Commitment-shy shoppers carefully evaluate products before making a purchase, but new research from shows something different happens when the same people think about renting.

Frontline workers making minimum wage sometimes get angry when they discover how much more their CEO earns. Yet if the goal is to motivate performance, new research from shows that rank-and-file employees care more about the pay divide between them and middle managers. The study by Smith professor Hui Liao, with co-authors Wei Chi, Lei Wang and Qing Ye from Tsinghua University in China and Rui Zhao from the University at Albany-State University of New York, sets emotion aside and explores compensation design as a strategic tool.

Can Your Firm Pass Tata’s Performance Excellence Assessment? Few companies can match the recent global expansion of the Tata Group, which owns brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Taj Hotels and Good Earth Teas. Since 1991, annual revenue for the Indian conglomerate has exploded from $4 billion to more than $100 billion.

Bank executives sometimes viewed Smith professor Cliff Rossi as a killjoy during the buildup to the 2008 global economic meltdown. As chief risk officer at several of the largest U.S. financial institutions, Rossi faced the task of raising unwelcome concerns when banks started setting aside traditional safeguards and packaging subprime loans. “I had a front row seat at the party and the funeral,” says Rossi, who spent time with Citigroup, Washington Mutual, Countrywide Bank, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

In early February, President Obama proposed a 14 percent tax on U.S. multinationals’ overseas earnings, plus a 19 percent minimum tax rate on future foreign profits. The proceeds would fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure. But this plan is contentious: "Raising taxes on our most innovative companies to fund ever greater unsustainable federal budgets is a recipe for disaster,” says Michael Faulkender, associate professor of finance and director of the Masters Program in Finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (March 26, 2015) — Working professionals with an interest in the Washington, D.C., region have a new source for bite-sized business insights, delivered weekly to their inboxes from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Smith Brain Trust, published every Thursday, will provide commentary on the latest mergers, marketing campaigns, policy debates, investment news and business research — drawing upon the broad knowledge of the school’s faculty.

Russ Wermers, professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, will provide expertise, as an affiliate, to one of the largest economic consulting firms in North America.

The committee on teaching awards is accepting nominations for the Legg Mason Teaching Innovations Award. The Legg Mason Award is given to recognize “exceptional originality, creativity and innovation in teaching.”  "This is a very important award at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business," said Vice Dean Joyce Russell. "We would like to recognize those faculty that have been especially innovative in various facets of their courses - design, delivery, assessment, action-learning, etc."

An inaugural supply chain industry awards event recognized the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and one of its professors. Sandor Boyson, research professor and codirector of the Supply Chain Management Center, was named Resilient Supply Chain Educator of the Year by the Global Supply Chain Resiliency Council.

Students are increasingly interested in using business principles to do good in the world. The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has made a commitment to teaching students how to do so. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, host Jeff Salkin sits down with Christine Beckman, associate professor of management and organization, to talk about her new roles as academic director of the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation.