SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Has Starbucks figured out a way to entice its devoted morning-coffee crowd to come back later in the day? The Seattle-based retail chain is rolling out a line of ice cream coffee treats — called affogatos — at 100 stores across the country, betting that a more decadent coffee treat will inspire an afternoon or evening splurge.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The car you rented as part of your auto-share club reeked of cigarette smoke and a cross-country roadtrip worth of crumbs littered the seats and floor. There was a slight and mysterious stickiness on the gear shift. It made you wonder: Why are some vehicles in the car-sharing club kept meticulously tidy while others arrive icky?

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The car you rented as part of your auto-share club reeked of cigarette smoke and a cross-country roadtrip worth of crumbs littered the seats and floor. There was a slight and mysterious stickiness on the gear shift. It made you wonder: Why are some of the vehicles in the car-sharing club kept meticulously tidy while others arrive icky?

Though cellphones are usually considered devices that connect people, they may make users less socially minded, finds a recent study from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

College Park, Md. – October 22, 2010 – The Robert H. Smith School of Business congratulates five of its scholars identified as the likely leaders of the next generation of academics by top industry group the Marketing Science Institute (MSI).

Making your list and checking it twice could help you avoid picking up the extra unplanned purchases this year and curb your spending while shopping. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Rosellina Ferraro talks about her new research that offers easy tips that can help consumers cut back on unplanned purchases.

Making your list and checking it twice could help you avoid picking up the extra unplanned purchases this year and curb your spending while shopping. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Rosellina Ferraro talks about her new research that offers easy tips that can help consumers cut back on unplanned purchases.

Research by Rosellina Ferraro

Gilvan Souza, associate professor of operations management, received his PhD from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His primary research areas are in technology management and supply chain management, including production planning, remanufacturing, reverse logistics, and closed–loop supply chain design.