Research


Universitas 21 – Doctoral Research Conference in Business

The University of Connecticut School of Business hosted the Universitas 21 Doctoral Research Conference in Business (DRCB) April 10-13, 2012. Ph.D. students from twelve U21 schools, including UConn, presented research and received feedback regarding their dissertations from their counterparts, faculty from the participating universities, and UConn faculty. The vision of U21 DRCB is to create a global learning and research platform to prepare the next generation of intellectual leaders in the fields of business, commerce and economics.

This inaugural event was created as a model for future international conferences to be sponsored with Universitas 21. Participants were welcomed at an opening reception at the Hartford Hilton by Robert Bird, Program Chair; Gary Powell, Ph.D. Program Director; and Michele Metcalf, Program Manager. Interim Dean Karla H. Fox greeted the group at the Graduate Business Learning Center the following morning where presentation sessions were held throughout the day. All presentations were video recorded with copies of tapes being provided to presenters. That evening, a Gala Dinner was held at the Hartford Society Room featuring Mr. Jonas Haertle, UN PRME Secretariat. The final day of the conference was held at the Storrs campus at the School of Business and the Alumni Center. Two panel sessions were held on “Finishing the Dissertation” and “From Dissertation to Publication”- which were also recorded and will be available on the website soon. Participants also enjoyed lunch at the School of Business Café, dinner at the Alumni Center as well as a tour of the campus. An optional trip to Boston was also available to participants on Friday.

Attendees at the event included faculty and Ph.D. students from the National University of Singapore, Tecnológico de Monterrey, University College Dublin, University of Amsterdam, University of Auckland, University of Birmingham, University of Delhi, University of Glasgow, University of New South Wales, University of Nottingham, and University of Queensland.

The tracks included International Business, Exchange Rates, Advertising and Branding, Knowledge, Accountability, Investment, Consumer Behavior, Leadership, Management Information Systems, Economics, Corporate Finance, Creativity, Strategy, Taxation and Auditing, Strategies, Markets and Products/Services, and Cognitive Theory.

Photo: Attendees of the Universitas 21


Annual Faculty Awards

At the beginning of this month, the Teaching and Research Committee met and evaluated nominations for the annual Faculty Awards.  A total of nine winners, a runner up, and two honorable mentions were awarded.

Under the Research category the winners are Sarah Rice and David Weber for Best Paper.  Their paper is titled “How Effective is Internal Control Reporting under SOZ 404? Determinants of the (Non-) Disclosure of Existing Material Weaknesses.” Continue Reading


Paper Received Best IS Publication of the Year Award 2010

A paper co-written by faculty members of the University of Connecticut School of Business Department of Operations and Information Management has been nominated as the best ACM TMIS paper of 2010 and is also one out of five recipients of the Best IS Publications of the Year Awards 2010.  The paper, titled “Why Give Away Something for Nothing? Investigating Virtual Goods Pricing and Permission Strategies,” was co-written in December 2010 by Dr. Sulin Ba, Professor; Dr. Dan Ke; Dr. Jan Stallaert, Associate Professor; and Zhongju Zhang, Associate Professor.

The Best Publications Awards were established to recognize the breadth of high quality work that is being published in the Information Systems discipline. This award was designed to bring outstanding papers across a range of journals to the attention of the IS community, and to give due credit to the journals in which they are published. Each year journal editors nominate the best paper published in their journal in the preceding year. A committee composed of Senior Scholars reviews the nominations from journal editors and selects five papers as the recipients of this prestigious award.

“Why Give Away Something for Nothing? Investigating Virtual Goods Pricing and Permission Strategies” is about the world of virtual goods.  The question of how a creator sets prices for a virtual good, as to maximize their profit, is discussed.  The major difference with virtual goods is that many times consumers will want to use multiple copies of the same good, which results in an increase in the consumer’s utility.  The focus of the research is on the copy permission of virtual goods.  An economic model is developed and examined under different conditions, to find which setting is best for the copy permission that leads to the highest profit, as well as how subsequent pricing strategies are affected.  Both theoretical and practical implications of researched are discussed within the paper.


Three Management Professors and a Ph.D. Student Receive a Scholarly Impact Award for their research

The Journal of Management (JOM) reviews all articles published in JOM five years prior and awards the top five highest impact papers . All JOM papers published in 2006 were considered for the 2011 Scholarly Impact Awards. A committee of four Associate Editors considered each paper according to the following criteria:

  • Number of citations (both with and without self-citations)
  • The breadth and quality of the papers/journals citing each paper
  • Total downloads
  • Perceived quality and potential for continued impact

The committee explored who cited each paper–whether the papers are being cited by top journals, as well as whether the papers are having wide penetration. Then the committee considered the strength of each paper and its potential for continued contribution.

The University of Connecticut School of Business is honored to have a paper written by three of its professors and a Ph.D. graduate recognized by the JOM. The paper, titled “Ambidexterity and performance in small- to medium-sized firms: The pivotal role of top management team behavioral integration” was written by: Michael Lubatkin, Thomas John & Bette Wolff Family Chair in Strategic Entrepreneurship and Professor, Management Department; Zeki Simsek, Associate Professor and Ackerman Scholar, Management Department; Yan Ling, UConn Ph.D. graduate; John Veiga, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Northeast Utilities Chair in Business Ethics, Management Department.

Sage, SMA, and JOM will be recognizing this achievement at their annual board meeting at the Academy of Management conference. At this event, a Best Paper Prize will be awarded. The Best Paper Prize comes with a cash honorarium.