All faculty, program directors, deans, department chairs, alumni, and students of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business are invited to nominate deserving Smith School faculty members (i.e., tenured, tenure-track, Tyser Teaching Fellow, lecturer, adjunct, or Ph.D. student) for one of several Krowe Teaching Awards in areas of general excellence. 

Hot Topic Alert   Jan. 29, 2014 Last week’s announcement of the Reserve Bank of India withdrawing pre-2005 notes was initially interpreted in the media as targeting “black money (currency used in transactions where taxes are avoided)" and to prevent counterfeiting. Subsequently, officials have deflected such interpretation and defined the move as a “technical action” to remove from circulation notes that have relatively fewer security features.

Hot Topic Alert: Jan. 29, 2014 Curt Grimm, professor and Charles E. Taff Chair of Economics and Strategy for the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is available to expand on his comments, below, about the executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors. Announced by President Obama in his State of the Union address, the increase, $10.10 an hour, from $7.25, affects workers under new federal contracts.

Media Alert: Jan. 28, 2014Attention: Business and marketing reporters and editors  Marketing professor Roland Rust can comment about content and strategy driving this year’s Super Bowl commercials. Contact him at rrust@rhsmith.umd.edu  or 301-405-4300.

Shawn Mankad, assistant professor of business analytics in Smith's Decision, Operations & Information Technologies department has co-developed a formula, “RegRank,” which gauges how effectively federal regulators incorporate public feedback.

The Professional Services Leadership Initiative (PSLI) is an exciting new executive development program for mid-level marketers, offered by the CES in conjunction with Smith Executive Programs and Expertise Marketing, Inc.  The program targets professional services firms that are global leaders in their industries and are committed to pursuing marketplace excellence. Learn more.

Holiday shopping season is about to enter full swing and retailers are doing their best to lure customers. With a little comparison-shopping, consumers can score some great deals.   In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, host Jeff Salkin sits down with Janet Wagner to talk about this season’s holiday retail outlook.

The growing crowdfunding phenomenon has exploded in the past five years with sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. With crowdfunding, startups raise the funds they need in small doses, and “investors” get returns on their small investments, or products, perks or rewards for their donation-based funding. And now recent changes to SEC rules have made it possible for crowdfunding sites to allow startups to offer qualified investors a small slice of equity.

A recent scandal in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins organization brought to light the havoc bullying can create in the workplace – whether it’s the locker room or the boardroom. Bullies classify as “difficult” co-workers, and they can have big effects on job performance.  

A Smith doctoral candidate’s recent findings that guide marketers to focus beyond an online customer’s “last click” have drawn prestigious recognition from the Marketing Science Institute (MSI).