Insights on the Frontier of Marketing

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Insights on the Frontier of Marketing
New Digital Marketing & Analytics Major Reflects Emerging Communication Trends

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 3 (Summer 2014)

The rapidly rising demand for digital marketing expertise and the accompanying explosion in job openings has prompted the School of Business’ Marketing Department to offer a new undergraduate major in Digital Marketing & Analytics at the Stamford campus.

Digital Marketing & Analytics students will learn how to use marketing analytics to gain insights into consumer behavior and to develop digital marketing strategies. The major takes a comprehensive approach that covers all aspects of marketing and includes developing strategies for creating, branding, and positioning digital products and services; dynamic pricing, digital distribution, social media and digital communication; and integrating digital marketing into a firm’s overall marketing strategy.

The new major supplements a certificate in Digital Marketing & Analytics, already available for business students at Storrs, and a minor in Digital Marketing & Analytics, offered to non-business majors at the Storrs, Hartford, and Stamford campuses.

“This will put our students on the frontier of marketing,” said Robin Coulter, professor and head of the Marketing Department at the School of Business. “There is tremendous excitement among students, faculty and the business community. We’re very enthusiastic about the curriculum and the abundant opportunities that await students who pursue these fields,” she said.

In fact, a quick check of the job-hunting web site Indeed.com found 25,000 marketing jobs, many requiring digital media and analytical expertise, all within 50 miles of the Stamford campus.

Lee Manning, human resources director for Coca-Cola Northeast, said the company recruits employees with digital marketing and analytics skills. “The world is changing at a very quick pace,” Manning said. “People have to keep up with the different types of communication. It is important to be quick and nimble in business today, and to stay ahead of the curve.”

For instance, Coca-Cola recognizes the importance of the growing Hispanic market and employs digital marketing experts to explore how its beverages are viewed by those consumers, what questions they may have, and the best way to target information to that consumer demographic.

Quote from Bernard Gracy, Jr. '85 (ENG)

Proficiency in marketing analytics is rapidly becoming a requirement for many marketing positions and the ability to use analytics to inform marketing strategy is central to leading marketing organizations. Graduates who can strategically use digital analytics to gain and act on insights into consumer search, decision making, purchase activities, and the success of marketing activities are increasingly in demand.

Bernard Gracy Jr. ’85 (ENG), vice president of strategy, Digital Commerce Solutions at Stamford-based Pitney Bowes Inc. said every company today either has to have a digital marketing strategy—or face extinction.

Pitney Bowes is a global technology giant that provides shipping and mailing solutions, data management and engagement software and location intelligence for two million customers, including 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies. It employs 16,000 people.

Gracy said Pitney Bowes used to receive calls from businesses, asking advice on the best location to open a storefront, or the ideal location for a new bank branch. They still do.

“But now what they want is to go global,” he said. “They have globalized digital storefronts that reach consumers around the world. They may want to do business with customers is Botswana, Estonia, Lithuania,” he said. “Digital marketing has never been more important. At Pitney Bowes, we are going through explosive growth.”

The School of Business faculty envisions graduates using their digital analytics and strategic marketing skills in traditional consumer and business-to-business marketing and sales organizations, social media organizations, online firms such as Amazon.com, as well as startups.

Although a general business major has been offered in Stamford for many years, this is the first specialized marketing major offered on the campus and joins the recently launched majors in Financial Management and Business Data Analytics.

“The Digital Marketing & Analytics major concept in Stamford makes incredible sense. Digital media is growing rapidly and the greater Stamford area is becoming a mini mecca for production,” UConn marketing professor Kevin McEvoy said. “We are very central to the marketing and advertising hubs of the world. There are numerous opportunities nearby.”

Meanwhile, students in communication sciences, professional sales leadership, economics and statistics, as well as graphic designers and digital media and design majors are expected to seek the digital marketing and analytics minor.

Approximately 18 percent of the students enrolled in the UConn School of Business are marketing majors.

The Digital Marketing & Analytics major will be available to undergraduate students in Stamford in Fall 2015.

It’s good to know that someone has your back.

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Connecticut Small Business Development Center Opens UConn Storrs Headquarters

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 3 (Summer 2014)

The sudden death of her father was a horrible personal tragedy for Dorothy Carlone’01 MBA and her family. But for the 14 dedicated employees at General Machine Co. in Berlin, pain mixed with panic, knowing that the company Walter Grzegorzek founded might not survive without him. Continue Reading

Business Briefs (Summer 2014)

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This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 3 (Summer 2014)

Faculty & Research

Tim Folta, professor and Thomas John & Bette Wolff Chair in Strategic Entrepreneurship, was named editor for an upcoming 2016 issue of Advances in Strategic Management on the topic of “Corporate Strategy and Resource Redeployment.” Folta was also appointed to the editorial board of Strategy Science and accepted as a fellow to the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study.

Hongju Liu, assistant professor of marketing, presented a research seminar on advertising spillovers in the pharmaceutical industry on May 2 in the School of Business.

Bill Ross, professor and ING Global Chair, along with co-authors Saerom Lee (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Karen Page (Penn State), were recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research for their research on the roles of empathy and justice in charitable giving.

Data released by Academic Analytics for the 2009-2013 period places UConn’s Management Department in first place (tied with Penn State) in per capita scholarly productivity. Known as the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, this ranking considers the research activity of 186 universities nationwide.

The Association for Information System’s (AIS) Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals ranks UConn’s Operations & Information Technology Department in the top 15 schools worldwide for research productivity over the last five years and 10th in the top two premiere journals alone.

Faculty members retiring from the School this year include Walter Dolde, Linda Klein, Gim Seow and Jim Sfiridis.

Programs & Initiatives

The MS in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM) Program has been listed among the most prominent big data and analytics degree programs by BI Software Insight.

The School was recently recognized by Insurance News Net for its adaptability to the job market in expanding business programs at UConn Stamford, as well as strengthening its ties with the business community.

Fiserv, Inc., the Savings Bank of Danbury, and Greylock Federal Credit Union have partnered with the Financial Accelerator to develop a business case for enhancing the millennial banking experience through leading-edge technology from Fiserv.

IBM is partnering with the School as part of a nationwide education initiative to help expand and launch new curricula, as well as provide students with business knowledge and IT skills for data intensive careers.

The Financial Management undergraduate major at UConn Stamford has been accepted into the CFA Institute’s University Recognition Program, offering students exclusive support from institute member companies such as Barclays, CreditSights, and Atlantic Asset Management, including access to a wide array of research and financial analytic tools.

The School’s Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI) at UConn Stamford has been authorized to provide project management certification training for veterans and other eligible U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries.

The School’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program completed its 14th consecutive year with 68 student volunteers assisting 650 taxpayers in completing their income tax returns. The IRS-sponsored program provides free tax assistance and tax return preparation services for individuals who are economically disadvantaged, as well as for international students and scholars.

UConn’s new research partnership in sustainable energy with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology was awarded a supporting gift from the Satell Family Foundation, founded by Ed Satell ’57.

The School has joined a newly formed Military & Veterans Employer Resource Group (ERG), a collaboration of employers, institutions of higher education and veteran groups dedicated to veteran-centered topics in the workplace, including deployment, resume sharing and buddy programs.

On June 25, the Board of Trustees approved a Master of Science degree and Advanced Business Certificate in Human Resource Management beginning fall 2014.

As of July 1, the Full-time MBA Program and Graduate Career Center have officially moved from the Storrs campus to the Graduate Business Learning Center in downtown Hartford.

Student Achievements

Two UConn teams (out of 200 entrants) placed in the 2014 Connecticut Business Plan Competition: UConn Stamford undergraduates Karlian Brown and Christian Tovar won three months of free co-working space in the Stamford Innovation Center; and Michael Maczka ’14 MBA won a $500 grant for Best Oral Presentation and $2,500 in legal services.

Doctoral student Margaret Luciano (management) was awarded a Society for Human Resource Management Foundation (in partnership with the HR Division of the Academy of Management) Dissertation Grant for 2014 to support her dissertation research.

Recipients of the 2014 Departmental Ph.D. Student Teaching Awards include: Biyu Wu (accounting); Yihong Xiao (finance); Wonseok Choi (management); Selcan Kara (marketing); and Gang Wang (OPIM). Wang also received the School’s Outstanding Ph.D. Student Teaching Award. Margaret Luciano (management) received the 2014 Outstanding Ph.D. Program-wide Student Scholar Award.

Event Roundup

On April 8, the MS in Business Analytics & Project Management Program hosted a career fair in Hartford with representatives from 10 companies and more than 60 students participating.

On April 24, the Accounting Department hosted more than 300 guests at its annual honors banquet and awarded 157 student scholarships.

On May 1, the 12th annual Real Estate awards banquet honored 28 students, alumni, faculty and businesses for their outstanding contributions and achievements.

On May 22, UConn Stamford hosted the first International Haitian Diaspora Summit on Education and Business to promote education, business and cultural exchanges between the State of Connecticut and Haiti.

On June 18, the School, together with Vichara Technologies, hosted “How Technology Can Drive Your Performance Edge,” a 100 Women in Hedge Funds® event at the Stamford campus.

In Memoriam

Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. ’81 MBA, former faculty member of the UConn School of Business and president and chief executive officer of The Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut, passed away on June 28, 2014.

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UConn School of Business Announces Inaugural Class for MS HRM Program

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

The UConn School of Business is proud to introduce its inaugural class for the Graduate Programs in HR Management. 24 students have been admitted into the MS HRM program, and five students in the ABC HRM certificate program. The MS HRM students will be joining our HRM team in Hartford on Friday and Saturday, August 22-23, for our in-residence program kickoff. The weekend will consist of special guest speakers, including Dean John Elliott, industry speakers, and program faculty that also serves as the launch for the cornerstone course, Business Acumen and Strategic Human Resource Management. Greg Reilly, Academic Director of the Graduate Programs in HRM, will be leading the event. Other special guests include Susan Spiggle, Chair of the Management Department; Peter Diplock, Assistant Vice Provost for eCampus; and Suresh Nair, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for the School of Business.

12th Annual Real Estate Center Awards Banquet

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

(5/8/2014) – The 12th Annual Real Estate Awards Banquet was held at the South Campus Ballroom on Thursday, May 1. The special occasion recognized outstanding students, alumni, and scholarship recipients.

The following alumni and students were recognized for their achievements:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Daniel Ferraina, Ferraina Companies

Distinguished Alumni: Michael Riccio, CB-Richard Ellis Capital Markets

Alumni of the Year: Bradford Wainman, Simon Konover Development Corp.

Early Career Alumni: Kelsey Rath, Talcott Realty Investors, LLC

Organizational Partner: Greater New Haven Association of Realtors

Excellence in Research: Professor Carmelo Giaccotto and Professor Thomas Miceli

Students of the Year: Frances (Frankie) Gibbons and Andrew Kelly

Other student award recipients included: Nicolas Chapman, Tyler Cormier, Julia Dumaine, Andrew Harney, Scott Howard, M. Connor Lyman, Matthew McCandless, Cole McQuilken, Johncarlo Morales, Benjamin Napoli, Bridget O’Malley, Laura O’Malley, Ryan Powers, Peter Rodriguez, Colby Schaefer, Austin Smyth, Melissa Touger, Kristine Victor, and Hui Zhang.

UConn Full-time MBA Program Relocates to Hartford

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UConn Graduate Business Learning Center (GBLC) in Hartford, UConn.The School of Business has relocated its Full-time MBA program to Hartford, a move that will give students more professional opportunities as well as the chance to learn alongside other UConn graduate students.

“We are thrilled that the UConn Full-time MBA will be part of the Hartford business community, allowing for the program to continue its tradition of providing excellence in graduate education,” said Rajendra Shirolé, director of UConn’s Full-time MBA program.

In the past, the students took their first-year courses in Storrs and completed the program in Hartford and sometimes Stamford. The dual campus set-up wasn’t popular with MBA students.

“The biggest reason for the move is to put first- and second-year students together,” said Professor Mary Caravella, who chaired a task force that recommended the consolidation.

“We chose Hartford because we wanted to put them together with students from the part-time and specialized masters’ degree programs. By working together, on the same campus, it gives them all the means to be successful.

“Both Storrs and Hartford are great locations, each with many strengths,” Caravella said. “But Hartford offers both close and broader connections with the business industry, and will certainly help our students with job placement.”

The program will be housed in the Graduate Business Learning Center in downtown Hartford, and its new offices can be reached at (860) 728-2440.

“This is a positive move on multiple fronts, including networking among all graduate business students and also engaging with alumni and employers in the Hartford area,” said Meg Warren, assistant director of the Graduate Career Development Office (CDO). “Our students are excited about it. There’s now an opportunity for the Full-time MBAs to network with professional students in the Executive and Part-time MBA programs as well as the MS in Business Analytics and Project Management and MS in Financial Risk Management programs.

Warren has met with representatives from Cigna, Aetna, Prudential and more, and all are pleased that the Full-time MBA program will be housed so close to their workplaces. In addition to hosting corporate information sessions and interviews in Hartford, the CDO and MBA Program Office work closely with the School of Business Alumni Relations Office which offers a number of alumni networking events running from August through March. Warren said, “Having the Full-time MBA Program in Hartford makes it much easier for students to attend these important programs where they can connect with alumni from target companies they want to learn more about. Building relationships with our School’s alumni is a vital part of our program.”

Alumni and other executives can visit for coffee, lunch, or for more structured programs in the evenings that will interest all graduate business students. Meanwhile the Full-time MBA students can easily go on corporate site visits from the downtown campus. “Overall, the employer’s ability to engage with our students has just become a lot easier. Storrs may only be a forty-minute drive, but it’s much easier for a hiring manager or an alum to have morning coffee before the workday begins or come by the GBLC for their lunch hour than it is to ask them to take a half-day from work to venture out to Storrs,” Warren said.

“From the moment they arrive, we tell our students that networking is critical for an effective job search. Students must start having conversations with people from industry or job functions that interest them,” Warren said. “This is necessary as 75-80% of jobs are filled as a result of networking. Being in Hartford allows us to offer more built-in opportunities for student and employer engagement.”

With the arrival of the new academic year, the School of Business is hosting an Alumni and Student Networking Reception at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Society Room of Hartford, 31 Pratt Street. Melinda Brown, ’77, ’85 MBA, senior vice president and corporate controller for Coach Inc. will be the guest speaker. Brown joined Coach Inc. in 2012, after a 29-year career with PepsiCo.

https://mba.business.uconn.edu

IBM Partners with UConn, Other Institutions to Prepare Students for Big Data Jobs

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

(6/12/2014) – 4.4 million jobs will be created worldwide to support big data by 2015, according to a Gartner press release on key issues facing the IT industry.

To prepare students for big data careers, the UConn School of Business offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in business analytics that focus on data management, analytics, and using emerging technologies to better manage financial risk and other business needs.Continue Reading

Strong Corporate Support for Students in UConn Stamford’s New Financial Management Major

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(6/30/2014) – The UConn School of Business is proud to announce a premier group of financial institutions supporting the School’s new undergraduate Financial Management major in Stamford.

The Financial Management major was designed and developed, in part, by CFA charterholders from prominent local hedge funds and investment firms. The major has been accepted into the CFA Institute’s University Recognition Program and stands to serve as inspiration to a program intent on helping cultivate a young generation of future CFA charterholders. The CFA credential has become one of the most globally respected designations and the Financial Management major, along with those selected within this program to join the Investment Management Program (IMP), will be exposed to academic and practical applications in finance coupled with reinforcement of strong ethical behavior.

“Through a progressive relationship with the CFA Society of Stamford, students who excel in the Financial Management major will be invited to join an exclusive Investment Management Program (IMP), which, among other benefits, provides access to a wide array of tools and research from financial institutions like Barclays, CreditSights, and Atlantic Asset Management,” said Jud Saviskas, executive director for the UConn School of Business in Stamford. “This innovative relationship encourages and facilitates an exchange of ideas, networking opportunities and career development for aspiring investment professionals – and it’s already received outside interest from many other colleges and universities.”

Last year, a group of IMP students travelled to Wall Street for a visit to several institutions such as Barclays, Bloomberg, and CreditSights. As program supporters, these companies allow students and faculty complimentary access to their client web portals such as, Barclays Live, which provides a range of research and financial analytics tools, and CreditSights’ online global research platform and an analytical staff of almost 80 investment professionals.

“Barclay’s and CreditSights’ web portals are an excellent tool for IMP students as they undertake the challenges of the program and the pursuit of the CFA Level I exam,” said Michael Dineen, senior vice president of Atlantic Asset Management and UConn adjunct professor.

Thomas Walsh, managing director at Barclays added that the collaboration with IMP is just one example of the importance the bank places on developing an early foundation of ethical investment knowledge. “The most successful students will be those who develop the skill sets they need to be productive and innovative members of the next generation’s workforce,” Walsh said. “We are delighted to be able to make Barclays Live available to IMP students and hope that they will derive significant benefit from these new resources.”

“We have had the pleasure to meet a number of IMP students, and they are coming into the space during interesting times in the evolution of the credit markets,” said Glenn Reynolds, CEO of CreditSights. “We hope the background information from prior credit cycles and our analysis of the structural shifts taking place today – most notably in banking and finance – can be of value as they prepare themselves for the role they can play in the markets. Credit has grown dramatically in all areas of the global economy from sovereign to corporate to household, and there are a lot of moving parts to the puzzle.”

Fiserv Collaborates with UConn School of Business on Next-Generation Banking Apps

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Brookfield, Wis. and Hartford, Conn. (5/27/2014) – Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, and the University of Connecticut School of Business, one of the top public business schools in the nation, today announced that Fiserv is participating in the university’s Financial Accelerator Program to help educate students and foster innovation.

The Financial Accelerator Program was established in 2002 to create opportunities for UConn students and faculty to apply classroom concepts to real business challenges. With the Fiserv initiative, UConn MBA students are collaborating with area business leaders from Fiserv and two of its clients, the Savings Bank of Danbury and Greylock Federal Credit Union, to explore how financial institutions can attract and serve Gen Y consumers using state-of-the-art banking technology.

“The Financial Accelerator Program at the University of Connecticut School of Business shines a spotlight on the exciting and innovative career opportunities available to students in the state,” said Connecticut Governor, Dannel P. Malloy. “Collaborations like this, which bring the leaders of tomorrow together with the leaders of today, foster the innovation and opportunity that help make Connecticut such an attractive place to live and work.”

The initiative, currently underway for the Spring 2014 semester, introduces UConn MBA students to the DNATM account account processing platform from Fiserv. DNA is a modern, enterprise-wide software platform relied upon by Savings Bank of Danbury and Greylock FCU as well as hundreds of other banks and credit unions for transaction processing, data management and customer relationship management. DNA offers a unique development toolkit – DNAcreatorTM – that allows users to create seamlessly integrated applications called DNAappsTM that extend the platform in new and powerful ways. At the conclusion of the Financial Accelerator Program, UConn students will present a business case for a new DNAapp that DNA users like Savings Bank of Danbury and Greylock FCU can use to enhance the millennial banking experience.

“DNA from Fiserv incorporates the latest industry standard tools and languages currently being taught at UConn and other leading universities where banks and credit unions can find a deep and talented pool of software engineers,” said Steve Cameron, president, Open Solutions Division, Fiserv. “By partnering with some of our region’s brightest minds at UConn, the Savings Bank of Danbury and Greylock Federal Credit Union, Fiserv is investing in the local community and continuing to build on our vision to drive the global digital transformation of financial services.”

The students will work with Savings Bank of Danbury, Greylock FCU and Fiserv associates throughout the program to ensure their proposal is both viable and compelling. After completing their research, idea development and return on investment (ROI) analysis, the students will present their findings to Fiserv associates at the end of the semester. The program may be extended into the Fall semester with a new group of students to execute the business plan using DNAcreator to build the proposed DNAapp.

“The DNA platform from Fiserv fits nicely with UConn’s goal of fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem within our state,” said Jeffrey Scarella, Industry Liaison, Physical Sciences & Engineering at the UConn Office of Economic Development. “By leveraging the intellectual power of our students and faculty, we hope to help community institutions like the Savings Bank of Danbury and Greylock Federal Credit Union, as well as leading financial innovators like Fiserv, provide the best possible banking experience to the next generation of Connecticut consumers.”

“This collaboration allows our students to use the knowledge, research skills, innovative thinking, and work ethic they’re acquiring at UConn in a very welcoming business environment provided by Fiserv,” said UConn Professor Michel Rakotomavo, faculty advisor for the project. “They have invaluable access to and interactions with executives from the partnering organizations and benefit from those organizations’ resources and information, making the experience truly distinctive in higher education.”

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