Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010, 7:30 a.m.; Monday, Oct. 25, 2010, 4:30 a.m. Managing a VolatileSupply Chain     With constant change, economic challenges and the havoc that events such as Gulf oil spills, natural disasters and terrorist threats can create, old models of balancing supply and demand are no longer effective.

Curt Grimm, Dean’s Professor of Supply Chain and Strategy, described coaching his young son’s softball team to a rapt audience in Frank Auditorium. Grimm knew that only two of the children could reliably catch the ball. So he put those boys at first and second base, and then instructed their teammates to only throw the ball to first and second. It proved to be a winning strategy, because his son’s team took the championship that year. Grimm asked his audience to assess his competitive strategy: was it good, bad or ugly?

In the 12 years that Lawrence Gordon, Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, has spent pondering the economic issues related to cybersecurity, the risks have changed significantly. Businesses and government agencies no longer have to worry about teen hackers taking a shot at their organizations for bragging rights. Instead, multinational corporations and government agencies are suffering cyber-attacks from organized crime, large-scale fraud, disgruntled employees and even terrorists.

The Smith School made its presence known at the 32nd Annual National Black MBA Conference hosted by the National Black MBA Association. This year’s event was held in Los Angeles, California, from September 21-25, 2010.

   

Text-Based Analysis of Mergers and Acquisitions A new vocabulary-based measurement of firm similarity shows which mergers are most likely to succeed. The Cleansing Power of Equity A long-standing equitable doctrine called “clean hands” can help boards better align pay with performance. Multi-Period Routing in Satellite Networks A new mathematical method can save millions for satellite service providers. Center for Social Value Creation Teaching students to create value for themselves, their companies and the world.

All types and sizes of organizations are jumping to make sure they have a social media presence, but how should they be using these dynamic outlets? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Wendy Moe, associate professor of marketing, discusses how organizations can use interactions that happen with their brand on social networks.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that U.S. companies have been stockpiling cash and cash equivalents. According to the Federal Reserve, cash balances at nonfinancial companies are at the highest level ($1.84 trillion) since 1952. On a different measure, Cash represents 7% of all assets, the highest level since 1963. What’s causing companies to stockpile and how will this effect the economy?

The charitable has definitely felt the effects of the financial crisis and continued recession, experiencing decreases in giving for the first time in decades. With tighter budgets to work with, nonprofit organizations need to more strategic that ever when allocating funds. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, S. “Raghu” Raghavan, professor of management science, discusses how nonprofits can be systematic when allocating budgets.

All types and sizes of organizations are jumping to make sure they have a social media presence, but how should they be using these dynamic outlets? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Wendy Moe, associate professor of marketing, discusses how organizations can use interactions that happen with their brand on social networks.