To help consumers deal with increasing amounts of information, many online retailers offer simple decision aids, such as the ability to sort products on a particular product attribute. Intuitively, such aids should help consumers but, in a recent article, Nicholas Lurie and a colleague at City University of Hong Kong show that simple decision aids can hurt consumers’ ability to make good decisions.
Whether decision aids help or hurt depends on the extent to which choices involve tradeoffs among attributes. For example, a consumer buying a laptop might want a large screen and lots of memory. If large screen laptops usually come with lots of memory then using a decision aid to sort on screen size will help the consumer choose the best laptop for her. However if, instead, the consumer wants a large screen and light weight laptop, and large screen laptops tend to be heavy, sorting on screen size will not enhance choice. The authors suggest that consumers use simple decision aids as substitutes for cognitive effort and find that the more consumers use such aids, the lower the quality of their decisions. Providing consumers with multiple decision aids, such as the ability to eliminate as well as sort products, is one way to overcome the negative aspects of such aids.
In January 2015, a contingent of part-time MBA and MSBAPM students led by Business Law Professor Gerlinde Berger-Walliser spent two weeks studying international business at EMLYON, one of the top business schools in France. The group attended lectures taught by renowned EM Lyon faculty about the European business, social, and regulatory environment. As part of the inter-cultural program the UConn students worked on projects with EM Lyon’s International MBA students and traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to visit the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. In the evenings and on the free weekend, the group sampled the great food that Lyon is known for and toured different parts of Europe. Professor Berger-Walliser is looking forward to taking another group of MBA students to Lyon in January 2016.
In many consumption settings (e.g., restaurants, casinos, theme parks), individuals consume products either alone or with their peers (e.g., friends and/or family members). In such settings, it is likely that through social influence, a consumer’s decision on what to purchase or how much to consume is influenced by the purchase or consumption decisions of their peers.
Marketing researchers have had much interest in measuring such social influence and were primarily focused in estimating how one’s behavior (e.g., how much to spend) is influenced by the behavior of the peer. However, a consumer could not only be affected by the peer’s behavior, but also by other events that influence the peer to change his/her behavior. For example, if the peer gets a promotion, but the focal consumer does not, the focal consumer might judge the differential treatment to be unfair and react negatively. Another mechanism by which social influence could operate could be when the peer is physically present, but does not engage in the behavior under question. In other words, the peer’s presence could directly affect the focal consumer’s consumption behavior as the lack of consumption by the peer may signal a subtle or transient change in preferences. In response to this, the focal consumer may modify her behavior.
The authors develop an empirical model that allows them to identify all three effects simultaneously and apply it to behavioral data from a casino setting. The data comprise detailed gambling activity for a panel of individuals at a single casino over a two-year period. The results show that all three types of peer effects exist. The results also indicate that accounting for these peer effects simultaneously and identifying them at an individual level could help marketing managers draw up better guidelines for promotion policies as well as policy makers implement a more informed regulatory regime for the casino industry.
NCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology, a national coalition of over 450 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to strengthen the IT workforce and cultivate technology innovation by increasing the participation of women. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing recognizes young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Winners are recognized at an awards reception on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at the University of Connecticut Alumni Center. This year, we have 15 winners and 3 runner-ups coming from high schools throughout the state.
Ella
Ackerman
Greater Hartford Academy Of Math And Science
Sara
Banach
Greater Hartford Academy Of Math And Science
Allison
Barone
Farmington High School
Shruti
Bhatia
Farmington High School
Kathleen
Burkhardt
The Academy Of Information Technology
Jennifer
Da Silva
The Academy Of Information Technology
Kaitlyn
DaSilva
Farmington High School
Megan
Go
Farmington High School
Maeve
Howard
Greater Hartford Academy Of Math And Science
Helen
Liu
Amity Regional Senior High School
Catalina
Michea
Conard High School
Sarah
Mogielnicki
Greater Hartford Academy Of Math And Science
Belma
Pehratovic
Pathways To Technology Magnet School
Kathleen
Quinn
Sacred Heart Academy
Andreea
Rotaru-Barac
Howell Cheney Technical High School
Zara
Saldanha
Wilton High School
Lauren
Schneider
Farmington High School
Danielle
Swanson
Farmington High School
In 2007, NCWIT began recognizing girls for their aspirations and achievements in computing via the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. By generating visibility for technical young women the award encourages continued interest in computing, increases awareness of the gender gap in computing and IT, and emphasizes at a personal level the importance of women’s participation in computing. Seanice DeShields, director of the Office of Diversity Initiatives in the School of Business and chair of the Connecticut Aspirations in Computing Committee says, “Recognizing the use of technology and computing by young women not only serves to close the gender gap but it’s also building the next generation of IT leaders and professionals. The work these young ladies are doing is amazing and I’m privileged to be a part of this organization that supports them in their achievements.”
To be a part of the CT Aspirations in Computing Committee or to be a corporate sponsor for the awards reception in March, please contact Seanice.DeShields@business.uconn.edu.
Brandon Madden ’16, Karla Lazo ’17, Megan Nayer ’16 and Tania Lima ’16
“The KPMG/NABA Case Study Competition provides participants with an opportunity to develop and showcase skills that they’ll use throughout their careers on a daily basis,” said Reggie Reed, a KPMG Audit partner who has served as one of the competition’s judges. “Companies operate in an increasingly complex and global environment, so the ability to think critically, assess risk, and have a global perspective are important traits that organizations like KPMG are looking for in recruits.”
Each team identifies and analyzes the issues associated with an MBA-level case study. The students then present recommendations that incorporate their knowledge of the current global marketplace, giving consideration to cultural, economic, political and other factors that would impact a successful implementation.
“KPMG is an organization that’s committed to diversity and inclusion and we’re pleased to continue to collaborate with them on this competition,” said Kenneth E. Cooke, CPA and chairman of the board of NABA, Inc. “The KPMG/NABA Case Study Competition gives our NABA chapter students a chance to take what they’ve learned on campus and apply it in a real-world, professional scenario–it’s gratifying to see how they rise to the challenge.”
The UConn NABA chapter will send a team to compete in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 10 – 13, 2015.
Students interested in joining the team should contact NABA Chapter President, Danielle Wellington ’15 at uconnnaba@gmail.com. Must be a paid NABA member to participate.
Policy and Medicine – Stringent conflicts-of-interest policies keep many experts off of FDA advisory committees. A new study suggests that the fear of pro-industry bias underlying these policies may be misplaced, and also serves to keep highly qualified candidates off of these committees.
James C. Cooper, director of research and policy at the Law and Economics Center at George Mason Law School and Joseph Golec, professor of Finance of the University of Connecticut, who conducted the study, sought to compare conflicted members’ voting patterns with objective criteria. They found that decisions by advisory committees with conflicted members to recommend drugs were more likely to be consistent with both the ultimate FDA decision as well as stock market predictions than non-conflicted advisory committees and members.
Hartford Courant – A new report from Connecticut Realtors shows that the promise early in 2014 for a third year of gains in home sales fizzled by the end of the year. “They are being cautious and more conservative before they make a big purchase like a home,” said Jeffrey P. Cohen, associate professor of real estate and finance at the University of Connecticut’s Center for Real Estate in Storrs.
KPMG LLP (KPMG) is seeking high-performing freshman and sophomore students who have demonstrated, and continue to demonstrate, a commitment to diversity and are interested in future opportunities at KPMG through participation in their exciting Future Diversity Leaders (FDL) program.
What is the Future Diversity Leaders program?
The FDL program begins with a three-day leadership conference, held in Hollywood, CA, focused on preparing high-potential students with the skills and perspective to be the business leaders of tomorrow.
Based on your performance and participation at the leadership conference, if you are recommended to participate in an office visit for a summer internship in KPMG’s Trainee Program, you will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Upon successful completion of your first internship, you will receive another internship offer to continue in the Trainee program. Should you accept this offer, you will continue in the Trainee program and receive additional scholarship dollars. You will continue in this program until the summer before your graduation.
In your last summer, you will enter KPMG’s Practice Internship where you will gain actual hands-on experience through interactions with various clients in the line of business that you have chosen.
The application deadline is February 11th (extended from Feb. 6th).
On Campus Interviews: KPMG representatives will be on campus February 27th to conduct interviews for selected students.
Margaret (“Maggie’’) Luciano, a doctoral candidate at the UConn School of Business, has been awarded two scholarships in recent months recognizing her achievements in the field of organizational behavior.
The Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) Lee Hakel Graduate Student Scholarship recognizes achievement in a graduate career and is intended to assist doctoral students in the field of industrial and organizational psychology with the costs of carrying out their dissertation work. She received the award in January.
It is the second recognition for Luciano, who, late last year also received an award from the Society for Human Resources Management for her dissertation proposal. She was selected as one of four promising researchers.
Her dissertation research focuses on understanding and improving cross-unit coordination between hospital units, and the dynamics between such groups.
She has investigated patient “handoffs’’ as they move from surgery to a recovery room. During baseline assessments, upwards of 20 percent of these handoffs were found to be lacking in one or more important ways, jeopardizing patient care.
“Margaret’s dissertation is a stellar example of cutting-edge applied research,’’ said John Mathieu, professor of management and Luciano’s adviser. “Conceptually, Margaret tests theoretical questions concerning the integration of employees’ individual differences and how they combine to perform interdependent actions. Practically, she devised and implemented a work process improvement which essentially orchestrated how different parties should function during these handoffs.’’
“Her dissertation represented a serious organizational change for the hospital, involving everyone from top management to the nurses and doctors performing the handoffs. Her field experiment revealed that her intervention reduced the percentage of problematic handoffs to approximately 4 to 5 percent—a 75 percent decrease from baseline,’’ Mathieu said.
Both the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP) awarded her competitive research grants on the basis of her proposed work. The criteria for both awards are that the work should advance both the science of human behavior in organizations, while also advancing practice and human welfare, Mathieu said.
Her research on these and related topics has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology and other peer-reviewed journals.
Luciano will join the management faculty at Arizona State University after completing her doctoral program at UConn. She earned her bachelors degree in psychology in 2009 and her MBA in 2010, both from Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
Hartford Business Journal – Hartford area accounting firms say they are on a hiring spree to address a region-wide personnel shortage driven by heavy workloads, increased competition for talent, and professional burnout.
While accounting has historically been an in-demand profession, a few changes in recent years have amplified competition among firms and corporations recruiting talent, said Mohamed Hussein, a professor and head of UConn’s accounting department, which graduates over 100 accounting majors per year.
