Department News

Articles about activities within the academic departments


Educator of Excellence

UConn at the Eddys

CPA Society Presents University of Connecticut Adjunct Faculty Member Leanne Adams with ‘Educator of Excellence’ Award

The Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CTCPA) recently presented University of Connecticut adjunct faculty member Leanne Adams, CPA of Storrs with an “Educator of Excellence” award in the Adjunct Professor category at the organization’s third annual Educator Appreciation Night. The event was held at Cascade in Hamden with John Turgeon, CPA of CohnReznick LLP serving as master of ceremonies.Continue Reading


On the Brink: Predicting Business Failure with Mobile Location-based Checkins.

Decision Support Systems, 2015.

Joseph Pancras (Marketing). Co-authors: Ram Gopal (OPIM), Ramesh Shankar (OPIM), Lei Wang (Penn State University)

Consumers are increasingly using mobile services for engaging with firms in the offline world both directly through purchases and loyalty points redemptions, and indirectly through mobile gamification portals related to the retail outlet. One major such portal is Foursquare, the location-based service provider, which has been gaining popularity in the last few years. Continue Reading


Ackerman Faculty Scholars Announced

Five faculty members from the School of Business have been named Ackerman Scholars for academic years 2015-2017. They are: John Phillips of Accounting, Rex Santerre of Finance, Greg Reilly of Management, Girish Punj of Marketing and Bob Day of Operations and Information Management (OPIM).

Continuing from last year, for academic year 2015-2016, are: Qing Cao and Gary Powell of Management and Xue Bai, Jose Cruz and Suresh Nair of OPIM.

The Ackerman Scholar award recognizes significant and continuing all-round academic productivity among the faculty of the School, said Sulin Ba, associate dean of academic and research support. It is awarded to faculty who are not already supported by endowed chair, professorship, scholarship or fellowship appointments. The award is supported by the Ackerman Fund, the School of Business and the departments.

 


Managing Customer Acquisition Risk Using Co-operative Databases.

Journal of Interactive Marketing, Volume 29, February 2015, Pages 39-56.

Authors: Hongju Liu and Joseph Pancras (Marketing). Co-author: Malcolm Houtz (Alliant Inc)

Firms typically have detailed information only about their own customers. In order to gain a broader view of customers across firms, several firms may pool their data together and engage an intermediary called a co-operative database firm to manage and analyze the pooled data to provide better targeting solutions for the firms. In this paper Professors Liu and Pancras study these interesting intermediaries by developing a framework for firms to manage customer acquisition risk using co-operative databases.Continue Reading


Investigating the Impact of Customer Stochasticity on Firm Price Discrimination Strategies using a New Bayesian Mixture Scale Heterogeneity Model

Marketing Letters, 2015, 1-16.

Joseph Pancras (Marketing) and Dipak K. Dey (Statistics) Co-author: Xia Wang (University of Cincinnati)

Targeted marketing is increasingly popular among new media firms and accurate targeting requires well-calibrated statistical models which will identify customer preferences from their previous historical transactions so as to customize an offering to their needs. A typical example of such targeted marketing is customized pricing, where a price sensitive customer is given a coupon with a higher face value, while a less price sensitive or brand loyal customer may be given a lower face value or no coupon at all. Continue Reading


New MBA Case Study Tackles Trillion Dollar Changes in Mutual Fund Distribution Channels

cash flow

Mutual funds are a core element of retirement and investment plans, representing roughly $1 of every $5 held in the bank or financial accounts of US households. In April, MBA students in Professor Mary Caravella’s MBA Marketing classes analyzed how mutual fund products from the roughly 800 fund companies in the industry currently reach the roughly 57 million households who own them, and then debated how one market leader, Capital Group/American Funds, should address some potential profound market forces affecting their retail go-to-market strategy. Continue Reading



Smart Pricing Strategies for Generating Higher Conversions

Marketing Profs – Consumers are sensitive to the text size of discounted prices on price tags and product advertisements,  according to researchers Keith Coulter and Robin Coulter from Clark University and the University of Connecticut, respectively. They found that consumers perceive price to be significantly lower when the reduced price is printed in a smaller font than that of the original price.


Thrive or Falter?

emotional intelligence

UConn Professor Finds that ‘Emotional Intelligence’ May Determine Whether Young Managers Succeed

UConn Management Professor Yuntao Dong and two of her colleagues believe they may have uncovered possible reasons why some young managers thrive in challenging new jobs, while others become frustrated and discouraged.

In an article published on the Harvard Business Review web site, Dong and her colleagues revealed the findings of their research that analyzed the “emotional intelligence” of 214 study participants. While all were highly intelligent, some of them were identified as having a better ability to deal with frustration, uncertainty and other challenges associated with new, demanding tasks.Continue Reading


Brand Ambassador Experience

Marketing Society Members Act as Brand Ambassadors for US POLO ASSN.

by Robert O’Gara, Chief Organization Officer, UConn Marketing Society

This academic year the UConn Marketing Society involved its members through guest speakers, meetings, and community involvement. The Marketing Society brings together students who are interested in marketing and want to learn more about the “real world” experiences from professionals in the field opening up opportunities for learning, networking, internships, and careers.Continue Reading