Author: Claire Hall

UConn EMBA in China 2013

Posted on by Claire Hall

Eighteen Executive MBA (EMBA) students from the UConn School of Business recently visited China as part of their Global Business Issues class.

Led by Professor Robin Coulter, EMBA academic director and Ackerman scholar, the group spent ten days in Beijing, the second largest city in China. They engaged with in-country business executives across multiple industries, becoming better versed in global business challenges and gaining first-hand experience in the dynamics of international business management.

Experiential learning is an important part of the UConn EMBA, which strives to develop truly global managers and thought leaders. For more than twenty years, the international study trip has enabled participants to experience firsthand how concepts and theories learned in the classroom are applied in the global arena.

Beijing is a modern metropolis full of vitality, together with a history of over 3,000 years. In addition to corporate visits, students were able to experience several historical wonders including the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China.

Trip Highlights

U.S. Embassy – EMBA students had the opportunity to meet with Andrew Billard, a Commercial Officer working for the U.S. Commercial Service in China. Billard talked with students about doing business in China and how the Commercial Service helps bring American goods and services to China. (Pictured: UConn EMBAs visiting the U.S. Embassy in China)

Great Wall – EMBA students had the chance to visit one of the greatest wonders of the world. The Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus. With a history of more than 2000 years, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance. »See photo

To view more photos from the trip, please visit us on Facebook.

Finance Department Professor Awarded GARP Grant

Posted on by Claire Hall

Assistant Professor Chanatip Kitwiwattanachai, Finance Department, UConn School of Business, has received funding from the 2013 GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) Risk Management Research Program for the project, “Learning Network Structure of Financial Institutions from CDS Data.” Grants are given under the condition that the paper contains new and original work. The project is one of six selected out of 56 proposals for an award of $15,000.

Projects were selected for funding in 2013 by a research committee of risk management practitioners, academicians, and researchers chaired by Professor René Stulz of The Ohio State University. According to GARP, the research committee seeks to provide funding for:

  • projects offering unique approaches and insights into problems of significance to risk management professionals;
  • projects of particular relevance to current global financial risk management issues and needs; and
  • projects with significant potential for bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Kitwiwattanachai’s project attempts to use techniques from artificial intelligence to extract network structure from credit derivatives such as CDS (credit default swaps). The project will shed light on how banks are connected in the system which will have implications on policy making such as the “too-interconnected-to-fail” problem.

MBA Students Engage with News Corp. in Market Research Project for Mobile App

Posted on by Claire Hall

This past spring semester, a team of four MBAs and one Financial Risk Management student at the School of Business’ Stamford Learning Accelerator (SLA) completed a marketing research project for Connecticut-based News America Marketing, a division of News Corporation. The project was designed to assess the customer experience for a new mobile app developed by the company for grocery store consumers across the United States. What made the project particularly unique was that a member of the client team was current UConn School of Business Part-time MBA student Taylor Witt ’05, ’14 MBA, who is Director, Mobile Systems at the company.

The UConn team created three surveys deployed by News Corp. to unique target markets. The surveys’ response rate averaged over 7%, when the industry norm is much lower. In addition, the team ran two hour-long consumer focus groups held at the SLA over a two week period. The team not only recruited the focus group participants according to specific demographics, but one of the team members served as a moderator while other members acted as observers, answered participant questions and took notes.

Brian Brady, Director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator, was the faculty mentor on the project with assistance from Joseph Sweet ’10 JD/MBA, who previously worked at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI). Student team members included: Archit Patel ’13 MBA, Tiffany Betz ’14 MBA, Siddhartha Sharan ’13 MBA, Danilo Komljenovic ’13 MBA, and Youzhuo (Aaron) Liang ’13 MSFRM.

Pictured from left to right: Pat McDonnell, Mobile Technical Specialist, News America Marketing; Jeff Caron, Digital Analyst, News America Marketing; Ray Moran, Vice President, Technology, News America Marketing; Dawn McCaffrey, Vice President, Applications, News America Marketing; Taylor Witt ’05, ’14 MBA, Director, Mobile Systems, News America Marketing; Andy Grussi, Project Manager, News America Marketing; Brian Brady, Director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator and Faculty Mentor, UConn School of Business; Tiffany Betz ’14 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Siddhartha Sharan ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Archit Patel ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Danilo Komljenovic ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Joseph Sweet ’10 JD/MBA, Project Associate, UConn School of Business; Youzhuo (Aaron) Liang ’13 MSFRM, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Bill Christie, Executive Vice President, CIO, News America Marketing.

Marketing Department Professors Awarded MSI Research Grants

Posted on by Claire Hall

Professors Hongju Liu, Nicholas Lurie and Joseph Pancras, Marketing Department, UConn School of Business, have received research awards from the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) competition, “Mobile Platforms, Location-Based Services, and their Impact on Customers.” MSI received 35 proposals and funded only six, including two featuring UConn faculty. Please join us in congratulating the following scholars who have earned this honor:

  • Nicholas H. Lurie, Sam Ransbotham, and Hongju Liu: “Going Mobile: The Characteristics and Influence of Mobile Word of Mouth” received an $11,800 award.
  • Joseph Pancras, Rajukumar Venkatesan, and Bin Li: “Returns from Customizing Mobile Loyalty Programs: Spatial and Temporal Aspects” received a $13,000 award.

The competition was sponsored by MSI to stimulate research that contributes new insights to marketing practice. According to MSI, “There is widespread expectation that while mobile devices currently absorb a small part of marketing spending, they have game-changing implications for marketing in the future. This research competition [was] intended to provoke exploration of these implications.”

Pictured left to right: Hongju Liu, Nicholas Lurie and Joseph Pancras

22nd Annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference

Posted on by Claire Hall

On May 9, 2013, the UConn School of Business Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics hosted its 22nd Annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference at the Hartford Marriott Farmington. The conference this year was sponsored by The Center for Real Estate, CT Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, Connecticut Association of REALTORS, Inc., The Connecticut Attorney’s Title Insurance Company, and The Simon Konover Company.

The notable speakers this year included Steven Lanza, executive editor of The Connecticut Economy, who spoke about the economic forecast in the commercial real estate industry. A panel discussion ensued where UConn Center for Real Estate Director John Glascock and Peter M. Gioia of The Connecticut Business and Industry Association discussed the state of the economy and Connecticut Economic Development. Speaker Brad Hutensky, chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers, gave a presentation on the global realty market and how it is currently expanding, and speaker Dags Chen of Cornerstone Research presented his findings on the Hartford and Stamford office markets.

For more information on the annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference, click here.

Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship

Posted on by Claire Hall

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship. This is the first time such an award has been made at the UConn School of Business.

Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship Awards:

Accounting – Erin Henry, Elizabeth Kohl
Finance – Tingyu Zhou
Management – Margaret Luciano, Lauren D’Innocenzo
Marketing – Jeffrey Carlson
OPIM – Mark Schneider, Gang Wang

Please join us in congratulating these students, who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in research and/or teaching.

Ph.D. Student Scholar Awards 2013

Posted on by Claire Hall

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Departmental Outstanding Ph.D. Student Scholar Awards. The following doctoral students have demonstrated outstanding scholarly performance, regardless of stage in the UConn School of Business doctoral program:Continue Reading

Rajendra S. Shirolé Appointed New Director for the UConn Full-time MBA Program

Posted on by Claire Hall

After a global search we are pleased to announce that Rajendra Shirolé will be joining UConn on July 1, 2013 as the Director of the Full-time MBA Program. Rajendra has most recently been Director of the Kent MBA Program at the Kent Business School in Canterbury, UK.

In his Kent MBA Director role, which he has held since 2008, Rajendra has instituted innovative opportunities in cross-cultural research, teaching and learning, including ‘live’ case studies and engagement in corporate consulting for MBA students. He designed a policy and practice focused study program supported by EU based policy makers and global corporations including HSBC, Delphi, Cummins and Schlumberger. He passionately believes that MBA program content should facilitate learning in a creative environment focused on a global perspective, grounded in practical application, embedded with an approach to management decision making which incorporates issues such as managing resource scarcity and sustainability.

Rajendra’s career has spanned academia and industry in multiple disciplines, including management, software development, infrastructure design and international service delivery. His research interests are in IT outsourcing and he is currently working on a research project entitled, “The emerging role of hinterland networks in IT outsourcing service delivery – a vendor perspective.” Recently he has completed a highly commended project for the Kent County Council exploring the effective use of mobile technologies in remote working. As a consultant he has worked with global organizations in facilitating partner relationships and post-merger integration support. He has also directed substantial infrastructure projects in Eastern Europe, financed by the European Union. He has also been a visiting professor in corporate strategy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Rajendra is looking forward to leading the UConn MBA Program and working with colleagues to engage students to be dynamic, creative problem solvers and supporting them to find efficient ways of turning complex challenges into robust opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage. His experience and perspective will be a substantial asset to us as we evaluate and move forward on changes to our MBA Program.

Bridging the Gap between Business and Human Rights

Posted on by Claire Hall

Business law faculty in the marketing department hosted a colloquium titled, “Bridging the Gap between Business and Human Rights.” The event took place on May 14-15, 2013 at the UConn School of Business and was organized by Robert Bird, associate professor of business law in the School of Business and Northeast Utilities Chair in Business Ethics. Assistance was provided by Karla Fox, emeritus professor of business law and special assistant to the provost, and Michele Metcalf, program manager at the School of Business.

The purpose of this colloquium was to explore the potential for common ground between business and civil society groups in the area of human rights. Attendees at the conference explored how firms perceive and interact with human rights, examined how voluntary regulatory regimes can positively influence business behavior, and analyzed how multinational corporations can align their interests with human rights in their chosen markets.

This conference brought together academics from many different disciplines and universities. Authors included Norm Bishara, University of Michigan; Dan Cahoy, Pennsylvania State University; Lucien Dhooge, Georgia Institute of Technology; Janine Hiller, Virginia Tech; Radu Mares, Lund University; David Orozco, Florida State University; Stephen Park, University of Connecticut; and Jamie Prenkert, Indiana University.

From UConn, Shareen Hertel, associate professor of political science, Department of Political Science and Human Rights Institute, Lisa Laplante, interim director, Dodd Center, and Emma Gilligan, associate professor of history and co-director of the Human Rights Institute, gave valuable input during the conference. Executives in residence included Kate Emery ’81, CEO of the Walker Group and reSET (Social Enterprise Trust), and John F. Sherman III, general counsel, secretary, and senior advisor at the Shift Project.

School of Business Dean John Elliott gave opening remarks by emphasizing the importance of human rights and the timeliness of the conference. At the closing dinner, Anthony Ewing, Columbia University, presented the topic, “Teaching Business and Human Rights: an Emerging Discipline.”

The conference was sponsored by the UConn School of Business, the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, the UConn Human Rights Institute, the UConn Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), and the Northeast Utilities Chair in Business Ethics.

Papers from the conference will be published as a collection by Elgar Press in 2014.

Click here to view photos from the event.

Travelers EDGE Scholars Identify Growth Opportunities for Local Organization

Posted on by Claire Hall

Travelers EDGE Scholars Begum Abadin ’15, Kurtis Adei ’14, Janice Tate ’14 and Andrea Llivichuzhca ’14 recently presented a marketing strategy to the New England Air Museum (NEAM) as part of the Travelers EDGE Venture project for 2013. Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment) works to help underrepresented students attain college degrees, as well as a competitive edge when entering the job market.

EDGE Venture, a semester-long marketing consulting course at the UConn School of Business, gave these students an invaluable opportunity to work with NEAM on a real world challenge. The students’ task was to complete a marketing strategy for NEAM, with an overall goal to collect useful data that the organization would be able to use to help grow their business.

The students conducted surveys, created focus groups, and developed innovative marketing strategies to best position NEAM for the future. They had to work together as a team to figure out how they could market NEAM to the public as a great place to take family or friends, which in return would increase the amount of business NEAM would gain. Professor Christopher Levesque, Director of the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) taught the course and was the entrepreneurial expert that worked with the students. Travelers executives and a NEAM representative provided additional insight and project guidance.

The students presented their strategy at Travelers’ Corporate Office in Hartford, Connecticut to an audience of Travelers representatives, NEAM representatives, special guests, and Travelers representatives from Minnesota via satellite.