Stamford

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.

Stamford Focuses on Finance

Posted on by

Stamford Campus

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2013)

The city of Stamford in Fairfield County, Connecticut, has been listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the best places for business and careers. Nestled along picturesque Long Island Sound, this bustling business community houses numerous Fortune 500 companies and many notable investment management firms.

And when you enter the title of “financial analyst” into the search engine of the Stamford-based job site Indeed.com, you’ll be rewarded with approximately 900 advertised openings within a 25-mile radius.

There is a high demand for positions in the financial services sector, and to meet this growing need, the UConn School of Business is launching an undergraduate Financial Management major at the Stamford campus which is uniquely designed to fit the needs of the business base in Fairfield County.

According to Robert A. Johnson, a sernio Stamford business student, “my job and focus is in the Stamford area, and I want to graduate from UConn with a Finance degree. Now I can do this and not have to attend the Storrs campus for more than a semester.”

The proposed major makes sense to employers on the Gold Coast as well. As Peter Ijomah, Director of Engineering, Service Management at Travelers, aptly notes, “once students can graduate from Stamford with a Finance degree, we can recruit more students from the Stamford campus for our employment needs in our finance department.” While the proposed curriculum will require the same general education courses as the School’s traditional business majors, it differs from the mainstream finance major offered at the main Storrs campus in that its courses are constructed to prepare students for careers in corporate money management and investment.

The plan of study aims to ready students for the Level 1 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam, a standard of excellence in the investment community. The major will continue to link with the Stamford Chartered Financial Analyst Society (SCFAS), which was instrumental in its curriculum development, to apply for the status of CFA Program Partner. This distinction would signal to the business community that it is rooted in professional practice, embraces professional standards of ethics and well prepares students for the exams.

The major will also integrate with the new Investment Management Program (IMP) hosted by the local SCFAS. The IMP will allow for guest lecturers and mentoring directed at providing students with local industry-specific support mechanisms and instilling strong ethical behavior, practical knowledge and a current exchange of ideas. Michael Dineen, Senior Vice President of Atlantic Asset Management, notes “the partnership uniquely exposes students to a structured program closely tied to professional practice and a level of mentoring support well suited for a highly competitive marketplace.”

UConn’s new Financial Management major just may be the return on investment that the Fairfield County financial world has been hoping for.

Business Briefs and Accolades (Spring 2013)

Posted on by

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2013)

Innovation for Business Growth in Fairfield County

Over 110 UConn Alumni and business leaders from the greater Stamford, Connecticut area gathered at the “Innovation for Business Growth in Fairfield County” event at the Stamford Learning Accelerator. The event, hosted by the UConn School of Business and The Business Council of Fairfield, Connecticut, featured a panel discussion on topics such as new business growth in Connecticut and why companies are relocating to Fairfield County. Continue Reading

New Bachelor of Science Degree in Financial Management offered at UConn-Stamford

Posted on by Claire Hall

This fall, students at the UConn-Stamford campus will be able to choose a new major designed to fit the needs of the business base in Fairfield County. Graduating its first class in 2017, the BS in Financial Management has been developed to provide students with the skills they need for successful careers in corporate financial management and analysis, investments, and portfolio management.

The curriculum includes the same general education requirements and business core requirements as other UConn business majors, though differs in that financial management majors will also complete electives in which they will learn about issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to investment strategies, portfolio management and business ethics. The plan of study aims to ready students for the Level 1 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

> Learn more about the Financial Management Major

NBC Sports and Olympics at Stamford Learning Accelerator

Posted on by Claire Hall

Executives from NBC Sports and Olympics in Stamford met recently with over 80 UConn students at the UConn School of Business Stamford Learning Accelerator (SLA). The event was video streamed live from Stamford to the School of Business Cafe in Storrs, where students at that campus were able to simultaneously participate and pose questions to the NBC Sports team.

NBC Sports kicked off the event showing video highlights from its award winning Sports and Olympics programming. Next, Emanuel Adjekum, Manager Diversity & Pipeline Programs at NBC Sports Group, led a presentation on joining NBC Sports for a number of full-time positions and internships, including internship opportunities for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Students were also able to participate with a panel of NBC Sports executives represented by Eric Hamilton, Senior Broadband Producer, Nathan Suh, Director Business of Development and Michael Benjamin, Production Associate. The panel spoke of their experiences at NBC Sports and Olympics, discussed their own career paths and enthusiastically answered students’ questions from both Stamford and Storrs.

After the presentation, all panelists were available for further discussions and students were encouraged to personally bring up their resumes to Mr. Adjekum for upcoming internships and employment opportunities. A long line of students, resumes in hand, were delighted to do so.

The event was arranged by Brian Brady, Director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator, along with Halina Holloway and Celeste Baran from the UConn Stamford Career Center, in cooperation with Kathy Hendrickson at the School of Business Career Center in Storrs. Live streaming was made possible with support from Jeremy Pollack, Director of IT for the School of Business, James Simon, Director of IT for the School of Business Stamford campus, and Matt Proulx and Ian Hollis from UConn Stamford’s Technology Services.

See photos from the event on Facebook:

2013 Risk Management Conference

Posted on by

2013risk

Thursday, November 14, 2013
7:30 AM – 4:45 PM

Marriott Downtown
243 Tresser Boulevard
Stamford, Connecticut

Join us at the second annual Connecticut Risk Management Conference which has been designed to align risk management with strategy. This conference will bring together professionals engaged in risk management, senior management, and regulators, as well as faculty members and students in UConn’s MS in Financial Risk Management (MSFRM) Program. Continue Reading

MBAs Enhancing “The Palace – Stamford Center for the Arts” Brand

Posted on by Claire Hall

Experiential learning in action. As part of Professor Wynd Harris‘ strategic brand marketing class at the University of Connecticut-Stamford, MBA candidates received a backstage tour of The Palace Theatre prior to attending a live performance of The Temptations & The Four Tops last Wednesday evening. The experience is all part of an introduction to their semester-long team project to help enhance “The Palace – Stamford Center for the Arts” brand.

The MBA candidates will create a brand audit review and a brand-oriented marketing action program for “The Palace – Stamford Center for the Arts,” and will be meeting with The Palace management team throughout the course. Each team will present their findings and recommendations to management at the end of the semester.