored study of post-Dobbs U.S. job trends.

CNBC – Aug. 30 – “Warren Buffett, who Turns 93, is at the Top of His Game as He Pushes Berkshire Hathaway to New Heights” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “He’s still at the top of his game. His mental acuity is sharp as ever,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, who once held private lunches for his students and Buffett.” … “It’s groundbreaking in the sense that I’m not aware of any prominent investor, hedge manager investing in Japan,” Kass said. “The country is in a deflationary environment for decades, and these companies were just sitting out there being ignored.” … “His preferred holding period is, in his words, forever. He still has this infinite time horizon, even at the age of 93,” Kass said.

The Wall Street Transcript – Aug. 31 – Adjunct finance professor Joseph Rinaldi discusses “Increasing Exposure to High Dividend Utility Stocks and Bank CDs.”

Maryland Daily Record – Aug. 30 – UMD Smith School to host Customer Analytics Workshop” previews the Office of Executive Education’s virtual workshop, in Oct. 9-22 sessions, for professionals in business-to-business and business-to-customer settings … Also at the Daily Record: “UMD Smith School and Partners Launch Sports Management Program.” (Aug. 29).

MarketWatch – Aug. 28 – “September Is a Bad Month for the Stock Market. Why Gold Is a Different Story” references a ‘Seasonal Asset Allocation’ paper co-authored by Russell Wermers, Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63 Endowed Chair in Finance and Center for Financial Policy director, for evidence that: “seasonal affective disorder”(SAD) is the source of September’s poor stock market performance. …The authors of this recent study connected these monthly SAD changes with the stock market by measuring flows of cash into and out of equity mutual funds. After controlling for other possible factors that could potentially also explain those flows, the researchers found a high correlation between changes in the incidence of SAD and equity mutual fund flows. The month experiencing the biggest net outflow is September. Both a strong statistical and a strong theoretical case can therefore be made for why September may be a below-average month for stocks. While this doesn’t guarantee that the stock market will lose ground in this coming September, it does increase the probability that it will decline.

MBAGradSchools – Aug. 28 – Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives P.K. Kannan discusses his research in “Utilizing Data-driven Approaches in Business: A One-on-One with Dr. P.K. Kannan.” It draws from his recent papers “Identifying market structure: A deep network representation learning of social engagement” (with Associate Professor of Information Systems Kunpeng Zhang) and “Measuring the real-time stock market impact of firm-generated content.”

TalkMarkets – Aug. 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of The 5 Largest Stocks.”

New York Daily News – Aug. 25 – “Hochul can End Noncompete Clauses: Noncompete Agreements are Pervasive and Un-American” cites research by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: One study by University of Maryland economist Evan Starr estimates that roughly 1 in 7 workers making $40,000 or less sign noncompetes.

Fox Business – Aug. 25 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains ‘How the Fed can Stop Inflation’ Including: “...If instead what we have is a ‘pro-supply side’ kind of economic approach where we actually encourage businesses to come in and bring additional supply on line, we’d have that boost in quantity supplied that brings prices down, rather than thinking the only way to bring prices back to a two-percent inflation level is by continuing to suppress demand.”

Human Resource Development Quarterly (via Wiley Online Library) – Aug. 24 – Associate Professor Toby Egan co-authors “Reconsidering our Uneconomic Growth Model: Human Resource Development's Role in Advancing Sustainability.”

TechTarget – Aug. 21 – “Abortion Benefits Become Double-Edged Sword” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: [Starr], one of the researchers on the study, said the findings "suggest that firms that announce that they will cover out-of-state abortions experience an increase in job seeker interest, but it is coming mostly from states where abortions are already legal." The abortion benefit is "more of a way to signal firm culture rather than provide an actual fringe benefit," Starr said. On the flip side, covering out-of-state abortions is a turnoff for others in the company, notably men, he said. Related coverage via Forbes’ “Companies Offering To Pay For Abortion Travel See Major Uptick In Recruitment.”

WTOP (via SoundCloud) – Aug. 21 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner discusses her consumer behavior research related to shared memories in “Most would Reject Travel Upgrades to Stay Close to a Friend or Romantic Partner.”

GARP – Aug. 18 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi gives a Q&A on ‘Building a Healthy Risk Culture’ for the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Intro: Banks with effective risk cultures are less prone to errors and more equipped to handle shocks. But what specific steps do they need to take to develop proper risk management values, and what are the traits CROs desire when they search for talent to support their risk management beliefs?

My Worst Investment Ever podcast – Aug. 18 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass joins host and award-winning stock market analyst Andrew Stotz for an episode titled “Don’t Invest in a Company Unless the CEO Owns a Large Stake.”

BetaNews – Aug. 18 – Chris Todd, MBA ’13, writes “What to Look for in a Third-Party Vendor While Cutting Budgets.”

The Economist – Aug. 17 – “Do Abortion-Related Benefits Help American Firms Recruit?” reviews research co-authored by Associate Professor of Management Evan Starr, who in previous Maryland Today coverage, says the findings “suggest that company-sponsored, out-of-state abortion care policies are unlikely to substitute for state policies sanctioning abortion.” Additional coverage via an NBC News segment, “How Decision to Overturn Roe v Wade Impacts the Job Market (and its follow-up coverage at Daily Caller), plus articles at Fortune, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Jezebel, HR Brew and others.

USA Today – Aug. 16 – Consumer behavior research related to shared memories co-authored by Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner is featured in ‘Who gets the seat upgrade if only one is offered? What most flyers do,’ including: Ratner said the idea of shared experience is a crucial one when it comes to travelers opting in or out of doing things or even sitting together. “Let’s say you wanted – while you’re traveling – you wanted to see a show that was available, but there aren’t seats together. Our research shows people will forgo the experience altogether,” she said. “They think they won’t have shared memories.”

The National Desk (via CBS Austin) – Aug. 16 – Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi comments in “Banks Could Have Credit Ratings Downgraded as Fitch Sees Risks in Economy, Interest Rate Increases”: “It's something certainly to keep an eye out for when the rating agencies say something and want to at least kind of say, ‘well, what's going on there?’ But I would temper that conservative view that they're coming out with or pessimistic view somewhat on the future of banking,” [said Rossi]. “Everybody needs to take a deep breath and say, ‘yep, rating agencies are probably trying to be cautious in an environment where there is a lot of volatility.’ We've already seen some stumbles with some pretty sizable banks and that's not in the distant past,” Rossi said. “But is that a reason for the sector to be downgraded as a whole and/or a large number being downgraded from there?”

WalletHub – Aug. 16 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust weighs in for the Ask the Experts portion of a Citi Double Cash Card review.

Newswise – Aug. 16 – Accounting Lecturer Sam Handwerger explains the “Safe Harbor [accounting method] for Crypto Fraud Victims and Relevance to the Celsius Network Case.”

National Mortgage Professional – Aug. 15 – “Why IMBs Don’t Need A CRA Cramdown” quotes Professor of the Practice and Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director Clifford Rossi: The reasons banks have retreated from mortgage lending, especially FHA programs, mostly stem from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, [says Rossi]. Many banks no longer had an appetite for volatile assets such as mortgage servicing rights. Banks were also getting burned on the origination side through non-traditional mortgages, such as alt-A and subprime loans. “Another big reason the banks got out,” says Rossi, “particularly around FHA lending, but even more broadly, in the years following the financial crisis there was an awful lot of uproar by banks in terms of the lack of transparency of repurchase demands that were being made by the GSEs [Government Sponsored Enterprises], private mortgage insurance companies, and also by the FHA.”

Financial Times – Aug. 13 – “ICE’s $12bn mortgage tech deal builds heft in US home loans” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Financial risk specialist Clifford Rossi, a veteran of several large lenders and professor at the University of Maryland, suggested financial regulators could make a strong case for designating ICE as systemically important because of its expansive mortgage market reach — a label that involves additional oversight. “By concentrating the technology solution in the hands of, say, one or two providers, it puts more pressure on the [system] plumbing,” he said, adding: “If there is a hiccup in the origination or in the servicing process, that can have pretty significant adverse impacts on not just the companies, but also on the customers downstream.” Republished at the Business Telegraph.

Dialogue – Aug. 12 – “Global Enterprise 2030,” co-authored by Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang (MBA ’95), examines the “structure and dynamics of the global economy in 2030 [as] dramatically different from those in 2010 or even 2020” and how “global enterprises that hope to stay or emerge as the winners in the new era must rethink and redesign almost all key aspects of their strategies and organizations.”

WTOP – Aug. 12 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner discusses her recent research in “Most Would Reject Travel Upgrades to Stay Close to a Friend or Romantic Partner, Study Finds.”

77 WABC – Aug. 12 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the U.S. economy including the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the Larry Kudlow Show (also via Player FM).

Maryland Today – Aug. 11 – “Company-Sponsored, Out-of-State Abortion Benefits a Poor Substitute for State Policies, Research Finds” covers a new study co-authored by Evan Starr, associate professor of management and organization, including: While companies that offered out-of-state abortion travel benefits enjoyed a substantial rise in job seeker interest, they suffered a deterioration in employee satisfaction. Overall, the results published this week on the Social Science Research Network website “suggest that company-sponsored, out-of-state abortion care policies are unlikely to substitute for state policies sanctioning abortion,” [says Starr]. Related coverage at Indeed Hiring Lab.

Washington Business Journal – The Aug. 11-17 issue’s “Back Page” highlights a Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship-hosted startup bootcamp: PITCH THIS: The University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted the Junior Achievement of Greater Washington’s Entrepreneurship Summit at the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center on July 28. The “start-up bootcamp” hosted over 70 high schoolers from the D.C. area and Canada, where students pitched ready-to-launch, socially conscious businesses to a panel of business leaders. Winning students, from left, Erin Graham, Norah Brahimi, Kierra Hall, Sandy Iligan, Ayati Arggawal, Micah Smith and Nathaniel Asfaw.

Chief Investment Officer – Aug. 10 – “ICPM Gives Top Research Award to Paper Exploring Active vs. Passive Investing” highlights work co-authored by Professor of Finance Russell Wermers as receiving the top prize in the International Centre for Pension Management’s 2023 Research Awards: They used a proprietary database to explore the relationship between the structure and size of defined benefit pension plans and their choice of active vs. passive management, internal vs. external management and allocation to public vs. private markets. They found a strong role for economic scale in pension plan investments: large plans have stronger bargaining power over their external managers in negotiating fees as well as access to better-performing funds, relative to small plans. Large plans, hence, pay significantly lower fees.

Newswise – Aug. 10 – “Anil K. Gupta Recognized by Strategic Management Society for Scholarly Impact,” covers SMS’s selection of Anil K Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, for its 2023 CK Prahalad Award for Scholarly Impact on Practice.

AACSB Insights – Aug. 8 – “People and Places” highlights focus areas to Smith’s Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program – artificial intelligence, cloud computing and emerging technologies: The new focus areas are designed to provide students with the skills to use information technologies to solve complex business problems. The school also is adding a January 2024 cohort start date for the program as a way to offer more scheduling flexibility for candidates, including those who have just earned three – or four-year undergraduate degrees. The MSIS is a STEM-designated, in-person program.

GoBankingRates – Aug. 8 – “Warren Buffett’s First Job — and the Money Lessons You Can Learn From It” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Buffett has said that having the right temperament is more important than any other quality as a predictor of investment success,” said David Kass, clinical professor of finance at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “It is not necessary to have an IQ greater than 125. He has said jokingly that if you have an IQ that is greater than 125, you should sell the extra points. His bottom line recommendation is: The best investment anyone can make is in themselves. This will provide you with the knowledge and skills to most likely succeed as the economic environment changes.”

Seeking Alpha – Aug. 8 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass writes “Berkshire Hathaway Is Undervalued by 6%.” Related: Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of The 5 Largest Stocks (for Aug. 12) via TalkMarkets.

Food Safety Magazine – July-August 2023 – PhD candidate in supply chain management Abhay Grover co-authors (with Smith Masters’ in Business Analytics student Geetanjali Menon and Clare Narrod at UMD’s Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) “Digital Transformation of Supply Chains to Meet Foreign Supplier Verification Program Requirements,” which examines how digital supply chains are transforming the food industry, helping businesses achieve transparency, traceability, and accountability required for FSVP compliance. Technologies like Blockchain, AI, IoT, and AR/VR play a vital role in ensuring food safety and enhancing overall supply chain efficiency.

TalkMarkets – Aug. 6 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “5 Highlights of Berkshire’s 2023 Second Quarter Report” and the “2023 Percentage Returns Of The 5 Largest Stocks” (Aug. 5).

ABC News Radio – Aug. 4 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner draws from her research on shared memories to answer ‘Would you take a first-class airline upgrade or a spot closer to a concert stage if it meant leaving your friend or family back in the cheap seats?’

VoxEU – Aug. 4 – Associate Professor of Finance Cecilia Bustamante co-authors “Carbon Trade-offs: How Firms Respond to Emissions Controls” as “a framework showing that whilst carbon pricing mechanisms curtail firms’ carbon emissions, as it becomes costlier to comply, these mechanisms also tilt polluting firms’ investment mix towards short-term abatement and away from green innovation. Subsidies for innovation can partly offset this shift and, overall, can boost firms’ green investment.”

InvestorPlace – Aug. 4 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Donald Trump’s Third Indictment Is a Death Sentence for DWAC Stock”: Dr. David Kass, a clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, sees Trump’s third indictment posing a negative impact on DWAC stock. A former member of multiple government offices, including the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Kass is an expert on corporate finance and health economics. He shared with InvestorPlace that he believes multiple events may be pushing DWAC down. In his words: “The indictment of former President Donald Trump with respect to the events of January 6, 2021, made the headlines and contributed to the 6% decline in DWAC on Wednesday. (The Nasdaq index declined by 2% on August 2.) Although the possibility of this indictment may have been discounted by the market, the news of the extent of the charges very likely contributed to DWAC’s negative performance.” The second factor that Kass highlights is the recent resignation of Marcum LLP, the accounting firm hired to audit Digital World. Bloomberg reports that the auditor has been dealing with regulatory problems of its own. While Kass notes that this news likely flew largely under the radar, he believes it could significantly impact DWAC stock as it puts the TMTG merger in even further jeopardy.

International Business Times – Aug. 4 – “Stocks Get A Boost From Amazon Earnings, Steady Bond Yields” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Fitch's downgrade of U.S. debt will have only a very short-term psychological impact on stocks and bonds,” said David Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business. “With the S&P 500 up 20% and Nasdaq up 37% year-to-date, this downgrade will provide a convenient excuse for profit-taking in the equity market, especially as we enter the historically weak months of August and September.”

Poets & Quants – Aug. 4 – The “Best & Brightest Executive MBAs Of 2023” quotes Professor and Chair of Accounting and Information Assurance Michael Kimbrough and Associate Professor and Chair of Logistics, Business and Public Policy Cristian Dezso in profiles of Smith EMBAs Cietta Kiandoli and Glen Martin.

The Business Monthly – Aug. 1 – Associate Professor (Decision, Operations and Information Technologies) Jui Ramaprasad comments in Howard Board of Ed Sues Social Media Companies,” including: The shame of what’s transpired, [said Ramaprasad], “is that once-meaningful social engagement has turned negative. “Like any business, social media companies want to make money, and many do it through advertising. With a newspaper, content is curated,” said Ramaprasad. “However, when users are involved in creating content and there isn’t as much gatekeeping, it can often be negative or hateful. That draws more attention and drives up the advertising revenue.” So as social media platforms have grown, “It’s become a whole new ballgame,” she said. “It’s not just about bullying moving online. In previous generations, the issues stayed at school; now the kids bring it home (on their devices). And it can even be about people idealizing exercising habits, for instance, and everything looking perfect to a viewer who has an eating disorder.”

July 2023

Maryland Daily Record – July 31 – UMD Smith School Adds January Start for MSIS Degree announces the new January cohort start date to accommodate applicants with three- and four-year undergraduate degrees for the Master of Science in Information Systems program and highlights newly designated focus areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and emerging technologies.

National Mortgage Professional – July 30 – “What To Do When Profits Bolt Down” extensively quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi, including: “Simply put, no matter what type of entity the mortgage company is, they need to be practicing good interest rate and liquidity risk management practices,” he said. … Rossi, who formerly held senior risk management and credit positions at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, says that mortgage institutions now are not as stable as they once were. “Due to structurally what’s been happening over the last 15 years, traditional banks have largely exited the origination and servicing sides of the industry, which led non-bank financial institutions to take that space over,” he explained. “Generally speaking, though, they suffer from certain characteristics that make them volatile: They’re thinly capitalized, they don’t have to adhere to certain risk requirements, have volatile liquidity and sources of liquidity, [and their] depositories are dependent on low-cost deposits.”

Forbes – July 30 – The Rise Of Master In Management, Master Of Finance And Other Business Degrees includes: Master’s programs are considerably less expensive than pursuing an MBA. …The opportunity cost of being out of the workforce for one year just after college is also considerably less than that of taking two years off work at a presumably higher rank and salary. Of course, the investment costs are only half the story! It’s important to remember that the returns are also higher for an MBA. Finally, some programs even allow alumni to return later for an MBA at their school—and apply the credit for relevant master’s courses to the MBA. An example is the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

TalkMarkets – July 29 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks.”

Thinkers50 – July 27 – “Harnessing Alternative Data for Competitive Advantage” reprises an article co-authored by Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta in California Management Review, addressing companies having “access to a tsunami of non-traditional data for creating and capturing value.”

Clear Admit – July 27 – Admissions director Maria Pineda describes Smith’s Full-time MBA Program for prospective students in an updated Admissions Director Q&A.

Fox Business – July 26 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses economic policy in a “‘Bidenomics' is a top-down government-controlled economy,’” segment of The Evening Edit. Related: Faulkender discusses “Treasury Secretary Yellen’s Visit to China,” via Newt Gringich’s Newt’s World podcast and “Central Bank Digital Currencies” with former Attorney General Matthew Whittaker on Whittaker’s Liberty & Justice podcast.

Reason Magazine – July 26 -"New Study Reveals Large Firms' Role in Innovation," quotes Serguey Braguinsky related to his NBER paper (Mega Firms and Recent Trends in the U.S. Innovation): “Mega firms, especially new mega firms…were small startups just some 20 years ago, and they became what they are today by winning in a competitive environment,” says the study's lead author, Serguey Braguinsky of the University of Maryland. …“I think this strongly suggests that free markets have a self-correcting mechanism built into it and should be able to keep the U.S. innovation engine running,” says Braguinsky. “Provided,” he adds, that “they are free from various distortions.”

WalletHub – July 26 – ‘Ask The Experts’ section of “2023's States with the Highest Job Resignation Rates” features Clarice Smith Professor of Management Debra Shapiro with co-researchers, Professors Peter Hom and Wei Shen (both at Arizona State University), discussing the effect of leader departures on employee turnover. (They draw from a stream of research, among which is their 2016 article in Academy of Management Review, titled “How Do Leader Departures Affect Subordinates’ Organizational Attachment? A 360-Degree Relational Perspective,” with additional co-author Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship.)

FOX 5 DC – July 24 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd comments in “New Washington Commanders Owners Working to Rebuild Trust”: “The good times definitely look like they're coming back. This looks like a new era," said Hank Boyd, Marketing Professor at the University of Maryland. Boyd says personal stories from these new owners and an acknowledgement of the fans’ frustrations are the right notes. "What great marketing is all about is that you gotta put yourself in the shoes of the fans,” Boyd said. “I think as long as they're making meaningful steps, and it doesn't feel disingenuous, fans will get it and say ok, we can re-engage now. It's like that cloud is now gone and we can now come back,” Boyd said. Boyd also said showcasing diversity in ownership is important.

The EvoLLLution – July 24 – Office of Digital Learning Director Paul Walsh writes “Navigating Microcredentials and VFR (Visual Flight Rules).” Summary: A successful implementation of microcredentials requires sticking to your institution’s mission, specializing in areas in need and constantly evolving.

TalkMarkets – July 22 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns For 5 Largest Stocks .”

Barron’s – July 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass’ letter to the editor, “Higher Equity Prices,” is published: “As noted by Ben Levisohn, the dollar has recently been declining, and a weaker dollar should be good for risk assets (“Inflation Rarely Falls This Fast. What It Means for the Stock Market,” Up & Down Wall Street, July 14). One additional reason for this positive impact is that a weaker dollar will result in higher reported earnings by U.S. multinational corporations. When these companies report their financial results, they convert their foreign earnings into U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar weakens against the foreign currencies in which the earnings were generated, the translated value in U.S. dollars will be higher, leading to higher reported earnings. This in turn should result in higher equity prices.”

AACSB Insights – July 19 – “Research Roundup: July 2023” features (scroll down) “Training Employees to MYB (‘Manage Your Boss’)” co-authored by Dean’s Professor of Management Subra Tangirala and includes: In a paper published in Personnel Psychology, the researchers suggest that employees who are adept at MYB have better working relationships with their supervisors, are better able to foster trust in the workplace, and receive higher performance ratings from their managers.

Maryland Daily Record – July 18 – “Applications Open for UMD Smith’s Online Management Studies MS Program” includes: “The (30-credit) program (starting in fall 2023) will position students to excel as leaders in any industry — especially those that require adaptability, creativity and quick thinking,” says Associate Professor of Management and director of the program Rellie Derfler-Rozin. “Students further will learn innovative ways of handling workplace challenges, as well as have the opportunity to refine their strategic thinking skills and develop essential business acumen through designated experiential learning classes that feature mentoring from our MIM Advisory Council members.”… Also published at Yahoo Finance, others.

KSL – July 17 – “Cash In on Your App Idea” quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang based on research co-authored with Distinguished University Professor and PepsiCo Chair in Consumer Science Michel Wedel: “Offering a paid version in an early stage can help generate sales revenue quickly to help offset the development and marketing costs of an app and fund the development of future upgrades and launching a free version," Jie Zhang, a professor of marketing, tells the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Zhang adds that there may come a time when you can stop offering a paid version and switch to a free version when it's "strong enough to make money.”

GOBankingRates via Yahoo Finance – July 14 – “$2.75 Billion From Just 3 Stocks: Warren Buffett’s Top Earners in 2023” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass extensively: According to [Kass], clinical professor of finance at University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, the outlook for Apple for the rest of the year is very bright. “Apple, Berkshire’s largest equity holding, representing about 50% of its $300+ billion portfolio, has the largest U.S. stock market capitalization of about $3 trillion,” Kass said. “It is growing rapidly and enjoys an extremely loyal customer base within its ecosystem. In addition to its cash dividend, it is returning capital to shareholders through a very large share buyback program. Berkshire currently owns 5.6% of Apple. Warren Buffett is a big fan of Apple CEO, Tim Cook.” … Buffett has been steadily increasing his stake in the company and has now accumulated more than 224,000 shares, representing a 25% stake…And according to Kass, this is the result of Berkshire CEO, Vicki Hollub, planning to use its free cash flow to pay down its debt and reduce its preferred stock, buy back its common shares, increase its cash dividends, and invest in projects where its return on capital exceeds its cost of capital. “With oil prices likely to be stable in the months ahead, the outlook for Occidental is very good,” said Kass. According to Kass, Bank of America, under CEO Brian Moynihan, is a very conservatively run bank and is Berkshire’s second largest equity holding, representing about 10% of its portfolio. “It recently announced a 9% increase in its quarterly cash dividend and is also buying back its shares. Its outlook is also very bright,” said Kass. He added that although Buffett likes to receive cash dividends, he does not like to pay them to his shareholders. “He prefers to re-invest the cash flow generated by Berkshire. Berkshire has not declared a dividend since 1967,” Kass said.

Technical.ly – July 13 – “In Q2, DC-area Companies are Back in the Billion Zone” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: [Rossi] agreed that deals are likely going to stay small. In this environment, he said, investors are a little more hesitant to cut those large checks. But he sees the Q2 data as a positive in total and expects to see even more deals coming out of the third quarter than the region saw in the first half of the year. “A lot of that is accounting by how well the market performs,” Rossi said. “If we see continued moderation in inflation, and we see continued moderation and holding the line on raising interest rates, then I would expect to see maybe more of a positive end to the last half of 2023.”

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – July 13 – A “Bank Mergers and the Economic Impacts of Consolidation” subcommittee hearing includes expert testimony from Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender including through his opening statement (30:20-35:33) and describing (1:04:00-1:07:00) complexity in banking mergers and acquisitions and the disadvantage to small and community banks in competing with big banks on technology. Related: Faulkender discusses former President Trump’s economy versus President Biden’s economic situation on Fox Business’ ‘The Evening Edit’ (July 17).

eCampus News – July 12 – “Movers and Shakers” includes: Amid expanding its artificial intelligence and machine learning curricula — including for its recently STEM-designated MBA programs, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has hired Balaji Padmanabhan as a full professor of information systems. Related coverage via AIthority and Yahoo Finance.

WalletHub – July 12 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust contributes consumer advice on car insurance in an “Ask the Experts” Q&A.

Pharmaceutical Engineering Magazine – July-August 2023 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi produces “A Systemwide Approach to Managing the Risks of Continuous Manufacturing.” Opening: Advanced technologies such as CM have the potential to greatly transform pharmaceutical production processes by improving drug quality and supply continuity for consumers worldwide while benefiting the company’s bottom line. For much of the pharmaceutical industry, batch manufacturing (BM) processes that have been relied upon for decades remain the preferred approach for most oral solid dosage (OSD) drug products. Considerable uncertainty exists, however, among manufacturers regarding the costs and benefits of CM technology, including several risks that, so far, are holding companies back from making the leap to CM.

Pluribus News – July 11 – “Noncompete Contracts Face Fresh Scrutiny in States” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: Studies suggest about half of U.S. companies use the contracts for some workers and a third use them for all workers, [said Starr], who has studied noncompetes extensively. “It just becomes a part of the onboarding material, and becomes standardized in the workplace,” Starr said. Employees rarely negotiate noncompetes and are often given them after accepting a job offer, he and his research partners have found. Noncompetes can hold down wages and prevent workers from quitting to start their own businesses, Starr and other researchers have found. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that eliminating all noncompetes could raise U.S. workers’ earnings by over $250 billion a year. ...A key question is how companies will respond if they can no longer use noncompetes, Starr said. Some may resort to suing over theft of trade secrets. Others may do nothing, he said. “Maybe noncompetes were just prohibiting moves [to a rival business],” he said, “and there was actually no competitive threat.”

Barron’s – July 11 – “After Spring Crisis, US Banks Face Subdued Profit Outlook” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: [Rossi] said the shift in monetary policy has also burdened banks with unrealized losses, which reflect the erosion in value of long-term US Treasury-linked assets due to interest rate increases. "I think there's still a liquidity risk for some of these institutions until we get past these interest rate issues," Rossi said.

GoBankingRates – July 11 – “Invest Like Warren Buffett With These 3 Passive Income Stocks” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “However, in a recession, the overall stock market is very likely to decline which would create buying opportunities. He seeks companies with growth potential that are reasonably priced and returning capital to shareholders through both cash dividends and stock buybacks,” said David Kass, clinical professor of finance at University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business. Kass noted that Apple currently represents close to 50% of Berkshire Hathaway’s equity portfolio, and at the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on May 6, Buffett described Apple as being Berkshire’s best business. “He began to accumulate his stake in Apple in 2016. Berkshire’s investment in Apple of $31 billion is worth about $175 billion today, representing a profit of $144 billion. Since Apple has a large stock buyback program, Berkshire’s 5.6% stake in Apple is likely to grow to 6% in the near future without Berkshire buying any additional shares,” he added. Kass noted that Louisiana Pacific is a relatively small position, which indicates it was likely purchased by one of Buffett’s portfolio managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler. “Over the past two years it has bought back between 10% and 20% of its shares each year.”

Sinclair’s The National Desk via WJLA – July 11 – “In Push to Protect Banking System, Banks Could Have to Hold More Cash” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: “Taking it to at least $100 billion makes a lot of sense. Then you're going to be looking at more of those kinds of SVB, Signature Bank risks in a much more scrutinized way than what we had coming into the first quarter,” [said Rossi], who also worked in high levels of risk management for several large banks. While more banks would qualify for tighter scrutiny, it is only a few dozen in a system made of thousands. “The additional dedication of resources, the examiners and others that have to go into those banks to do that work, it's incremental for the amount of risk, as we saw, to the system,” Rossi said.

International Business Times – July 10 – “Stocks And Bonds Take A Wild Ride On Conflicting Jobs Reports – What Is Next?” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: David Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith of Business, sees the Federal funds rate rising by 1/4% later this month and another 1/4% before the end of the year as reported in the Economic projections of the Federal Reserve Board on June 14. “The stock market may experience a decline of about 5%-10% over the next few months before continuing its recent uptrend in November and December with the S&P 500 closing the year at 4600-4800.”

Seeking Alpha – July 9 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass publishes “2023 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting: Summary of The 48 Questions And Answers.” Also posted at TalkMarkets (in addition to his “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks” posts for July 1 and July 8.”

Psychology Today – July 7 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk writes “Why You’re Not Very Good at Knowing How Common Things Are,” including: One of the little tricks our brains use when interpreting the world is to conflate the ease with which we can recall something with its frequency. Referred to as the "availability bias,” this means that if it’s easy for us to recall an example of something happening, our brain will interpret that ease as meaning that thing must happen often.

Fox Business – July 7 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender joins a Kudlow show discussion on the jobs report and tightening of the U.S. labor market.

Study International – July 6 – “University of Maryland: Embracing AI in Business” profiles Smith’s Master of Science in Marketing Analytics program.

Irish Tech News – July 6 – Associate Professor of Management Science and Statistics Margrét Bjarnadóttir discusses data-driven strategies, and more, as part of a “Tackling Pay Equity Challenges” Q&A.

MIT Sloan Management Review – July 3 – “Amid Growing AI, Humanize Communication to Strengthen Relationships” cites research co-authored by doctoral candidate in marketing Sanghwa Kim: There have always been people who prefer to write business notes by hand, but it’s never before carried such a significant connotation — that a real person has taken the time to write out a personalized message rather than choosing an easier option. And a recent study shows how powerful that can be: Researchers from business schools at the University of Maryland and Yonsei University in South Korea found that “presenting a handwritten note has a positive and significant effect on customer spending” and that “warmth underlies the key findings.”

FIND MBA – July 3 – Assistant Dean of MS and MBA Admissions Shelbi Brookshire and Graduate Career Consultant Adam Shpall contribute to “Strategies for Maximizing Your Online MBA Experience,” including: An applicant’s biggest mistake is assuming that price point is the only aspect they should be assessing, [adds Brookshire]. “Instead, they should identify three-to-five extremely important aspects of what they want out of the experience, not just the degree. These factors include what type of faculty teach the courses and to what extent do students have access to career resources and the school's alumni population. …Further, the Smith School’s [Shpall] says that relationships are built on trust. “One of the ways to build strong relationships with peers is to go out of your way to assist them, whether that is learning about their career aspirations and offering to make a connection for them or going above and beyond in your deliverables on a project.”

Journal of Accountancy – July 1 – Adjunct Professor of Accounting Stacey Ferris contributes a guest piece on “A Taxonomy for Classifying Digital Assets.”

Becker Friedman Institute – July 1 – “Conference on Discrimination in the 21st Century: Fostering Conversations Across Fields” recaps a University of Chicago-hosted event including a presentation by Assistant Professor of Finance Agustin Hurtado: Several presenters shared research on the more subtle ways in which discrimination shapes peoples’ life trajectories during adulthood. Agustin Hurtado discussed how Asian, Black, and Hispanic-owned banks close racial disparities by expanding minority mortgage access. He also presented evidence consistent with superior information driving this effect, prompting a lively discussion among the audience about what, exactly, a minority-owned bank is. (Are the effects tied to ownership alone or additional bank features?).

June 2023

Brookings – June 8 – Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, co-authors “Financing Climate-Resilient Infrastructure in Africa,” including: This Policy Brief proposes three mechanisms whereby the G20 [nations] can support African countries: providing grant funding and technical assistance to the Programme for Infrastructure Development for Africa (PIDA) to increase the number of high-quality bankable projects and mobilise financiers; strengthening the coordination of climate financing from the G20 countries to the continent; and unlocking financial technology and entrepreneurship to mobilise financing for bankable projects. This Brief further recommends that the G20 should use its technical capacity, financial muscle, and convening power to put African countries on the path towards climate resilience.

Forbes – June 5 – “Immigration Agency Report Shows High H-1B Visa Salaries” includes: Several economists have examined the topic and have concluded that H-1B visa holders earn the same or more than comparable U.S. professionals: … After examining the skills and compensation of over 50,000 IT professionals in the United States, University of Maryland researchers Sunil Mithas and Henry C. Lucas, Jr. (Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems Emeritus) wrote, “[C]ontrary to popular belief, non-U.S. citizen IT professionals are not paid less compared to American IT professionals.”

TalkMarkets – June 4 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks.”

MarketWatch – June 1 - Best New Ideas in Money podcast episode “Would $10,000 Convince You to Move to a New City?” features Associate Professor of Management Evan Starr discussing his recent paper for Brookings (‘Work-from-anywhere as a public policy’) including: “So if a locality wants to bring in a bunch of workers and jobs, historically, the main way to do that has been to try to bring in companies.” … “In this day and age where we have these remote workers who can work from anywhere who aren't tied to location, we can now separate the company from where they live. And so, we can have these municipalities competing for the location of the individual while simultaneously having employers competing over their labor. So, we've split this classic connection of where you work and where you live. And I think that kind of gave all of these programs, these work from anywhere as policy programs a boost.”

Yahoo Finance – June 1 – ‘Smith to Launch Enterprise Risk Consortium’ includes: “The consortium will position Smith "as an academic leader in applied risk management through thought leadership, education and outreach to industry and governmental organizations, and by formalizing industry ties to Smith students interested in careers in risk management," says Clifford Rossi, PhD, professor of the practice and executive-in-residence for the Smith School.”

May 2023

Bloomberg Law - May 31 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr comments (16:20-17:00) on FTC-proposed ban on noncompete agreements, as part of Bloomberg’s Uncommon Law podcast.

American Banker – May 29 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes op-ed “What's Needed to Prevent Future Bank Failures.”

CNBC – May 26 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender and Isabella Weber of the University of Massachusetts Amherst discuss price hike feedback loops, the inflationary role of corporate profits, and insufficient supply for excess demand an episode of The Exchange archived as “Higher Corporate Profits Are an Outcome, Not a Cause, of Higher Prices, Says Michael Faulkender.”

Wall Street Journal – May 25 -“U.S. Regulator Vows Tough Line on Problem Banks” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: The too-big-to-manage issue is real, said Clifford Rossi, a former chief risk officer at Citigroup’s consumer lending group who now is a professor of the practice of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “Anything can go wrong for an institution that large,” he said. “You think of all the operational processes, controls and systems—it only takes one issue to create some sort of a headline risk.

Citybiz – May 24 – “UMD Smith Names Michael Hoffmeyer as Dingman Center Managing Director” announces Hoffmeyer joining the center, that Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana says is “pushing forth an ambitious strategic vision to create opportunities for UMD students, alumni and community by enhancing entrepreneurship opportunity that is inclusive and contributing broadly to the local, regional, and national entrepreneurship ecosystem.” Related coverage at PotomacTech Wire, Maryland Daily Record, others.

MedBound Times – May 24 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez explains “Pursuing Work-Life Balance Isn’t a Want, It’s a Need for Success."

Issues in Science and Technology – May 23 – “Materially Different” includes an extended critique by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch of an essay on the roots of the modern EV revolution by Matthew Eisler.

WUSA-9 – May 23 – Dean's Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains the debt ceiling.

MIT Sloan Management Review – May 23 – “Don’t Get Distracted by the Hype Around Generative AI” cites the book, "Bubbles and Crashes: The Boom and Bust of Technological Innovation," by professors management and entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb and David Kirsch: Business leaders who don’t want to miss a great opportunity but don’t want to waste time and money implementing oversold technologies would do well to keep in mind some fundamental realities about tech bubbles. First, these phenomena rely on narrative — stories that people tell about how the new technology will develop and affect societies and economies, as business school professors Brent Goldfarb and David Kirsch wrote in their 2019 Unfortunately, the early narratives that emerge around new technologies are almost always wrong. Indeed, overestimating the promises and potencies of new systems is at the very heart of bubbles.

The Conversation – May 23 – Dean's Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner co-authors “Travelers will Refuse an Upgrade to Sit Near a Loved One – New Research into When People Want to Share Experiences” summarizing her research published by the Journal of Consumer Psychology and covered also at multiple sites including "Why Consumers Forgo Front-row Seats: Sacrificing ExperienceQuality for Togetherness" at Phys.org.

DS News – May 23 – “House Committee Examines LLPA Fee Structure” cites Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi among experts testifying in the recent House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee hearing examining pricing changes implemented by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the impact on the mortgage marketplace.

GARP Risk Intelligence – May 22 – Measuring Corporate Culture: It’s Complicated” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance Clifford Rossi: “Culture is important because it establishes whether or not risk management is viewed in a favorable way as a valued business partner,” [said Rossi]. “Any institution that does risk management well has a good risk culture – good risk DNA – from the board to the executive committee and on down the line,” Rossi insisted. “The tone is set from the top. It will provide that stature and credibility for risk management to be effective in this role.”

MiM Guide – May 22 – Suresh Acharya, academic director of MS in Business Analytics programs, comments in “ChatGPT Boosts Appeal of Masters Programs in Business Analytics”: [The Smith School] is also adapting its MS in Business Analytics program to ensure students are prepared to enter an AI-driven work environment. In the “Big Data and AI” course, the school encourages faculty to have a discussion on these emerging technologies to provide a reasonable grounding. “There are also co-curricular activities, workshops, guest speakers and virtual conferences, through which students are getting more exposure to these topics. AI will only continue to grow – we need to make sure our students are prepared for it,” [says Acharya]. Additionally, the excitement around the possibilities of generative AI appears to have boosted already-high interest in studying business analytics at the master’s level. “The demand for our MS in Business Analytics continues to be robust. Our students are getting internship offers that have turned into job offers. We have had students receive multiple offers, as well.”

Washington Post – May 21 – “The Man in Charge of Knowing When the U.S. Runs Out of Money” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “I could not, to this day, tell you his politics,” said Michael Faulkender, who served as assistant secretary for economic policy during the Trump administration. Faulkender worked closely with Lebryk when Treasury was tasked with figuring out how to send tens of millions of stimulus payments during the coronavirus pandemic, an effort Lebryk helped lead. “He always seemed to be relaxed and under control.” … Related: Faulkender discusses economic policy including the debt ceiling via WABC radio’s Larry Kudlow Show.

National Mortgage News – May 18 – “More Disclosure on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Fees Needed: House Hearing” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: …[Rossi] also called for more disclosure in LLPAs, and suggested potentially rethinking them altogether. “While on the surface it can be argued that the LLPAs are transparent by virtue of pricing by risk attribute, the exact mechanics are murkier, thus setting the stage for second-guessing the new grids and the need for a new approach,” he said. “I actually propose eliminating the current [credit score/loan-to-value ratio/LLPA] grids altogether and updating the guarantee fees consistent with achieving a target rate of return taking into account the [Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework].”

Baltimore Sun – May 18 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in “Baltimore’s CFG Bank has Grown its Own Way, Quadrupling in Size in Just a Few Years”: There is a balancing act at the core of nearly every lender. Any bank can tip into trouble if it has too many long-term assets and short-term depositors pull out their money, [Faulkender said]. Silicon Valley Bank, for example, failed in March because it purchased a large amount of U.S. Treasury bonds during the pandemic, when interest rates were at historic lows, Faulkender said. As interest rates rose, these long-term securities lost value, he said, spooking depositors who withdrew their money. In other words, there was a bank run. “That liquidity transformation issue is the fundamental challenge in banking,” Faulkender said. “Anybody could be caught in that dilemma if you are doing any kind of low-interest lending funded out of deposits.”

HousingWire – May 18 – “House Subcommittee Takes Aim at FHFA’s LLPA Policies” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi from his related congressional testimony: “Today we have a sort of Frankenstein approach to credit pricing, cobbling together average pricing for ongoing fees with quasi-risk-based pricing for upfront fees,” he said in his written statement. “It is no surprise then that we have arrived at a place where so much heated debate has occurred on these fees. Fundamentally, the FHFA should immediately eliminate the FICO and LTV LLPA grids and request the Enterprises to update their guarantee fees to reflect that change while conforming to actuarial-based pricing.”

B Magazine – May 18 – “Mid-Atlantic B Corps Help Advance the Study of Business as a Force for Good” includes: We then heard from Nima Farshchi, from University of Maryland’s Center for Social Value Creation and Office of Experiential Learning, about how students are being engaged in projects, live case studies, classroom coaching, and direct interaction with B Corps and social entrepreneurship.

The FCPA Blog – May 18 – “Board-level ‘Risk Committees’ are Great, Unless they Destroy the Company” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: First Republic’s risk committee was notable because it was the board’s only standing committee with just three members instead of five, according [to Rossi]. And although the risk committee had an outside advisor, “none of the three members have direct banking risk management experience; their backgrounds are in health care, venture capital and academia, though they each are highly accomplished in their respective fields.” … Expertise is essential for a nuanced understanding of risk. Prof Rossi, who I mentioned above, says “while audit is critically important, the diversity and complexity of risks require a very different set of skills, balanced between quantitative and qualitative.”

TalkMarkets – May 16 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass details “Major Changes To Berkshire Hathaway’s Portfolio During The First Quarter Of 2023” and gives 2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks (May 20). … Related: Kass discusses U.S. inflation the inflation rate and the potential for a recession, via Sina News (May 6).

GARP Risk Podcast – May 12 – In “Risk Management’s Latest Trial by Crisis,” Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi discusses recent turmoil in the banking system, where risk management fell short, and the profession’s readiness for future challenges… Related: Rossi writes guest column, “What lessons can be learned from the recent banking crisis?” in American Banker’s May 2023 issue.

Poets & Quants – May 12 – “Best & Brightest Online MBAs: Class Of 2023” includes profiles of graduating Smith students McGeady Bushnell and Wing Pokrywka and references them in its main feature: Back East, the University of Maryland’s McGeady Bushnell has been serving as the Congressional and Legislative Liaison for the U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Personnel. Here, he assists in developing policies that support over 450,000 sailors and their families. … The Class of 2023 is packed with happy endings…Wing Pokrywka’s exposure to data-driven decision-making enabled her to hit the ground running when she was hired by Instacart as a senior marketing manager before finishing her final year at the University of Maryland’s Smith School.

FIND MBA – May 12 – Adam Schpall, career services assistant director and MBA career consultant, comments in “Life after an Online MBA: A World of Possibilities,” including: [Schpall] says employers are looking for skills related to leadership, strategic thinking, communication, the ability to work collaboratively and network, as well as analytical thinking, problem-solving and resilience. “You will notice that a lot of these skills are soft skills, as many of them can’t be farmed out to the bots,” he adds, in an apparent nod to artificial intelligence.

Maryland Daily Record – May 10 – “UMD Smith launching Doctor of Business Administration Program” announces the program “designed for working professionals to elevate their careers as leaders in business organizations and government agencies that utilize cutting-edge technologies and business analytics to drive growth and innovation.” … Coverage also via AIThority, Inside Higher Ed’s ‘Colleges New Programs‘ and others.

Wall Street Journal – May 9 – “This Strategy Beat the World’s Top Hedge Funds—Don’t Try it” cites Russ Wermers’ research (False Discoveries in Mutual Fund Performance: Measuring Luck in Estimated Alphas): In a sobering study released more than 15 years ago designed to weed out mere luck, academics Laurent Barras, Olivier Scaillet and Russ Wermers looked at thousands of mutual funds between 1975 and 2006 and determined that only 0.6% of managers had enough demonstrable skill to outweigh their funds’ costs.

CNBC – May 9 – “The 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50: How we Chose the Companies” identifies Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta as part of CNBC’s Disruptor 50 Advisory Board.

Wall Street Journal – May 9 – Some Airlines Avoid Twitter, Putting a Popular Travel Hack at Risk quotes Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair of Marketing: Other social-media platforms are “not really set up for the same kind of response to individual comments as Twitter is,” [says Rust].

Maryland Today – May 9 – “UMD Risk Study Helps Maryland Homeowners Prepare for Weather Extremes” features Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi’s newly created index to help homeowners, financial services firms and governments prepare for the increasingly volatile weather.

Food Safety Magazine – May 9 – Abhay Grover, PhD candidate and instructor in supply chain management, writes guest column, “Transforming Food Safety: How Autonomous Mobile Robots are Changing the Inspection Game.”

Hindu Business Line – May 9 – “Greening the MBA, Not Greenwashing it” includes: The traditional pedagogical approach in management education should be re-evaluated in favour of a more personalised and modern approach such as heutagogy. This learning approach, which is centred on self-determined learning, is more closely aligned with the demands of the modern workplace and the development of transferable trans-disciplinary skills that are essential for life-long learning. Incorporating heutagogy through self-directed projects and coaching, business schools such as the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong are embracing this approach in their MBA and executive education programmes.

National Mortgage Professional Magazine – May 2023 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi produces op-ed: “Why Nonbank Mortgage Companies Bear Close Watching.”

CNBC – May 6 – “Warren Buffett on Microsoft-Activision Deal: Microsoft has Met the Opposition More Than Halfway” shows Buffett responding to a question from Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass during the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder’s Meeting: CNBC’ Becky Quick: “This question comes from David Kass, who is a professor at the business school at the University of Maryland: ‘At last year’s annual meeting, Warren [Buffett] mentioned that Berkshire had taken a large stake in Activision Blizzard as a merger arbitrage play. Since the UK regulator has blocked its acquisition by Microsoft, has Berkshire reduced or sold its stake?’ Buffett (condensed): I think Microsoft has been remarkably willing to cooperate with governing bodies. They wanted to do the deal and met them – the opposition – it seems to me more than halfway. But that doesn’t mean that it gets done if a given country, in this case, the UK, wants to block it…

Marketplace Radio – May 5 – Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss contributes to “Here’s Why the U.S. has so Many Banks”: In the last 50 years, deregulation has allowed lenders to operate across state lines, making it easier for them to merge when they’re in trouble. Alas, here we are with 4,000 banks. Elinda Kiss, who researches financial regulation at the University of Maryland, expects that number to shrink. “Yes, I think we will see more consolidation. I don’t have an idea what’s the perfect number of banks,” she said. She said no one really knows the magic number between too many banks and too few with too much market power.

The M Report – May 5 – “How Digitalization Changes How People Search for, Finance Housing” quotes Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue from her ‘Commentary on Digitization of the Housing Search’ paper: Carrying out these efforts requires more clarity about key values and goals, writes Lauren Rhue (University of Maryland, Smith School of Business) in her commentary on the papers. Illustratively, she observes, fairness in credit is relatively easy to understand: all borrowers with the same profile should receive the same amount of credit. In contrast, “societal disagreement about what fairness means for previously redlined neighborhoods and their residents” will hamper efforts to use digitalization to address discrimination in those neighborhoods.

CNBC – May 4 – “Berkshire Hathaway is Outperforming During Turmoil, but Warren Buffett’s Favorite Child Geico is in Trouble” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: In 1976, Buffett invested at $2 per share in Geico when it was in financial trouble, and Berkshire acquired the rest of the company in 1995. “It was sort of Buffett’s first love,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “I think he has a strong emotional and sentimental attachment to it.” Kass recalled Buffett referring to Geico as his “favorite child” during a meeting with his students in 2005.

Maryland Today – May 4 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains the urgency to raise the federal debt ceiling, in “That Absolutely Has to Happen.” … Related media appearances include Faulkender discussing issues surrounding the debt ceiling showdown via Fox Business’ The Evening Edit and interest rates in a Just the News segment on Real America News.

Wall Street Journal – May 4 – "Warren Buffett’s Formula for Success: One Good Decision Every Five Years" quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s business school, rattled off some more, from railroads (Burlington Northern) to razors (Gillette). But at the top of his list was the transformative investment that Mr. Buffett has called his first business love. This romance began in 1951, when Mr. Buffett learned that his professor and intellectual hero Benjamin Graham was chairman of Geico and rode the train from New York to Washington to visit its corporate headquarters. He arrived on a Saturday morning only to discover that Geico’s employees weren’t in the habit of working on Saturday mornings. Finally, a custodian heard Mr. Buffett pounding on the doors and not only let him inside but introduced him to the other person in the office, which is how the eager young student found himself receiving an education in the insurance business from the CEO. The compassion of a weekend janitor would alter the course of business history, as Mr. Buffett’s investment in Geico began his lifelong fascination with insurance… Related: The New York Post quotes Kass in “The fight for fortune and family who sold Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway”: “Buffett did it out of sheer vindictiveness…He bought the company (a failing New England textile company called Berkshire Hathaway) to get back at the guy (Seabury Stanton) who had been trying to cheat him.”

Washington Post – May 3 – Why Your Flight is Early, Even When it’s Late: quotes Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust: “You can’t really know if the flight is going to be on time because they put in this fudge time,” said [Rust]. “But if the plane takes off on time, it’s definitely going to be on time.”

Maryland Today – May 3 – “Study Suggests Fixes for Persistent Geographic Inequity in Liver Transplants” describes research into increasing equity in liver transplants for people from around the country while preserving the maximum number of viable organs for transplant, by Dean's Professor of Management Science and Operations Management Raghu Raghavan, Associate Professor of Marketing Liye Ma and Smith PhD graduate and Carnegie Mellon University faculty member Shubham Akshati.

American Banker – May 3 – “Renewed Volatility in Regional Bank Stocks Puts Pressure on Policymakers” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: JPMorgan's purchase of First Republic was intended to calm fears, but investors are thinking that the crisis “isn't behind us,” [said Rossi]. “We're in an environment where deposits are willing to move at a moment's notice at the first sign of panic,” he said, adding that banking executives and regulators may not have fully grasped the “instantaneous” impact of deposit runs in an era of digital banking. Related: Rossi writes, in his CRO Outlook column for GARP Risk Intelligence, “First Republic Fallout: A Call for More Effective Bank Board Risk Committees.”

Barron’s/Agence France-Presse – May 1- Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Relief at First Republic Sale, but US Banks Still Face Pressure”: SVB, First Republic and a third casualty, Signature Bank, were essentially “one-offs,” said [Rossi]. “Going forward, JPMorgan taking over First Republic does put that chapter behind the industry,” Rossi said. … However, the Fed has said new capital rules and other big changes “would not be effective for several years” following public comment, according to the central bank’s April 28 report on the SVB failure. But Rossi said that in the wake of the bank failures, the Fed will feel pressure to demonstrate it will be proactive in trying to get ahead of problems. … “Any time an event like this takes place, the regulators get much more assertive,” Rossi said. … Related: Law360’s “How RE Headwinds Shaped First Republic Risk-Sharing Deal” quotes Rossi, including: "We've seen it for some time — there were rising delinquencies on the auto and credit card side, a lot of rumbling going on about the commercial real estate market, particularly the central cities with the return to work post-COVID not going that quickly," said Rossi. "There are a lot of vacancies going and cash flows being left behind." … Rossi discusses the ‘Fed’s Review of SVB’s Collapse,’ via WTOP and comments in “In Review Highlighting its Own Failures, Fed Calls for Tighter Regulations on Banks,” for Sinclair’s National Desk.

HousingWire – May 1 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi addresses recent changes to LLPA fees in op-ed: “Setting the Record Straight on Mortgage Pricing.” … Related: Inman News’ Fannie and Freddie’s Fees Going up Monday Despite Industry Objections quotes Rossi, including: But [Rossi said] the pricing changes “will increase the cost of borrowing for a sizable borrowing cohort that presents very low credit risk while greatly lowering the cost of borrowing for borrowers that pose significant credit risk to Fannie and Freddie,” Rossi said in a commentary piece Tuesday.

April 2023

Poets & Quants – April 30 – Associate Clinical Professor of Marketing Mary Beth Furst comments on Smith MBA Philip (P.J.) Thomas in his Best and Brightest MBAs: Class of 2023 profile, including: As the President of the MBAA, he was a strong supporter of the STEM designation for the MBA program because he saw how it will improve the graduate experience for international students in the future. I believe his previous experience with Global Citizen’s Curtis Fellowship primed him to look for such opportunities. As program manager, he focused on marketing efforts to grow the fellowship program dedicated to developing professional and leadership skills in college-age South African students.

All Events In – April 28 – Previewed is “Henry Ford, Elon Musk, and the Journey from Genius to Infamy” – a lecture in Chicago on May 18, 2023, by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, hosted by Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society.

Science Newsnet – April 28 – Charles E Smith Chair in Finance and Distinguished University Professor Pete Kyle explains why the “Fed-Predicted Recession is More Likely Severe than Mild.”

Capital B – April 28 – Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue comments in “Black People Still Experience Racial Bias in the Hiring Process. Can AI Help?”: “If you can create a machine learning algorithm to make recommendations as opposed to a human making those decisions, you see more diversity just because the criteria is consistently applied. We can benefit from just having consistent criteria,” she said. But companies must have the “political will” at every stage of the process to minimize the bias, she added. “There’s cause for hope in the use of these technologies. We just need to have the will to try to increase diversity at every single stage,” Rhue said. “If we can get that political will, then a lot of the issues with AI bias will fall away, and a lot of the promise of the technology will come to the forefront.”

DS News – April 28 – “Collaboration Between Professor and Students Take on Mortgage Climate Risk” describes new research led by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi to quantify climate risk for homeowners and mortgage lenders, including: “This is not just about managing risk, it's also about managing uncertainty—a much harder game.” Rossi led a group of 11 students in Smith's Master of Quantitative Finance program in a recent experiential learning project with government-sponsored mortgage enterprise Freddie Mac. The students built a model that leverages machine learning to pinpoint the regions of the country with the highest climate risk and the implications for homeowners and the mortgage industry.

The Daily Caller – April 26 – “A Down Payment On Fiscal Sanity” op-ed by Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender includes …“There is no prospect of Congress balancing the budget this year, and a default on the national debt would be both financially catastrophic and a source of national embarrassment. The debt ceiling must be raised. At the same time, the federal government has a spending problem…”

Maryland Today – April 25 – “U.S. News Ranks UMD Graduate Programs Highly” includes: For specific programs, the highlights this year include: The Robert H. Smith School of Business’ information systems program at No. 11 and part-time MBA at No. 21 (a jump from No. 25 last year)… The Smith School was ranked No. 12 overall for online MBA programs earlier in 2023, in addition to online marketing at No. 6, online MBA business analytics program at No. 8; online MBA programs for veterans at No. 10 and online general management at No. 11; online masters in business programs (excluding MBA) at No. 16.

Law360 – April 24 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Independent Mortgage Banks Face New Scrutiny,” including: With that money, the IMBs originate the home loans, which they then securitize or sell, typically to Ginnie Mae and the other government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Here's the problem with these kinds of institutions: They are thinly capitalized to begin with,” said Rossi. “In the mortgage space, they are what we call monoline entities, meaning they're at the mercy of the mortgage cycle. So feast or famine, basically.” Additionally, IMBs' liquidity is “highly dependent” on funding from commercial banks and other private sources, Rossi said. “But imagine, like what we had happen here with the recent bank failures ... if they have very few lines of credit, meaning their own funding sources are not diversified, they can evaporate in a moment's notice," he said. "And that is really problematic.”

Yahoo Finance Live – April 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass discusses the Fed’s 2019 decision to loosen rules for midsize banks, bank regulation, and the outlook for regional banks in “U.S. Banking: Smaller Companies ‘More Likely to go to Regional Banks,’ professor says.” ... Related: TalkMarkets (April 23) excerpts Kass’ comments in “Smith Experts React To Fed Recession Prediction”

Association for Talent Development – April 24 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Avoiding Risk Events Through Better Training.”

Wall Street Journal – April 21 – “Fed Rethinks Loophole That Masked Losses on SVB’s Securities” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “One way of making banks safer for the whole economy is to ensure a larger capital buffer,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

New York Times – April 21 – Professor of Practice and the Academic Director for the MS in Business Analytics programs Suresh Acharya adds context to “Help! Spirit Airlines Left Us Behind in Guatemala City,” including: [Acharya cautioned that we should not expect all airlines to have equally deft, customer-friendly communications systems. “It may have just been a manual oversight,” he said. “With Spirit or another low-cost, no-frills airline, their IT infrastructure and integration are probably not that automated.” He noted that since delays are costly to airlines, often requiring overtime payments to crews and causing delays that can ripple across the system, airlines will jump on any chance to speed up departures even after delays have already been announced, although it sometimes means leaving passengers behind. This is especially true on international flights and at domestic “slot-controlled” airports where the F.A.A. has imposed limits on takeoffs.

Maryland Today – April 21 – “Faculty Member Appointed to Maryland House of Delegates” profiles Sarah Wolek, senior faculty specialist for the Management and Organization Department.

NBC News – April 20 – “Big Businesses Rally to Preserve Their Right to Limit Ex-Workers’ Job Options” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: The outcome of the battle will affect large swaths of the U.S. workforce. Roughly 30% of private sector employers currently use noncompete agreements for all their workers, [said Starr]. Businesses that use the policies typically cite the need to protect trade secrets and other sensitive information from rival firms looking to poach talent.…In the five years after Oregon banned enforcement of noncompetes for employees earning less than the median U.S. family income for a family of four, hourly workers’ wages grew 6%, Starr’s research found, and their job mobility also rose 17%. “There are many things that firms can do to protect themselves without noncompete agreements,” Starr said. If the FTC adopts new limits, he said, “we’ll definitely see more of the reliance on nondisclosure, non-solicitation [agreements] and more of the kind of perks such as higher wages, better benefits, etc.” … Related: American Antitrust Institute announces Starr joining the AAI Advisory Board of experts in the fields of antitrust and consumer protection law economics, and business in the United States and abroad.

Maryland Today – April 20 – “Pitch Dingman Winner Closes the Hood on Labs’ Energy Waste” features Sustainabli, a UMD-student-led startup, which developed Sashimi Sash Manager—an installable lab sensor and digital dashboard— to reduce energy loss from fume hoods in laboratories, among multiple winners in the competition hosted by Smith’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.

Sinclair’s The National Desk via CBS Austin – April 20 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Securing a loan more difficult after bank collapses, including”: “Banks are just generally becoming more cautious. In some senses, they’re a harbinger of what might be lying ahead, so they’re anticipating a slowdown,” said [Rossi]. “If that happens, then with higher rates still kind of out there, borrowers are going to be facing more difficulty in getting loans, qualifying for high-quality loans…We know the banks are well-capitalized, generally speaking, so they will be able to withstand when people talk about a mild recession and whatnot,” Rossi said. “We’ll see what that looks like, but I don’t think that the liquidity issues that we saw were necessarily at all related to economic weakness, or potential economic weakness as much as it was in part due to the market being spooked over the unrealized losses due to interest rates rising and that banks had perhaps not managed that interest rate risk exposure.”

WTOP – April 19 – “Maryland Grad Aims to ‘Change Generationally What Health Care’ Looks Like” profiles Aishwarya Tare (College of Information Studies ’22) and her transformative “Meridian Health” app, as a $10,000 prizewinner in the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship’s Pitchman Dingman Competition (Audio version of story).

DC News Now – April 19 – Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou gives consumer advice via “Apple Launches High-Yield Savings Account, Why Shopping Around for Rates May Stretch Consumers’ Cash”: [Zhou] told DC News Now that consumers should review savings account deals regularly. “Just because you are attracted to a nice offering initially, does not mean that you can give Apples, and Googles and Amazons the right to lock you in for an extended period of time and then as a consumer you miss out on better opportunities elsewhere.” “The big takeaway here is that as long as consumers are being very careful, they are paying attention to their monthly statement credits, I don’t think they have significant worries [about signing up for savings accounts],” Zhou said.

VOA News – April 17 – Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, comments (0:42-1:15 in embedded video) in, “Event Brings Diaspora Together to Support East Africa”: “Those of us in the diaspora have left the region, but the region has not left us. So, this is a mechanism for us to give back – to give back not just money, but also capacity-building, technical assistance and get connected so that we help the world from where we came from and impact life there.”

WTOP – April 17 – “Did Your Flight Arrive Early? Airlines Plan it That Way” quotes Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing: “The airline apps have made it easier for passengers to keep up with potential delays. Sometimes the messages in the apps are ahead of what they know at the gate,” [said Rust] “Besides purchasing travel insurance and reading the small print on the insurance policies, there really aren’t many, or any, strategies that passengers can use to protect themselves from delays,” he said.

TalkMarkets – April 15 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks.”

GARP Risk Intelligence – April 14 – “Silicon Valley Bank: The Postmortems Came Fast and Furious” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi, including: For Clifford Rossi and Sim Segal, risk management veterans and consultants now also in university roles, the latest crisis has re-exposed recurring managerial and behavioral weaknesses. [Rossi] perceived a “disconnect” between SVB’s public statements and filings – “they were making it sound like [they] had good practices in place” – and a “much less rosy” reality.

WTTG-FOX 5 – April 14 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd contributes to “Washington Commanders Stadium Decision Could be First Hurdle for Potential New Owners” … “And you want your team to be the local favorite, to have folks say I have an affiliation, I have a connection to this team, and it means something to me. And unfortunately, over the years, they were starting to separate. It’s not the way it used to be for the Washington Commanders…”

Maryland Today – April 13 – “Smith Professor, Students Take On Mortgage Climate Risk” features Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi and his project with Master of Quantitative Finance students to quantify the risk of extreme weather, including: The students created an interactive dashboard of all 13 million single-family mortgage loans originated in 2021 and merged it with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index tool for all 78,000 census tracts across 18 different climate hazards, including earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, coastal and river flooding, tornadoes and drought. Then they randomly selected 1 million mortgage loans and used a battery of different machine learning models and performance statistics to analyze the data, looking for such effects as adverse selection against Freddie Mac and fellow GSE Fannie Mae, impact on low- and moderate-income borrowers and minorities, and other key effects.

Investopedia – April 13 – “What Is Black Thursday? History, Significance, and Aftermath” extensively cites Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance Albert “Pete” Kyle’s paper, “Large Bets and Stock Market Crashes.”

Technical.ly – April 13 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “In Q1, DC-Area Companies are Making a Venture Capital Comeback,” including: Rossi noted that although the economy is still “trying to find its way,” the numbers for DC are still pretty strong. He said both interest rates and cash burns are still high, and investors are on the hunt for quality companies that don’t need a lot of financial runways to get going. “They’re going to be looking for people that have good potential in a market that may become a little bit more suspect over the next six months to the one-year horizon,” Rossi told Technical.ly. He does think, though, that interest rates are approaching a peak, and with Q1’s strength, it might be time for founders to think about raising again since interest rates tend to signal where the economy is heading. “Given that, this might be a time to dip more than maybe a toe in the water and see if there aren’t some opportunities out there,” Rossi said.

Barron’s (Agence France-Presse) – April 12 – “US Banks Face Increased Scrutiny Of Q1 Results After SVB Collapse” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: While investors view the sector as having stabilized, industry watchers are expecting a muted or downcast tone as banks -- whose well-being is considered critical for the economy as a whole -- begin releasing their quarterly updates. "They're going to be setting expectations that their earnings are going to soften," [said Rossi].

AACSB Insights – April 11 – Robert H. Smith Chair in Organization Behavior and Associate Dean for Research Gilad Chen contributes to “Time for More Grant-Seeking in Business Schools?” including: Many academic leaders believe that funding agencies and business scholars are not on the same page when it comes to interests and capabilities. But whether this is true can depend on the school. At the Smith School, for example, “I think there’s actually quite strong alignment,” says Chen. “We have faculty who do research on climate finance or supply chain risk assessment. We have faculty who have been very successful at getting grants around healthcare, technology, and information systems.”

Maryland Today – April 11 – Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou comments in “As Streaming Surges Past Cable, Researcher Predicts New Changes in What You Watch,” including: The biggest factor playing into the new change lies in streaming’s personalization capabilities, [said Zhou]. “Each viewer can enjoy tailored content even if they are streaming on different devices in the same room,” he said. To Zhou, the companies best positioned for success through this shift are Netflix, TikTok and YouTube. All three are already capturing the attention of U.S. adults, and their gains will likely continue due to teenagers’ preference for social media and streaming.

Knoxville News Sentinel – April 10 – “Berkshire Hathaway launches new era of Pilot Company ownership with CEO change” extensively quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “He will leave the business alone,” said David Kass, clinical professor of finance at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland, who studies Berkshire. Kass said it’s rare for Berkshire to bring in new management. But, when it bought a minority stake of Pilot back in 2017 with plans to own a majority in 2023, the deal hinted at a CEO shift. Haslam said his family plans to retain 20% ownership. Kass, the professor who studies Berkshire, said it’s likely the holding company’s preference “to own 100% rather than share ownership. (But) they will leave it to the discretion of the family.” Berkshire outright bought Maryville-based Clayton Homes for $1.7 billion in 2003, and the company maintains its corporate headquarters there. As for change within the company, Kass called Buffett “the preferred owner” for anyone looking to sell their business but maintain culture, stabilize employment and keep the company intact. “I would expect there to be minimal change in the culture and the atmosphere, the working conditions, compensation,” Kass said. “Whatever attributes are important to the business and the employees; I would expect to pretty much stay the same.” As for Berkshire’s future, Kass said Abel, the heir apparent to Buffett, 92, would maintain the legendary investor’s methods.

Maryland Today – April 10 – “UMD Study: To Close Gender Pay Gap, Use Analytics” features research by Margrét Bjarnadóttir, associate professor of management science and statistics.

MarketWatch – April 8 – “Gensler’s Meme-stock Reforms are Meant to Help Retail Traders. Some Investor Protection Advocates Aren’t so Sure” quotes Assistant Professor of Finance Thomas Ernst and cites his research: There are also concerns that the design of the auctions, as proposed by the SEC, could lead to worse prices for retail investors. [Ernst] authored a paper published last month with former SEC Chief Economist Chester Spatt arguing that such auctions could lead to a "winner's curse" that could lead to worse prices for retail investors. Currently, brokers route orders to market makers based in part on how cheaply they have filled orders in the past, Ernst said, while the SEC proposal would require brokers to submit each individual order to a competitive market process. "These auctions are actually less competitive than the current system," Ernst said. because market makers and exchanges would worry that they have less information about the order than their competitor, and therefore bid more conservatively. "The winner's curse is if you win the auction, it means that everyone else thought that you bid too aggressively," he said.

Neru Lending (via Finance Videos Network) – April 7 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger gives advice on ‘Filing for a Tax Return Extension.” Previous, related segments cover crypto taxation and special advice for recent college graduates.

Expansion Solutions Magazine – April 5 – David Kirsch, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship, contributes to “EV: The Future of Mobility”: For many years, David Kirsch was contacted every December and asked, “If this was the year that EVs were finally going mainstream. It wasn’t until December 2022 “that no one called me,” said Kirsch, … “because it happened.” … “I tell people if they want to see the future of EVs to go to Norway, a small country where 80 percent of new vehicles that were sold last year were EVs,” Kirsch said. “That number is due in part to an unusual tax structure; they have high tariffs on imported internal combustion vehicles.” In Norway, he said, it’s easy to see how all of those EVs can be accommodated because a solid infrastructure is in place. “The change in mode of transportation in Norway has occurred because many seemingly minor infrastructure reforms have been implemented,” which can include making reservations for charge spots on highways and greater availability of chargers in apartment buildings. “That’s what we’ll eventually see in the U.S.” he said, while governments and industry “work out where to locate chargers and how to make sure everyone has access to them.”

TechTarget – April 5 – DEI initiatives hurt by budget cuts, hostile politics” quotes incoming Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Reuben Hurst and cites his research: Researchers worked with a tech company that was filling business development and software engineering positions. They sent invitations to qualified people to apply for openings, some of which described the company as having a flat hierarchy. Researchers also conducted a separate survey to gather more information about applicants' employer preferences. In a paper released last year, they found that women were least likely to apply for a job at a flat organization. "Women were disproportionately repelled by an employer that characterizes itself as having a flat hierarchy," Hurst said. Women perceived flat organizations as environments with less opportunity for career advancement, both in terms of promotions and pay raises, and with heavier workloads, Hurst said.

Business Insider – April 5 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass contributes to “Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Faces a Brutal Mix of Economic Headwinds. It Will Capitalize on the Chaos, 8 Experts Say”: David Kass, a Buffett blogger and finance professor at the University of Maryland: "Elevated inflation and rising interest rates are likely to depress operating earnings. But they may present investment opportunities for Berkshire if the equity markets decline substantially in the weeks ahead." … "Berkshire's cash position equaled $129 billion at the end of last year. I would like to see Buffett put more cash to work such as continuing to increase his stake in Occidental Petroleum at attractive prices and accelerating his buying back of Berkshire shares at current or lower prices." Related, Kass reports, via TalkMarkets: Berkshire Hathaway Has 30% Stake In Occidental Petroleum

Expansion Solutions Magazine – April 5 – “Headquarters Market Still Mired in Flux” quotes clinical professor Oliver Schlake: Another part of the location puzzle concerns how companies are allowing more remote work depending on how far away from the office workers live, especially since many people moved during the pandemic to where the cost of living was less when they discovered they could work efficiently at home. “There is a discount for the companies since they don’t have to [be concerned with the local costs of housing of] an employee and can sometimes pay an employee less,” [said Schlake], “since they are already saving money. An employee’s location is now part of the negotiating process.”

AACSB Insights – April 4 – Smith Dean Prabhudev Konana writes op-ed, “Everybody’s Business.” Summary: In a global, market-driven economy where social issues impact every aspect of life, business schools are more relevant than ever.

Pitchfork Economics – April 4 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr explains his recent study on the enforceability of noncompete agreements in a ‘Banning Noncompetes is Good – Actually’ podcast segment.

77 WABC – April 1 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses economic policy including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s effect on inflation, via the Larry Kudlow Show. Related: Kudlow, moderating an H.R.1 Energy Roundtable with Congressional leaders, recognizes Faulkender: [Faulkender] raised the point that if you look at refined petroleum products, they affect every part of American life and every part of the American economy. It’s really quite remarkable and that’s why this bill is so important because it permeates the whole economy. If you lower the cost of that, you not only promote economic growth, you reduce inflation, you help reduce interest rates, you help reduce life’s worries for middle income folks.” (Faulkender on April 3 noted: “OPEC cutting oil production speaks to why energy independence is so critical and why I worked on H.R.1.”)

TalkMarkets – April 1 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks.”

March 2023

Minnesota Reformer – March 31 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr co-authors “Franchise Owners are Colluding to Suppress Minnesota Workers’ Wages.” Intro: In many Minnesota franchises, franchise owners within the same franchise agree not to hire from each other, keeping wages down and profits up. It is already illegal for non-franchise business owners to use this anti-competitive strategy to limit workers’ freedom. Minnesota legislators are moving to close a franchise-owners loophole…

IR Magazine – March 30 – Sean Cao, associate professor of AI, FinTech and sustainability, co-authors “From Man Versus Machine to Man Plus Machine: The Art and AI of Stock Analysis (Encouraging news for humans in the age of AI),” including: The superior performance of an AI analyst does not rule out the value of human inputs. If human and machine have different relative advantages in information processing and decision-making, then human analysts may still contribute critically to a ‘hybrid’ analyst: one who makes forecasts that combine human knowledge with the outputs/recommendations from AI models.

Research.com – March 29 – “Best Business and Management Scientists” includes 17 Smith School professors in its latest ‘best scientists’ rankings.

MarketWatch – March 29 – ‘Smith School and Foretell Reality Partner to Enhance Supply Chain Management Education Using Virtual Reality’ quotes Humberto Coronado, Master of Science in Supply Chain Management academic director: “I believe that VR technology is a game-changer in teaching supply chain concepts. The immersive experience goes beyond traditional classroom lectures and textbook readings, providing students with a higher level of knowledge and capabilities. With the help of VR technology, students will gain a unique advantage as they enter the corporate world.” (Related via Smith News: Smith Students Learn Supply Chain Management With Immersive VR.)

AACSB Insights – March 28 – “People and Places” announces MBA programs at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in College Park are now STEM-designated (scroll down).

Plat4Mation – March 28 – “Important digital strategy lessons learned from the SVB collapse quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Let’s start from the conclusion of Prof. Clifford Rossi (University of Maryland) in Newswise: “SVB’s stunning collapse is a reminder that despite our best efforts to regulate the banking sector following the 2008 financial crisis, banks can and will fail from time to time. In the case of SVB, an unusual confluence of events; over-concentration in a volatile sector, poor investment strategy, risk management practices and board risk oversight ultimately doomed this bank.”

Fox Business – March 27 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments regarding and ahead of upcoming congressional hearings related to recent bank failures in a “SVB Collapse Should've Been 'Extremely Clear' to Regulators” segment, including: “If you don’t think the regulators are always going to stay on top of every single source of risk out there, then the solution is to have greater capital, so it can absorb whatever risk shock may come its way. My hope is that we move away from this idea that the regulators are going to micromanage all the banks and keep the risk out of the system and have all these banks do all the same thing, I instead would like to see a return to a discussion of what capital requirements are going to ensure that they can absorb whatever risk arises.”

American Banker – March 27 – “How Interest Rate Risk Sneaked Up on Dozens of Community Banks” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: “It was risk management 101,” [said Rossi]. “They need to be all over that.” … Rossi, the University of Maryland professor and former banker, agreed that looking at one metric never tells the full story. But he said it’s an “irrefutable fact” that a decent number of banks took on far more interest rate risk than they should have.

TalkMarkets – March 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest Stocks.”

Harvard Business Review – March 23 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing David Godes co-authors “Research: The Pros and Cons of Soliciting Customer Reviews” Many companies chase customers for online reviews by sending them solicitation emails. These emails aren’t always a good idea...

The Hill – March 22 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes op-ed “Bank Failures are Wakeup Call to Address Widespread Bank Board Governance Deficiencies.”

Wall Street Journal – March 22 – “Bank Failures Train Spotlight on Shortcomings in Risk Management” references Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: But the board-level risk committees often don’t go beyond that single qualified member and can sometimes lack the expertise to stand up to senior management, [said Rossi]. The problems can be serious, Dr. Rossi says. His research found most of the failures of the previous financial crisis could be traced to deficiencies in risk governance. His paper proposed some policy solutions, including more scrutiny of risk management from regulators and insurers.

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – March 22 – publishes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi’s white paper, “Reimagining the Federal Home Loan Bank System,” that shows restructuring the FHLB can reduce systemic risk and create more competition in the U.S. mortgage secondary market.

FinanceBuzz – March 21 – Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust contributes to “Airlines are Padding Their Scheduled Flight Times by More than 10%” (Scroll down to the 'Ask our Experts').

Maryland Matters – March 21 – Sarah Wolek, senior faculty specialist and founding director of the Intentional Life Lab for the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, is nominated for a vacancy to serve in the House of Delegates representing Bethesda-based District 16: Wolek said during the interview process that she would champion special education students and their families in Annapolis. She also wants to bring a focus to issues of mental health and well-being, pathways to home ownership, and reimagining education for a new economy to her work as a delegate.

Wall Street Journal – March 20 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender co-authors op-ed “Want to Prevent SVB-Style Collapses? Scrap Dodd-Frank” arguing that Dodd-Frank makes individual banks more similar and therefore the system is less resilient… Individual banks will still fail. But if the objective is to curb failure of the system, more capital and operating model diversity are important.

MBA Crystal Ball – March 20 – Assistant Dean of MBA and MS Admissions Shelbi Brookshire contributes to “How to stand out as an over-represented MBA applicant,” including: “A candidate needs to understand where their background (i.e., years of experience, test scores, undergraduate degree and GPA, etc.) falls regarding their competitiveness for their schools of choice. Once they understand and narrow down the number of schools they are considering, the best advice is to engage with the admissions team. Every school hosts virtual webinars, invites students to engage with a recruiter and often offers the opportunity to digitally meet current students. It is equally important to understand why that school is a good fit for the candidate’s post degree goals (i.e., a finance fund, an entrepreneurship center, etc.). The more a candidate invests in a specific program, the more the program understands if that candidate is a good fit for their program’s value proposition.

Baltimore Sun – March 18 – Rudolph P. ‘Rudy’ Lamone, former dean of the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, dies” pays tribute to Rudy Lamone, also professor emeritus of management science and founder of Smith's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. Republished by The Washington Post, others.

India Education Diary – March 18 – “University Of Maryland Expert Analyses Huge Loan Loads On Cars” features insights from Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance Albert "Pete" Kyle.

Baltimore Sun – March 17 – “Will the Collapse of two U.S. Banks be Followed by More?” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: [Faulkender] blames Silicon Valley Bank’s failure on bad timing, bank mismanagement and insufficient Fed oversight. Silicon Valley Bank “had this massive deposit influx,” said Faulkender, who served as assistant secretary for economic policy in the Treasury Department from 2019 to 2021. “From a risk-management perspective, they incorrectly bought long-term bonds,” he said. “The massive increase in interest rates devalues the bond. They have to then sell the bonds to meet the needs of the depositors, and they took losses.” He added that “any bank that’s sitting on that combination is potentially also in trouble,” questioning why regulators weren’t more closely monitoring interest-rate risk at Silicon Valley Bank after raising rates.

Agence France-Presse via Barron’s – March 17 – “Interest Rate Risk: SVB's Nemesis A Well-known Foe In Banking” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: SVB's meager hedging operation "astounds me," said Clifford Rossi, a former risk management executive at Citigroup and a professor at the University of Maryland. Rossi estimates SVB's hedging program should have been twice its size. At the end of 2022, SVB reported $120 billion of these investment securities, or 55 percent of total assets, more than double the average of US banks.

Slate – March 16 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr co-authors op-ed “Companies Say They Need Noncompete Clauses. Here’s How WeKnow That’s Not True.” Related: Why Noncompetes Could Soon Be a Non-Thing via Maryland Today.

Lending Tree Expert Insights – March 15 – Clinical Associate Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss gives personal finance advice on credit card awards, via “Best Rewards Credit Cards in March 2023.”

Psychedelics Today (podcast) – March 15 – “Vital Psychedelic Conversations” includes Associate Professor of Logistics, Business, and Public Policy Bennet Zelner discussing a market system for the emerging psychedelic-wellness industry.

Washington Times – March 15 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives context to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in “Bankers Put Focus on Woke Causes”: “The reason for the failure was clearly poor judgment, poor management and maybe lack of supervision by regulators,” said David Kass, who teaches advanced financial management and business finance at the University of Maryland’s School of Business. “The bank did not have a risk officer. That’s absurd. It was just very poor management at the bank for investment policy.” As for a connection between the bank’s woke policies and its collapse, Mr. Kass said, “I don’t see the link.” Mr. Kass said even some stock analysts at major banks were rating SVB shares as a good buy within one week of its collapse. He noted that JPMorgan and Wells Fargo rated SVB stock as “overweight” or worth buying on March 9 and Goldman Sachs rated it as “buy” on March 3. “A lot of people were asleep at the switch,” he said.

Marketplace Radio – March 14 – “Financial Meltdowns Often Spur Changes to Financial Regulation. So Where Do We Go From Here?” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Banks themselves also need to take a closer look at their own internal regulation, including the expertise of their boards’ risk committees, [said Rossi]. “They’re like the first line of defense in knowing where the bodies are buried at these companies,” he said. “And if they’re just passively going along, you’re not going to change it, I don’t care how much regulation you heap on them.”

Related coverage featuring Rossi:

• Appraisal Buzz – Reflecting on the Collateral Risk Network (CRN) Risk Summit
• Chief Investment Officer – Federal Reserve Expected to Hike Rates Next Week, Despite Shaky Banks
• Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – CRO Outlook: Silicon Valley Bank: A Failure in Risk Management
• Insurance Journal – Viewpoint: Silicon Valley Bank’s Failure in Risk Management
• Maryland Today – Op/ed: Silicon Valley Bank Failed to Manage Risk
• Think Advisor - SVB Had No Chief Risk Officer for Month
• Sinclair’s The National Desk (via WJLA) – What's in a bailout? Government's response to bank collapses under scrutiny
• WTOP Radio – Credit Suisse and recent bank failures in the U.S. have investors on edge (0:30-1:30)

American Banker – March 13 – “Four Days Into Banking Crisis, Questions Outnumber Answers” quote Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Other industry watchers have crossed off the big banks. [Cliff Rossi] said he doesn’t anticipate banks such as Citigroup or U.S. Bancorp “coming out of the woodwork” and doing a deal. “There has to be some strategic value for taking on the assets of these companies,” Rossi said in an interview. “I don’t see a ready buyer that’s waiting in the wings.”

CNBC – March 13 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in a ‘Fed to Review Silicon Valley Oversight’ segment, including: Well, you know, the cause ultimately of SVB S failure was that as your report just indicated, they had quite a lot of long-term assets that were in the form of treasury securities, of course, then funded by short term deposits. And so, it's that asset liability mismatch and a significantly rising interest rate environment that ultimately led to their insolvency, right. They didn't have sufficient equity capital to absorb the losses… Related analysis by Faulkender via Fox Business’ The Evening Edit (second clip) and Newsmax.

Wall Street Journal – March 13 – “In Retrospect, Berkshire Hathaway Cut Its Position in Regional Banks at The Right Time” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, said he could see Berkshire potentially eyeing other options as well. "Financial institutions are well within his circle of competence," Mr. Kass said.

Financial Times – March 13 – Business School Insider’s Research Round-up (scroll down) highlights research by Hui Liao, Smith Dean’s Professor in Leadership and Management: When the award goes to … someone else: When it comes to award announcements, do you feel sorry for nominees who didn’t win? Perhaps, you shouldn’t as in the long run, non-winning nominees collaborated with other employees better, according to a study in the Academy of Management Journal. Additional coverage of the study includes Forbes’ “What Happens To Unsuccessful Nominees In Employee Awards?” and Medscape’s “Losing an Award Can Affect Motivation and Performance.”

Insightful Accountant – March 13 – "Eyeing the Future of Accounting" Overviews Smith’s collaboration with the Deloitte Foundation in the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program (DFASP) and quotes Assistant Dean of MS Programs Emanuel Zur: [Zur] calls the collaboration with the Deloitte Foundation a vital move to expand the opportunities for students who are underrepresented in accounting and tax to gain advanced knowledge extending far beyond the fundamentals in accounting. “In doing so, we are proud to enhance the Smith School's equitable environment to critically strengthen the pipeline of racially and ethnically diverse talent entering a CPA profession that is becoming more perceptive and sensitive to the changing landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.”

DC News Now – March 13 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Banking worries? How your money is protected by federal insurance”: Clifford Rossi, a business professor at the University of Maryland and a risk management analyst said, “We’ve had 40 years of relatively low-interest rates and I think now that we are seeing rates go back up, and they’ve gone back up quickly, that some institutions are going to be caught sideways. He added, “I don’t think that this is anything that the average consumer should at all be losing sleep over.”

TalkMarkets – March 12 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S.Stocks.”

Washington Post – March 10 – “Noncompete Clauses are Everywhere, Even for Dancers and Hair Stylists” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: A Labor Department study published in June 2022 estimated that 18 percent of Americans, or 1 in 5, are bound by noncompete agreements, but other research suggests it could be closer to 5o percent. [Starr], who co-authored the Labor Department study, says these agreements cause labor market “frictions” that can, among other things, suppress pay while imposing costs on firms wanting to hire… Nearly a dozen states restrict noncompete use based on salary thresholds, but the University of Maryland’s Starr argues that the state-by-state approach does not address a core issue: “Noncompete agreements themselves have chilling effects, and [firms and workers] have to spend a lot of money to try to get them voided,” he said.

FIND MBA – March 9 – Assistant Dean of MBA and MS Programs Shelbi Brookshire contributes to: Applying for an Online MBA: Do’s and Don’ts (In a buyer’s market, it pays to do your homework, demonstrate a keen commitment and clear career goals): When it comes to ensuring a high level of commitment, applicants should compile a list of approximately three criteria they want out of business school, [says Brookshire]. For instance, how important is it to be able to leverage robust career resources, or have access to quality faculty? Does the program have mandatory in-person residencies? How engaged is the alumni community? Brookshire says: “Do not assume all Online MBA programs are the same and understand why there are different price points. Invest time in understanding whether the school truly meets your criteria. One way to learn more is to ask for a connection to current students or recent alumni.”

USA Today – March 9 – “New lawsuit against Tiger Woods could get ugly after breakup with girlfriend: What we know” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: “The Speak Out Act does not cover all alleged illegal activity – it only covers sexual harassment (and assault),” said [Starr] whose research aided the legislation. “By invoking this argument, she is implying something about sexual harassment (or assault) in this relationship.”

Wall Street Journal – March 8 – “Where Musk’s Twitter Gambit Stands Nearly Five Months In” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Mr. Musk, one of the world’s richest people, could continue making interest payments on Twitter’s debt by injecting more of his personal wealth or finding other equity investors. “To the extent the company does come up short in meeting their interest payments and he needs to raise perhaps a little more equity capital, I could see him contributing additional equity himself,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland.

AACSB Insights – March 8 – New Programs (scroll down) announces Smith’s new track in climate finance to students in the Master of Finance and Master of Quantitative Finance programs. Concurrent coverage includes Financial Times' B-School Insider (subscriber-only digital access): Climate focus The University of Maryland’s Smith school will offer a new track in climate finance to their Finance and Quantitative Finance master degrees, starting in spring 2024. This will include a consulting project related to climate finance and risk management with a corporate or government sponsor.

Stuff You Should Know – March 7 – Episode “Noncompete Agreements, Come on” of the globally popular podcast includes discussion (starting at 29:05) of research on the topic by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr. Related: Starr discusses the proposed FTC rule on noncompetes via Slingshot (starting at 1:12 in embedded video), a podcast produced by The Sling, an economic analysis and competition policy news outlet.

Maryland Today – March 6 – Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance Albert (Pete) Kyle describes the rising cost of auto loans as a troubling sign for the economy, via “Four-Figure Monthly Payments for Four Wheels.”

WalletHub – March 6 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger contributes personal finance advice in the “2023 WalletHub Tax Survey.”

TalkMarkets – March 4 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks.”

Poets & Quants – March 1 – Smith MBA programs’ recent STEM-designation is the focus of “Another B-School Goes ‘Super STEM,’ Giving All Its MBA Programs The Designation” and includes comments from Assistant Dean and Executive Director of the Office of Career Services Neta Moye and Assistant Dean of MBA Programs Rosellina Ferraro: “The Smith School STEM-designated MBA program prepares future business leaders to make better business decisions by offering a curriculum focused on technology and data analytics techniques and complementing them with skills in leadership and strategic thinking,” Ferraro says… “Our STEM designation signals to employers that graduates from our program understand how to uncover data-derived insights to drive value creation,” [says Moye]. “This is a skill valuable to any organization whose competitive advantage depends on data analytic capabilities, organizations well beyond the technology sector including consulting, finance, retail, and consumer products.” Related coverage via The Business Monthly's “Smith MBA Programs Now STEM-Designated.”

Baltimore Sun – March 1 – “Outlier or trend? As QB Lamar Jackson seeks new deal with Ravens, guaranteed money remains a question” quotes Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd: With so few top-end quarterbacks signing lucrative deals in a given year, one contract can have a large impact on others. [Boyd], who has consulted for the NFL, said he could see other players applying pressure to receive a Watson-like contract. “Once it gets done, everyone else says, ‘I want that,’” he said. The Ravens could also trade Jackson to a team more willing to pay the contract that he wants. An NFL quarterback is perhaps the most important position in American professional sports and there would be many suitors for Jackson — just as there were for Watson last year. Four quarterbacks are expected to be drafted in the first round in April, and there are few enticing free agents for teams that miss out on a top prospect. “I think most teams are on the hunt for a really good quarterback,” Boyd said.

February 2023

Fox Business – Feb. 28 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses "Making the Trump Tax Cuts Permanent" in a Kudlow segment.

Consultancy.uk – Feb. 28 – “The crypto Industry is Still Reeling From the Effects of FTX” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: “The stunning collapse of FTX was an age-old story of financial mismanagement, excessive risk-taking and insufficient regulation and risk management.”

Finance Videos Network – Feb. 27 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger gives ‘Tax-filing Advice for Recent Graduates.’ (Handwerger advises TerpTax, serving low-to-middle income tax filers in the UMD and College Park community and taking appointments through April 7, 2023.)

BusinessBecause – Feb. 27– “What Are The Best Online MBAs In Business Analytics?” highlights Smith’s program among those in the recent U.S. News & World Report ranking for this category.

Fox Business – Feb. 27 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the U.S. economy and inflation, via The Evening Edit (starting at 2:00), including: “If you look at price increases net of wages, American people are worse off by 3.6 percent. Yes, wages have gone up, but nowhere near to keep up with inflation that has arisen from the Administration’s policies. When you impose this amount of spending when you run these kinds of massive deficits on the American economy, you are going to see this kind of inflation.”

TalkMarkets – Feb. 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass shares “6 Quotes from Warren Buffett’s Letter To Shareholders And Berkshire Annual Report” and “10 Highlights Of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Annual Report And Warren Buffett’s Letter To Shareholders.” (Feb. 25).

LexBlog – Feb. 24 – Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino co-authors a summary of recent research in “The Great Startup Sellout and the Rise of Oligopoly,” including: Startup acquisitions by incumbent firms have been on the rise for the last few years. These acquisitions often allow larger companies to acquire new technologies or talent, while startups gain access to resources and a wider customer base. … In a new paper, we shed new light on this debate by documenting how venture capital exits have shifted from IPOs to acquisitions by incumbents and show evidence of how this might have affected competition in the United States.

Harper’s Bazaar – Feb. 24 – “Everything You Need to Know about Swedish Death Cleaning” quotes Assistant Dean of MBA Programs Rosellina Ferraro from a previous NBC News story: According to NBC, Swedish death cleaning fits into the psychology minimalism and can essentially make you happier. It stems from this idea that happiness doesn’t come from stuff or material goods but rather connection and relationships. Once you go through a process of possession slimming, you’ll ultimately identify what’s truly important and pleasureful to your life. [Ferraro] told the outlet of the practise: “If you pare down, the argument is that you can better focus on the really important things in life.” … “The idea of de-cluttering and streamlining our lives resonates because it may feel like it pushes back against this crazy chaotic world we live in.”

CNBC – Feb. 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass contributes to “Warren Buffett’s Must-read Annual Letter Arrives Saturday. Here’s What to Expect From the Investing Legend”: “We have a roughly 15-year period of abnormally and historically low interest rates. The short-term rates we have now are more normal,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “Interest rates are the main determinant of equity prices, to quote Buffett, so I think I’m looking for and expecting a discussion on interest rates.” … “One comment Buffett may make in his letter is that it’s not so painful to be sitting in cash. There is an alternative now and it’s called Treasury bills, or short-term Treasuries,” Kass said. The rising-rate environment could also benefit Buffett’s famous deal-making. Not only due to falling asset prices, but because he also has ample liquidity to tap into, whereas his competitors such as private equity firms have to borrow to make deals. “Private equity and others who are thinking of making acquisitions would have to go into the market to borrow [at] higher interest rates. This would confer a competitive advantage back to Berkshire,” Kass said.

Baltimore Banner – Feb. 24 – Dean’s Professor of Entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb explains the function of business improvement districts in “Creating a more attractive and safer York Road with a business improvement district”: Such business districts are just another way for the city to supply services, [said Goldfarb]. And just like every other policy decision, there are “winners and losers.” The areas under business improvement districts tend to look more attractive, Goldfarb said, and businesses usually thrive and property values increase. On the other hand, these districts can also price people out with rent increases. The annual fees for the district could take a toll on businesses that were “barely making it” or if the clientele changes. “It’s just a question of how deliberate the City Council is in addressing that.”

Maryland Today – Feb. 24 – “Smith School to Offer Online Master of Science in Management Studies” highlights the new OMiM program that provides students with a broad set of business management knowledge to complement their passions, including how to lead effective teams, market products and make smart business decisions based on data.

Barron’s – Feb. 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass addresses “T-bills vs. Equities” in a Letter-to-the-Editor, including: Randall W. Forsyth cites several analysts who argue that Treasury bills currently yielding 5% are providing strong competition for equities (“Can the Stock Market Keep Rallying? Hopes Are Fading,”) Up & Down Wall Street, Feb. 17). But to determine the appropriate level of equities, one should also consider long-term interest rates. From 1960 to 2007, the 10-year Treasury averaged 6.84%. It is currently at 3.82%. Similarly, over the past 45 years, the 30-year Treasury has averaged 6.30%. It is currently at 3.87%. At a November 2016 meeting with University of Maryland students, Warren Buffett said, “Stocks are cheap if long-term rates [30-year Treasury] are at 4%, four or five years from now.” At that time, the 30-year Treasury was at 2.8%. Since equities are considered long-term investments, and most corporations borrow primarily long term to match the time horizon of their projects, today’s historically low long-term interest rates should not be ignored in equity valuations. Discounted-cash-flow valuations are calculated by discounting future cash flows by the weighted average cost of capital. This calculation would incorporate a company’s long-term cost of debt..

MIT Sloan Management Review – Feb. 22 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr gives an extended interview in “What an FTC Noncompete Ban Could Mean for Workers and Businesses” (Full-length version also via Tribune Content Agency). Intro: In January, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposed a ban on noncompete clauses in employment contracts. In addition to barring new noncompete agreements with employees and independent contractors, the rule would require employers to rescind existing ones. To understand what a federal ban could mean for workers and businesses, why it’s facing opposition, and how employers can prepare, we spoke with [Starr], who studies noncompetes at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Related: Starr’s research is referenced in the Indianapolis Star’s “Eyeing Health Care Costs, Indiana Lawmakers Want to Ban Doctor Noncompetes (Feb. 22).

Knowledge at Wharton – Feb. 21 – “How ‘Strategic Silence’ Helps Employees” features research co-authored by Dean’s Professor of Management Subra Tangirala, including: Conducting a qualitative study and two field studies, the professors found that employees who use strategic silence most effectively consider three factors in deciding when and how to speak up: issue relevance, issue readiness, and target responsiveness. First, they determine whether speaking up would align with the goals of the recipient or the current situation (i.e., relevance). Second, they determine whether they are ready to talk or need to hold off until they collect more data, find a solution, or think through some other aspect of the problem or idea (i.e., readiness). Third, they wait until the recipient — usually a manager — is in the right cognitive (not too busy) or emotional state (not in a bad mood) to hear the message (i.e., responsiveness).

Inside Mortgage Finance – Feb. 21 – “Ohio Environmental Mishap Poses Housing Questions” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Typically, in the event of a natural disaster, such as a flood or a hurricane, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issue press releases alerting borrowers and servicers to verify property damage and outlining the process for providing relief to those affected. In the case in East Palestine, because it’s an isolated incident and it hasn’t been declared a disaster by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “it’s more of a wait-and-see situation,” Rossi said. Mortgage servicers could seek guidance from the GSEs, FHA and VA on how and when to offer forbearance and loan-modification programs to borrowers financially impacted by the train derailment and evacuation, Rossi said. Also, it can get trickier, Rossi said, if a borrower decides to not return to his home due to concern regarding health even after state officials have given an all-clear. “The issue in this case is if there’s no direct acknowledgment by a governmental agency that this is a bona fide existing health issue,” then there likely won’t be protections for borrowers who decide to walk away from their mortgage, he explained. “The protocols have to be rooted in some scientific basis,” Rossi added.

WalletHub – Feb. 20 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd gives insights on “Credit Cards for Groceries,” via “Ask the Experts.”

GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) – Feb. 17 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi’s latest CRO Outlook column addresses “The Risk Appetite Dilemma: How to Overcome Obstacles and Enhance Risk-Adjusted Return,” including: Risk appetite statements can yield many benefits, but only when they adhere to established risk-tolerance levels and make use of proper metrics that consider threats across every profit center.

Maryland Today – Feb. 16 – “$30M in Grand Challenges Grants Awarded” introduces an “unprecedented UMD grants program” to support study into “society’s most pressing problems including pandemics, racism, threats to democracy and literacy deficits,” and including Smith researchers Vojislav “Max” Maksimovic, Louiqa Raschid, Debra Shapiro and Liu Yang, whose projects are featured in Smith Faculty Leading, Collaborating in UMD Grand Challenges Projects.

CNBC – Feb. 15 – “Watch Charlie Munger speak at the Daily Journal Annual Meeting” includes Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answering a question on stock buybacks from Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass, via moderator Becky Quick at 1:00:40 in the embedded video. The exchange (condensed and edited for clarity) includes: Kass via Quick: President Biden has proposed increasing the tax on stock buybacks from its current level of one percent to a new higher level of four percent. What are your views on taxing stock buybacks? Munger: I’m strongly opposed… A good culture has a lot of people that are good fiduciaries, and it’s like stealing to do something dumb with the corporate money, when you get more value for your shareholders by buying back your own stock… I like encouraging morality, decency, and honor and so forth in dealing with the people you’re the fiduciary for… I agree with our President on some things, but this is not one of them.

MetaNews – Feb. 15 – “Chat Fishing: How Artificial Intelligence Could Affect Online Dating” quotes Associate Professor of Information Systems Jui Ramaprasad: [Ramaprasad] observes, platforms have been using AI to improve user experience for some time. Ramaprasad has recently published research into a feature that reveals ‘who likes you’ (WLY) on dating apps. So it pays to listen when she says bots on dating apps could be a cause for concern. She explains: “Pushing the recommendation-algorithm path further, is using AI for the steps after an initial match on a dating site or a real estate listing site, i.e., chat-bots ‘making the first move’? This seems scary.”

Maryland Today – Feb. 13 – Marketing professors Hank Boyd and Judy Frels discuss commercials that flourished and flopped in “Super Bowl Ads 2023: Overindulging on Food, Drink and Celebs.”

Financial Times – Feb. 13 – “MBA Ranking 2023: Business School Profiles” describes Smith’s climb to 57th globally and No. 31 among US programs: The Robert H Smith School of Business in the US is one of two equal highest climbers, up 28 places to 57th. The school improved its performance in several categories including its careers service, ranked 42. One graduate commended the “amazing” careers support: “I could never have gotten myself that many interviews and they even helped me negotiate my offers to get me an even higher salary.”

Fox Business – Feb. 13 – In an Evening Edit segment, Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments on Blackrock CEO Larry Fink’s advocacy for government action for $50 trillion of investment toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including: “You’ve got the White House and a number of regulatory agencies imposing this ‘woke capitalism-ESG’ approach sacrificing long-term for America’s population in order to fund these green initiatives. So, we’re putting national security at risk and energy security at risk and we’re putting retirement security at risk.”

Maryland Today – Feb. 13 – Associate Dean for Culture and Community and Clinical Professor of Information Systems Zeinab Karake contributes to “How to Turn Your Office Chair Into an Opportunity for Exercise.”

The Diamondback – Feb. 13 – “Some Companies in Maryland Could Transition to a Four-day Workweek Under New State Bill” quotes Associate Dean for Research Gilad Chen: [Chen], who conducts research on organizational effectiveness and employee motivation, said the four-day workweek is only one part of an ongoing conversation about balancing employee productivity and well-being. Working from home or telecommuting could be other possible solutions with even better environmental benefits, Chen explained.

TalkMarkets – Feb. 11 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 YTD Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks.”

Wall Street Journal – Feb. 10 – “U.S. Government Borrowing Costs Rise as Debt Ceiling Fuels Partisan Clash” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: But the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate much faster than the CBO had expected, pushing the key rate to between 4.5% and 4.75% at its most recent meeting, a level last reached in 2007. The Fed’s actions has in turn pushed up yields on Treasurys, which were at roughly 3.6% on the benchmark 10-year note this week, an increase from around 2% a year ago. Those increases in yield gradually filter into U.S. interest costs as debts roll over. “I could not say definitively where the line was” for too much borrowing, said Michael Faulkender, a Treasury official during the Trump administration. “Finding out where the limit is, is catastrophic because it means we’ve had a bond market failure. That’s a depression.”

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – Feb. 10 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi is the primary source for “What Do CROs Look for in a Risk Manager?” including: For entry-level positions, Rossi believes a good CRO doesn’t micromanage the process, instead offering guidance to underlings and trusting them to make good hiring decisions. When he held the top risk management post, he says his staff would occasionally ask for his help in evaluating young candidates to determine their communications or problem-solving skills. “When hiring junior risk managers, I sometimes did a 30-minute interview with promising candidates and tried to sell them on working for us,” Rossi recalls.

Katie Couric Media – Feb. 10 – “A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Super Bowl Commercials Are Really Made” quotes Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani, including: But the research continues to show that for emerging businesses like the handful of cryptocurrency companies that bought spots during last year’s game and even for big, legacy brands like Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, and Coca-Cola “the return on investment is very high,” she says. A splashy commercial creates brand awareness and signals to consumers that these companies are thriving with money to burn. “For some companies, they blow their entire year’s advertising budget on this because they can make such a splash,” Kirmani says.

Bloomberg – Feb. 9 – “Brazil’s Richest Man Loses Billions as His M&A Machine Breaks Down” quotes Clinical Professor of Management and Organization Paulo Prochno: [Prochno] says there’s an additional aggravating factor in the 3G playbook: Executives are often given contracts loaded with outsize bonuses for hitting profit targets. “That really gives strong incentives for people to not be ethical,” says Prochno, a Brazilian native who’s followed Lemann’s overseas expansion for years. Like Gulbrandsen, he says he doubts that Lemann and his partners, Marcel Telles and Carlos Sicupira, knew about the accounting irregularities, but says that matters only to a degree. They created “a system that leads to this behavior,” Prochno says.

The Atlantic – Feb. 9 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd comments in “The Tech Giants Want What the NFL Has”: Buying game rights ratchets up the companies’ platform to sell us things, in part because the very thing we’re watching on is something they’re selling us. Google could use the very existence of Sunday Ticket to plug YouTube TV subscriptions: After all, everyone knows Google, but not everyone might know YouTube TV. “Now, believe me, they’re gonna know YouTube TV, and they’re gonna be searching for it because of that access to the Sunday Ticket,” Hank Boyd, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland’s business school who has previously consulted with both the NFL and companies that work with it, told me. And while Google can’t replace national commercials during games that broadcast networks still produce, it will have what would normally be local advertising slots to sell, which it can use to boost all kinds of Google products.

Forbes – Feb. 7 – “New USCIS Data Show H-1B Denial Rates Remain Low” cites research co-authored by Hank Lucas, Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems Emeritus: …[Lucas] examined the skills and compensation of over 50,000 information technology (IT) professionals, and found, "[C]ontrary to popular belief, non-U.S. citizen IT professionals are not paid less compared to American IT professionals.”

InvestorPlace via Business Insider – Feb. 7 – “Should You Invest In Reg A+ Startups?” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb: But successfully marketing to brand enthusiasts is one thing, and making good on the promises of a return on investment is another. [Goldfarb] has his own reservations about the sorts of companies found on equity crowdfunding sites: “Crowdfunded companies are very high risk, and, as is the case with most entrepreneurial ventures, are more likely than not to fail. Hence, as such, companies in aggregate should only comprise a small percentage of their investments. This thinking sits behind the SEC’s crowdfunding rules, as well as the rules that determine which investors qualify as accredited. In general, investors who invest broadly in the public markets by buying index-based securities will outperform investors who invest in startups, including crowdfunded startups. Admittedly, investing in startups on crowdfunding platforms or otherwise is more fun.”

Financial Times – Feb. 6 - Are CEOs with MBAs good for business?” reviews a working paper co-authored by Assistant Professor of Finance Alex X. He.

Phys.org – Feb 6 – “Retailers can Gain from Reducing Food Waste, Study Finds” overviews research by research published in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing by marketing professors Jie Zhang and Michel Wedel.

Fairly Competing (podcast) – Feb. 6 – “Guest Starr Discusses The Research Behind the FTC’s Proposed Noncompete” Ban” features Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr. Segment intro: The FTC’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements (and other “de facto” noncompetes) relies in large part on the research of [Starr]— one of the leading scholars in the field. Join John, Ben, and Russell as they talk with Professor Starr about the strengths and weaknesses of his research…

Food Industry Today – Feb. 6 – “Retailers Can Gain From Reducing Food Waste” covers research in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing by marketing professors Michel Wedel and Jie Zhang, including: Even as higher food prices make Americans think twice about what goes in the grocery cart, nearly 40% of food in the United States is wasted—mostly by shoppers who don’t eat what they bought and by retailers who fail to sell their goods. Large retailers are the main link between farmers, producers, packaged food manufacturers and consumers, so they can play a big role in reducing waste. And they stand to benefit from doing that. ... Also published by Maryland Today.

The Observer – Feb. 6 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd comments in “So Mickey Mouse Is About to Enter the Public Domain. Can Anyone Actually Make Money Off Him?”: “People mockingly refer to it as the Mickey Mouse protection act,” says Hank Boyd, a lawyer and clinical professor of marketing at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. “But even Disney I think realizes you can only go to the well so many times.” … Then there is also old-fashioned market power. “You have an image of Steamboat Willie, and you decide to do something really far afield,” says Boyd. “Let’s say there’s a small market out there that says it’s pretty cool.” If it gets big enough, Disney can come in and compete. Who’s more likely to win?”

The Spokesman-Review – Feb. 5 – "Airlines’ Many Challenges Leaving Flyers Feeling ‘Worse and Worse’" quotes Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust: “The pandemic threw everything into reverse and then threw everything into accelerating forward again, and there was no way the system could manage that,” said Roland Rust, a professor who studies consumer service in air travel and other industries at the University of Maryland. … Rust said that the “just in time” nature of the system – with flights and connections closely interlocked – means that any single airline’s delay or cancellation can ripple through the entire country. ... For Rust, it’s a symptom of a system in which consumer service has had just one trajectory: “Worse and worse.”

MDPI Open Access Journals – Feb. 5 – “Fanbois and Fanbots: Tesla’s Entrepreneurial Narratives and Corporate Computational Propaganda on Social Media” by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch and Mohsen Chowdhury is published by World Electric Vehicle Journal and accessible via MDPI, a Switzerland-based academic open access publisher. The study was previously summarized here.

TalkMarkets – Feb. 5 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “The Rotation from Value Stocks (2022) Into Growth Stocks (2023 YTD).”

77 WABC – Feb. 4 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses the January jobs report on the Larry Kudlow Show, including: “Normally in January you lose about three million jobs because of the temporary hiring that takes place during the holiday season. So instead of three million layoffs, there were only two-and-a-half million layoffs, so it looks as though we gained over a half-million jobs. My hypothesis about the jobs market, recently, is that we're suffering from a labor shortage, so a lot of the historical ways of thinking about jobs reports perhaps are not accurate.” … Faulkender co-authors a Feb. 3 op-ed in the Indianapolis Star, “Protect Indiana's Pension Plans by Keeping 'Woke' Politics Out;" discusses the U.S. economy, via Fox Business’ The Evening Edit; and co-authors "The Federal Government Is Dining Out On Your Dime" at the Daily Caller.

American Banker – Feb. 3 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi co-authors, with Robert Brammer and Matthew Lightfoot, “Fed's Climate Scenario Pilot is a Waste of Time and Resources,” including: Modeling the physics of climate change has improved significantly in the past decade. However, the socioeconomic models underpinning bank climate scenarios at best provide regulators with a false sense of security that climate scenario results are credible and at worst may lead to suboptimal policy and investment decisions over time. We present a case for a robust simulation-based approach that regulators and large banks should adopt that would significantly improve results.

Maryland Today – Feb. 3 – “A UMD Podcast-Palooza” highlights Future of Humanity hosted by Anand Anandalingam, Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science: Can we cultivate lab-grown meat that’s both climate-friendly and humane? Will AI enhance, rather than overshadow, human endeavors? Anandalingam trains his lens on these and other potentially life-changing technologies of the next 20 to 50 years.

Finance Videos Network – Feb. 2 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger discusses “Crypto Taxation.” … In a separate segment, Dean’s Professor Emeritus of Leadership and Motivation Edwin Locke discusses his books "A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance," “The Selfish Path to Romance” and "The Illusion of Determinism: Why Free Will is Real and Causal."

Washington Business Journal – Feb. 1 – ‘Deloitte Foundation, Smith Collaborate on Scholarships for Master’s of Accounting Students’ highlights Smith’s new Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program “supporting a racially and ethnically diverse student population and to strengthen the pipeline of diverse talent entering the CPA profession.” … Related coverage via Poets & Quants and The Business Monthly.

January 2023

MIT Sloan Management Review – Jan. 31 – ‘Salary Transparency Laws [will] Change Employee Compensation?’ quotes Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship: “This will occur not only because of the law but also because of competitive dynamics among firms in human capital/talent markets." (Viewable scrolling down and clicking top, left-corner square.)

Associated Press – Jan. 31 – “Elon Musk’s Tesla Tweet Trial Delves into Investor Damages” quotes finance professor Steve Heston as a an expert witness in the class-action lawsuit on behalf of Tesla shareholders: Heston, reviewed an even denser report analyzing the impact of Musk's tweets on more than 2,000 types of Tesla stock options, drawing largely upon a formula known as the Black-Scholes model widely used by companies to value executive compensation packages. When pressed by a Musk lawyer about the reliability of his model, Heston acknowledged: “All models deviate from reality, which is why they are models.” … Related coverage quoting Heston via BNN Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Law – Jan. 31 – “FTC Noncompete Proposal Breathes New Life Into Lawmaker Efforts” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: Lawmakers, activists, and academics opposed to noncompetes in the workplace have warned for years of the paralyzing effects of such agreements, which they say hamper social mobility. Workers are passionate about the issue even as it has been largely off of Congress’s radar, [according to Starr]. “Those workers on the back end realize they can’t take another job in their industry for two years or they have to move their whole family. It’s very jarring for workers who realize that they can be held to these restrictions,” [said Starr]. “It evokes very, very strong feelings among workers about fairness, about their ability to provide for themselves.”

Technicall.ly – Jan. 30 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “How should founders be preparing for a recession?” [Rossi explains a recession] as follows: The unofficial definition is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Per this definition, we actually experienced one last year. But whether or not we’re officially in a recession is up to folks at the National Bureau of Economic Research, who say they also explore factors like unemployment — meaning that we can experience a recession’s effects without technically being in one. Rossi currently predicts a mid-2023 recession but anticipates nothing near the tumult of 2008. “We’re certainly seeing numbers that, on days, seem like they’re relatively strong; the economy still seems to be hanging in there pretty well,” Rossi told Technical.ly. “But at the same time, there are these warning signs, particularly with rates as elevated as they have been relative to where they were in the past, that seem to suggest that we could be in for a bumpy ride.”

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance – Jan. 30 – Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, co-authors as part The Financial Economists Roundtable, “The Controversy Over Proxy Voting: The Role of Asset Managers and Proxy Advisors,” as an analysis, with policy recommendations on “the future of shareholder rights and corporate governance with a focus on the role played by large asset managers and proxy advisors.”

FIND MBA – Jan. 30 – Assistant Dean of MBA & MS Admissions Shelbi Brookshire comments in “Why an MBA is a ‘Safe Harbor’ in a Recession”: [Brookshire] spells out the reasons for MBA applicants to be optimistic; the factors leading to the current fall in competition. “A significant portion of the US population are aging out of pursuing an MBA with fewer than 20 percent in the traditional age range,” she says. “In addition, the economic and workforce volatility of the pandemic has made prospective students more risk averse and have less appetite for incurring large amounts of debt,” she adds, particularly with interest rates increasing from historic lows. ... “There are also a number of substitutes ranging from industry specific certificates to specialty master’s programs that employers are recognizing as value-adds when considering a new employee,” Brookshire says, suggesting there are more ways to upgrade credentials.

CGTN America – Jan. 30 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass discusses factors behind Southwest Airlines’ Q4 losses and the economic state of the airline industry more broadly in “Southwest Reports Q4 Net Loss of $220M.”

Focus on This (podcast) – Jan. 30 – 'Avoid Repeating Mistakes' includes Clinical Professor of Management and Assistant Dean Nicole Coomber discussing data-driven strategies for increasing personal productivity (Starting 15:08 in embedded video).

Los Angeles Times – Jan. 26 – “Column: The FTC is Pushing New Rights for Workers. Big Business is Pitching a Fit, of Course” cites research by Associated Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: Academic studies cited by the FTC, the White House and the Treasury Department have found that as many as 38% of workers have labored under such a clause at some point in their working life. Only 1 in 10 workers negotiated over their noncompete restrictions, and about one-third were presented with the clause “after having already accepted their job offer,” researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland found. On average, noncompete clauses reduce hourly wages by anywhere from 2% to 21%. A 2008 Oregon ban on noncompete clauses for hourly workers in Oregon, according to a study by Michael Lipsitz of the FTC and Evan Starr of the University of Maryland, “improved average occupational status in Oregon, raised job-to-job mobility, and increased the proportion of salaried workers without affecting hours worked.” ... Related: The National Law Review’s “Potential Impact of the FTC’s Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompetes Nationwide ” cites Starr's research, and the Seattle Times' “Seattle-areaMan Says NoncompeteAgreements Cost Him a New Job” (Jan. 30) quotes Starr: “There’s been a push from policy policymakers, state level and federal, to go after attempts to limit labor mobility and hold wages down,” says Evan Starr, a University of Maryland economist who studies the issue.

FIND MBA – Jan. 26 – Director of Graduate Career Coaching Dori Jamison comments in “Ready to Switch Careers? How an Online MBA Can Help” (Summary: Online students are keen to explore wider opportunities, prompting business schools to ramp up career services.) Most business schools are ramping up the career support they offer to Online MBA candidates, as they switch roles more often. “There are more resources available for these programs around career coaching,” [says Jamison]. There are big benefits associated with career transitions. “Changing careers provides the student with an opportunity to find their passion and do what they love,” says Jamison. “They typically have previous experience where they are learning more and more about what they want out of their career and the MBA is a great vehicle to leverage their previous experience to do something they are excited about. Changing careers can also provide more growth potential.” … Like Imperial College, the Smith School is seeing a rise in Online MBA students seeking coaching support to help them transition into new careers. “We have seen appointment requests for topics like ‘career targeting’ triple in the last three years,” Jamison says. What has led to this change in employment outcomes? “It can be said that there is less risk,” she continues. “With more competition and options in the MBA space, online degrees are becoming more popular and have less stigma around quality. The online environment is also becoming a more acceptable platform for networking and building relationships, so students are finding they may not be missing as much compared to a traditional degree,” adds Jamison.

US News & World Report – Jan. 25 – “8 Best Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy in 2023” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Oil and gas giant Chevron is another large Berkshire holding that investors should consider, says University of Maryland finance professor David Kass. It is "an extremely well-managed international oil company," he says. … Another oil and gas producer in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio that Kass likes is Occidental Petroleum. It is also very well managed, he says. Plus, Berkshire may make a friendly acquisition of the company at a premium of at least 25% over its current market price, he adds. … If the Fed raises its key interest rate to the 5%-to-5.25% target range this year as the central bank projected in December, consumer staples such as Coca-Cola should perform relatively well and be less sensitive to interest rate hikes than the industrial and financial stocks in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, Kass says. He also points out that KO should only experience a minimal decline in sales if a recession hits because of its status as a consumer staples stock. … Related: Kass gives the 2023 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization (for Jan. 29) via TalkMarkets.

Expansion Solutions Magazine – Jan. 25 – Center for Social Value Creation Director Nima Farchshi comments extensively in separate pieces, “Going Green: The Only Way to Grow” and “Plastics: Projections Rising with Demand for Biodegradable,” including: As far as changing perceptions about the need to recycle, “Many ESG funds have already been successful, though several southern states, such as Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana and others, are in the process of rejecting it,” said Farshchi. He noted, however, that ESG funds “performed well during the pandemic.” ... Farshchi added to that observation and also suggested following the lead of the European Union, which is setting requirements for plastic waste in an effort to reduce the amount by around 20 percent by 2030; and total greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030 from where they stood in 1990. Apparently, those efforts in the EU have been noticed in Washington. “Also, the Biden administration is pushing for a House Resolution for the Environmental Protection Agency to increase regulations on plastic since the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference a few weeks ago,” he said, noting the next conference is set for Nov. 30, 2023, when world leaders will again discuss shared metrics to reach goals.

Expansion Solutions Magazine – Jan. 25 – Dean’s Professor of Operations Management Wedad Elmaghraby comments in “Data Center Sector to Expand Exponentially” including: Businesses today are “devouring data in their effort to create positive monetary outcomes that often require big data capabilities. That’s why we continue to see the rise in the number of data centers,” said Elmaghraby. “More and more of what businesses do requires the services of data centers, whether it’s managing emails, human resources or capturing and processing big data that is critical to their business’ competitive advantage.” To do that successfully, they need to process a large number of transactions and data in a timely manner, she said. “Quick answers, quick analysis and quick touchpoints. Nobody wants to send an email and have it get to their customer two hours later.”

Maryland Today – Jan. 25 – “Pitch Dingman Competition 2023Expands to USM Schools” means Smith’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship “has introduced a fourth track to its signature competition, as a trial run for a larger competition in the future. This pilot will include students from nearby schools with similar pitch competitions: Bowie State University, the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.”

Fast Company – Jan. 24 – “IPOs Decline as Large CompaniesGobble up More Startups. That’s Bad for Innovation” references and quotes from research by Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino, including: But a new paper … shows that despite a relatively recent uptick in IPO activity, what we’re witnessing is actually a longer shift: Fewer companies are going public, more are being acquired, and that’s likely part of a big-picture strategy by established companies to insulate themselves from would-be competitors. The study’s authors—economist Florian Ederer from Yale School of Management and assistant professor Bruno Pellegrino from University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business—conclude that the trend is “accompanied by” an increase in the opportunity costs of going public, and the result is an increase in oligopoly power. “Dominant companies that are disproportionately active in the corporate control market for startups have become more insulated from the pressures of product market competition over the same period,” the study reads. “These facts are consistent with the hypothesis that startup acquisitions have contributed to rising oligopoly power.”

Business News Daily – Jan. 23 “Simplicity Is Key to Effective Online Advertising” overviews eye-tracking research in the Journal of Marketing Research co-authored by Distinguished University Professor Michel Wedel.

TalkMarkets – Jan. 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks.”

790 KABC (Los Angeles) – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch discusses the history of the electric vehicle and its implications on the environment moving forward, in “A Climate Change with Matt Matern.”

USA Today – Jan. 19 - “How Noncompete Agreements Harm Women and People of Color: 'Consequences can be Devastating’” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: “There are now several studies which suggest that noncompete agreements more strongly affect women and people of color.”

Additional, same-week coverage quoting Evan Starr and-or referencing his research on noncompete agreements:

• Bloomberg via SFGate - “Noncompete Ban Holds Out Promise of Better Pay Without Inflation”: That spate of high-profile layoffs has added to concern about the risk of a U.S. recession, even though labor markets remain broadly strong. In that event, widespread noncompete agreements could hamper the economy’s ability to bounce back, [according to Starr]: “Noncompetes would prevent workers from finding a job in their industry” when they get laid off, he says, “and as a result, drag out a recovery.”
• Financial Times - “In labour markets, the devil is Often in the Detail” (Non-compete clauses buried in contracts stack the deck against workers): The story starts in the US, where economists and law professors such as Evan Starr and Orly Lobel have mapped out the extent to which employment clauses traditionally associated with top executives have actually spread across the workforce... Non-disclosure agreements; non-disparagement clauses; non-compete clauses — many American workers are now tangled in a thicket of the stuff. One study by Starr found that 70 percent of employees with unenforceable non-competes mistakenly believed they were enforceable.
• The Nation – “The FTC’s New Rule Against Noncompetes Could Raise Wages by $300 Billion”: The FTC has estimated that its proposed ban, if enacted, will raise wages by nearly $300 billion a year. [Starr], who has studied noncompetes, argues that this is a low estimate, because when firms can no longer game a patchwork of state laws to keep using them, the impact may be even larger than past studies have found.
• Wall Street Journal video - “Why the FTC Says Noncompete Clauses Are Hurting the Economy.”

Fox Business – Jan. 19 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender joins the Kudlow program for a live in-studio panel discussion on “Restoring Prosperity in America."

DC News Now – Jan. 19 - Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass explains the economics of “Consumers to Start Paying for COVID Shots, Feds Poised to End Free Vaccine Program.” … Kass, via Al-Araby TV, discusses economic implications of more than 20,000 Americans losing their jobs in the technology sector during the first week of this year, representing 20% of those who lost their jobs in this sector during the entire year 2022. The segment (in Arabic) also is accessible via Facebook and a full-length video download.

TalkMarkets – Jan. 14 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2023 Year-To-Date Percentage Returns Of 5Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization”

Fox Business – Jan. 13 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses, on Kudlow, the potential for global recession in 2023 including: “The first half of this year is going to be into a recession, because of the activity the Fed has engaged in. You see the pullback in activity around home purchases and households starting to run through some of the money they accumulated during the pandemic. The savings rate is at one of lowest levels we’ve seen in a long time. The consumer sentiment number is still way down. So, indications suggest that at some point consumers are going to run out of money or certainly curtail the amount they have, and that’s going to lead to a mild recession in the beginning of this year.”

GARP – Jan. 13 – In his latest CRO Outlook column published by the Global Association of Risk Professionals Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Reducing Operational Risk with Systems Engineering.” Summary: What are the underlying problems behind the operational failures that have plagued large banks? Should they consider a systems engineering approach to either supplement or replace the flawed project management processes that are currently in place?

Lipstick Alley – Jan. 13 – The women’s interest blog focused on social issues, quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk among other academic experts in (Tips on being Resilient & Cultivating Spaces To Build Yourself Back Up. Having hobbies, passions, and a positive mindset about the Future): Trevor Foulk, who researches organizational behavior at the University of Maryland, told the Washington Post that rudeness is sort of like the common cold. It’s easy to catch and pass on to others. “When it comes to incivility, there’s often a snowballing effect. The more you see rudeness, the more likely you are to perceive it from others and the more likely you are to be rude yourself to others,” he said.

Technical.ly – Jan. 12 – “Q4 was the DC Area’s Lowest Quarter for VC Activity Since 2016” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: All that said, why are Q4’s numbers so low? Clifford Rossi, professor of the practice and executive-in-residence at the University of Maryland’s School of Business, attributes the figures to investors being a bit more conservative as of late. “My sense would be that investors are being a bit more circumspect given the potential for some deterioration in the economy,” he told Technical.ly.

CFO Dive – Jan. 12 – Associate Dean of Research Gilad Chen comments in “Quiet Hiring Dos and Don’ts”: One potential downside to quiet hiring exists when it is poorly managed, [Chen said] in an interview with CFO Dive. “Employees who are sent to new positions may feel their current position is in jeopardy, and it may be threatening to employees,” he said. However, if managed effectively, this concept could be motivating for employees, and become a part of their job rotation and career development opportunities, he said. For example, Google uses quiet hiring as a recruitment tool. “You bring in people for temporary positions, but it’s almost like a trial period, and that’s actually very motivating to those employees,” said Chen.

New Books Network – Jan. 11 – “Understanding Technology Bubbles” reprises a discussion with Smith management and entrepreneurship professors David Kirsch and Brent Goldfarb discussing their book Bubbles and Crashes.

US Army – Jan. 11 – “Soldier Finds Balance with Sikh Faith and Army Service” profiles Maj. Simratpal Singh (MBA ’20) whose career has included instructing West Point cadets on economics and principles of finance (“Smith prepared me to be an instructor at West Point by exposing me to the wonderful faculty who used creative ways to teach students,” said Singh in a separate article).

The New Yorker – Jan. 10 – In a Q&A, Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr discusses: “What a Ban on Non-compete Agreements Could Mean for American Workers.” Related coverage via Maryland Today’s “Management Professor’s Research Spurs U.S. Proposal to Ban Noncompete Agreements.”

Phys.org – Jan. 9 – “How the Experience of Almost Winning Impacts the Performance of Nominees” summarizes research by Smith Dean’s Professor in Leadership and Management Hui Liao ... Related coverage includes posts at Today’s Chronic and Science Newsnet.

Marketplace Radio – Jan. 9 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr comments in “The FTC’s Proposed Noncompete Ban Could be a Boon for Lower-Wage Workers: But noncompetes hardly ever go to court, according to University of Maryland economist Evan Starr. “They tend to be enforced informally in exit interviews, in threatening letters to workers,” he said. A few states, including California, have stripped noncompetes of any legal teeth; others have banned them for lower-paying positions. But workers don’t always know that, Starr said. Sometimes just the threat of a lawsuit is enough. “Low-wage workers generally don’t have the wherewithal to finance litigation even for a frivolous noncompete agreement,” he said. If the FTC’s proposed ban goes through, Starr said those workers will have a lot more leverage. As for their employers, he said there are alternatives — like nondisclosure agreements that protect sensitive information without limiting workers’ mobility. Related: Starr comments extensively in MarketWatch’s “FTC Wants to Ban Noncompete Agreements. This Man was Forced to Sign 4 Noncompetes. ‘It Just Doesn’t Feel Right,’ He Says.”

Advantage Biz Marketing – Jan. 6 – “Top Online Courses to Get Ahead in Dynamics Marketing” cites Smith MBA marketing courses.

Baltimore Sun – Jan. 6 – Hank Lucas, Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems Emeritus, writes op-ed, “Lessons for CEOs from Southwest Airlines’ Meltdown,” including: Much of the blame for this disaster has been assigned to Southwest’s network operating model: Southwest planes follow routes from one city to another, rather than operate from a hub where planes fly back and forth between two cities. The network model provides greater utilization of planes and less time on the ground, but it is highly sensitive to disruptions, like those from major storms. Southwest managers failed to fully understand the weaknesses in their operating model and failed to mitigate them, and much of this failure came from massive under-investments in information technology.

New York Times – Jan. 5 – "U.S. Moves to Bar Noncompete Agreements in Labor Contracts" quotes and references research by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: The agency estimated that the rule could increase wages by nearly $300 billion a year across the economy. Evan Starr, an economist at the University of Maryland who has studied noncompetes, said that was a plausible wage increase following their elimination. Dr. Starr said noncompetes appeared to lower wages both for workers directly covered by them and for other workers, partly by making the hiring process more costly for employers, who must spend time figuring out whom they can hire and whom they can’t. … Dr. Starr said that noncompetes did appear to encourage businesses to invest more in training, but that there was little evidence that most employees entered into them voluntarily or that they were able to bargain over them. One study found that only 10 percent of workers sought to bargain for concessions in return for signing a noncompete. About one-third became aware of the noncompete only after accepting a job offer. … Related: Starr is quoted in both TechTarget’s “FTC Proposed Ban on Noncompetes seen as Boldest Possible” and Business Insider’s “Ditching Noncompete Clauses Would be a Win for Workers' Rights and Employees in Low-Wage Jobs.”

December 2022

FIND MBA – Dec. 30 – Assistant Dean of MBA Programs Rosellina Ferraro and Assistant Dean and Executive Director of the Office of Career Services Neta Moye comment in “Online MBAs Refreshed for Digital Age”: Covid-19 accelerated what was already underway — a shift to a “digital-first” world, [says Moye]. “Organizations adopt digital strategies and operations to fuel growth and profit. To get there, they need employees with digital skills. Students see that digital skills will set you apart today; and they know that soon, they will be table stakes just to get in the door,” she explains. While it may be tempting to think this only applies to technology companies who build and sell digital solutions, Moyes says that surveys suggest more and more organizations will see a substantial percentage of their growth coming from digital products and services or improvements in operations fueled by digital tools and technologies. In response, the Smith Online MBA program offers a wide variety of course offerings that are foundational to building digital skills, such as social media and web analytics, and customer equity management. “MBA programs continually strive to update their course offerings to meet the skills required for success in today’s marketplace,” [says Ferraro].

Maryland Daily Record – Dec. 28 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments in “Retail Strong in Holiday Shopping Season Despite Inflation”: [Zhang notes] inflation is definitely playing a role in retail spending. “It is putting so much pressure on so many households, limiting their ability (to spend),” she said. “A lot of shoppers go into this holiday season with a strict budget and, if we look at overall spending, we can be fairly optimistic that we are going to see total spending is going to be higher than last year.” However, she cautions, we need to factor in the 8% inflation rate into these numbers. “Personally, I think (spending) is probably going to be slightly lower than last year if we subtract by the 8% inflation rate.” Zhang notes the retail industry is seeing a bipolarization trend which is certainly a reflection of the purchasing power across the income spectrum. People in the lower to middle incomes are feeling the brunt of the pressure of inflation as well as rising interest rates. “That would certainly limit people’s willingness to open up their wallet especially if they have to carry balances on their credit cards,” she said.

Analytics Insight – Dec. 28 – Smith’s Professional Certificate in Data Science and Business Analytics is profiled as part of “Top 10 Harvard Approved Business Analytics Courses to Do in 2023.”

Motley Fool – Dec. 23 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass contributes to “Top 10 Financial New Year's Resolutions for 2023” including: …In fact, Dr. David Kass, Professor of Finance at University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, says, "Interest rates on credit card balances have soared to as high as 19% during 2022, far exceeding the 7% rate of inflation." With interest rates that high, even a small amount of debt has the potential to skyrocket. Kass says that to pay off debt successfully, it's a good idea to set up a monthly budget. That could help you reduce your spending in different categories to free up cash for debt payoff purposes.

Psychology Today – Dec. 23 – “Thrill of Going to Holiday Parties Alone” cites Dean’s Professor of Marketing Rebecca Ratner’s research: Another worry is that being out in public on your own just won’t be much fun. But that doesn’t hold up, either. In one of a series of studies conducted by Rebecca Ratner and Rebecca Hamilton, students who were either alone or with a friend were asked to predict how much they would enjoy going to an art gallery. The students who were on their own thought they would enjoy it less. But then, after they, and the students who were with a friend, actually did go to the gallery, it turned out that the students on their own enjoyed the experience just as much as the students who were with a friend. Other research by the same team showed that there are some experiences in public places that are more enjoyable on your own than with other people. Related: Ratner discusses the same research for Germany-based Süddeutsche Zeitung Sz in Bist du alleine hier? (Are You Alone?).

Seeking Alpha – Dec. 23 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “10 Stocks For 2023.”

Fox Business – Dec. 23 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender joins Independent Institute senior fellow Judy Shelton to discuss “President Biden Touting his Economic Plan.”

LexBlog – Dec. 22 – Professor and Chair of Accounting and Information Assurance Michael Kimbrough, based on his research, co-authors “Can Corporate ESG Reports Clear Up ESG Ratings Confusion?”

Federal News Radio – Dec. 22 – MBA student and Space Force Captain Jared Bogdan discusses applying his technology management study at Smith to support the national defense strategy in “Why a Space Force Captain Went Back to School.” Summary: The Air Force and the business school at the University of Maryland have teamed up. Their program helps Air Force and Space Force officers get their MBAs, specializing in technology management. The officers return as faculty members of the Air Force Academy. Ultimately, they hope to speed up technology adoption by the armed services.

New York Post Editorial Board – Dec. 19 – “Terrible Toll of COVID ‘McCarthyism’, Chief Twit’s Improv Management and Other Commentary” excerpts a recent Washington Times op-ed by Deans’ Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: Far from her “bleak picture,” in January 2021 it “was eight months into rapidly falling unemployment, strong GDP growth, and low, stable inflation.” “No further economic rescue was needed,” but Democrats’ American Rescue Plan brought “more government spending, advancing a vision where people’s livelihoods are separated from the virtues of work and where domestic energy production is vilified.” The result: “Consumer prices rising 13.8% since Mr. Biden, Ms. Yellen and their team took office, a historic labor shortage, and now the most rapid rise in interest rates in decades, coinciding with minimal economic growth.” Americans “need a return to pro-growth policies that encourage work, encourage investment, and boost energy production, with the private sector once again leading the way in generating abundant prosperity for all.”

USA Today – Dec. 18 – Nicole Coomber, assistant dean and associate clinical professor of management and organization, writes “What's Downshifting Your Career – And is it Right for You?” – including: For my latest research project, my co-authors and I interviewed working moms about their experiences during COVID. What we found: After an initial hustle that saw people committing extra time to ensure their organization succeeded, people started to realize the increased workload wasn’t going away. We interviewed women in spring and summer 2021, right when that weariness started to set in. They told us the situation forced a reassessment. What is truly important? What values do they want their lives to reflect? You can only run at top speed for so long.

USA Today – Dec. 18 – In the career advice column “Will Your Remote Job Stay That Way?”, Assistant Dean of Doctoral Programs and Dean’s Professor of Accounting Rebecca Hann writes, in part: Trying to find a new job where you can work from home? The pandemic prompted many jobseekers to look for remote or hybrid work, but how do you know whether the job you're applying for now will stay remote in the coming years? Some of the biggest clues can come from a company’s competitor.

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – Dec. 16 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes, as his latest CRO Outlook column, “FTX Fiasco: Risk Management Lessons Learned.”  Intro: The failure of the crypto giant has shined a spotlight on the crucial role of CEOs, who must lead the development of comprehensive, engaging risk cultures.

Voice of America – Dec. 15 – “Biden Counters China Africa Strategy” (Beginning at 5:35) includes William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance Lemma Senbet discussing the just-concluded U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit that included a new agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Area to give American companies access to 1.3 billion people and a market valued at $3.4 trillion, along with a U.S. pledge to support the African Union's admission as a permanent member of the G20. Senbet, involved in consultative processes leading up to the summit including meetings in Congress for input to related bipartisan legislation under development, said, in part: “There are tremendous opportunities for growth. The question is how we get to the next level. One of the things Africa did was establish a large free trade area, basically trying to integrate the markets and labor, and service and trade and commodities. And this [has] incredible potential for building a vast market for the benefit of the world. And Africa partnering with the U.S. will help speed up the implementation of the trade agreement.”

Wiley’s Online Library – Dec. 10 – “Beliefs Aggregation and Return Predictability,” previews research forthcoming in the Journal of Finance co-authored by Albert “Pete” Kyle, the Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance: We study return predictability using a model of speculative trading among competitive traders who agree to disagree about the precision of private information…

PolitiFact – Dec. 9 - “Corporate Profits do Not Drive Inflation, but Inflation Boosts Company Profit” references Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: Also, wages have not kept pace with rising prices for consumer goods and services, partly because salaries for the workforce’s middle tier tend not to be adjusted for sudden changes. That means for companies, revenue has risen but labor costs have increased by less, or not at all — and companies have captured that differential as profit, said Michael Faulkender, a University of Maryland finance professor who was the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for economic policy from 2019 to 2021. Related: Faulkender co-authors op-eds at Fox News and the Daily Caller.

ESG News – Dec. 9 – “Six Ways Companies Can Drive Environmental, Social Change” summarizes a new report, The State of Environmental and Social Value Creation,” produced by Smith’s Center for Social Value Creation that “sets out a framework for understanding how companies across industries can generate meaningful, measurable improvement in environmental and social performance.” Related coverage at Investor’s Hub, Science Newsnet, others.

Cloudwords.net – Dec. 8 – “The Future of Streaming: How to Cut Costs & Save Money on Streaming Services in 2022” includes an ‘Ad-Based Revenue vs Higher Subscription Rates’ section by Dean’s Professor of Marketing Wendy Moe, including: “When these streaming services were just providing access to content created by others, the subscription model made sense… The original Netflix product offered a limited number of movies per month for a fixed subscription rate. Of course, there was also an unlimited option, but that was more expensive, and Netflix had to carefully weigh the price of the subscription against the likely cost of providing the licensed content. Now, the industry is moving toward a model where these platforms are creating their own content and providing that to their subscribers. As a result, the cost of serving these subscribers is increasing while the subscription fees they are getting remains relatively fixed. … The alternative is raising subscription rates, which consumers may not tolerate as well. This change would take the industry full circle and the streaming services will have the same business model as the ‘old school’ broadcast networks where they invest in content (e.g., producing series, licensing movies, paying for broadcast rights to sporting events) and pay for it with advertising revenue.”

Money Control – Dec. 6 – “Don’t Write Off Twitter Just Yet” references Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: With business innovation, and prudent financial management, Musk could smooth over the costs and expect more. David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H Smith School of Business, believes Musk could well attract investments from large funds with the prospect of an initial public offering in three to five years.

Finance Videos Network – Dec. 5 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger gives a podcast discussion on “Business Financial Fraud.”

Fox Business – Dec. 1 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses America's economy and the job market in a segment, “US is in a ‘Continuous Loop’.”

CPG Specialist (Financial Times-produced) – Dec. 1 – “Tyson CFO Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Criminal Trespass, Public Intoxication” quotes Assistant Dean and Associate Clinical Professor of Management Nicole Coomber: “It’s a huge responsibility to give the financial management of the firm to someone who has been accused of a criminal offense, and even a trial could be a huge distraction for a CFO,” Coomber said via email. “f I were a shareholder, I’d like to see a leave of absence from John Tyson while he focuses on his trial.”

Bankrate – Dec. 1 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Mortgage rate forecast for December 2022: A celebratory pause?,” including: While the Fed has some impact on mortgage rates, specifically variable-rate products, fixed mortgage rates are primarily influenced by the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield. The spread between the two has widened, but the yield has also dropped recently. “Consequently, I see some moderation in mortgage rates by the end of the year,” [says Rossi], who for December expects the 30-year rate to average 6.8 percent to 7 percent and the 15-year rate to average 6.1 percent to 6.3 percent. ... A recession in 2023, however, could switch things up again, especially if the job market suffers. “If inflation remains well above 6 percent or 7 percent in the first quarter of 2023, I could see additional smaller rate hikes in the 25 – to 50-basis point range, assuming the labor market holds up,” says Rossi. “A noticeable rise in the unemployment rate could, however, make the Fed think twice about even modest rate hikes early next year…and a wildcard that could severely affect the supply chain and add to inflationary pressures is a potential rail strike. If that were to occur, I could see mortgage rates loitering around the 7 percent level for some time.”

Legal Theory Blog – Dec. 1 – “Anenson & Gershberg on Stare Decisis and California Pension Precedent” previews research forthcoming in Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review by Smith professors T. Leigh Anenson and Jennifer Gershberg.

November 2022

CQ Roll Call – Nov. 30 – “Public Companies with Global Chains Fared Worse During Pandemic, Study Says” summarizes research co-authored by Lemma Senbet, The William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, including: “Internationalization is not always a positive driver of firm value,” the authors wrote. “In certain cases, such as a global pandemic, where governments are forced to restrict the flow of people and goods to contain the virus, real factor exposures of [multinational companies] can become liabilities relative to those of [domestic companies].” Relying on international supply chains was a liability for many multinational companies, the authors concluded.

Forbes – Nov. 30 – Mojo Rawley is Thriving After WWE With a Powerful Business That Helps Wrestlers” includes: Dean Muhtadi (MBA ’11), formerly known as the highly energetic Mojo Rawley, was prepared for life after wrestling before even signing a WWE contract. Starting in the seventh grade, Muhtadi worked as an intern for Morgan Stanley at the age of 11. Despite going on to become a decorated collegiate athlete, who later turned pro, Muhtadi continued to build a solid foundation off the field by earning his MBA from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.

Yahoo Finance – Nov. 30 – “Study Shows What Soccer Can Teach Managers About Hiring Top Talent” summarizes research co-authored by management professor Gilad Chen revealing how and when teams can make the most of new talent they pick up after the tournament. The findings also translate to the corporate world, where companies looking to win the war for talent often pay a premium to attract superstar employees. … Article also featured at Groundbreak Carolinas and related coverage via Maryland Today’s “Study Finds Hiring Stars on the Field or at the Office Can Pay Off.”

WalletHub ‘Ask the Experts’ – Nov. 29 – Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust answers “Why is Allstate so Philanthropic?”: Rust: “Insurance is often a lifetime relationship, but the initial brand choices are made by the young. The younger generation has demonstrated a greater interest in the social good, which means that a company that is seen as philanthropic may have higher appeal to the group they target the most for initial sales.”

Sinclair Broadcasting Group – Nov. 28 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Housing Market Winter Outlook: Still a Seller's Market, Just a Softer One,” including: Is there a danger of a housing market crash, like we saw in 2008? “No. Not at all,” said Rossi, who has held senior executive roles in risk management at multiple large financial services companies, including Citigroup, Countrywide Bank and Freddie Mac. “This is so totally different than a 2008.” Borrowers are more insulated from a downturn than they were in 2008, Rossi said. Mortgage products are also fairly pristine from a credit quality standpoint now, he said. … Rossi said both buyers and sellers are probably better off waiting until the spring or summer to see what happens with rates and the economy. He’s not expecting the market to deteriorate, but he thinks rates could edge lower and prices might soften. Rossi said a potential buyer should get their down payment ready and get prequalified for a loan. Be ready to act if rates come down a bit and the right home hits the market, but don’t be hasty, he said.

Washington Post – Nov. 25 – “Black Friday Isn’t What it Used to Be. Here’s Why.” Quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: “We are in unique economic situations — inflation has been at a 40-year high and a lot of families’ budgets are being squeezed from all fronts,” [said Zhang]. “So there isn’t as much enthusiasm to open up wallets coming into this holiday shopping season.”

Vulcan Post – Nov. 25 – ‘Will Twitter be the Next MySpace?’ quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Instead of losing his investment, Musk can buy back Twitter’s debt from lenders at a steep discount to reduce the company’s debt load and interest costs, as well as its valuation… This will end up being beneficial for the company in the long run. Besides that, according to finance professor David Kass, Twitter could also replace some of its debt with equity and if successful, Twitter can generate positive free cash flow in two or three years… Kass also gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization,” via TalkMarkets, for Nov. 27.

WUSA-9 - Nov. 23 - Smith senior Ronit Tuladhar discusses his research in “Did Social Media Influencers Pump Up Cryptocurrencies?”:  People like Ronit have grown up following online influencers since they were kids. But this was the first time he saw them promoting cryptocurrencies… Ronit found it wasn’t just gamers. All different social media influencers in 2021 were somehow involved in talking about cryptocurrencies on their platforms… One gaming YouTube influencer he focused on had millions of followers across several platforms. In June of 2021, this influencer promoted a coin called “Milf Token” for a few weeks. Ronit saw that after it was promoted on the influencer’s platforms the number of people buying it rose. At its peak, $20 million a day was invested into it. But then, not long after the peak, the influencer stopped promoting the coin. “It just completely plummets over the course of the entire month,” Ronit explained. As of this report, online exchanges show that "Milf Token" today only has about $30 traded on it daily. In the meantime, the influencer has removed all his posts about "Milf Token." The people who bought the coin are out of luck. “There needs to be some sort of legal consequence for what these influencers are doing,” Ronit said.

NPR – Nov. 23 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in “How Silicon Valley Fervor Explains Elizabeth Holmes' 11-Year Prison Sentence”: Holmes' punishment does come amid signs of a tech sector becoming less frothy. Both Big Tech companies and startups are laying off staff, new $1 billion companies are becoming harder to spot and venture capital firms are warning of a tough road ahead. Has the tech bubble burst, or is it about to burst? That determination, experts say, is easier made in hindsight. “Tech bubbles don't pop in the way a bubble pops from chewing gum," [said Kirsch], who wrote a book about bubbles and crashes. “Investment bubbles tend to deflate slowly.” ... Kirsch, who studies tech entrepreneurs, was similarly skeptical about a major shakeup in the venture capital-backed tech startup world. “The venture community is vulnerable to a shiny new story. They have been. They always will be,” he said. “We're kidding ourselves if we think the recipe is going to change because Elizabeth Holmes goes to prison.”

Skift – Nov. 22 – “Hilton Uncovers a Lot More About Blended Travelers After Student Competition” reviews the Adobe Analytics Challenge 2022, including the pitch by Smith MS in Marketing Analytics classmates I-Ju Lin, Chu-Hsuan Tsao and Yiling Kang, who captured the $35,000 top prize: They examined the cross-device customer journey of those booking travel with Hilton and used anonymized data from a portfolio of 18 brands and 7,000 properties worldwide to understand how consumers are making purchase decisions digitally across devices.

Maryland Today – Nov. 22 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang explains that after two years of robust holiday spending during the pandemic, inflation will dampen consumers’ plans this season, in Holiday Shopping Forecast: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like … Listless.

Wall Street Journal – Nov. 21 – How Elon Musk’s Twitter Faces Mountain of Debt, Falling Revenue and Surging Costs quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: The company could also replace some of the debt with equity, both from Mr. Musk and from outside investors, said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. For that, Mr. Musk would need to persuade potential investors that he has a viable long-term business plan, he said. Replacing debt could enable the company to generate cash. Mr. Musk has said some of his latest Tesla Inc. stock sale, yielding almost $4 billion in cash, was because of Twitter. If successful, the company could generate positive free cash flow in two or three years, which it could use to pay down the residual debt and eventually go public again, Mr. Kass said. “The prospect of an eventual IPO within three to five years would be a very attractive enticement for large funds,” he said.

Maryland Today – Nov. 21 – Smith professors Martin Dresner (logistics) and Roland Rust give preemptive strategies for travelers in “These Post-COVID Air Travel Strategies Might Just Save Your Holiday.”

FIND MBA – Nov. 21 – Assistant Dean of MBA and MS Admissions Shelbi Brookshire contributes to How to Survive and Thrive on an Online MBA, including: At the Smith School in the US, each MBA candidate is paired with a personal specialist who ensures end-to-end support from admission through to graduation. These specialists proactively reach out to students during critical points in the Online MBA. “This regular and systematic activity keeps the student progressing toward graduation, uncovers challenges the student might be facing, and allows the support specialist to take action to assist at-risk students,” Brookshire says.

Forbes – Nov. 20 – “With Holiday Travel Here, Reviewing A Report On Best Airlines Of 2022” Distinguished University Professor Roland Rust: What measures can airlines undertake to diminish their pilot shortage? “With the military no longer being the source that it once was, airlines now may need to take on their own training. For example, United Airlines now runs a school that promises a job to all graduates, at one of United's regional carriers (which also are the primary source of pilots for the top jobs at the legacy carriers).”

TalkMarkets – Nov. 19 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 5 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization.”

Jornal Económico (Portugal) – Nov. 18 – Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino is awarded the Portuguese Competition Authority’s AdC Prize for Best Paper on Competition Policy for his paper “Product Differentiation and Oligopoly: a Network Approach.”

BusinessBecause – Nov. 18 – “5 of the Best Masters in Finance in the US” features the Smith’s Master of Finance program.

Poets & Quants – Nov. 16 – “Is The Online MBA Now For Career Changers?” highlights the Smith School: For the past two years, we’ve asked 2022 graduates if their online MBA degrees directly led to them changing industries and job functions. Those using the degree to switch job functions climbed from 44.44% last year to 45.42% this year. Graduates of the University of Maryland Smith School of Business reported the highest rate of job function changes at a frothy 81.82%.

Maryland Today – Nov. 15 – “Multinational Firms Suffered Disproportionately During Pandemic, UMD Study Finds” covers research by William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance Lemma Senbet.

Investing.com – Nov. 15 – “Taiwan Semiconductor Among Warren Buffett's Latest Buys” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: In the first nine months of 2022, Berkshire poured $66 billion into stocks, 13 times more than what it invested during the same period in 2021. “This is classic Buffett,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “He is being greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” … Related: Economy Watch references Kass in “Occidental Petroleum: Warren Buffett Ups Stake While David Tepper Exits”: David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business believes that Berkshire would eventually acquire Occidental. The last major acquisition by Berkshire was way back in 2015 when it acquired Precision Castparts. In 2022, the company announced the acquisition of Alleghany for over $11 billion.

Wall Street Journal – Nov. 14 – “Berkshire Hathaway Bought $9 Billion in Stock in Third Quarter” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Overall, Berkshire spent $66 billion buying stocks in the first nine months of the year. That is more than 13 times its spending over the same period in 2021. “This is classic Buffett,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “He is being greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” … Related: Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization for Nov. 12," via TalkMarkets.

Maryland Today – Nov. 11 – “A Three-Decade QUEST (Multidisciplinary Honors Program Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Solving Problems with Corporate, Government Partners)” quotes Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Joseph Bailey: One of QUEST’s trademarks is a semester-long capstone course in which students consult on a problem that one of the program’s corporate or governmental partners is experiencing. “It was always a customer-centric program—that has continued on through the many years, but what customers are worried about and thinking about, that’s changed,” [said Bailey].

Science Newsnet – Nov. 10 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger writes “Will ERC Equal PPP in Terms of Fraud?”: With the IRS warning about “ERC mills” – third parties improperly advising businesses to claim the employee retention credit, Handwerger explains Congress’ shifting guidelines, the “less-than-scrupulous consultants” and a newly bolstered IRS as “a perfect storm” for ERC fraud exposure.

Maryland Today – Nov. 10 – “$1M Award to Support Data-Driven Fight Against Pandemics” quotes and cites Dean’s Professor of Management Systems Louiqa Raschid as principal investigator for a new NSF-funded project: “We think the benefits of PandEval will be twofold: increasing trust and confidence in our public health infrastructure and giving decision makers epidemiological models that are customized to specific population segments,” said Raschid. “This can be invaluable for things like vaccine rollouts and health-related mandates.”

CFO Magazine – Nov. 8 – “Tyson CFO Arrested, Reviving Critics’ Concerns Over Inexperience, Conflict of Interest” quotes Assistant Dean and Associate Clinical Professor of Management Nicole Coomber: “We can have blind spots when it comes to our loved ones… Typically, any family-run business where a family member is appointed to leadership needs to make sure they have a transparent governance model, and a family charter that specifically addresses how they will manage any conflicts of interest,” [said Coomber]. Related: Food Dive’s Nov. 8 report “New Tyson CFO Arrested on Trespassing, Public Intoxication Charges” quotes Coomber extensively.

California Management Review – Nov. 7 – Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta co-authors “Harnessing Alternative Data for Competitive Advantage.” Summary: Companies now have access to a tsunami of non-traditional data for creating and capturing value.

CFO Dive – Nov. 7 – Assistant Dean and Associate Clinical Professor of Management Nicole Coomber comments in “New Tyson CFO Arrested for Trespassing, Public Intoxication”: Among the major concerns was how or whether the board would go about removing the younger Tyson from his post should circumstances indicate a termination might be in order. Tyson’s arrest now puts the board in a difficult position, [according to Coomber]. “If a family member is in crisis, you want to support that person. However, if an executive has committed an illegal act, you must return to your written policies. It is crucial for the company at this point to make sure that they are adhering to whatever they have written down in their code of ethics.” … Coomber commented separately for Financial Times newsletter CPG Specialist in “Tyson's Newly Minted CFO Arrested for Public Intoxication, Criminal Trespassing” (not online): The arrest should be a wake-up call for Tyson, one corporate management expert said. “The company needs to take a hard look at their own decision-making and not just scapegoat him for the problem,”[Coomber said.] “I can't imagine that this is the first sign of any issues with this executive, and if they ignored the signs that he had substance abuse issues they need to examine their own blind spots.”

TalkMarkets – Nov. 5  – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “5 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Third Quarter Report.

The Hill – Nov. 4 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender writes op-ed, “America First Policies will Revitalize our Economy.”

GARP CRO Outlook  – Nov. 4  – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “How to Avoid the Risk Mechanic Syndrome in Machine Learning.” Summary: Complex, ML-driven risk models are trending at financial institutions, sometimes at the lamentable expense of critical-thinking skills. Consequently, there’s also now a greater demand for risk managers with technology backgrounds – but firms that adopt the latest modeling marvels would be wise to adopt a hybrid approach where cross-trained data scientists, economists and statisticians work side-by-side.

WalletHub – Nov. 2 – Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani addresses ‘Car Insurers Using Celebrity Endorsers,’ in a brief “Ask the Experts” Q&A.

American Banker – Nov. 1 – “Pushback From U.S. Banks Softens GFANZ Climate Rules” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: [Rossi said] that GFANZ “got a little ahead of its skis” and was “overly aggressive” on how decarbonization plans should proceed. “I think they got an earful from bankers when they started to see that these restrictions came in a little bit harsher than they thought they were going to be,” said Rossi... He added that pushback from conservative lawmakers on climate commitments “has had a ‘stop and let's think long and hard’ effect on these institutions." Economic developments this year, including the war in Ukraine's impact on energy prices, are “resetting people's expectations on how fast initiatives transitioning to a green economy can actually happen.”

Phys.org – Nov. 1  – Do IPO Firms Become Myopic? summarizes research co-authored by finance professors Vojislav (Max) Maksimovic and Liu Yang, including: “After firms go public, or have their Initial Public Offering (IPO), [they, compared to private firms] respond more to investment opportunities and have higher productivity in their early public years.”

HuffPost – Nov. 1 (Originally published Oct. 27)  – Undermining You At Work, According To Science And 'The (Netflix series) Mole' quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Trevor Foulk and references his research: “If someone is paranoid, they might interpret a simple benign interaction as an insult,” [said Foulk]. “For example, if someone walks by in the hall and doesn’t say ‘hi,’ under normal circumstances you’re like, ‘Oh, they’re just busy today.’ But when paranoid, you’re like, ‘Oh, they’re mad at me, why didn’t they say ‘hi?’ Oh, I hope they’re not talking about me behind my back.’” … And generally, the more powerless you feel in your organization, the more paranoid you are likely to be, Foulk and his colleagues say in a study they published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. [Foulk] found that supportive organizational environments can lessen powerless employees’ paranoia. “Since paranoia is a state of vigilance to potential threats, when we feel supported we are a little less worried about those threats,” Foulk said. “If you’re worried that people are talking behind your back, conspiring against you, etc., but you also feel that if it came to it, your manager would support you, the threat that those people represent –– again, whether real or not –– doesn’t seem as bad, since you know you’ll be able to protect yourself even if the threat became real.”

October 2022

Fox Business – Oct. 31 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses with Larry Kudlow the Federal Reserve's monetary policy options under current regulatory and fiscal challenges… Related: Faulkender discusses the latest GDP report and what it signals about the US economy, via 77 WABC’s Kudlow Show (Oct. 29).

WMAL (via SoundCloud) – Oct. 31 – Dean’s Professor of Accounting Rebecca Hann discusses her recent research in “Remote Work Became Commonplace During the Height of the Pandemic but the Trend Began Before COVID Finds One University of Maryland Researcher (Parts one and two).”

TheBayNet.com – Oct. 30 – “Technology And Business Accelerators Provide Resources To Many New Maryland Businesses” references Smith’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship: The Robert H. Smith School of Business is another major catalyst in that space. Their relentless effort always brings some unique yet superb outcomes. Every year their Terp Startup Accelerator 2022 Cohort provides seed funds for a few out-of-the-box ideas selected from the students. Maryland is the place for new businesses, and that is for a reason.

TalkMarkets – Oct. 30 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization.”

GARP Risk Podcast – Oct. 28 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi discusses “Tail Risk: How to Incorporate Extreme Events into Financial Risk Modeling”: Summary: Risk modelers have recently been befuddled by rare and powerful non-financial events, including the pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, radical weather happenings, and a supply-chain crisis. What are the characteristics and impacts of these unpredictable incidents? In this podcast, [Rossi] will address these issues, and also share his views on how financial institutions can better understand these risks and link them properly to financial losses.

Clear Admit – Oct. 28 –“Real Humans of the UMD Smith MBA Class of 2024” comprises profiles and Q&As featuring Smith MBAs Abiola James, Anuja Balaji, Courtney McClammy, Jonathan Fogg, Christiaan Van Der Merwe and Tydearian Cocroft.

New York Times – Oct. 26 – “How Biden Uses His ‘Car Guy’ Persona to Burnish His Everyman Image” quotes Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: “It’s convenient for senior American politicians to have a favorite American muscle car,” said Kirsch, a professor at the University of Maryland’s business school and the author of “The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History.” “It is a type of affinity with the American worker, and I think it does connote an image of male virility and machismo that is important for a leader who wants to appear strong.”

Harvard Business Review – Oct. 26 – Dean’s Professor of Management Subra Tangirala explains his recent research in co-authoring “When Speaking Up, Timing is Everything.” Summary: Raising ideas or concerns to managers can raise your profile positively, but not if your busy manager doesn’t have the headspace for it. The authors present research suggesting that people who wait until their contribution is relevant to their unit’s agenda, fully researched, and likely to fall on receptive ears are not only more likely to get listened to, they are also more likely to get promotions and pay raises.

Fox Business – Oct. 25 – The Kudlow ‘Biden’s War on Fossil Fuels’ segment includes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender’s comments on energy policy and recession: Faulkender: “The most important thing we can do, Larry, is unleash American energy. At the end of the day, low-cost access to energy has a broad impact across the economy. And so, the most we can do to help economic ingenuity here in the United States is to bring down energy prices and to end the war on American energy.” Kudlow: “…A great answer – a concise, on-target, superb answer by a distinguished economist.”

Alpha Beta Stock – Oct. 25 – “Why Did Apple Stock Split?” references previous comments by Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: University of Maryland business professor David 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.”

WalletHub Ask the Experts – Oct. 25 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger explains the ‘Age Algorithm in Car Insurance Premiums.’

Poets & Quants – Oct. 24 – “Maryland Smith Unveils New Military Scholarships for the Full-Time MBA Program” (scroll down) quotes Director of Federal and Veteran Affairs Frank Goertner: “At Maryland Smith, we see military and veteran professionals as more than just business students…They are strategic assets for our school, our communities, and our united economy. That’s why we lead the Initiative for Veteran Lifelong Leadership and continue to expand our investment in this diverse inspiring cadre of learners.”

Daily Caller – Oct. 22 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender co-authors op-ed “An Inflation Nation — The New Norm.”

TalkMarkets – Oct. 22 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization.”

Mortgage Banker Magazine – Oct. 19 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi describes, in a Q&A, “Where the Housing Market is Headed.”

FIND MBA – Oct. 18 – Assistant Dean and Executive Director of the Office of Career Services Neta Moyeand Executive Director of MBA admissions Shelbi Brookshire comment in “Hot Job Market Boosts the Appeal of Online MBAs”: “The current hot job market has a unique underpinning of economic uncertainty creating volatility in overall demand. The schools with nimble and customizable delivery, whether it be entirely online or hybrid, are seeing steady demand while those with less flexible programs are trending back towards pre-pandemic levels,” says Brookshire]. In addition, [Moye] says there are strong arguments for pursuing an Online MBA now, as recessionary fears rise. “Working professionals are now more adept at navigating hybrid and online meetings and may, in fact, find they prefer an online option,” she says, pointing to the shift in working practices driven by the pandemic. “They have learned how to connect and build community in a virtual environment, work in teams, and manage deadlines effectively,” adds Moye. “All these skills will translate to an Online MBA program.” Furthermore, senior professionals that find themselves working from home may also have additional time previously dedicated to commuting, further boosting the appeal of Online MBA programs. “Depending on the commute, this could be a substantial chunk of time that could be invested in earning credentials valuable in a new position or new career,” says Moye, adding that such a move would be well worth the investment. “The additional credential offered by earning an MBA differentiates employees in industries that rely on strong communication, conceptual thinking, effective team dynamics, and analytical skills. As the job market tightens, these points of differentiation are necessary to ensure the most career options.” … In any case, Brookshire at the Smith School points out that there are plenty of other ways that students can fund Online MBA courses, including scholarships that the business school offers to admitted candidates and a payment plan that facilitates three or four installments per semester, to spread out the cost of the degree.

Journal of Accountancy – Oct. 2022 – Adjunct Professor of Accounting Stacey Ferris co-authors “What CPAs need to know about NFTs,” including: This article explores what CPAs need to know about NFTs today and why there is so much hype around them. What problems do they solve? What differentiates an NFT from other digital assets and gives it value? How are they created? And for accounting purposes, what are the types of NFTs?

DATAQUEST Magazine – Oct. 2022 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez comments in “The Great Resignation: Would the birds come back?” (Pages 8-13 in this digital copy), including: “The unimaginable future became a reality in a short period of time, requiring employers to react and iterate their strategic initiatives and navigate ambiguity and complexity while maintaining continuity of operations and empathic working conditions. These disruptions allowed employees to reconceptualize their purpose, reframe their values, seek new meaning in work, and calibrate their work expectations, hence the birth of ‘The Great Resignation.’ Employees removed the fears that blocked them from making different career choices, embraced the values that bolster them, and chose new options with courage and resolve.” Prof. Suarez’s reckoning, the implications of this shift will continue to ripple through and expand through time like a pebble hitting a calm pond. “Employers will find themselves catching up with unanticipated consequences, including the emerging mind-set where flexibility, good working conditions, mental health, engagement, and sense of belonging, and having a mission, not just a job, are paramount to employees.” As to employers, they must grapple with adopting automated and digital solutions and seeking ways to integrate people and technology synergistically. “Effectively embracing virtual and augmented reality will allow employers to leverage remote interactions without eliminating the human elements that shape the organization’s culture.”

MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) Newslink – Oct. 17 – “FICO: Understanding the Risks of Multiple Credit Scores in Mortgage Lending” summarizes recent research by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi.

Cincy Chic – Oct. 17 – “How Have Dress Codes Changed, and Are They Similar for Men and Women?” references and links to extensive comments by Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: Dress codes as a whole have relaxed since the pandemic, and much of it has to do with re-accommodating staff that may have been working from home for the past two years. As stated [by Zhang], relaxed dress codes make the transition back to the office easier and serve as an incentive for those who may have become accustomed to the comfort of telecommuting.

TalkMarkets – Oct. 16 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization.”

Voice of America – Oct. 14 – William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance Lemma Senbet discusses economic challenges facing Africa, as part of coverage of the IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings, in a VOA Africa Tonight (6:00-11:12) broadcast.

Wall Street Journal – Oct. 12 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender co-authors op-ed “Censorship Is a Consumer Harm.” Opening: The litmus test for government antitrust actions has traditionally been the consumer-welfare standard developed by Robert Bork: If consolidated market power doesn’t lead to higher prices, consumers haven’t been harmed, and there’s no justification for government to act. By this view, Big Tech is off the hook. Its prices are low, sometimes free. This view is too narrow. For one thing, digital networks with monopoly power can charge higher prices for advertisements, ultimately passed on to consumers.

HousingWire – Oct. 12 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes op-ed “ICE/Black Knight Merger Could Raise Mortgage Costs.” Opening: It’s no coincidence that the post-2008 crisis mortgage expansion happened to occur during a period marked by transformative technological change in the industry. However, a double whammy of building economic headwinds and a proposed merger between ICE Mortgage Technology and Black Knight threatens to upend much of the benefit from robust competition that fostered considerable innovation in mortgage technology over the last decade.

National Mortgage News – Oct. 11 – “The Strange Litigation Onslaught Against CrossCountry Mortgage” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Mortgage industry experts say such actions, if they occurred, would have crossed the line ethically, if not legally. “Downloading, say, the entire customer database would in my opinion constitute a breach of confidentiality or a noncompete agreement an employee might have,” said Clifford Rossi, Citigroup's former chief risk officer for consumer lending and currently a professor at the University of Maryland.

USA Today – Oct. 10 – Career advice columns “How to Ask for What you Want Before Taking a Job” by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin and “Avoiding a Bad Boss – and Joining the Right Team” by Associate Director of Executive MBA Career Coaching, Programming and Outreach Rachel Loock are republished.

Wall Street Journal – Oct. 8 – “September’s Stock-Market Woes May Bode Well for October” quotes Russell Wermers, the Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63 Endowed Chair in Finance, and cites his research, including: Seasonal affective disorder, known as SAD, is a depressive mood disorder related to the change of seasons that severely afflicts a small percentage of the population. According to [Wermers], who co-wrote a study correlating SAD with mutual-fund flows, it also is “associated with a greater level of risk-aversion by a much larger body of the population.” Though we tend to associate SAD with the winter months, Dr. Wermers says that what affects the stock market isn’t the absolute number of those suffering from SAD at any particular point, but changes in that number. And the biggest month-to-month change in those suffering from SAD—and the risk aversion with which it is associated—occurs in September, when daylight wanes faster than in any other month, he says. That, in turn, leads to a significant net outflow from mutual funds in the average September, the research found.

GARP – Oct. 7 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “The Forecast for U.S. Housing Risk: Cracks in the Foundation?” as his latest CRO Outlook piece for the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Summary: The American housing market has fared well this year, but there have been some ominous signs lately – particularly in the non-banking sector. Should we be worried about housing risks across the short – and long-term or is the market now well-protected from systemic threats?

Maryland Today – Oct. 7 – “Gender Bias Plagues Online Doctor Reviews, Study Finds” summarizes recently published work at JMIR Formative Research by Associate Professor of Management Science and Statistics Margrét Bjarnadóttir.

Associated Press – Oct. 5 – “Twitter Under Musk? Most of the Plans are a Mystery” quotes David A. Kirsch, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship: “This is not a car manufacturer where, good enough, all you have to do is beat General Motors. Sorry, that isn’t really that hard,” said David Kirsch, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland who’s studied Twitter bots’ effect on Tesla’s stock price. “You are dealing here with all of these other companies (that) also have very sophisticated AI programs, very sophisticated PhD programmers...everyone is trying to crack this nut.” Related: Best Gaming Pro quotes Kirsch in “What kind of Twitter will Elon Musk run?” (Oct. 7)

Washington Times – Oct. 4 – “Housing Market Needs Deregulation, not Whitewashed Credit Data” quotes and refers to research by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: [Rossi points out in a new research paper that the interest by policymakers to expand access to borrowers with little to no credit history could “disrupt” how the mortgage industry has traditionally used credit scores to allocate financing… VantageScore, a credit-score model development firm created by the credit reporting agencies, announced that starting in October they would “stop factoring all medical debts” into their scores. According to Dr. Rossi, “VantageScore’s approach to analyzing unscorable consumers is to relax the criteria FICO applies in generating a credit score.”

September 2022

CFO Dive – Sept. 30 – Assistant Dean and management and organization professor Nicole Coomber comments in “Tyson Heir CFO Pick Draws Ethical Fire,” including: “Research on cognitive biases demonstrates that we often think of decisions as ‘business decisions’ rather than ethical ones. One risk here is a ‘slippery slope,’ where the CFO might make small lapses (such sharing company documents that only the CFO might have access to with family members) that grow into larger ones,” [said Coomber]. Another concern around the appointment is Tyson’s age…The younger John Tyson will take the financial helm at just 32. “I think we will see more C-suite leaders in their 30s. Experience is a double-edged sword; it can lead us to think we know the right answer when we are faced with situations similar to what we have already experienced,” said Coomber. 

MIT Sloan Management Review – Sept. 29 – Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal weighs in on "Is Tesla’s Era of Dominance Coming to an End?" (From the “Table” menu button): “As is consistent with industry evolution research, the resurgence of EV technology (which lost out to the internal combustion engine around the turn of the 20th century) was led by Tesla, but the new wave of entrants includes startups — some of which are spinouts of Tesla — and established firms in the automobile industry. Thus, the EV segment will grow, and Tesla’s dominance will recede even if Tesla continues to grow.”

Accounting Today – Sept. 29 – “Deloitte Launches Artificial Intelligence Initiative (with UMD Smith)”  quotes Wedad Elmaghraby, dean’s professor of operations management: “The DIAL program enables Smith and Deloitte to continue their critical collaborations at the forefront of cutting-edge research and emerging technology," said, in a statement last week. "This includes partnering with local industry and federal partners to drive innovation for the public good, creatively pushing our students to embrace analytics challenges in new and unexplored areas of importance, and investing in our understanding of ethical, trustworthy artificial intelligence to further its potential promise.” Related coverage by The Evolving Enterprise, The Business Monthly, others.

European Pharmaceutical Review – Sept. 29 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi explains how the introduction of pharmaceutical manufacturing quality ratings by the FDA can reduce drug shortages and improve pharmaceutical company financial performance, in “Economics and Risks of FDA’s Quality Management Maturity Rating Programme.”

Noema Magazine – Sept. 29 – “Who Gave the Battery Such Power? ” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David A. Kirsch: Another chance came for the electric car, in 1996 when General Motors introduced the EV1, complete with a futuristic digital display and keyless entry. By 2006, a documentary asked in its title “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Again, GM had aced the marketing portion of the business, Turner writes, but fell short on providing a product that drivers could rely on. Or perhaps both stories are too simple. Men early last century were more interested in gas-powered cars because the sound gave them a chance to attract attention, and a faulty engine gave them a chance to show off their mechanics know-how. Men controlled wealth, so they were better customers. Historian David Kirsch concluded in his 2000 history of electric vehicles, which is cited in both books, that the problems with oil were not a result of gas-powered vehicles per se, but rather of the “massive expansion of the automobile transport system.”

Online Marketing Scoops – Sept. 29 – “Apple Removes a Trading App Linked to Crypto Scams from The App Store” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Apple can promise trust in transactions, account protection, and ease of use by reducing cost and time for consumers when they need access to the financial banking system. This means more market penetration while maintaining privacy, security, and transparency. In addition, [Rossi said] that having a digital or crypto wallet and its own stable coin or a crypto pegged to the price of a fiat currency, could give Apple a competitive advantage over other retailers and will increase the competitive landscape of the personal banking and payment processing industry.

Poets & Quants – Sept. 28 – “Favorite Professors of The MBA Class Of 2022” include Associate Professor of Logistics, Business and Public Policy Rachelle Sampson — excerpted from Smith grad Daylin Russo’s profile in P&Q’s Class of 2022 Best & Brightest MBAs, including: “During my first semester in my first year of the program, our economics professor Dr. Rachelle Sampson had an incredibly positive and profound impact on me. For some, the prospect of waking up early to simply roll out of bed and get onto a Zoom lecture might not seem very enticing. But with Dr. Sampson, this was absolutely not the case. In fact, it was quite the opposite: learning about economics and public policy in her “Managerial Economics and Public Policy” class at 10 a.m. could not have been more exciting. The way she seamlessly linked topics together and connected concepts to current events helped me to effectively learn the course material and understand the enormity of their impacts. Her focus on long-term, sustainable profitability of firms and her passion for ESG integration into corporate strategy also helped me to conceptualize my short-term and long-term career goals.

WalletHub – Sept. 28 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C Boyd III gives insights into MasterCard and its backstory via an ‘Ask the Experts’ Q&A.

Poets & Quants – Sept. 28 – MS in Business Analytics Academic Director Suresh Acharya comments in “Maryland Smith to Relaunch Online Business Analytics Master’s — At Half The Price,” including: Among the faculty teaching in the new Smith OMSBA will be Michel Wedel, an expert in consumer science and among the top 2% of the most-cited scholars and scientists worldwide…“Michel Wedel is a renowned researcher,” Acharya says. “There are 15 faculty members in the Smith School that rank in the 2% of most published in the entire country. Michel Wedel teaches Advanced Marketing Analytics in our program — so that’s the kind of caliber we have in that one category. But we have a bunch of wonderful research faculty, and the students will have access to them. “Another featured teacher is Gisela [Bardossy]. She has been teaching for a long time, has won a number of awards. In my mind, what she does so well is she connects so well with the students. You can be a wonderful teacher and deliver, but you also need that human connection.”

SciDev.Net – Sept. 27 – Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, comments in “USAID Deepens ‘Localisation’ Efforts with Focus on Africa”: [Senbet] said the shift was “welcome but overdue.” “For years the dominant modality for donor engagement has been top down and disempowering. Localisation is bound to yield better development outcomes, including self-reliance,” he said in comments on Twitter.

Federal News Network – Sept. 26 – “New Course Would Teach Feds to Manage Latest IT” features Assistant Dean Joseph Bailey discussing Smith’s recently launched Tech Management MBA Specialty Elective Track and Graduate Certificate targeting managers in public and private sectors.

TalkMarkets – Sept. 24 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization.”

MarketWatch (via MSN Money) – Sept. 21 – “September's SAD Tale: Seasonal Affective Disorder Could Explain Why Stocks are Being Hit Hard this Month” references research co-authored by Russell Wermers, Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63 Endowed Chair in Finance: Researchers were able to connect these monthly SAD changes with the stock market by measuring flows of cash into and out of equity mutual funds. Perhaps the most prominent study establishing this connection appeared in [“Seasonal Asset Allocation: Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows.”] The researchers went to great lengths to eliminate the possibility that monthly changes in the incidence of SAD were a proxy for some other factor previously found to explain stock market changes. After controlling for those other factors, they found a high correlation between the data in the accompanying chart and flows into and out of equity mutual funds. The month experiencing the biggest net outflow is September. That’s strong circumstantial evidence. Even more compelling is what emerged when the researchers studied the correlation between SAD and mutual fund flows in Australia. Since that country is in the southern hemisphere, the incidence of SAD should be the mirror opposite of the U.S. pattern. Sure enough, mutual fund flows in Australia follow the same pattern as in the U.S., shifted six months forward.

Poets & Quants – Sept. 22 – “Busy Month For Deloitte: Consulting Giant Announces Major B-School Initiatives” highlights the newly announced Deloitte Initiative for AI and Learning (DIAL) that builds upon previous Deloitte and Smith collaborations, such as the Smith Analytics Consortium and quotes Dean’s Professor of Operations Management Wedad Elmaghraby: “The DIAL program enables Smith and Deloitte to continue their critical collaborations at the forefront of cutting-edge research and emerging technology,” [says Elmaghraby]. “This includes partnering with local industry and federal partners to drive innovation for the public good, creatively pushing our students to embrace analytics challenges in new and unexplored areas of importance and investing in our understanding of ethical, trustworthy artificial intelligence to further its potential promise.” … Related coverage via, The Business Monthly, Maryland Today, Maryland Daily Record, AiThority, others.

Baltimore Sun Education – Fall 2022 – Assistant Dean Joseph Bailey describes Smith’s Interdisciplinary Business Honors Program, as part of “Innovative Business Programs: Hands-on Work Critical to Today’s Marketplace” (Page 7), including: [Bailey says] the program was established in order to attract some of the brightest incoming freshmen and “celebrate a diversity of perspectives.” The students will enter what Bailey calls a “living program” and delve into subjects that shape the landscape of business. In this inaugural class, Bailey says the students will focus on what the future of the workplace will look like. He says they will explore ways in which businesses will likely organize themselves in the future, something that has already been sparked by reactions to COVID-19. “We’re reinventing organizations in real times these days and the pandemic has been a huge accelerator for that. Now we have to determine what this means for the future,” Bailey says.

Supply and Demand Chain Executive – Sept. 20 – (originally published Sept. 15) “Weather-Proofing Supply Chains Against Climate Risk” summarizes a study co-produced by Research Professor Emeritus Sandor Boyson and Smith's Supply Chain Management Center.

FIND MBA – Sept. 19 – Associate Clinical Professor of Marketing Mary Beth Furst helps explain how “How Online MBAs Improve Remote Leadership”: In [Furst’s] experience, the most sought-after skills focus on transformational leadership. “Virtual and flexible workspaces require a leader who can motivate teammates to enthusiastically contribute, communicate clearly and authentically, and empathize with team members juggling new challenges created by work-from-home arrangements,” she says. At Maryland Smith, many courses provide opportunities for students to work in teams to research, design, analyze, write, and present on various topics. These experiences provide real-world applications where students test and prove their ability to manage teams remotely. Demand for such content and experiences looks set to only grow in the coming years, as the pandemic drives what is likely to be a permanent shift in working practices. Furst says: “With more employers deciding to forego in-person work in favor of continuing more flexible work-from-home arrangements, leading and working in remote teams is here to stay for the foreseeable future.”

The Hill – Sept. 17 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger writes op-ed “Yeshiva v. YU Pride Alliance and its ‘tax-exempt status’ backstory.”

GARP – Sept. 16 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi, in his latest CRO Outlook column for the Global Association of Risk Professionals writes: “A Call to Arms: Incorporating Extreme Events into Financial Risk Models.” Summary: Recent nonfinancial incidents including geopolitical conflicts, the pandemic and a supply-chain crisis, have destabilized markets and sent risk managers scrambling for answers. What steps can we take to better understand these unpredictable risks, and how can we properly link them to financial losses?

Brookings – Sept. 15 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr co-authors: “Work-From-Anywhere as a Public Policy: 3 Findings from the Tulsa Remote Program.”

Inside Mortgage Finance – Sept. 15 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi discusses Ginnie Mae's new issuer eligibility requirements and how they might impact mortgage lenders and issuers in the government home loan space in “McCargo Sets Listening Tour on Ginnie IssuerEligibility Standards”: Clifford Rossi, a professor at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said Ginnie, unlike Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, faces significant counterparty risk and would be on the hook for paying investors if a large servicer went out of business. Although Rossi supports Ginnie’s move to bolster the long-term viability of its issuers through the new standards, he said it’s possible some of them will re-calculate their participation in the program. One of the consequences of having fewer Ginnie issuers could be less access to capital for FHA and VA home loans, he noted, which would probably lead to higher interest rates for borrowers. Those are tradeoffs policymakers must make, he added.

Poets & Quants – Sept. 15 – “11 Lessons from The Best & Brightest Class of 2022” highlights Smith executive MBA graduate Aimee Smart: For Aimee Smart, the advantage of undertaking an MBA mid-career is that she could immediately apply the concepts she was learning in the classroom. “Throughout the program, I had several mini epiphanies. I gained a deeper understanding of the other interdependent factors, beyond the technical elements, that underlie business decisions when considering in-licensing new technology, enabling me to develop valuation models and build more complete business cases,” says Smart, Vice President of Clinical Development and Regulatory Processes at Lung Biotechnology PBC. ... “One lesson that had a significant and lasting impact was thinking about my organization through Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of the Team Model. This led to my starting a change project with my leadership team that was focused on improving organizational health. To date, we have significantly improved the function and quality of our meetings and overall communication.”

Maryland Today – Sept. 14 – “How Creativity Conquers Rudeness” summarizes new research by Management and Organization professors Trevor Foulk and Vijaya Venkataramani.

Baltimore Sun – Sept. 13 – “A University of Maryland Professor Wants to Expose the Hidden Bias in AI, and Then Use it for Good” quotes and features research by Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue, with additional comments by Associate Professor of Information Systems Jui Ramaprasad. Republished by Government Technology among others. Coverage of Rhue’s study also in the ASEE First Bell newsletter (not online) and in an ABC Radio News segment – recently airing nationally and currently accessible for playback via SoundCloud.

G20 Insights – Sept. 13 (originally published Aug. 30) – William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance Lemma Senbet co-produces a policy brief “Resolving Debt Crises In Developing Countries: How Can The G20Contribute To Operationalising The Common Framework?”

Baltimore Sun Education – Fall 2022 – Assistant Dean for Specialty Undergraduate Programs Joseph Bailey describes Smith’s Interdisciplinary Business Honors Program, as part of “Innovative Business Programs: Hands-on Work Critical to Today’s Marketplace” (Page 7), including: [Bailey says] the program was established in order to attract some of the brightest incoming freshmen and “celebrate a diversity of perspectives.” The students will enter what Bailey calls a “living program” and delve into subjects that shape the landscape of business. In this inaugural class, Bailey says the students will focus on what the future of the workplace will look like. He says they will explore ways in which businesses will likely organize themselves in the future, something that has already been sparked by reactions to COVID-19. “We’re reinventing organizations in real times these days and the pandemic has been a huge accelerator for that. Now we have to determine what this means for the future,” Bailey says.

Maryland Today – Sept. 12 – “From Bugs to Bronze Age, Nearly 300 Courses Get Creative Boost” quotes Humberto Coronado, director of the MS in Supply Chain Management program: In the Robert H. Smith School of Business, [Coronado] is working with PepsiCo on a new virtual reality experience that will take students inside a real manufacturing plant to see how a product travels from creation to a customer’s hands. Companies such as DHL, Wal-Mart and Amazon are already using similar virtual reality technology in their day-to-day operations, he said, and giving students a technological “head start” at UMD is crucial. “My students are gonna be crazy about this,” Coronado said.

Inc. – Sept. 11 – Inc.: “Warren Buffett Just Turned 92. Here's the Best Birthday Gift He Says He Ever Got” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: The discussion came in the context of a talk Buffett did with 20 MBA students back in 2013. One of the students asked him how his understanding of markets contributed to his political views. Here's part of what Buffett said, according to the recollections of Professor David Kass of the University of Maryland, who took notes: Imagine that it is 24 hours before you are born. A genie comes and says to you in the womb ... "I am going to assign to you – determination of the political, economic and social system into which you are going to emerge. You set the rules ... What's the catch? One catch – just before you emerge you have to go through a huge bucket with 7 billion slips, one for each human. Dip your hand in and that is what you get. You could be born intelligent or not intelligent, born healthy or disabled, born black or white, born in the US or in Bangladesh, etc. You have no idea which slip you will get. Not knowing which slip you are going to get, how would you design the world? ... I call this the "Ovarian Lottery." My sisters didn't get the same ticket. Expectations for them were that they would marry well, or if they work, would work as a nurse, teacher, etc.”

WBAL TV – Sept. 11 – Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss recounts leading colleagues to safety during 9/11 in “UMd. Professor's Calm Leadership on 9/11 Helped to Save Lives.”

Fortune – Sept. 10 – “The Unconventional Timing of Warren Buffett’s BYD Stock Sale Reinforces His Famed Investment Philosophy” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Buffett generally holds his instruments for many years; he eventually exits most of them when he views them as fully valued, or their future prospects have become less attractive,” David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told Fortune. … BYD’s Hong Kong shares have risen by over 2,700% since Berkshire bought its BYD stake back in 2008, climbing rapidly since early 2020. “The share price has recently reflected the improved performance and outlook for the company,” Kass says, and so Buffett may consider shares to be “fully valued.” … And Buffett may now be looking for his next big bet. “Perhaps Buffett has identified other investments that are currently more attractive,” says Kass. … Related: Kass guest pieces at TalkMarkets: “Warren Buffett Sells Shares In BYD” (Sept. 11) and “2022 Percentage Returns Of 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization” (Sept. 10)

Pharmaceutical Executive – Sept. 9 – “The Manufacturing Edge on Path to Market” quotes and cites research by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: In 2020, [Rossi] began to explore the financial aspects of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. “For decades, it’s been significantly cheaper to manufacture overseas, especially in China,” he says. “I assumed that pharma manufacturers were not investing in continuous manufacturing due to the financial risks and economics, and perhaps even due to tax rates.” To investigate further, Rossi developed a stochastic financial model that also showed him something different than expected. Continuous manufacturing in new facilities provided economic benefits and even an economic advantage for US manufacturers as compared to batch manufacturers abroad. He found the contribution of continuous manufacturing to the expected net present value over the life cycle of a drug to be nearly $500 million. “When comparing investments in continuous or batch strategies for a new US facility, the results clearly suggest that the lower costs associated with continuous manufacturing should lead to more investment in it—even for generic firms,” he says. “It seems that continuous manufacturing may not only be worth the investment, but its adoption could also help to reshape global pharmaceutical supply chains.”

The Business Monthly – Sept. 6 – “Maryland Smith Relaunches Online Master’s in Business Analytics” announces the program’s new iteration and quotes its academic director, Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya: “Live sessions allow students to interact with faculty and gain further clarification on the content, plus asynchronous coursework will facilitate networking among cohort members.” … The relaunch also is announced at AACSB Insights (scroll down) among other outlets.

DATAQUEST Magazine (India) – Sept. 2022 – Does AI Need Dog-Walkers? The ‘Human in the Loop’ Vacuum” (page 34) quotes Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing: The current AI revolution substitutes machines for people in accomplishing thinking tasks, points out [Rust]. “The result is that humans need to adjust. In my 2021 book, “The Feeling Economy: How Artificial Intelligence Is Creating the Era of Empathy,” (with Ming-Hui Huang) we discuss the implications of this shift. Put simply, thinking AI will drive humans to emphasize “feeling intelligence” more than “thinking intelligence.” That is, as AI does more of the thinking, humans (both consumers and businesspeople) will focus more on feeling. For the near future, this means that work teams will involve both AI (for cutting edge thinking) and people (for personal interactions and feeling intelligence). The shift toward feeling may make women, who on average have a higher capacity for empathy, more important in the economy. This also calls for retraining thinking workers to be more effective with people.”

August 2022

USA Today Network (via Columbus Dispatch) – Sept. 4 – Associate Director of Executive MBA Career Coaching, Programming and Outreach Rachel Loock writes “How to Avoid a Bad Boss – And Join the Right Team.”

Retail Dive – Sept. 1 – “Retailers Take Expensive Measures to Clear Inventory Ahead of Peak Season” quotes Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: Businesses are employing a variety of tactics, including steep discounts, order cancellations and pack and hold strategies, in an attempt to clear their shelves of stagnant products and make room for holiday inventory. “None of them is a perfect tool, but retailers have to resort to them for lack of better options,” Jie Zhang, a marketing professor at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said in an email. … Markdowns and order cancellations, while effective in clearing excess stock, are “very hurtful” to retailers’ bottom lines, Zhang said. That is proving true for Nordstrom – the retailer estimates it will lose $200 million in gross profits in the second half of the year due to markdowns and clearance efforts.

Business Insider – Aug. 31 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass is quoted in “The 'Buffett Effect' Has Wiped About $35 Billion off BYD's Market Value – as Investors Fear Warren Buffett Will Sell More Shares of the Chinese EV Maker”: “Berkshire can sell up to an additional 5% of its shares, or almost 11 million shares, bringing its stake down to 19.0% without being required to report,” David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland, told Insider.

Breakbulk – Aug. 31 – “US Trucking’s Wild Ride: Topsy-Turvy of Pandemic-Era Trucking Not Over Yet” quotes Professor of Logistics Thomas Corsi: Supply chains of every type have been stressed nearly to breaking point. U.S. trucking has seen record-high rates and demand, with capacity shortages in some markets. Motor carriers and their partners continue to try to expand capacity, but efforts are being hampered… [Corsi] said, when asked if record rates could spark a capacity glut, that he has seen some softening in rates, but: “I wouldn’t think this environment will lead companies to make an over-investment in capacity.” In fact, he anticipates slower growth in the market going forward, and for the driver shortage to continue for some time. ... Corsi also said that as we look to the future, the diversification of equipment with driverless trucks, EVs and other innovations may have a more extensive impact on capacity and rates.

Maryland Daily Record – Aug. 31 ‘Smith School Relaunching Online Master of Science in Business Analytics’ announces a new iteration of the program with “both asynchronous learning and periodic live touchpoints with the faculty” and a first cohort starting in January 2023.

Wall Street Journal – Aug. 30 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender produces op-ed “Biden’s Outrageous Attack on PPP Loan Recipients: The Covid-era program provided for forgiveness because it mostly aided the borrowers’ employees” and further discusses the article and related issues via Fox Business and on 77 WABC New York’s Larry Kudlow Show.

CNBC – Aug. 30 – “Warren Buffett’s 91st Year Marked by a Huge Focus on Berkshire Hathaway’s Energy Empire” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: If Buffett pulls off an even bigger deal on Occidental, the Benjamin Graham acolyte will have come “full circle,” according to David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. In 1942 at the age of 11, Buffett bought his first stock — three shares of Cities Service’s preferred. Cities Service was bought by Occidental 40 years later, and Vicki Holub, now Occidental CEO, had worked with Cities Service at the time.

Bureaubiz (Denmark) – Aug. 30 – ‘Entrepreneurs as Crucial for Growth in the Danish Agency Industry’ extensively cites research by Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets (Danish-to-English translation): American professor Rajshree Agarwal from the University of Maryland can help understand the annoyances of agencies. She researches the development of industries and where new actors come from. New actors can come from three places. It can be from educational institutions. Think Mark Zuckerberg and Harvard. In a Danish context, it could be Mads Paaskesen and Kristian Larsen, who started PL & Partners while attending Køge Business School. It can also be what she calls 'able founders'. Some who have prior knowledge of the agency industry. And those who believe that it can be done in a better way… Professor Rajshree Agarwal has also found that new players emerge as a result of a technological innovation that the existing players are unsure of how to handle business-wise. The agency industry is hit every 18 months by a new marketing technological innovation. One of the bigger ones was when Google launched AdWords almost 20 years ago. It changed marketing in all categories. Or when Facebook gave us a new language in social media 15 years ago. All new agencies are born on the basis of an unmet customer need. A need which is a consequence of a recent marketing technological innovation.

GARP – Aug. 26 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi summarizes his recent white paper in his latest CRO Outlook column for the Global Association of Risk Professionals: “Multiple Credit Scores in Mortgage Lending: Understanding the Risks.” Summary: As policymakers consider allowing the use of multiple credit scores in mortgage underwriting, banks need to be alert to risks to lenders and consumers.

The Social Media Monthly – Aug. 26 – Dean’s Professor of Marketing P.K. Kannan examines Peloton’s rise and fall and how the company can get back to where it was, in “Getting Peloton Into Shape.”

Forbes – Aug. 25 – “Consumer Confidence Rises But Most Americans Are Spending Less” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: There’s a slight uptick in people saving more than usual: 12% compared to 10% a month ago. And 13% of respondents report putting more than usual toward their loans and credit card debt. These are two smart money moves during a recession, says David Kass, a clinical professor of finance at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. “Consumers under these conditions should consider paying down consumer debt and holding off on large purchases,” he adds… Most experts anticipate the Fed to deliver their fifth consecutive rate hike. While peak inflation may be close, the Fed is still wrestling with stubbornly high prices. Kass expects three more outsize rate increases in September, November and December, amounting to somewhere between 100 and 125 basis points in total. The current fed funds rate is 2.25% to 2.5% and the Fed predicts it will reach 3.1% to 3.6% by year’s end. “These rate hikes will raise consumer borrowing costs, for example, on home mortgage and automobile loans,” Kass says. “In addition, the fear of losing their jobs as the economy slows down will result in consumers saving more and spending less.”

U.S. News & World Report – Aug. 25 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez contributes to a “The 10 Best Times to Switch Jobs” slideshow, including “You’re feeling burned out,” “You no longer feel challenged” and “You’ve just finished a big project.” The full article, ‘Best Times to Switch Jobs,’ is at WTOP.

Forbes – Aug. 23 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “A Year After Confirming New Director, How Has The CFPB Fared?”: Even those used to the chaotic nature of politics have been surprised by the stark pendulum shifts at the CFPB from one administration to the next. “For most financial industry folks, I think they’d characterize it more as regulatory whiplash,” [says Rossi] … In July, the major credit reporting bureaus announced this debt would no longer be included in credit score calculations. The CFPB’s announcements on this topic helped bring about this change, says Rossi. Expect more from the CFPB in the next year on all these core issues, especially on emerging technology issues that have not been addressed. “There will be a big focus on nonbanks, and I think there should be. You’ll even hear the banks say this,” says Rossi, referring to the fintech companies that offer banking services like deposit accounts and mortgages but are not fully chartered banks by the FDIC … For cryptocurrency, the agency will stick to the consumer impacts as it plays catch-up on regulations, predicts Rossi. “They’re trying to help consumers have better transparency,” he says. The government has to sort out what it can do and which agency should take the lead in areas like crypto and artificial intelligence applications to financial services. “Regulators are always behind the eight ball where financial innovation takes place,” adds Rossi.

Wall Street Journal – Aug. 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Warren Buffett Not Expected to Bid for Control of Occidental Following Approval for Bigger Stake”: “There are other reasons to doubt a Berkshire takeover of Occidental is imminent. One of them is price, said David Kass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. … So far, Berkshire has bought virtually all of its Occidental shares at a price in the range of $50 to $60, Mr. Kass said. The highest price Berkshire paid was $60.37 in July, according to filings. Mr. Buffett is a well-known bargain-hunter, so it is difficult to imagine Berkshire rushing to buy more Occidental shares at the current price, Mr. Kass said. … At age 11 in 1942, Mr. Buffett made his first investment: three shares of Cities Service’s preferred stock. Forty years later, Occidental went on to acquire the oil company, which Ms. Hollub had just joined the year before. Mr. Buffett’s investment in Occidental this year shows his first stock purchases “coming full circle 80 years later,” Mr. Kass said.”

Fox Business – Aug. 19 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender analyzes ‘Federal Reserve Policies and Their Effects on the U.S. Economy,’ including: “While we’re seeing an increase in retail sales, we still have consumer sentiment at its lowest level in 50 years, and the housing market saw significant declines last quarter – such that were about 20 percent off from where we were a year ago. So, overall, I think GDP for third quarter is going to be pretty flat, even with the jobs growth we’ve seen recently. Consumers are going to pull back because of the price increases, particularly in food… I think we’re going to be pretty mild in terms of growth for the rest of the year.” … Faulkender continued his analysis of Fed policy and the economy on 77 WABC Radio’s Larry Kudlow Show (Aug. 20).

CNBC – Aug. 19 – “Warren Buffett Gets Permission to Buy Up to Half of Occidental Petroleum, Boosting the Shares” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said an acquisition down the road is likely. “I think it is likely that Buffett will buy the whole thing eventually. The 50% limit may have been set to receive FERC approval for a non-controlling stake,” Kass said. “He clearly plans to purchase additional shares. So far his maximum purchase price has been $60.37 per share.” … Seeking Alpha quotes Kass from CNBC in “Could Warren Buffett Really Buy Occidental Petroleum?” (Aug. 21).

HousingWire – Aug. 19 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Ginnie Mae’s Revised Requirements Reduce Risk.”

Clear Admit – Aug. 18 – “Admissions Director Q&A” features Senior Director of Admissions for MBA and Specialty Masters Programs Maria Pineda.

GARP – Aug. 17 – “Understanding the Risks of Multiple Credit Scores in Mortgage Lending” highlights and links to a new white paper by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi. Summary: Competition among credit score providers is heating up, with increased focus by regulators on expanding equitable access to credit for consumers with little or no credit experience. Dr. Clifford Rossi presents an empirical analysis of how to assess alternative credit scores and understand their impact on credit risk, profitability and efforts to expand credit to previously unscorable consumers.

Wall Street Journal – Aug. 15 – “Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Keeps Spending Through Volatile Markets” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Filings have shown some of that money went toward Occidental Petroleum Corp., another top holding. It is likely that the company’s 13F will show some of the remaining investment went toward buying more shares of Chevron, as well as Apple, said David Kass, finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Note: Article subsequently was updated minus, but confirming the accuracy of, Kass’ 13F prediction.

TalkMarkets – Aug. 14 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of the 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization” and “6 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Second Quarter Earnings Report” (Aug. 9).

The Hill – Aug. 12 – Research Professor and Academic Director of the Center for Global Business Kislaya Prasad writes op-ed “When it Comes to Green Energy, ‘Friend-Shoring’ Shouldn’t Cut Out China.”

Washington Post – Aug. 12 – “How Can Bad Weather Ruin Your Flight? Let us Count the Ways.” quotes Martin Dresner, professor and chair of the Logistics, Business and Public Policy Department: “It’s really frustrating when you go to the airport, and it’s beautiful there, but your plane’s coming from some place where it’s not so great,” said Martin Dresner, a professor at the University of Maryland’s R.H. Smith School of Business who studies air transport policy… Dresner, chair of the Air Transport Research Society, said it can take a few days to reposition planes and crew back to where they’re supposed to be in cases of serious disruption. And then there are the desperate travelers to consider. “Because the airlines are operating at fairly close to capacity, you have to fit in the passengers somewhere,” he said. “It’s difficult to reschedule the passengers if you don’t have available seats.”

B2B News Network – Aug. 11 – ‘B2B News for Thursday, August 11’ includes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin’s insight for effective negotiating – for professionals at any level: With lay-offs and labour shortages happening in tandem, it’s a good time for all workers to re-visit the fundamentals of negotiations. Practical advice comes from [Derfler-Rozin]. “The goal is to learn how to get to a place where you are happy with the negotiation outcome, and your partner is also happy with the outcome and wants to negotiate with you further in the future,” said Derfler-Rozin. “This is an invaluable skill in the dynamic business environment, in which reputation builds very quickly and is very important to maintain.”

Washington Times – Aug. 11 – Dean's Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender writes op-ed “The Latest Big Government Socialism Bill is the Wrong Answer for our Nation’s Problems.”

Finbold – Aug. 8 – “Dot-Com Bubble Explained | The True Story of 1995-2000 Stock Market” cites Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David A. Kirsch as founder the Dot Com Archive: Contrary to public opinion (that most dot-com companies failed), according to David Kirsch, director of the Dot Com Archive, 48% of dot-com businesses were still around in late 2004 (though at lower valuations). He adds that the dot-com survival rate is as good as or better than that for other technologies (e.g., automobiles, TVs) in their formative years.

Al Araby TV (via Twitter) – Aug. 7 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in coverage of an Arabic-language report on the U.S. Congress debate on recession (via Twitter).

Fortune – Aug. 5 – “U.S. Companies are Hoarding More and More Cash Overseas” cites research co-authored by Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender.

Fox Business – Aug. 5 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains why the Inflation Reduction Act would ‘have the opposite effect’ in a segment titled “Senate to Vote on Dems' Inflation Reduction Act Tomorrow.” Related: Faulkender co-authors op-ed in the Washington Times: “The Biden Administration’s Recession Has Arrived. Just Don’t Call It That.” (Aug. 5).

One Vision (via Irish Tech News) – Aug. 4 – Nima Farshchi, executive director of alumni and corporate engagement and director of the Center for Social Value Creation, discusses multiple Maryland Smith initiatives to ‘Create a Better World Through Business Principles.”

Bethesda Magazine – Aug. 2 – “Female Candidates Say Greater Representation on County Council Would Benefit County Other Candidates” references Jacqueline Manger, managing director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets: …[I]ncreasing the number of female voices could force the legislative and executive branches of county government to engage in more difficult, but productive conversations on issues facing the county. Jacqueline Manger, currently trailing Luedtke in the District 7 race, said she’s conducted research that shows that diversity in companies — both in terms of gender and ethnicity — can often lead to better outcomes.

July 2022

Poets & Quants – July 30 – The Best & Brightest Executive MBAs Of 2022 profiles Maryland Smith’s Aimee Smart and Sira Duson, includes: The best business schools attract the top talent. Make no mistake, the 2022 Best & Brightest EMBAs are as accomplished and decorated as they come… Sira Duson founded the Society of Black Vascular Surgeons after entering the EMBA program at the University of Maryland’s Smith School… The publication further quotes Clinical Professor of Marketing Judy Frels (“Sira is a surgeon and a medical school faculty member, yet she doesn’t wield her credentials as a reason people should listen to her or follow her. People follow her because she’s done the quiet, relentless, hard work of earning every single person’s respect.”) and Research Professor Kislaya Prasad (“I recall expressing amazement at how [Smart] managed to juggle so much so well in both her professional and personal life. Over the course of the semester, I had the chance to personally witness her focus, hard work, and determination to learn an initially unfamiliar subject.”)

Just the News – July 28 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses current U.S. economic policy, including whether we are in the midst of recession and stagflation, in “Just the News, Not the Noise” (begins at 52:10): “Traditionally we would consider two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth to be a recession, and the Commerce Department came out this morning and gave us that report – we lost 1.6 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter of 2022 and we lost another 0.9 percent, annualized, this most recent quarter. Historically, that’s how we’d define a recession... We have high inflation – the highest we have seen in 40 years – 9.1 percent, year over year, was reported last month. And we’re now at two quarters in a row of negative growth. So, stagflation generally is thought of as low to negative growth with high increases in prices. It’s stagnant inflation, and that’s exactly what we’ve got.”

Boca Raton Observer – July 25 – “Mind Your Manners: The Rise of Rudeness” quotes management professor Trevor Foulk and references his research: Unfortunately, research has found that rudeness can spread like wildfire and is as contagious as the common cold. According to a study conducted [by Foulk], someone who is treated with disrespect is either more likely to behave rudely towards others or is more sensitive to others’ comments. The study found that our mindset is incredibly affected by exposure to rude behavior. “When rudeness is on our minds, it tends to color our interpretation of others’ behaviors and not give them the benefit of the doubt,” Foulk wrote in a piece published by Psychology Today. “We tend to see the world through ‘rude-colored glasses,’ interpreting even benign interactions with others as potentially harmful or threatening.”

FIND MBA – July 25 – “Top 10 Online MBAs for Switching Careers” highlights Maryland Smith as among such programs: Online MBA students looking for a more expansive and comprehensive experience can select the General Track at Maryland: Smith, which provides a look at the key concepts across various disciplines. There are ample opportunities for online participants to gain the skills and expertise they need for a wide variety of careers, from finance and accounting to marketing and sales, operations and production.

Newswise – July 18 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi explains why “The Fed Stress’ Non-Transparency Hampers Banks.”

Baltimore Banner – July 18 – G. “Anand” Anandalingam, Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science, comments in “What Maryland’s Governor Can do About Gas, Inflation and the Economy,” including: States can give corporate tax breaks, or tax holidays, for years at a time, and give away land or ease the building costs of related infrastructure, like roads, sidewalks and utilities, Anandalingam said. Enriching the state’s secondary education system can also encourage corporate investment. “Companies like to locate themselves in places where they can hire well-educated and really talented young people,” he said.

Marketplace Radio – July 15 – Albert “Pete” Kyle, Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, helps answer “Where did the stock market’s $7 trillion loss in value go?”: When headlines proclaim that these markets have declined by a certain amount, what they’re basically saying is that if you sold shares today, you would receive less in payment than if you had sold it at some point in the past when the price was higher, [explained Kyle] “It’s what historically people have called ‘paper losses,’” Kyle said. “But it’s real money for someone who actually is going to sell now as opposed to having sold out several months ago.”

GARP – July 15 – In a CRO Outlook column for the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes: “Avoiding the Model Myopia Trap.” Summary: We're witnessing an analytics revolution these days where machine learning and data science are coming to the forefront of many areas of business and risk management analytics. These techniques offer tremendous opportunities to improve our insights into risk management, but we also need to avoid the "calculator syndrome." When handheld calculators became a commonplace sight (including apps on virtually every mobile phone) the joke is that it allowed our basic math skills to atrophy. We need to be on guard, particularly new modelers so that they don't fall into the trap of becoming so overly enamored with the technique that they lose their ability to develop models based on business and economic relationships and not be dependent on what a black box algorithm spits out. The art and science of modeling holds as much as it does for risk management.

B2B News Network – July 15 – ‘What’s Up With Elon’ quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David A. Kirsch: “Musk’s general argument – that somehow he was surprised by the extent of bots on Twitter – doesn’t pass the laugh test because even if Musk didn’t order the fanbots that we observed, he’s known they were there – in many cases for seven or more years – or longer than we’ve had computational corporate propaganda,” Kirsch said. “We date the public debate about computational propaganda to its political manifestations in the 2016 elections here and in the U.K., but we found corporate activity predated political propaganda by several years.” … Related: Kirsch draws from his research on pro-Tesla Twitter bots to explain “Elon Musk’s Irony: Bots, the Impetus to Abandon His Twitter Deal, Have Propelled Tesla, via Science Newsnet (July 13).

Marketplace Radio – July 14 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “JPMorgan Pauses Stock Buybacks as Profits Slump”: “We don’t know if this’ll be a Category 1 hurricane or a Category 5 hurricane,” [said Kass]. “An appropriate defensive strategy by large corporations would be, ‘Hey, maybe we should start conserving our cash now.’”

Al Araby TV (via Twitter) – July 14 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “A Judicial Confrontation Between Twitter and Elon Musk” … Kass gives related analysis via “Musk’s Buyer’s Remorse and Potential Deal Outcomes” at Science Newsnet (July 12).

Wall Street Journal – July 13 – “Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Adds to Big Oil Bet” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Generally accepted accounting principles recommend that investors include a proportionate share of a company’s earnings in their own results once they own at least 20% of the company’s common stock. With analysts expecting Occidental to report about $10 billion in earnings this year, Berkshire could increase its reported profit by about $2 billion if it winds up acquiring 20% of Occidental’s shares, according to David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. That would be a significant lift for Berkshire. At the moment, the company only includes Occidental’s dividend payments—less than $100 million annually—in its earnings, Mr. Kass said. Last year, Berkshire posted a record profit of about $90 billion.

Los Angeles Business Journal – July 13 – “Women Managers Competitively Advocate for Subordinates” overviews research by Cristian Dezsö, Associate Professor in the Logistics, Business and Public Policy department.

WalletHub – July 11 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust contributes to the Ask the Experts segment of “Best Capital One Credit Cards.”

Maryland Daily Record – July 7 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Business Leaders Struggle to Have Confidence in the US Economy, Survey Says”: Despite the lack of optimism in the current economy, [Kass] does not expect the economy to remain at this state for too long. “Even if we go into a recession, the Federal Reserve and Congress can act to offset it. Within a year we’ll be out of it. It’s not going to be a recession like the Great Depression that lasted many years.” Kass also mentioned that the unemployment rate was at 25% during the Great Depression, whereas right now it is at 3.7%. Kass said the concerns of business leaders are legitimate, but that the business climate overall remains stable. “Right now, we haven’t faced this inflation problem in 40 years, so maybe we aren’t as used to it as we would be,” Kass said. “A lot of the concern is certainly justified. We need to get through this period, but in my opinion, the pessimism is a bit extreme.”

WRAL – July 4 – “Fact Check: Biden Says 'Inflation is Higher' in Other Developed Nations” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “The Biden administration and its allies in Congress provided entirely too much stimulus into an economy that was already dealing with supply shortages,[" said Faulkender]. "This is necessarily inflationary and was totally predictable.”

TalkMarkets – July 2 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of the 6 Largest U.S. Stocks By Market Capitalization – Half-Year.”

June 2022

ABC News – June 30 – Are record corporate profits driving inflation? Here's what experts think” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: [Faulkender] compared companies charging high prices to an individual who puts his or her home on the market at a favorable time. “Let’s say I bought a house five years ago, and I’m looking to sell it for whatever reason. Do I price it at what the market will bear or what I bought it for plus a politically correct predetermined markup?” he said. “I’m going to price it at what the market can bear.” The high prices at the grocery store or the pump are the expected outcome of a market in which individuals have ample money to spend but few products to buy, Faulkender said. “The limited supply available goes to those with the highest value,” he said. “The profits then generated are a consequence but not the cause.”

Yahoo News – June 30 – A “Liquidity and Capital Risk Webinar Set for July 20” will be led by Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi, with experts from Deloitte and Ginnie Mae.

Maryland Daily Record – June 29 – “UMD Business School Filling Second Cohort of Blockchain Business Imperative” previews the session starting July 11, including: Over its six weeks the program covers economic inefficiencies that blockchain will impact, an overview of foundational blockchain technologies, a conceptual understanding of blockchain, implementation details for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Hyperledger, exploration of various blockchain business applications including NFTs, DeFi, CBDC and potential opportunities and challenges stemming from blockchain.

USA Today – June 28 – Rachel Loock, associate director of executive MBA career coaching, programming and outreach, gives career advice in a “How to Approach In-Person Networking Again” guest column.

American Banker – June 28 – “Red States' Pushback on Guns, Abortion, Climate Puts Banks in Bind” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: The partisan back-and-forth on climate change is placing banks between “a rock and a hard place,” [said Rossi]. “They know they have to comply with regulatory requirements that are coming,” said Rossi, a former chief risk officer at Citigroup and the founder of the consulting firm Chesapeake Risk Advisors. “At the same time, if states were to pull or divert their funding, that’s real financial hardship that they have to deal with today.”

CityWire Selector – June 28 – Russell Wermers – “How we Identify the Best Ideas From the World's Best Investors” cites research by Russell Wermers, the Paul J. Cinquegrana '63 Endowed Chair in Finance and Director of the Center for Financial Policy: In 2012, academics Russ Wermers and Tong Yao, along with investor Jane Zhao, found (here) that stocks that were held in greater weight on aggregate by previously successful managers tended to outperform.

NBC News – June 27 – “Microsoft is Removing Emotion Recognition Features from its Facial Recognition Tech,” cites Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue’s research: In addition to critiquing the scientific basis of emotion AI, the human rights groups also asserted that emotion AI is manipulative and discriminatory. A study [by Rhue] found that across two different facial recognition softwares (including Microsoft’s), emotion AI consistently interpreted Black subjects as having more negative emotions than white subjects. One AI read Black subjects as angrier than white subjects, while Microsoft’s AI read Black subjects as portraying more contempt.

WalletHub – June 27 – Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani gives credit card advice in an “Ask the Experts Q&A.”

GARP – June 24 – “Getting Schooled on Risk: Graduate Programs Cultivate Talent for the Times” describes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi’s production and leadership of experiential learning projects for Smith graduate students, including: This spring semester, two teams of University of Maryland students participated in seven-week, experiential learning projects involving extensive data analysis – assignments the academic said he arranged along with sponsors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. …The Fannie cohort built a comprehensive housing market risk index, while the Freddie team developed a financial flood risk vulnerability score for the 283 U.S. counties most at risk according to the First Street Foundation Flood Model. [Rossi] explained that students learned how to collaborate as colleagues; put together and preside over a project from start to finish; and communicate technically-complicated information to senior managers – including a CRO and regulators in attendance. … As to the significance of this for students and potential employers, Rossi remarked, “Almost to a person, I hear students say that when they go for job interviews, this is all their prospective employers want to talk about.” ... “It’s a high-class vocational program,” he said.

Kiplinger – June 24 – “Could Buffett Buy Out Occidental Petroleum (OXY)?” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Buffett has been consistently adding to his stake in Occidental this year when its price dropped,” says David Kass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and noted Buffett expert. “He has at least a five-to-10-year time horizon,” Kass adds, “and will take advantage of market volatility to add to his stake when the opportunity drops into his lap.”

Wall Street Journal – June 23 – “Congress Unlikely to Heed Biden’s Call for Three-Month Suspension of Gas Tax” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: Michael Faulkender, who was assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the Trump administration, said some of the benefits of a potential holiday would likely be offset without a corresponding increase in gas supplies. That is because the holiday would likely boost Americans’ demand for gas, putting upward pressure on underlying prices, he said... “The fundamental problem is that there is insufficient supply,” said Mr. Faulkender. “A gas tax holiday solves a political problem, not an economic problem.” … WSJ’s What Is a Federal Gas Tax Holiday? And How Much Would You Save at the Pump?” requotes Faulkender.

PolitiFact – June 22 – “Fact-Checking Joe Biden on Inflation Rates Among US’s Economic Peers” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “The Biden administration and its allies in Congress provided entirely too much stimulus into an economy that was already dealing with supply shortages… This is necessarily inflationary and was totally predictable.”

Forbes – June 21 - Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal writes “Why The AICO Act Will Threaten Consumers And Merchants’ Ability To Choose And Stifle Innovation.”

Seeking Alpha – June 21 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives “14 Stocks for Midyear 2022.”

FIND MBA – June 21 – “One Degree, Two Formats: Distinction Blurs Between Online and In-Person MBAs” quotes Clinical Professor of Management Paulo Prochno: At Maryland University’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Online MBAs participate in virtual job fairs and mock interviews facilitated by the Office of Career Services. In addition, live sessions via Zoom are part of every course, with students encouraged to keep their cameras turned on so everyone can see one another’s reactions during discussions. “These sessions typically include virtual breakout rooms for small group discussions. Collectively, this format works to increase self-awareness and aptitude for collaborating and exchanging knowledge with peers,” [says Prochno]. He insists that the online program provides exactly the same MBA degree, but with changes in the sequence of courses and format of delivery. A key, supporting factor at Maryland Smith is that Online MBA students collaborate with the same faculty who deliver the school’s on-campus programs.

USA Today Network (via The Columbus Dispatch) – June 19 – Associate Director of Executive MBA Career Coaching, Programming and Outreach Rachel Loock gives career advice in “No Summer Vacation for Job Searches.”

Grid – June 19 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C. Boyd III explains how Juneteenth has gained new prominence and how it can evolve into a national recognition of the past, in “How Companies Can Avoid a ‘Juneteenth Ice Cream’ Mess.”

Seeking Alpha – June 18 – Berkshire Hathaway: “Berkshire Hathaway: Hit to Book Value Could be Drastic But a Buying Opportunity Comes With it” references prior related analysis by Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass. Related: Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of Largest U.S. Companies by Market Capitalization for June 18,” via TalkMarkets.

GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) – June 17 – For his latest CRO Outlook column, Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Can Your ERM Framework Accommodate Risk Entanglement?”

Wired – June 16 – “After Layoffs, Crypto Startups Face a ‘Crucible Moment’” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, including: “It could be that crypto is the canary in the coal mine,” [says Kirsch]. He describes the contractions in crypto startups as one potential signal of “a great unraveling,” where more startups are evaluated for how well they can deliver on their promises. If history is any indication, those that can’t are fated for “the death spiral.”

Baltimore Sun – June 16 – Dean’s Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan comments in “How Baltimore-Area Consumers are Handling ‘Sticker Shock’ at the Grocery Store,” including: Consumers have come to expect to pay certain amounts for food products, giving them price reference points in the grocery store and elsewhere, and during inflationary times, sticker shock inevitably sets in, [said Kannan]. “That gets ‘encoded’ as a loss, and sometimes these losses that you feel can really play a big role in how you will react,” Kannan said. Consumers are likely to feel the “loss” of a price hike more acutely than the “gain” of a discount, behavioral economists say. And, Kannan said, they tend to respond by changing habits, limiting impulse buying, comparing prices among multiple stores, buying vegetables at one place and packaged goods at another, or buying in bulk. “They are trying to reduce the total amount of spending on food and other things,” he said. But “given that prices are rising all over, they may not be able to do that very well.” … Manufacturers that explain price increases as a result of factors such as higher shipping and raw materials costs might be better at retaining customers and market share, Kannan said… “Being transparent about the reasons for the price increase may get them some Brownie points from consumers,” he said. “They don’t want to be seen as a manufacturer who is price gouging.”

DIG (Digital Innovation for Growth) – June 16 – In “Reflections from Maryland,” Norwegian School of Economics PhD student Oskar Bolin describes his six-month study under Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, including: As part of my PhD at NHH, a six-month research stay at the University of Maryland has been included. Consequently, I had the opportunity to audit a PhD-level course on Strategic Marketing by Professor Roland Rust at Smith school of Business. Rust is the co-author of the book “Feeling Economy: How artificial intelligence is creating the new era of empathy” (2021). In the book, Rust and Ming-Hui Huang of National Taiwan University argue that manufacturing technology (e.g., industrial robots) is the pillar of the physical economy, information technology (e.g., mechanical AI) is the driving force of the thinking economy, and AI (cognitive technology) is the backbone of the feeling economy… Related: Rust’s and Huang’s research is the focus of “Don’t Want AI To Steal Your Job? Prepare Yourself With ‘Feeling Tasks’” (June 15) at EdTimes.

USA Today – June 15 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez gives career advice in “Career Burnout? Here's How to Fix it.”

DATAQUEST Magazine – June 14 – In his guest column on cybersecurity, “The Invisible Thread in Our Digital World,” EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance Lawrence A. Gordon explains why “having a well-mapped approach, clear frameworks and investment models can equip organizations for surviving confidently in a world punctuated with attacks, breaches, and bad actors.”

Observer – June 13 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender explains CEO compensation in “CEO Pay Jumped 16 Percent Last Year, the Biggest Increase in Seven Years”: Much of CEO compensation is received in stocks or stock-option awards. And that explains the big jump in their pay, said Faulkender]. “When the market performs as well as it did in 2021—the S&P 500 rose 26.9 percent—and considering that CEO pay is incentive based, it’s not surprising,” Faulkender said. “This year, if the S&P 500 continues to fall, you would expect to see CEO compensation come down.” Perhaps we shouldn’t be so scandalized by the high CEO salaries, Faulkender said. Many of the big companies have grown and are no longer regional but are now global, he added. CEO pay has grown with the size of the business. “As a percentage of the value of the company, CEO compensation hasn’t risen all that much although the absolute dollar amount has,” Faulkender said. “If you look at people at the tip top of their professions—athletes and lawyers for example—you see massive increases in compensation.”

Poets & Quants – June 12 – Maryland Smith’s Anthony Duellman and Lynze Hagan are profiled among the “Best & Brightest Online MBAs: Class Of 2022.”

Observer – June 9 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments in “Target’s Inventory Problem Won’t be Easy to Fix,” including: Retail companies like Target make decisions way ahead of time, [said Zhang], “For some it’s about a year ahead of time when they decide what to order and how much to buy from vendors,” Zhang said. “They made their predictions around this time last year when there was surging demand. They thought that demand would stick. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t.” Back in the spring of 2021 people had quite a bit of cash on hand, Zhang said. “They spent it on home improvements,” she added. “Demand was high for home office furnishings and for items needed for kids attending school virtually.” … So Target and others have opted to sell unpopular items at deep discounts and to cancel orders from suppliers, Zhang said. “They’d rather pay a penalty fee to suppliers for cancellation than have more products shipped and add to the already excessive inventory.”

WalletHub Ask the Experts – June 9 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger answers “What should drivers consider when determining their liability coverage levels?,” including: “Conclusion: While state laws might limit the dollar amount of a compensatory liability award, these are always significantly above the minimum coverage amount. As a result, minimum state liability coverage for auto insurance is not feasible for most of us. Generally, the $250,000/$500,000 choice will be the most prudent.”

Truck Transport News – June 8 – “Coercion Claims by Drivers At Record Breaking Levels” quotes Michelle L. Smith Professor of Logistics Thomas Corsi: But coercion and its effect on exacerbating fatigue “is definitely still a problem,” [said Corsi] “I serve as an expert witness on accident cases that overwhelmingly occur when drivers are working on not enough sleep and end up plowing into a car because they’re working way too many hours,’’ Corsi said. “They’re on very strict time commitments that a broker or a carrier made to a client, but there are huge safety implications. These guys clearly are really stretched.”

Observer – June 8 – "Biden’s Easing of Tariffs on Solar Panels Won’t Erase All the Obstacles to Solar Expansion in the U.S.” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: Biden’s plan “should lead to a greater supply of solar panels being imported and a greater output of electricity produced by solar,” said Kass]. “But the other side of the coin is that we also are trying to increase our own capacity to manufacture solar panels and this will actually slow down our path to self-sufficiency.”

Maryland Today – June 8 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C Boyd III discusses companies’ mistakes in commercializing Juneteenth in “Why Companies Can’t Treat Every Holiday as a ‘Holiday.’”

Protocol – June 6 – “Musk Can't Blame Bots to Get Out of the Twitter Deal” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Musk does not have any ground to stand on to void the agreement that he signed,” [Kass] told Protocol. Kass said Musk has two ways out of the acquisition: One would be a regulatory holdup, which doesn’t look likely now that the FTC’s window to intervene has closed. The other would be if Musk doesn’t gather enough debt funding for the deal to happen, in which case he’d pay Twitter $1 billion and break up with the company once and for all. … Also from Kass: He gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of Largest U.S. Companies By Market Capitalization,” (for June 4) via TalkMarkets.

New York Times – June 3 – “‘Greedflation’ Rewriting Economics, or Do Old Rules Still Apply?” quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender: “With a price adjustment, people who have substitutes or maybe can do with less of it will choose to consume less of it, and you have the allocation of goods for which there is a shortage go to the highest-value usage,” Dr. Faulkender said. “Every good in our society is based on pricing. People who make more money are able to consume more.”

Observer – June 3 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Henry C Boyd III comments in “All Shook Up: Elvis-Themed Weddings in Las Vegas Are Canceled in a Trademark Crackdown,” including: In general, “once you file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office it’s your job to look over the landscape and if someone is using your trademark without your permission, it’s trademark infringement,” says [Boyd]. “You have to be your own watchdog.” Trademarked names can be worth a lot and company trademarks can be worth billions. Companies that don’t keep an eye out for infringers could lose control of their trademarks, Boyd says. “You don’t want your mark to become generic, or to engage in full or partial abandonment of the mark.” Just ask Kimberly-Clark, owner of Kleenex. Boyd was surprised that ABG just now decided to go after trademark infringers. “ABG acquired Elvis around 2013,” he says. “So we’re talking almost a 10-year window. There have always been Elvis wedding chapels and themed parties in Vegas. Why exercise that right now?” The trademark laws don’t apply to Elvis live shows or tributes, Boyd says. That’s because there is a right of publicity statute, he says. Still, the publicity exception doesn’t cover everything. “If I use Elvis to draw people into a store, by having everyone dressed as Elvis, so customers can say they bought their iPhone from Elvis—that’s not going to fly,” Boyd says. This might be a case where the trademark owners are shooting themselves in the foot…

TAdvisor – June 2 – “How Robotics and Automation will Inform Supply Chains” quotes Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya: Most companies spend less than $10 million on cloud technology The cloud is at an important transition point, [said Acharya]. He compared it to how drivers moved from using paper maps to apps like Google Maps and Waze. “They all take drivers from point A to point B, but apps constantly use new information about things like accidents, construction and weather to tell drivers where to go to save time and nerves. We're really comfortable getting real-time information that they can use to make real-time decisions. Supply chains are undergoing such transformation,” Acharya said.

Observer – June 2 – Dean’s Professor of Entrepreneurship Brent Goldfarb comments in “Seattle’s New Law Makes Gig Work Pay More Like Regular Employment”: Right now it’s not possible to know exactly how things will shake out after such laws go into effect, [said Goldfarb]. “Two things could happen if you increase wages for the gig worker in Uber or Lyft: The company eats the difference or they raise the cost of rides,” Goldfarb said. “If the company raises the cost of rides, then fewer people may take rides at the higher prices and then there would be less work to go around,” Goldfarb said. … When a single company raises the price, then consumers may turn to a competitor, Goldfarb said. But if a new law forces all companies to raise their prices then the outcome will depend on the elasticity of demand. “I’m guessing the companies themselves may not know the answer to this,” he added.

Destination CRM – June 1 – Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou contributes to “Putting Your Business to the Text”: [According to Zhou], the cost of acquiring new customers is also lower with messaging, given that these platforms already have a vast user base. “Also, the ease of use and convenience has made these platforms a great channel to interact with customers,” Zhou says. “Customers do not need to visit a brand’s main webpage to engage with it. And from the brand’s perspective, the costs of developing and maintaining the presence on third-party messaging platforms can be lower than operating their own online stores, giving brands extra incentives to rely on these messaging platforms.” …Zhou further cautions that reliance on third-party messaging can also lead to loss of full control over the interaction environment with consumers (compared to, for example, interaction on your company’s own website), a potential loss of rich behavioral data depending on the agreement with the platform, and increased consumer expectation regarding the speed of response.

Observer – June 1 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Biden’s Housing Plan Sounds Good in Theory But Needs Lots of Help If It’s Going to Work,” including: Standing in the way are the folks who think there should be more affordable housing, just not in their backyards, [said Rossi]. On the financial side of things, the administration is pushing for Fannie Mae and its sister company, Freddie Mac, to make changes in what they’re willing to buy from banks. Fannie Mae could change its rules so that it could purchase loans made to builders before a multifamily dwelling is constructed, for example. And Freddie Mac could write new rules for “chattel loans,” which are made for mobile homes, but not the land they will sit on, Rossi said. The problem with these chattel loans is that they tend to be shorter term and more costly than typical mortgages, Rossi said. If Freddie Mac could come up with a way to solve that problem, “that would be a game changer for the market that needs it to be on board,” he added. The administration also would like to promote modular housing like mobile homes, which are cheaper than the standard on-site construction. The cost savings are “the reason why the administration wants to promote scaling up of those homes,” Rossi said. But there’s been some pushback from builders who don’t like the competition.

May 2022

The Hill – May 30 – “SEC Looms Over Musk-Twitter Deal” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: By filing that disclosure after the 10-day deadline, Musk may have netted $156 million according to University of Maryland business school professor David Kass. “Either he’s underpaid by $156 million by withholding this information, or he had $156 million profit as a result of holding this information,” he explained. “And of course shareholders who sold their shares during this time period… were in effect shortchanged.” … More from David Kass: He gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of Largest U.S. Companies By Market Capitalization” (for May 21), via TalkMarkets.

Observer – May 28 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr comments in “As Apple Store Workers Organize, the Company Pushes an Anti-Union Message”: Research shows that unions tend to be good on average for workers, [said Starr]. Studies show that “there is roughly between 10 and 20 percent wage bump,” Starr said. “Union workers are also more likely to have health insurance, pensions and retirement savings vehicles.” While it’s clear the average worker benefits from being part of a union, some individual workers might be hurt by unionization, Starr said. “If you’re somebody with a potential for high income, someone who would shoot up the ranks and gets lots of outside offers, it can be negative,” he added. “This type of person might not want to be encumbered by having a union negotiate for them.” Also, because many unionized companies value seniority, someone who is new to the company might not fare as well as they would in a non-union company, Starr said. Similarly, if the company needs to lay off workers, the rule is often last-hired, first-fired, regardless of how productive the worker is.

SHRM – May 27 – “AI Adoption Will Cause Workforce Reorganization” summarizes Assistant Professor of Finance Alex Xi He’s research and includes his comments, including: A junior-level worker entering the workforce will know more about how to use AI data to make predictions, [said He]. "We found that AI is making the firm less top-heavy and flatter. It's not surprising, because AI has the ability to make predictions and that makes the entry-level workers more capable to make decisions. They can do more, and there is less need for middle managers.”

Observer – May 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “Long Covid Will Have a Massive Impact on the U.S. Economy”: Based on the new numbers, long Covid is likely to have a major impact both on the healthcare system because many of these patients will need years of care, and to the general economy because of the loss to the workforce of people with severe symptoms having to quit work. “The 18 to 64 year old group is the working age population,” [said Kass]. With people withdrawing from the workforce, that increases wage pressure during a time when there is already a shortage of workers.” One good thing for these workers is the greater acceptance of work from home, Kass said. “Those with long Covid may still be able to work from home to some extent, but probably not as effectively as they would have if not for long Covid,” he added.

FIND MBA – May 25 – Assistant Dean and Executive Director of Career Services Neta Moye comments in “Online MBA Degrees Come of Age”: “This stigma is lessening, and a strong factor is the reputation of the institution which grants the degree and its accreditation,” says Neta Moye, assistant dean and executive director of career services for the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in the US. The Smith School is accredited by AACSB International, a leading accrediting agency for master’s degree programs in business administration. And like Loades, Moye says that students receive the same MBA degree and diploma from the institution regardless of the format. Moreover, in the current red-hot job market, employers are reaching out to career centers at business schools not just for traditional full-time MBA hiring intakes, but for all openings where MBA skills are sought. “If an employer is posting a ‘just in time’ job with us, they want access to students in all our programs and do not differentiate,” says Moye. “We consider this a great thing. Our talent bench is deep, and employers appreciate that right now.”

Washington Center for Equitable Growth – May 25 – Assistant Professor of Finance Bruno Pellegrino co-authors “Common Ownership in the U.S. Economy,” summarizing his ‘Tale of Two Networks’ research. … Related: Pellegrino co-authors “A Tale of Two Networks: Common Ownership and Product Market Rivalry” (May 20) via Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

New York Times – May 24 – Professor of the Practice Suresh Acharya comments in “Help! The Airline Changed My Flight Itinerary (for the Worse),” including: The six airlines (American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue) I asked would not provide specific data. To be fair, such figures would be very complicated, since many airlines schedule flights 330 days in advance that are “essentially placeholders,” [said Acharya], who has worked on airline optimization systems for two decades. The schedules solidify 90 to 180 days in advance, he said, and many changes — like a switch to a larger aircraft — are barely noticeable to customers. That matters because, according to Professor Acharya, airline algorithms rank passengers in order of importance, based on variables that might include fare class, loyalty status, whether you paid in miles or dollars, how big your group is and whether you’re an airline employee.

MoneyWeek – May 23 – “JD Sports Will Get Back on Track – Here's How to Play it” (Sportswear retailer JD Sports was a profitable trade in 2019 and is worth watching again) cites research by Dean’s Professor of Finance Jeffrey Tate: Similarly, a 2009 study by Ulrike Malmendier of the Haas School of Business and Geoffrey Tate of the University of Maryland found that the US firms whose CEOs won a major award lagged the market by as much as 26% over the next three years.

CNN Business – May 20 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Rellie Derfler-Rozin comments in “Prices Are Rising. How Much Should Your Salary Increase?”: If you have an offer and the salary falls short of what you were hoping to make, don't be shy about negotiating -- just be sure to do your homework first. "There is more leverage, there is a shortage of labor, companies need good employees, and, with inflation, it is justified to ask for more," [said Derfler-Rozin]. "There is room to negotiate. The key part is the preparation." …"I encourage people to go beyond what you find on the web," said Derfler-Rozin. "If you know people that have worked there or worked in a similar place, try to have a conversation with them informally and get their advice. People are usually more willing to help and mentor... than we actually anticipate." … While inflation can be part of your reason for negotiating a higher salary, Derfler-Rozin said it shouldn't be the central argument. Instead, she said to put most of the focus on your unique skills and values. After showing excitement for the offer, she recommended saying something like: "I would hope we can discuss something that appropriately reflects the value I am bringing to the company based on my past performance, skills and education. Also, naturally taking into account factors such as the location cost of living and the rising inflation."

American Banker – May 20 – “Banks’ Hidden Role in the Carbon Footprints of Large Corporations” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Banks have pushed back on the “tricky business” of reporting the financed emissions of corporate cash holdings because they are cautious about passing information to their clients that’s dependent on measurements collected at the portfolio company level, [said Rossi]. “I can’t imagine having to wrap my arms around the types of information for all the levers we need at a company level to do that on a reliable basis.”

Forbes – May 20 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments extensively in “The Great Retail Reset Hits the Bullseye: Getting Back On Target,” including: [Kass also noted the tightrope that the Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is walking regarding a “soft landing” as they tighten monetary policy in tandem with consumers already beginning to change their spending patterns… Like a doctor making a prognosis, Dr. Kass noted that we have learned to expect a recession about every 10-years, and it is particularly true when we experience the parallel effects of both monetary and fiscal policy tightening, combined with high inflation. On a positive note, he stated that the economy is still strong with only a 3.6% unemployment rate, closing on the lowest unemployment in 15 years. He believes that there is less than a 50% chance of a full-blown recession. He further postulated that inflation should be down to between 4-5% by year’s end.

Observer – May 19 – Research Professor and Center for Global Business Academic Director Kislaya Prasad comments in “New Sanctions on Russia Could Trigger a Default That Will Be Felt Across the Global Economy”: A default’s “direct effect would be on Russia itself and to some extent also on those holding the debt—a good amount of which is held by western banks,” [said Prasad]. Bond holders most likely wouldn’t lose everything, Prasad said. “It’s likely there would be some attempt to renegotiate and pay at a later date,” he added. “In other cases (of default), such as Argentina, there have always been people to buy up debt at a discount who have the ability to wait longer or the ability to press their case to get repaid at a higher rate.” ... The other side of the coin is that Russians are not able to buy technology and luxury goods, Prasad said. “That’s a big problem for the Russians,” he added. Still, Prasad thinks the future for Russia and Russians might not be so dire – as long as the economy continues to receive support from China. “Russian foreign debt is small,” he said. “They are getting enough money from oil sales, and they don’t need to borrow much in international markets right now.”

Medical News Today – May 19 – “How has the Pandemic Changed Our Behavior?” cites recent comments on consumer behavior by Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang: Moving forward, these and other pandemic-fueled spending habits may have changed consumer behavior long-term. For instance, according to Prof. Jie Zhang, professor of marketing, and Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, people are now shopping online more. They are also buying more staple items in bulk, and investing in at-home entertainment options, she notes in an interview.

Observer – May 19 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender contributes to “In Tech, the Rich Get Richer as Big Companies Raise Pay While Struggling Startups Lay Off Workers”: Another important data point: Quit rates are the highest on record, [said Faulkender]. If you want to retain talent in an inflationary period, you need to raise salaries, he added. Some tech companies may be cutting back staff hired to facilitate work from home during the pandemic, Faulkender said. “Some tech firms that supported larger scale activity don’t need that many workers anymore,” he added. Moreover, even though overall there is strong demand for tech workers, that doesn’t apply to all companies, Faulkender said. “Startups are inherently more risky especially if they have models that are not proven,” he added. “There’s less capital out there funding new ventures now and that will hit startups more acutely. When the economy is tightening you look for them to fail more quickly than established entities.”

CNBC – May 17 – “The 2022 Disruptor 50: How We Chose the List of Companies” cites Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Anil K. Gupta as among the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council members “who again offered us their time and insights.”

Observer – May 17 – Orkand Corporation Professor of Management Science Zhi-Long Chen comments in “The US Food and Drug Administration Shares the Blame in the Baby Formula Shortage”: Back in early 2020, during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, “a lot of people were going to the grocery store and buying a lot of basic items, including baby formula,” said [Chen]. “So, at that time there was a lot of demand,” Chen said. “As the virus situation improved, that led to lower demand. The baby formula manufacturers saw there was much lower demand and they cut production.” … Normally the demand for baby formula is very stable, Chen said. And because manufacturers were responding to a short term “demand distortion,” rather than looking at what might happen long term, there’s a shortfall now. Fixing the problem will take time because companies ordered smaller amounts of the ingredients necessary to the formula and now, they can’t easily scale up, Chen said.

NTD Business – May 17 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in a ‘Warren Buffett Spends Big on Stocks’ segment, starting at 8:21. … Related: Kass, via TalkMarkets, gives the “2022 Percentage Returns Of Largest U.S. Companies By Market Capitalization” (for May 21).

WMAR ABC-2 – May 17 – Clinical Professor Oliver Schlake is noted as part of the June 13 “B’More BOLD Conference for Entrepreneurs & Innovators”: [T]he conference will feature a special scenario planning workshop with world-expert Oliver Schlake, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, as we seek to create a strategic roadmap for Ukrainian entrepreneurs.

Wall Street Journal – May 16 – “Warren Buffett Spends Big as Stock Market Sells Off” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: This year has changed that. With tightening monetary policy, slowing economic growth and sustained supply-chain disruptions putting markets on edge, Mr. Buffett is in his element, [said Kass]. “This is what I’d consider to be Warren Buffett’s sweet spot,” Mr. Kass said. “The almost wholesale selling in the market has provided Berkshire an opportunity to buy securities at bargain prices.” … Related: Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of Largest Companies by Market Capitalization,” via TalkMarkets (May 14).

MoneyControl – May 13 – Associate Professor of Management David Kirsch and co-researcher Mohsen Chowdhury discuss their findings in a Q&A, “Are Bots Propping up Tesla’s Stock? Two Researchers Share Why There is Reason to Investigate.” Related coverage of the study, via The Edge Markets: “Tech: Will Twitter make Elon Musk a better pied piper?” (May 11).

Global Association of Risk Professionals – May 13 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes a Risk Intelligence column, “Building a Unified Theory of Risk Management: How and Why.” Summary: To improve enterprise risk management, move further away from risk silos, and gain a better understanding of both obvious and hidden risks, the financial services industry needs to create a new risk paradigm. This can only be achieved by developing a framework that unites the four forces of risk management: culture, psychology, governance, and environmental risk.

TheWrap (via Yahoo News) – May 12 – “Did Zack Snyder Stans Rig the Oscar ‘Fan Favorite’ Vote With Online Bots?” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: David Kirsch, a University of Maryland professor who has studied fanbots, agreed that the pro-Snyder accounts “certainly do not look like they were generated by a human user” — though they were on the border of his research team’s cutoff point to definitively declare them bots. Extended coverage quotes Kirsch, by Vanity Fair (“Zack Snyder’s Fan-Voted Oscar Wins May Have Been Rigged by Bots”), others.

The Business Monthly – May 10 – ‘Maryland Business Adapts Set for June 3’ previews the forthcoming event organized by Smith’s Center for Global Business to showcase companies that have demonstrated resilience through global economic shocks and connect companies to resources to compete globally.

WalletHub Ask the Experts – May 10 – Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd explains metal credit cards’ pros and cons and increasing popularity in “Best Metal Credit Cards.”

Washington Post – May 8 – “Musk Says He Will Ban Twitter Spam Bots, But He Has Been a Beneficiary” quotes and references research by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, including: But it is reasonable to wonder whether a Tesla contractor or subcontractor is responsible for some of the pro-Musk tweets, [says Kirsch], who this month will present the first of three papers examining bot influence on Tesla’s fans and share prices. The main other class of suspects would be “individual shareholders or pro-Tesla individuals who have the tech skills to do this,” Kirsch said. … The presence of some bots became obvious not long after the carmaker’s stock was being hurt by reports of Model S cars catching on fire. In one span of 75 minutes in November 2013, eight new accounts appeared on Twitter and began posting about the stock. … In the ensuing years, just those eight accounts went on to post 30,000 times using the stock symbol TSLA — at such regular intervals and at such volume that the odds of them representing eight real people are infinitesimally small, Kirsch said. One account, @danrocks4, issued bursts of posts on average every third hour around-the-clock for more than six years, according to Kirsch and co-author Mohsen Chowdhury.

TalkMarkets – May 7 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of Largest U.S. Companies By Market Capitalization.”

Kiplinger – May 4 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments extensively in “Warren Buffett's Inflation Plan: Buy, Buy, Buy” When prices are rising at the fastest pace in four decades, cash is trash. That helps explain Buffett’s biggest Q1 binge, [says Kass] …In addition to a number of other attractive attributes, Warren Buffett also sees an inflation hedge in Chevron, Kass says. And even if oil prices level off or reverse trend, a stake in CVX is better than sitting in cash and equivalents. “Chevron has a large stock buyback program and pays a cash dividend of 3.5%,” Kass says. “That makes it a relatively safe cash alternative. Instead of earning essentially zero on Treasury bills, why not earn a dividend yield and a buyback yield that combined probably come in somewhere in the high single digits?”… “Oil, I believe, is a good hedge against inflation.” This stocks-down-inflation-up dynamic helps explain the sudden and stark reversal in Berkshire’s balance sheet. Related: Kass’ commentary on Buffett’s spending activity is referenced in the following day in Kiplinger’s ‘ Stocks Suffer Worst Losses of 2022 .’

Charles Koch Foundation – May 4 – Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, describes the Snider Center’s Intentional Life Lab in “How to Empower Students to Live Intentional Lives.”

Futurism – May 3 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch discusses his research in “Twitter Bots Love Tesla. Elon Musk Is Pledging to Destroy Them.”

The Observer – May 3 – Nicole Coomber contributes to “As U.S. Workers Head Back to the Office, One Million Women Are Left at Home,” including: Offering flex time, an option to work from home, could help many women return to work, experts say. “There’s been a lot of buzz about the recently announced Airbnb policy of ‘work from anywhere,’” [said Coomber]. “That’s definitely a trend we see.” Coomber and colleagues have been interviewing women to find out what the most important barriers are to staying on the job. Along with flexibility, the moms also say they need to have some structure to their jobs. In other words, they want to know in advance when they will be working and when they will be off, Coomber said.

Washington Post – May 2 – “The Flawed Math Behind Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal” references a working paper by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch and Mohsen Chowdhury exploring whether tweets from fanbots are related to changes in the price of Tesla’s stock.

Harvard Business Review – May 2 – Research Professor Emeritus Sandor Boyson co-authors “How Exposed Is Your Supply Chain to Climate Risks?”

Maryland Daily Record – May 1 – Clinical Professor of Management Oliver Schlake describes how entrepreneurs can benefit from a farmers market setting in “Farmers market alumni are making it big in Baltimore,” including: The model guarantees a steady stream of potential customers for each vendor and has a low barrier to entry — just the fee for setting up a booth, plus the cost of any materials. It’s not unlike selling a product on Amazon or Etsy, [according to Schlake].

Poets & Quants – May 1 – “100 Best & Brightest MBAs: Class of 2022 includes and features Maryland Smith’s Daylin Russo.

April 2022

Bloomberg – April 30 – “Buffett Speaks at Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting” includes: CNBC reporter Becky Quick identifies [Clinical Professor of Finance] David Kass as the source for (he’s an avid Buffett watcher and a finance professor). He’s asking about Biden’s tax plans… Buffett says that he has no point of view that he’d want attributed to him. Munger says he pays whatever taxes they pass, and he doesn’t want to engage in any lobbying about policies. Related: Kass gives “10 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Annual Meeting,” via TalkMarkets (May 1).

Kellogg Insight – April 30 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender’s research ("Understanding the Rise in Corporate Cash: Precautionary Savings or Foreign Taxes”) is the basis for “Why Are U.S. Companies Hoarding So Much Cash?.”

CNN Business – April 29 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in “Electric Car Startups Want to Avoid Same Fate as Britain's 1890s Bike Bubble”: [Kirsch said] he expects some electric vehicles startups to survive but many to fail. "The stories are unraveling," Kirsch told CNN Business. … US electric vehicle companies aren't the only ones to see their valuations reduced. Chinese electric vehicles startups have taken a hit, too. Nio's stock has fallen 49% this year, while X-Peng is down 52% and BYD's has dropped 17%. Even the world's most valuable automaker, Tesla, hasn't been immune; its stock is down 27% this year. Kirsch views the falling stock prices of companies that wish to rival Tesla as evident of how difficult it is to turn startups that inspire investors with a story into businesses that prove themselves on paper with revenue and profits. "Some of these companies are being exposed in a way," Kirsch said. "There's a saying, when the tide goes out, you see who isn't wearing a bathing suit."

CNBC – April 29 – "Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting is Here: What to Expect from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger": “One might expect buybacks to slow down simply because the price of Berkshire has gone up,” [said Kass]. “Buffett will only buy back shares if he considers them to be at a sufficient discount from intrinsic value.” Berkshire’s investments lately only made a small dent in his $140 billion-plus war chest, leaving Buffett watchers wondering if a major investment is on the horizon. “The recent declines in the stock market resulting from the anticipated tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve may provide additional attractive opportunities for Buffett in the near future,” Kass said. The story expands on Kass’ comments from an April 23 CNBC Pro column “Warren Buffett is on a Roll. Here is What’s Behind his Big Moves and What Could Come Next.” …Related: Kass gives a Q&A with National Business Daily (China) in “Buffett's Shareholders Meeting is About to be Held, Business School Professors Explain the Investment Logic of ‘Stock Gods’” (April 28).

Observer – April 29 – Professor of Marketing Jie Zhang comments extensively in “As the Pandemic Ebbs, Americans are Shifting Their Spending from Goods to Services and Travel," including: “People have just been locked up at home too long and now there’s a pent up demand for restaurants, outdoor entertainment, leisure activities and travel,” Zhang said. “And they’ve learned over the past two years that the pandemic isn’t just going to be suddenly over. Covid cases will come in waves. But right now, a wave has ended, and case numbers are low in the U.S. and many parts of the world.” So, people see the current situation with the virus as a window of opportunity, she said.

San Francisco Examiner – April 29 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization David Kirsch comments extensively in ‘We Know Bad Things are Going to Happen,’ with Musk and Twitter, including: “Musk’s Twitter activity constitutes a novel tool for corporate engagement mobilization and polarization,” Kirsch writes in a working copy of the research being presented at a conference in June. “While Musk’s deft use of Twitter delighted and engaged the fanboys, the techniques employed also mobilized a subset of Twitter users to challenge and oppose Musk, leading to polarization.” … “A policy unit inside of Twitter over the last couple of years was sort of focused on trying to tamp down some of the extremism, reduce some of the really harmful trolling and create more healthy conversations,” Kirsch says, referring to Twitter’s Healthy Conversations program.

Investor’s Podcast Network – April 28 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives an in-depth “Buffett’s Biggest Blunders” interview for the network's “We Study Billionaires” series.

European Pharmaceutical Review – April 28 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Can Continuous Manufacturing add Shareholder Value for Pharmaceutical Companies?.”

Delicious Food – April 28 – “McDonald’s Ice Cream Woes Have Inspired Memes, Mockery and Now, a Federal Lawsuit” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: [Kass says] the agency gets involved when there are both numerous complaints about a product and “sufficient substance” to the complaints. Kass said he was perplexed that McDonald’s had gone so long without finding a permanent fix for its ice cream machines. “Customers, if they’re disappointed frequently enough, will go elsewhere,” he said.

The Diamondback – April 28 – Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss comments in “UMD Students, Faculty Discuss Importance of Student Debt Cancellation”: “Much of the inflation is due to supply chain issues as the country is coping with reallocation of resources after the pandemic,” Kiss said in an email. “Pausing student loan debt repayments puts dollars in the pockets of the graduates that they can use to spend to buy the higher priced goods and services.” …The average student takes out $8,474 a year to attend this university, according to the college ranking site Niche. The issue goes beyond just this university, according to Kiss. “One of the major problems with student loan debt is not the impact on University of Maryland graduates, most of whom are able to get good jobs after graduation, but with students who attend for-profit predatory schools … whose students were misled and defrauded,” Kiss said.

New York Times – April 27 – “Will Elon Musk Save Twitter or Destroy It?” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: Whatever Musk’s public statements, it bears noting that “no one has profited more from the existence of Twitter than Elon Musk,” as [Kirsch] told The Los Angeles Times. “Donald Trump used Twitter to win the presidency, but Elon Musk used it to sustain the Tesla narrative and support the stock when the company was in danger of collapse.”

USA Today – April 27 – Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender comments in “Critics Say Corporate Greed is Making Inflation Worse, Citing Record Profits Despite Rising Costs”: [Faulkender] disagreed that executives' comments to analysts amount to evidence of price gouging. "The fact that CEOs get on earnings calls (and talk about) making money isn't a shock," he says. …Faulkender says criticism of corporate profit margins fails to account for the laws of supply and demand. Consumer demand was turbocharged by federal stimulus payments at the same time that global supply kinks created product shortages, he says. “Prices are not set” to cover costs plus a profit margin, says Faulkender. “They are set to bring quantity demanded into equilibrium with quantity supplied. When there is excess demand, prices rise and those selling the product receive higher revenue as a result. Faulkender also notes that wholesale costs have risen more rapidly than retail prices, underscoring that businesses haven’t passed all their increased expenses to consumers.

Reuters – April 27 – “Musk’s Criticism of Twitter Staff Triggers Backlash” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: "If he proves incapable of tamping down the polarization, Twitter will slowly start to become less relevant because certain types of conversations will no longer be able to take place on it," [said Kirsch].

Business Insider – April 27 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass contributes to “Warren Buffett is on a Buying Spree. 7 Experts Analyze the Investor's Recent Trio of Purchases, and Break Down Why he Spent $23 Billion on Them”: "The confluence of these three large investments in a short period of time might be coincidental. Buffett waits patiently for opportunities to develop and pounces on them when they occur… Occidental may have become more attractive to Buffett because he expects high oil prices to continue. In the current inflationary environment, oil prices would be expected to remain high and oil companies would appear to be attractive investments… The HP investment might have resulted from a very attractive price, which Buffett considered to undervalue the company. It also possesses a highly regarded and respected brand name with a 'moat' protecting its market share in its laptop computer and printer businesses.”

Style and Polity – April 27 – “Social Capital is a Key Driver of Small Business” summarizes research by William A. Longbrake Chair in Finance Vojislav Maksimovic, Associate Professor of Finance Liu Yang and PhD finance student Sophia Xue: A community’s social capital – the level of trust and cooperation among residents – is conventionally associated with the likes of higher SAT scores and less youth violence. But a new study drawn from Payment Protection Program (PPP) and U.S. Census data shows that the same metric also correlates positively with business development…

Morning Brew – April 25 – “One-Way Video Interviews are Impersonal, Candidates Say, and Raise Privacy Concerns” cites research by Assistant Professor of Information Systems Lauren Rhue: Studies have indicated that algorithmic bias is most prevalent in the facial scans of non-white people: For example, a 2018 study [by Rhue] found that two different facial-analysis programs determined that images of Black NBA players were respectively interpreted to be more angry or contemptuous than those of white players.

Rolling Stone (via Rolling Stone India) – April 25 – “The World’s Richest Man Just Bought the World’s Most Influential Social Media Platform — What Could Go Wrong?” quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: The potential sale comes amid speculation that Musk has been gaming the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was 11 days later in declaring that he’d bought more than five percent of the company earlier this month, a move that allowed him to net over $150 million as he continued to buy stock before disclosing his stake, which prompted the price to rise. “I really don’t know what’s going through his mind. Was he ignorant or knowledgeable that he was violating securities law?” University of Maryland finance professor David Kass told The Washington Post.

The Economist – April 23 – “Elon Musk’s Twitter Saga is Capitalism Gone Rogue” cites research by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: Tesla, which on April 20 reported record sales in the first quarter, goes from strength to strength. Twitter helped fuel its rise. It may not be just his Twitter “fanboys” who have bolstered the Tesla narrative. According to David Kirsch of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, tweets generated by “fanbots,” or what he claims are pro-Tesla algorithms, accounted for 23% of all messages on Twitter containing the hashtag #tsla between 2010 and 2020, or 36,000 tweets.

Washington Business Journal – April 22 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes op-ed, “Greater Washington Must Incentivize Domestic Drug Manufacturing” (via investing in advanced manufacturing technologies, such as continuous manufacturing, or CM), including: This transformation is overdue. This dynamic — along with corporate tax rates, differential labor and manufacturing expenses, supply chain management and environmental costs — feeds into a U.S. pharmaceutical sector dependent on both foreign manufacturing and decades-old batch processing practice, which is a sequence of steps that can be inefficient and prone to more manual errors with its labor-intensive approach.

Observer – April 22 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust comments in “Verizon Raised its Minimum Wage to $20 an Hour As the U.S.’s Lowest Paid Workers Make Unprecedented Gains,” including: As wages rise, companies will most likely reach a limit on what they are willing to spend on labor costs, Rust said. “Companies will seek a way to not use labor,” Rust said. “Artificial intelligence is becoming big and you’re going to see it more and more. Rising wages are going to bring more pressure to apply AI to various tasks.”

The Street – April 22 – “Elon Musk Wants to Get Rid Of One of the Worst Parts of Twitter” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch: “Kirsch said "looking at tweets from Tesla IPO to 2020, we found a set of accounts that did not exhibit human-like behavior ... Using Botometer ... we identified these accounts as programmed users generating pro-Tesla content." … "The #fanbots were active in the pro-Tesla movement using #TSLA and $TSLA, whereas accounts active in the counter-movement around #TSLAQ and $TSLAQ were human users," Kirsch said. "This imbalance suggests that the fanbots were a strategic resource supporting the Tesla narrative."

Inside Mortgage Finance – April 22 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi elaborates on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac discussing ways to proactively deal with risks of climate change, via “Risk Expert Says GSEs are Assessing Their Exposure to Climate Risk,” including: “[GSEs are] gearing up, along with FHFA, for building the infrastructure to assess the risk and be able to manage it. They’re coming up with what we call a ‘climate risk taxonomy’ so they can define all the various risks they’re exposed to.” Perhaps most important, they’re trying to understand the nature of the exposure in their portfolios to these risks. “The companies will be engaged with climate model vendors. Just like a reinsurance company that has a climate model, they’ll say, ‘Run all our properties through the model and tell us what our exposure is from the dollar standpoint.’”

Al Araby TV (via Twitter) – April 19 – Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez helps explain the trend toward a four-day workweek.

Baltimore Sun Education – April 19 – In separate, continued articles on Page 7, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs Victor Mullins describes Smith’s Business Leadership Fellows Program and Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi previews plans for climate finance and risk management education programs for professionals.

WalletHub (Ask the Experts) – April 19 – Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing Roland Rust shares insights via a “2022’s Best Airlines” Q&A.

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – April 15 – ‘Risk Executives on the Move’ highlights Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: [Rossi] is on the 16-member FDA Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Advisory Committee… His previous research effort “underscores the importance of more focus on drug safety, efficacy and making sure that we have adequate manufacturing quality and technology to do that. Looking especially at how we finance and invest in that area is something that I’m thrilled to have a voice in now,” said Rossi.

The (New York) Observer – April 13 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments for "Americans Want to Fly Again, and Delta Airlines is Benefiting," including: It’s very likely the other airlines will show similar trends when they release their first quarter reports, [said Kass], a clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland. Kass attributes the recovery to Americans’ urge to hit the road… Things may be a little more up in the air come 2023, Kass said. “Many economists are predicting that with the Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates sharply over the next year, year-and-a-half, to bring down inflation, that could lead to a recession in 2023,” Kass said. “And that would probably have a negative impact on the airlines next year.” Ideally, the reserve will manage to achieve the delicate balance that would lead to a “soft landing,” Kass said. “But that is extremely difficult to achieve and hard to predict.”

Los Angeles Times – April `12 – “Elon Musk’s not-so-secret weapon: An army of Twitter bots touting Tesla” references new research by Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch that “concludes that 500-plus million Tweets/day has played a significant part in the “stock of the future” narrative that has propelled Tesla’s market value… Reporting on reaction to the LA Times piece and Kirsch’s study, the Wall Street Journal’s “Meet the Twitter Army of Elon Musk Superfans” includes: David Kirsch, the University of Maryland professor who conducted the research, said he has never had a position in or against Tesla stock… Further related coverage: Kirsch discusses (at 44:00) his research connecting fanbots and Tesla stock movement, via BBC Business Matters.

FIND MBA – April 12 – Interim Associate Dean of Master’s Programs Paulo Prochno comments in “Why Global Study Trips are a Must for Online MBAs,” including: “During some periods of the pandemic we had to change the residencies to virtual,” says [Prochno]. “For the global programs, we offered a virtual alternative, too — students worked on a project with a foreign company and attended multiple virtual company visits, virtually meeting senior executives of companies in the chosen countries.” Still, he says the trips were “very valuable”, in the sense that they let students learn more about the opportunities and challenges of doing business overseas. “There was also the opportunity to apply knowledge from multiple courses in a real project that will help a company abroad,” says Prochno. “That experiential learning is essential to understand in more depth how the multiple business areas relate to each other.”

Forbes – April 11 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi comments in “Apple And Crypto—Here’s What You Should Know”: In addition, [Rossi] said that having a digital or crypto wallet and its own stable coin or a crypto pegged to the price of a fiat currency, could give Apple a competitive advantage over other retailers and will increase the competitive landscape of the personal banking and payment processing industry.

FreightWaves – April 11 – “Truckers are Filing Coercion Complaints with the Feds at a Record Pace” quotes Academic Director of the MS Supply Chain Program Thomas Corsi: But coercion and its effect on exacerbating fatigue “is definitely still a problem,” Thomas Corsi, academic director for supply chain management at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, told FreightWaves. “I serve as an expert witness on accident cases which overwhelmingly occur when drivers are working on not enough sleep and end up plowing into a car because they’re working way too many hours. They’re on very strict time commitments that a broker or a carrier made to a client, but there are huge safety implications. These guys clearly are really stretched.”

USA Today Network (via The Arizona Republic) – April 8 – In separate career-advice columns, Professor of the Practice in Systems Thinking and Design Gerald Suarez writes “Learn How to Connect with New Colleagues in a Remote Work Setting” and Senior Director of Employer Relations Cynthia O’Brien writes “Got Job Offers? Here's How to Decide on the Right One.”

Global Health NewsWire – April 8 – Ritu Agarwal, Distinguished University Professor and Robert H. Smith Dean’s Chair of Information Systems, explains “3 Keys to Addressing Bias in Health Data and Algorithms and Why it Matters.”

Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – April 8 – Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi writes “Credit Access and Risk: A Balancing Act.” Summary: GSEs have in the past have relied on a singular credit score to evaluate borrower credit risk, but the FHFA is now considering whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be allowed to use a multi-score approach. The question is whether this would expand access to credit or simply create greater risk for GSEs and for capital markets.

Internal Auditor – April 8 – James Lager, adjunct professor and chief ethics adviser for the U.S Government Accountability Office, co-authors “Toward a More Perfect Objectivity.” Summary: Rather than treating objectivity as a best intention or ignoring the objectivity problem as unsolvable, internal auditors can best honor their professional obligations by using behavioral science insights to reach for objectivity.

Denver Business Journal – April 7 – “Colorado Legislators Look to Limit Noncompete Agreements” quotes Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr: [Starr] said that between one-third and two-thirds of all employees under such agreements are required to sign them after they have accepted a job, when they have little to no negotiating leverage to push back. And 30% of firms that use noncompete agreements do so indiscriminately for all workers, regardless of salary or managerial level.

Business Insider – April 7 – “Warren Buffett Just Revealed a Huge Stake in HP — After Ruling Out Ever Owning the Computing Stock in 1998” quotes a Tweet by Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: It's also possible that one of Buffett's two investment managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, oversaw the HP purchases. However, the sheer size of Berkshire's position suggests their boss was the mastermind, [Kass] tweeted on Thursday. … Kass, via Talkmarkets, gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of Largest US Companies by Market Capitalization” (April 9).

WRAL TechWire – April 7 – “Survival of the Fittest Entrepreneurs: It’s Becoming Harder to be Successful, Study Finds” includes a summary of a working paper (‘Are Entrepreneurs Penalized during Job Searches?’) by Associate Professor of Management and Organization Waverly Ding, Clarice Smith Professor of Management and Organization Debra Shapiro and postdoctoral researcher Hyeun Lee, including: The study revealed that former entrepreneurs were 23% to 29% less likely to be selected [when applying for jobs] than those with no entrepreneurial experience… Based on their findings, the researchers recommend that large firms develop anti-bias training programs to mitigate the penalty on former entrepreneurs during the recruiting process. They also point out that picking the right person for recruiting can help. For example, the entrepreneurial penalty can be reduced by using recruiters who have entrepreneurial aspirations themselves.

Maryland Today – April 7 – Accounting Lecturer Samuel Handwerger gives “Tips for Last-Minute Tax Filers.”

Washington Post – April 6 – “Elon Musk Delayed Filing a Form and Made $156 Million” (and quoted from here in a separate report by The Daily Beast among others): The late filing netted Musk $156 million, [said Kass]. “I really don’t know what’s going through his mind. Was he ignorant or knowledgeable that he was violating securities law?” he said. Whoever was handling the trades for Musk should have known, Kass said… Separate coverage quoting Kass: Mercury News/Bay Area News Group’s “Elon Musk’s Missed Twitter Deadline Made Him Millions, Experts Say”: “The rest of the world was ignorant that he was purchasing the shares,” [said Kass]. “Once it became known that he was purchasing those shares, you got that spike.” Kass estimated that the delayed disclosure delivered an extra $156 million in stock value to Musk. … Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “Elon Musk's Long-Standing Battle Against SEC Takes Center Stage after Twitter Buy”: “Certainly the people around him who filled out the forms for him, whether it be his attorneys or financial consultants, should have informed him of that deadline once it was crossed," [Kass told] The National Desk.”

Law360 – April 5 – ‘Windfall Tax On Profits Would Help Consumers’ quotes Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender from his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee: Michael Faulkender, an assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy under former President Donald Trump, said imposing a 95% windfall profits tax on corporations would lead to disaster. "Any company that created new products, successfully entered new markets, or shifted their offerings in response to changes in consumer preferences following the pandemic would be punished," said Faulkender, now a finance professor at University of Maryland. Additional coverage of the hearing and Faulkender’s testimony includes “The Big Plan to Shied Biden from Inflation Attacks” at Liberty Nation “Corporate Media Ignore Hearing on Corporate Greed," via the Albany Herald.

Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo News) – April 5 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in “Twitter Names Elon Musk to Board, Further Lifting Shares”: But others said Musk's motivation behind the Twitter investment probably has little to do with national politics. "Twitter is a key resource for him," [said Kirsch], who has written extensively on electric vehicles and modern technology. Musk currently has more than 80 million followers on the platform, which Kirsch said has likely saved him hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising. "He is the master of the platform, at a certain point he couldn't afford not to have a say in how it's managed," said Kirsch. "All the politics are secondary."

Forbes – April 4 – “Two Years Later, Was The PPP Worth It?” references Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender related to his 2019-2021 role of Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury through which he led the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Los Angeles Times – April 4 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch comments in “What Would Free Speech Look Like on Elon Musk’s Twitter?”: “No one has profited more from the existence of Twitter than Elon Musk,” said David Kirsch, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and coauthor of the recent book “Bubbles and Crashes.” “Donald Trump used Twitter to win the presidency, but Elon Musk used it to sustain the Tesla narrative and support the stock when the company was in danger of collapse.” … “No one has been more adept at using Twitter to control public narrative” than Musk, said Kirsch, who’s currently researching the effect of Twitter bots on Tesla’s stock price and reputation. (Bots are automated Twitter accounts created to resemble real people and are often used to flood the app with programmed messages.) Musk may be investing “if he believes that Twitter is adopting policies that limit his ability to use the platform,” Kirsch added.

TechTarget – April 1 – “New Study Reveals How AI will Change Future Workplaces” overviews Assistant Professor of Finance Alex Xi He’s working paper.

March 2022

Expansion Solutions Magazine – March 31 – Clinical Professor Oliver Schlake comments as the primary expert source for “Selecting a Headquarters: A Nuanced Affair,” including: Another need to consider is what kind of human resources are required to grow the business, as well as the level of education and/or a trade skill. “Then if the company has enough workers, you have to see what the competition is like to hire more,” [Schlake said]. “If the labor force is shallow, employees will cost more to hire.” So, such moves require taking a long view. “You have to take a few years to think about where to move to, then work within a five-year horizon and know how you want to grow your business,” said Schlake. “Will that be organically or by buying other companies?”

Forbes – March 30 – Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal writes “Exercising Freedom In Your World To Uphold Freedom In The World.”

MIT Sloan Management Review – March 30 – “Is Blockchain a Disruptive or a Sustaining Innovation? What Experts Say” quotes Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal: “The effect of blockchain on ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ of financial transactions is radical and disruptive. In line with industry evolution studies, this opens up the competitive realm for both new entrants and incumbents.”

The Diamondback – March 30 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass explains the causes and implications of high gas prices in “UMD Commuter Students Express Worry for Their Wallets as Gas Prices Stay High.” Also from David Kass, via TalkMarkets: “2022 Percentage Returns of the Largest Market Capitalization” (for April 1).

Fortune – March 29 – Assistant Professor of Finance Alex Xi He comments on his NBER working paper on the effects of managers’ business education on wages and labor share, including: “It used to be the case that when a firm grew, it shared part of its growing profits with its workers,” [said He]. “For [firms with] managers with a business education, we do not find a wage increase after firms grow in profits.” … “A smaller portion of the economic surplus is going to workers and a larger portion is going to either capital or profits.” Also reporting on the study: Axios, Bloomberg, Brookings, Forbes and Quartz.

Lexington Park Leader – March 29 – “CTSi Earns Honors for Innovative Work During Pandemic” previews the June 3 Maryland Business Adapts event and highlights CTSi as one of the companies to be featured in the Center for Global Business-organized program to take place in Baltimore.

Making the Rounds (American Medical Association podcast) – March 25 – “Ritu Agarwal on Shaping Health IT Research, Education and Outreach” features Agarwal, Distinguished University Professor, Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems and co-director of the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) discussing her paper, “Socioeconomic Privilege and Political Ideology are Associated with Racial Disparity in COVID-19 Vaccination,” co-authored with CHIDS colleagues, as well as the center’s focus areas of EHRs, Health IT from the patient-side, and the current A.I. revolution and resurgence.

WUSA-9 – March 23 – Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch explains “What NFTs Have in Common with Tulip Bulbs from the 1600s.”

Scripps National News – March 22 – Associate Professor of Management Evan Starr draws from his research stream to weigh in for a report on “More Evidence Worker Noncompete Contracts Hurt Wages.”

Bloomberg – March 21 – “Buffett’s Deal Drought Ends With $11.6 Billion Alleghany Buy” (republished minus paywall at Yahoo Finance) quotes Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass: “Buffett, in part, may be sending a signal to the world, to investors, to financial markets, that even in this current environment of great uncertainty, that he still thinks there are wonderful opportunities to invest in at least U.S. companies going forward,” [said Kass]. Related: Kass, via TalkMarkets, gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of the Largest Market Capitalization” for March 19 and March 26.

WDVM News – March 16 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass ‘Explains Inflation and the Possible Solutions.”

Retail TouchPoints – March 15 – “Retailers Can Cushion Price Increases’ Impact With Greater Transparency” extensively quotes Dean's Chair in Marketing Science P.K. Kannan, including: But what’s most effective is for retailers to be transparent with customers about why they’re raising prices. “A retailer may have loyal customers who love what you’re selling, and if you indicate to them what your cost structure is and how it’s gone up, it may help consumers understand that they’re not being taken advantage of,” said Kannan.

Financial Times – March 13 – “Do online MBAs broaden access to business education?” quotes Interim Assistant Dean Paulo Prochno: Although, in principle, online learning could be a global playing field, online MBAs appeal largely to local learners. This is partly because some countries — notably China and the US — either do not recognise online degrees from overseas institutions, or restrict access to post-graduation work visas for online, as opposed to on-campus, foreign students. Furthermore, coordinating live lectures across multiple time zones poses a challenge for course administrators, and relatively few business schools have a globally recognised name. “You would have to spend a lot of money to get the brand off the ground overseas,” says Paulo Prochno, assistant dean of online programmes at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.

New York Times – March 11 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass comments in “McDonald’s Ice Cream Woes Have Inspired Memes, Mockery and Now, a Federal Lawsuit” (also in the Times' Sunday print edition): David Kass [a former economist with the commission], says the [FTC] gets involved when there are both numerous complaints about a product and “sufficient substance” to the complaints. Professor Kass said he was perplexed that McDonald’s had gone so long without finding a permanent fix for its ice cream machines. “Customers, if they’re disappointed frequently enough, will go elsewhere,” he said.

Scripps National News – March 11 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization comments in “More Evidence Worker Noncompete Contracts Hurt Wages” (following a US Treasury release of “The State of Labor Market Competition” extensively citing Starr’s research.

Maryland Today – March 11 – “Giving Day Smashes Fundraising Record With $3.75M Total” quotes Dean Prabhudev Konana, after Maryland Smith fundraised the second-highest total among UMD units: “This Giving Day was a testament to Smith's very strong community,” [said Konana]. “The funds raised to promote entrepreneurship, provide scholarships and enhance student experiences will have such a powerful impact on the school's mission, and I'm truly thankful to each of our donors for their confidence in us.”

GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) – March 11 – In his guest column – “Is Standard Scenario Analysis Outdated?” – with Russia-Ukraine as a backdrop, Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi examines the viability of game theory and simulation-based approaches for projecting and assessing highly volatile risk events with uncertain outcomes.

The Hill – March 11 – Director of Federal and Veteran Affairs Frank Goertner writes “A No-Fly Zone in Ukraine Could Work.”

ASBMB Today (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) – March 10 – “Underpaid: Women Scientists in the Academy” cites research by Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Rajshree Agarwal and Associate Professor of Management and Organization Waverly Ding, including: It may not be surprising to many of us women scientists who work at universities and colleges that we are underpaid compared with our colleagues who are men. Yet an analysis in the journal Nature Biotechnology n fall 2021 revealed that the gender pay gap is smaller for women who work in biotechnology and pharma. This remarkable finding has negative implications for retaining the next generation of women in academic science — and for reaching diversity, equity and inclusion goals at our universities and colleges.

Maryland Today – March 9 – In “A Fluid Situation,” Research Professor and Center for Global Business Academic Director Kislaya Prasad and Professor of Marketing Amna Kirmani explain why banking bans are more likely than oil and vodka boycotts to influence Russian policy.

Capital News Service TV – March 8 – In a “Russia Sanctions” segment (2:10) Associate Clinical Professor of Finance Elinda Kiss explains SWIFT and the implications of blocking Russia access to the network.

MBA Crystal Ball – March 7 – Senior Director of Admissions for MBA and Specialty Masters Programs Maria Pineda gives five essay tips as part of “How Important are MBA Essays, and Why?”

TalkMarkets – March 5 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass gives the “2022 Percentage Returns of Largest U.S. Companies by Market Capitalization.”

Washington Post – March 3 – Associate Professor in Decision, Operations and Information Technologies Jui Ramaprasad comments extensively in “How to Avoid Falling for a Tinder Swindler or a Fake German Heiress” including: The first of Hayut’s victims that viewers meet in “The Tinder Swindler” is cast as a believer in the Disney fairy tale, exactly the kind of person primed to trust that grand romantic gestures — like whisking someone away on a private jet on a first date — are genuine. Confirmation bias, or the tendency to interpret information in ways that align with a person’s existing beliefs, is a powerful force. “If you want to see something as true, you’ll see it as true,” says [Ramaprasad]. “These people wanted to find love, and this guy played into that.” Often, Ramaprasad continues, scammers are able to identify someone’s vulnerabilities. In the case of the Tinder Swindler, that was women seeking love. With “Inventing Anna,” Sorokin’s friends wanted to be part of the glamorous life she led — the dinners, the parties, the clothes. They wanted to believe it was real.

Connecticut Examiner – March 2 – Associate Professor of Management and Organization Evan Starr is a source for “Legislators Consider Bill to Restrict Non-compete Agreements, Disagree on Workplace Impacts”: Starr, who submitted testimony on the bill last year, told CT Examiner that non-competes have been around since the time of trade guilds, when master craftsmen wanted to prevent apprentices from taking the skills they had learned and setting up competing shops. …Sorenson and Starr also say that there needs to be better data collection around how frequently non-competes are used and the contents of the agreements. Starr said he has asked the Federal Trade Commission several times to investigate the contents of employee contracts. … Starr acknowledged that it can be difficult to police what employers put in their contracts. However, Starr, Sorensen and McKernan all said they believed that having legislation would make a difference.

Maryland Today – March 2 – “MPower Partnership Announces $3M in Seed Grants for Collaborative Research” spotlights 17 studies selected for the funding, including “Precision Therapy for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS)” co-led by Distinguished University Professor and Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems Ritu Agarwal.

February 2022

CNBC – Feb. 28 – Dean's Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender discusses why removing Russian banks from S.W.I.F.T. could harm the global economy and how much Russia will be impacted by the allies’ sanctions in ‘I Do Fear Russia Will Get Around a Fair Number of These Sanctions.’

Maryland Today – Feb. 28 – "Eye-Opening’ Traveling Exhibit Reveals Atrocities of Tulsa Race Massacre" quotes Associate Dean for Culture and Community Zeinab Karake, who brought the exhibit to UMD: “As Winston Churchill said, ‘Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.’ And this is one part of history we definitely do not want to repeat, [said Karake]. “Students told us in their feedback that it was an eye-opener and that they were glad to be exposed to it.”

India Education Diary – Feb. 28 – Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and the David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, and Clinical Professor of Marketing Hank Boyd explain how the “Olympics Can Defeat Threats Of Pandemic Protocols, Ballooning Costs And Diplomatic Clashes.”

TalkMarkets – Feb. 26 – Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass writes “5 Highlights Of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2021 Annual Report.”

American Banker – Feb. 25 – “CFPB Proposal Aims to Curb Bias in Automated Appraisals” quotes Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi: Some experts are