MSBAPM & Alteryx Data Challenge

March 26, 2015

Alteryx has partnered with the MS in Business Analytics and Project Management program (MSBAPM) at the University of Connecticut School of Business to host a 2-week data challenge beginning on March 30, 2015. The competition focuses on leveraging the power and flexibility of the Alteryx platform along with skills gained in the MSBAPM program to solve the challenge. Students can submit projects as teams of up to four. Finalists will be invited to present their projects to a panel of distinguished judges, including Alteryx’s Chief Scientist, and various amazing prizes will be awarded.

More information about the data challenge can be found at the website:

MSBAPM Students are exuberantly forming teams to research about the Alteryx software, to understand the platform, how it’s used, and how the software aids analytics. Good luck to the participants!

TechnoEDGE 2015

March 25, 2015

UConn undergraduates are invited to sign up for the April 4th TechnoEDGE workshop. TechnoEDGE workshops are designed to provide students with technology training that focuses on reviewing, analyzing and formatting data for use in the business environment. A major component of the training is hands-on assignments, group projects and a capstone assignment, each designed to provide practical experience.

UConn School of Business
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Room 122 – Storrs campus
8:00am—3:30pm
Breakfast and Lunch is provided
Register on HuskyCareerLink under “Workshops”

TechnoEDGE is offered as a part of Travelers EDGE Professional Development Institute (PDI), a career readiness training program offered in partnership with Travelers Insurance.

Accounting, Finance Faculty Members Recognized for Outstanding Research

March 24, 2015

2015-03-20_facultyThe School of Business has awarded its 2015 Best Paper Award to professors David Weber, from accounting, and Jose Martinez, of finance, for their exceptional research articles that will appear in esteemed academic journals.

Weber’s research paper is titled, “Does SOX 404 Have Teeth? Consequences of the Failure to Report Existing Internal Control Weaknesses.”

“Picking Winners? Investment Consultants’ Recommendations of Fund Managers,” is the title of Martinez’s work. His paper also recently received a prize from the University of Cambridge and the Commonfund Institute.

“Both papers are to appear in very prestigious journals in their respective fields, The Accounting Review and Journal of Finance,” said Sulin Ba, associate dean of academic and research support. “The selection committee was particularly impressed by the public policy implications that came out of both research projects. These implications will have an impact on our society in the years to come.”

The competition was intense this year with 10 nominations, all papers accepted in top academic journals, Ba said.

“Dr. Weber’s paper, co-authored with Ph.D. student Biyu Wu, addresses the requirement that corporations and their auditors publicly disclose internal control weaknesses, which is one of the most contentious and costly provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,” said Mohamed Hussein, accounting department head. “The study is important because it shows that the enforcement mechanisms surrounding internal control reporting are often ineffective and in some cases may even provide disincentives for compliance.”

“This paper is one of many research projects conducted by the UConn accounting faculty that addressed critical accounting and tax issues,” said Hussein, noting that UConn accounting faculty research has been cited in Congressional hearings and in the British Parliament.

Chinmoy Ghosh, department head in finance, said he is pleased with his colleague’s success.

“Within a very short period of time since arriving at UConn in August 2014, Jose has made a significant contribution in almost every aspect of the job. Acceptance of his paper by the Journal of Finance, the top journal in the discipline, brings tremendous visibility and prestige to the department and the school,” he said. “Very recently, his research has been recognized by a leading academic group in Europe. His style of teaching and knowledge drew great praise from the Risk Management students at both our Hartford and Stamford campuses.

“Jose has also shown great interest and objectivity in various academic issues currently under review by the department faculty. We are very pleased to have him as a colleague and look forward to many more productive years from him at the School of Business.”

The Best Paper Award is funded by the generous support of the Arnold M. Robin & Rochelle M. Robin Excellence Fund.

Related articles:

Professor Jose Martinez Earns Triple Recognition for Work on Dubious Investment Management

Professor David Weber Finds Lack of Enforcement Surrounds Key Provision of Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Picking Winners?

Professor Jose Martinez Earns Triple Recognition For Work on Dubious Investment Management

A four-year research project by UConn finance professor Jose Martinez found no evidence that recommendations by highly paid investment consultants to institutional investors subsequently outperformed the market.

Professor Jose Martinez

In his paper, “Picking Winners? Investment Consultants’ Recommendations of Fund Managers,” Martinez presents survey data from investment consultants with a combined share of 90 percent of the consulting market, and focuses on the recommendations consultants made for actively managed U.S. equity funds.Continue Reading

Target Corporation Freshmen & Sophomore Case Competition

March 23, 2015

On Thursday, February 12th, five teams of Freshmen and Sophomore business students participated in a case competition sponsored by Minneapolis-based Target Corporation. The purpose of the event was to provide case competition training and practice for underclassmen, offering them a terrific opportunity to gain real world business experience with the support of representatives who could provide professional advice.

Continue Reading

A Fix for Jobless Vets? Make Them Entrepreneurs

CNBC – For a variety of reasons, the solution to joblessness among veterans may be to prod more of them toward entrepreneurship. “This gap is a nut that’s hard to crack, but I actually truly believe that veteran-owned businesses are going to be the thing that heals our country in the next 15 years,” said Michael Zacchea, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and director of the University of Connecticut’s Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities.

‘Demystifying Big Data’ is Subject of March 25 Breakfast Seminar Sponsored by University of Connecticut School of Business

2015-03-25_executive_breakfast_seriesThe University of Connecticut School of Business is offering a breakfast seminar titled, “Demystifying Big Data,” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. March 25 at the Society Room, 31 Pratt Street, Hartford. Professor Ramesh Shankar, assistant department head for the university’s information systems program, will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with leveraging Big Data and extracting full value. Participants will gain an understanding of the business value offered by the emerging ecosystem of Big Data technologies such as Apache Hadoop, Spark, Hive, and others.

This a “must-attend” event for Human Resources, Marketing, Information Technology, Operations Management and Healthcare leaders as well as Chief Financial Officers, Chief Operating Officers and Chief Executive Officers. Business leaders will leave the seminar with an enhanced understanding of the potential of Big Data in their organization to improve functional and operational results.

Pre-registration is required and can be made online or by calling 860-486-5498. Seating is limited.

Dr. Shankar earned a Ph.D. from the Stern School of Business at New York University. His current research focuses on social media, strategic analysis of digital goods, such as software, music and video games, and the impact of information systems on business processes and structure of firms. He has served as a management consultant with many multinational corporations including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Morgan Stanley, Wipro Infotech and ICICI Ltd.

I Cannot Think of Anything More Intimidating Than…

I cannot think of anything more intimidating then driving into an office with the NFL Shield displayed on the welcome sign for the first day of a new internship. Stepping into the facility felt like a dream and the entire orientation day flew by. On my second day I was just as intimidated. I learned quickly, however, that I could use the knowledge I acquired from my time at the UConn School of Business earning a Management degree to my advantage throughout every step of this experience. As a Project Management intern for NFL Films, I use the knowledge I gained through academic experience every day here. I have now been here for about a month, and I am constantly learning how to do new things.The personnel in the Project Management department are seen as the point people for every project that NFL Films takes on. Continue Reading