A team of MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business developed and presented a health care management solution to capture the fourth annual Cognizant Business Consulting Case Competition. The Smith MBA Consulting Club hosted the competition’s final round in Van Munching Hall on October 16-17, 2015.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Companies in which employees feel empowered to solve problems on their own, rather than simply follow rules, outperform peers where that doesn't happen — and employees at such companies feel a sense of

Economists point to rural Africa, India, China and Eastern Europe as the next big frontiers for multinational corporations. But to be successful in rural developing markets, companies need to customize their approach to the local market in all aspects of their business strategies.

When a company promotes a woman to its top management team for the first time, you might expect the following to happen: The company grows comfortable with women in positions of power, women perceive new career paths and the movement toward gender equity snowballs.

Smith School professor Debra Shapiro started a one-year term as president of the Academy of Management during the professional association’s annual meeting Aug. 7-11, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Shapiro is Smith’s third faculty member to hold the position. Smith professor Kathryn Bartol served as president in 1984-85, and Smith professor emeritus Ken G. Smith led the academy in 2006-07.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Twitter's new CEO, Jack Dorsey, is wasting no time in making changes: This week the social networking company laid off 336 people, or 8 percent of its workforce. He also recently introduced "Moments," curated edited collections of tweets intended to attract new users; and made new overtures to advertisers.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — "Core competence (as a bedrock management principle) is dead," Fast Company proclaimed in 2013. But at least one Forbes writer disagreed. "It has not died," he wrote.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- In Tokyo this week, Toyota put journalists in a modified Lexus GS equipped with self-driving technology. On its own, the car entered a highway, drove for a bit and navigated an off-ramp.

Four of the best students in the College Park Scholars Business Society and the Economy (BSE) program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business were celebrated on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, at the Annual Citation Awards Ceremony.

Google recently unveiled an update to its familiar colorful logo, part of the rebranding of the internet behemoth that does so much more than search these days. The logo refresh is a reminder that even the most successful can use an update from time to time.