SMITH BRAIN TRUST — It's almost a new year, and across the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, some prognosticating has begun. We asked a group of professors to look ahead at the trends and developments we might see in the next 12 months. Here's what they said. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Adweek's list of the 10 best ads from 2016 runs the emotional gamut. There is comedy. There's drama. There's even a bit of spy intrigue. If that mix sounds a little like the box office for any given year, that's no surprise, says Henry C. Boyd III, marketing professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. "More and more we are seeing spots that are more than a commercial," he says.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Wells Fargo’s recent “living will” stumble is just that, says finance professor David Kass at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Editor’s Note: Liz Sara, chair of the Board of Advisors for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is looking ahead to 2017. She offers these insights on the technology sector. By LIZ SARA

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — How well could your organization handle a surprise vacancy in the C-suite? Perhaps not well at all.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Professor Gary Cohen at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business travels to China three times a year to speak to multinational companies. His latest trip in December 2016, he says in an interview from Shanghai, has been a bit different.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — President-elect Donald Trump’s tough talk on trade and outsourcing might never fully translate to policy, but it might help accelerate a shift that's already begun in global manufacturing, says research professor Sandor Boyson at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Why do we want the things we can't have? In the toy market, especially in the holiday season, it's sometimes because demand just takes off like a flying reindeer, surprising Santa, and toy makers and everyone in between. We're referring, of course, to the Hatchimal, the small, furry, motorized creature that pecks its way out of its colorful plastic egg and sings "Happy Birthday." Store shelves and online retail sites have been widely cleared of the little coveted creatures, leaving

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Is it better to monitor your investments constantly or to ignore the market's twists and turns and leave your money to grow? Contrary to conventional advice, it might pay off to keep closer watch of your investments and to actively manage them, says Alberto Rossi, finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — A former energy industry executive at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business says OPEC miscalculated two big factors when it voted to flood world markets with cheap oil in 2014, leading to Wednesday’s announcement of a course correction.