A team of four UConn MBA students were awarded First Place and Grand Champions in the APICS Northeast Business Case Competition in Albany, N.Y., last month. This is the fourth time that a UConn MBA team has been awarded top honors.
The winning team members are first-year MBA students Jason Harris, Akhilesh Kumar, Jared Siraco, and Yogendra Bhosrekar. As a result of the win, the team will next compete in the Global APICS Competition which will be held in Las Vegas in October. Continue Reading
The University of Connecticut School of Business has been ranked among the Top 50 “Best Graduate Business Schools” for 2016 by U.S. News and World Report.
The Full-time MBA Program is ranked No. 48 nationally. Among public colleges and universities, UConn ranks No. 23, up from No. 28 last year, and was the top program in that category in New England, according to the same report.
This is the fifth consecutive year that UConn has improved its standing, and the first time it has been in the Top 50.
“The annual improvement in our rankings, for the last five years, reflects our persistent efforts at continuous improvement,” said School of Business Dean John A. Elliott. “I appreciate the investment by faculty, staff, students and employers that have produced these improvements.”
Meg Warren, interim director of the Full-time MBA Program, said the Top 50 ranking is a tribute to the entire School of Business.
The UConn School of Business is among the “Best for Veterans—Business Schools 2015” according to a report released Monday by Military Times.
UConn ranked No. 54 nationally, in a year that saw record applications and a process that was highly competitive. It is one of many recognitions that the University has received for its veteran programs, which include an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). Last year, the UConn EBV and School of Business were recognized by Newman’s Own Foundation as one of the five best veteran non-profit organizations in the country.
The University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering and the Institute of Materials Science have received a $435,000 research grant to develop products made from particle board containing recycled carpeting. Approximately $100,000 will be apportioned to the UConn School of Business to perform an economic and market analysis for these new products, which are targeted to the construction industry.
Richard Parness, Ph.D., a UConn faculty member in the Polymer Program of Institute of Material Sciences will develop and test the products, in conjunction with colleagues Ioulia Valla and George Bollas. Parness has tremendous expertise in this field, having patented other particle board while at UConn.
The grant is sponsored by the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), whose purpose is to develop market-based solutions for recycling and reusing post-consumer carpet. In 2013, some 3.7 billion pounds of carpeting was sent to landfills. Since then, CARE members have been successful in diverting more than 3.25 billion pounds of carpeting from landfills in the U.S., according to Robert Peoples, Ph.D., and CARE executive director. Because of its complex fabric and chemical makeup, recycling of carpet is particularly complex.
The UConn School of Business marketing analysis will be carried out by graduate students in the Stamford Learning Accelerator (SLA), said Brian Brady, SLA Director and co-investigator of the grant. “MBA students will be assessing the market opportunity for these new products, and will help identify optimal target customers and develop a pricing- and distribution- strategy. We are excited about the potential of patented particle board products incorporating post-consumer carpeting as one solution in aiding the sustainability efforts of CARE.”
The research will begin this summer and will take approximately a year.
“The fact that UConn was selected for this project is exciting,” Brady said. “This grant is substantial, and represents a cross-disciplinary effort between the School of Business and the School of Engineering and is a further example of the ongoing collaboration between both. We are excited to work with CARE, Dr. Parnas and his colleagues on this project in hopes that UConn’s efforts can help play a role in improving our environment and local communities.”
In a corporate world that is obsessed with immediate results, there is still plenty of need for long-term, strategic thinking, said David Souder, a management professor and the academic director of UConn’s Executive MBA program.
In a lively presentation, which touched on everything from light bulbs to major league baseball, Souder told 40 business executives that a progressive company must always strive for a balance between short-term goals and long-term strategy. Souder outlined four steps to bringing long-term goals into focus.Continue Reading
The University of Connecticut School of Business and Law School will co-host the third annual Connecticut Risk Management Conference on March 20 at the UConn Stamford campus. Continue Reading
Most consumers today split their shopping experiences between traditional brick-and-mortar stores and internet purchases. But if you believe that traditional, in-store browsing is facing extinction, think again.
In fact, it is often a trip to the mall or shopping center that gives consumers the confidence they need to buy similar, or more upscale, items online, according to research conducted by UConn Assistant Professor Jane Gu and her colleague, Giri Tayi, from the State University of New York at Albany.Continue Reading
UConn economists at The Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis predicted strong economic progress and growth for the state in a report released Wednesday.
One model predicts Connecticut’s gross domestic product would grow 4.85 percent in 2015 and in 2016, but a second model predicted even more robust growth. The group also anticipates strong progress in the jobs market, from the current level of 1.69 million jobs in December 2014 to 1.73 million by the end of 2016.
The economists urged state government to invest in education, transportation and high-speed communications systems to enable long-term economic and job growth. The same organization also warned that extensive government ‘belt tightening’ could damage the state’s robust recovery and thwart its chance at sustained employment growth.
Have you ever tried to buy concert- or theater- tickets online and been asked to retype two words, which are displayed in squashed, blurry, italic font that is virtually impossible to distinguish?
If you’re like Theo Marrinan, that hurdle absolutely drives you nuts. Marrinan has a plan that will make that task a little easier, a great deal more fun, and may also be intriguing to advertisers who could use it to promote their product.
When Management Professor Rich Dino started a course that helps non-business majors write a business plan, it filled almost instantly. He scheduled two more classes, and the same thing happened.
“This semester I have students majoring in everything from physics to music, and their different views enhance the class,” Dino said. “The doors are open to anyone with ideas.”Continue Reading