The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is excited to announce some faculty-favorite books in the "12th Annual Top-10 Summer Reading List for Business Leaders" for 2015, as recommended by members of its faculty and administrators. If you're heading off to business school as an undergrad/MBA or you are already climbing up the corporate ladder, these books will keep you up-to-date on current trends.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The fifth anniversary of the landmark Dodd-Frank legislation, Congress's response to the financial crisis of 2007-08, arrives next month, prompting reflections on whether it has done what the Democratic-controlled Congress that passed it intended: Increase transparency and accountability in the banking system and — most importantly — reduce the likelihood of another crisis.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Canadian National Railway recently announced a $16 million upgrade to its refrigerated cargo handling capacity to keep pace with increasing demand from producers of chilled or frozen foods.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Doctors have many concerns about online crowdsourced ratings, which are intended to make patients better-informed consumers of health care, but this is a big one: They worry that complainers will be the most outspoken contributors to rating sites, skewing scores and resulting in a kind of heckler's veto.

Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is nominated for Thinkers50, the world's 50 most influential living management thinkers.  Vote for him now at www.thinkers50.com. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The Senate-adopted bill giving President Obama “fast track” authority to conclude a free trade agreement with Asian nations remains in the balance despite earlier projections of House passage this week, Politico reports.  Economist

The Center for Leadership, Innovation, and Change at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted a workshop featuring Janet Ioli, Lead Executive Coach for Northrup Grumman and President of The Mana Group for a workshop focused on building credibility as a leader. Ioli has over 25 years of experience as an executive coach and organizational development consultant for Fortune 200 companies and is author of “The Cure: Remedies for the 5 Ailments that Plague Organizations.”

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- A surge of shareholder activism has fueled debate about how companies should balance dividend payouts with long-term investment, but an economist at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business says the money gets reinvested either way.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland is recognized as one of the top research institutions in the world, but it is also a place where students can learn from some of the best teachers in the business. Each year, Smith awards three different honors to its faculty members who have demonstrated a passion for teaching excellence: The Distinguished Teaching Awards, the Krowe Teaching Excellence Awards and the Legg-Mason Award.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Restaurants often come across as desperate when they offer Groupon-style deals, but a new study from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business suggests that certain types of venues can escape the damage to their reputations. That's because the negative effect tends to be concentrated on restaurants at lower price points.