UConn MIS Team Wins Inaugural CoMIS Case Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

On April 4-7, University of Minnesota hosted the first of hopefully many undergraduate case competitions in the area of Management Information Systems. This event is named CoMIS and provided the students to test their business skills and information systems knowledge against an elite group of competitors from all around the USA. Ten leading universities sent their representatives to compete, including Arizona, Arizona State, Texas-Austin, Texas-Dallas, Minnesota, Minnesota State, Indiana, Maryland, Utah and UConn.

UConn team was represented by Sebastian Guzera(MIS Senior), Walid Namane(MIS Junior) and Michael Whiteman(MIS Junior). Dmitry  Zhdanov served as the team’s coach. It is my great pleasure to inform you that UConn team became the winners of this inaugural competition.

Teams were given 24 hours to analyze a case and prepare their presentations. Case sponsor and topic were not known in advance; to everyone’s surprise and excitement, the case was about Minnesota Wild – a professional hockey team playing in the NHL. Students were asked to identify the best way for the team to boost its social media presence and turn it into revenue. As part of the case, students were given a wealth of data collected from the Wild’s Facebook page (data known as Facebook Insight). Students had to prepare a 20-minute presentation followed by an intensive Q&A session from the judges.

A panel of industry experts judged students’ performance, including two members of the Minnesota Wild front office, as well as executives from 3M, Medtronic, Ernst and Young and others. To preserve competition integrity, university affiliations were not available to the judging panel. UConn team went as Team Apollo.

The teams were broken down into three groups for the first round of the presentations. Group winners went on to the finals to give their talk one more time. UConn was matched with UT-Austin and Arizona State in group B. After winning the group, UConn’s Team Apollo went on to the final to face Utah Cyber Snipers and Maryland’s Dream Team. Utah finished second and Maryland third.

This was a fun an exciting event, many new friendships were made. The fact that our team ended up as the winners makes it even more exciting and speaks highly of the quality and dedication of our students and MIS program. We’ve set a high bar for ourselves going forward.

Pictured left to right: Jan DeGross (of MIS Quarterly) presents the CoMIS 1st place award to UConn Team – Walid Namane, Michael Whiteman, Sebastian Guzera and Dmitry Zhdanov (Coach)

Etiquette and Business

Posted on by Claire Hall

The UConn School of Business Career Center hosted two Etiquette Training events on April 4, 2012. The first event was specifically geared toward MBA students focusing on the impact etiquette has on the business environment including production loss, executive-level etiquette responsibility and potential business situations that tie into social environments.   The second event was held for the Undergraduates in which the event speaker, Daniel Post-Senning (the great-great grandson of Emily Post, a renowned expert in the field of etiquette), guided students on a multitude of topics including: job interview and follow-up etiquette; when it is appropriate for a guest to discuss business topics; and, more importantly, how etiquette is the power that fuels our business relationships and offers a guide to success by combining manners and principles. The Emily Post Institute’s principles have been guiding business professionals since 1922 when Emily Post first wrote “to make a pleasant and friendly impression is not only good manners but equally good business.”

These events provided business and social etiquette advice to over 75 students and were sponsored by our generous corporate partner Pepperidge Farm, located in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Photo: Daniel Post-Senning

Students Compete at National Collegiate Sales Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

On March 2nd-5th students Michael Ferrone, John Sulzicki, Chris Czarnowski, and Lauren Basist and Faculty Advisor Bill Ryan represented UConn at the annual National Collegiate Sales Competition held at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia. The NCSC is comprised of 65 colleges and universities from across the country. Over 20 companies sponsor the competition, each hoping to attract students interested in working for them upon graduation. The competition consists of multiple rounds of one-on-one selling with a “buyer,” and judging based on successful execution of a professional sales process that includes building rapport, effective needs identification, presenting targeted solutions, overcoming objections and effectively “closing the sale.” These techniques are taught in the Professional Selling and Sales Management & Leadership classes offered by the UConn Marketing Department as part of the Program for Sales Leadership.

Pictured from left to right are; Michael Ferrone, John Sulzicki, Bill Ryan-Faculty Advisor, Chris Czarnowski, and Lauren Basist.

Ph.D. Student Teaching Awards

Posted on by Claire Hall

On March 22, the Ph.D. students and coordinators for the five Ph.D. concentrations met at Willington Pizza for a “BUS Ph.D. Student Night of Appreciation,” where we celebrated student accomplishments during the last year.

At this event, we announced the winners of the school’s 2012 Ph.D. student teaching awards.  Each of the five Ph.D. program concentrations gave a teaching award to a qualified student in their concentration.  The coordinators of the five concentrations (John Phillips – ACCT,  Joe Golec – FNCE,  Lucy Gilson – MGMT,  Bill Ross – MKTG, and Jan Stallaert – OPIM), along with the program director (Gary Powell), then decided as a group which of the winners of a teaching award in a concentration would receive this year’s School of Business teaching award.Continue Reading

Annual Faculty Awards

Posted on by Claire Hall

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

MSBAPM/Swiss Re Networking Event

Posted on by Claire Hall

On Thursday March 22, 2012, the MS in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM) held its second MSBAPM/Industry Networking Event in the Graduate Business Learning Center (GBLC) in downtown Hartford, co-sponsored with Swiss Re, the leading global reinsurance company, based in Zurich. Swiss Re was represented by Michael O. Van Dusen PMP, Director, Operations, Business Engineering, Swiss Re America Holding; Peter Langan, Xinwei Zhang, and Patricia Quinn. Several faculty and staff from the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) department and students from the MSBAPM program also attended.

After a meet and greet, the executives gave an overview of Swiss Re and the Business Engineering (BEN) group, which does internal consulting projects for the firm. Projects may involve process improvement, change management, etc., and can range in size from one million dollars to several hundred million dollars. The executives then ran a small teamwork and collaboration game to illustrate the importance of communication and teamwork in projects. The winning team was thrilled to receive Swiss chocolates as a reward! The executives then resumed discussion on project work and ended the talk with an overview of salary and job prospects for students trained in project management. Everyone had a good time.

Picture: Swiss Re Exec. Michael O. Van Dusen speaking.

US News Ranks UConn’s MBA Program 31st among Public Institutions

Posted on by Claire Hall

The University of Connecticut MBA Program rose several spots in the US News & World Report’s 2013 Best Graduate School Rankings.

“It’s always flattering to be considered among the best graduate business programs in the country,” said Michael J. Deotte, director of the full-time MBA Program. “Positive rankings such as this, however, merely reflect our steadfast commitment to affordable, quality graduate management education.”

UConn’s full-time MBA Program ranks 61st (31st among public business schools);  the part-time MBA Program ranks 52nd among part-time programs.Continue Reading

John A. Elliott Named Dean of UConn’s School of Business

Posted on by Claire Hall

John A. Elliott has been named the new dean of the University of Connecticut’s School of Business. Elliott has been the Vice President and Dean of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College since 2002, where he also holds the Irwin and Arlene Ettinger Chair in Accountancy.  Baruch is home to the largest business school in the United States with 80% of its 18,300 undergraduate and graduate students majoring in business.

“John is a highly successful sitting dean who has had a distinguished scholarly career and clearly understands academic and educational excellence at the highest levels,” said UConn President Susan Herbst. “His experience and background at these prestigious institutions are exactly what we look for in our senior leadership.”

Elliott brings with him substantial experience as a faculty member and administrator. Prior to his arrival at Baruch College, he served as a professor of accounting at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business beginning in 1982 and later served as Associate Dean of the school from 1996 to 2002. While at Cornell, he chaired the Johnson School’s Global Task Force as well as task forces on strategy and marketing and also directed its doctoral program.

He has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and, before earning his doctorate, held faculty appointments at Central Washington State College, Saint Lawrence University and the University of Maryland.  He also worked in the private sector at Arthur Andersen and Westinghouse.

“We are delighted that someone of John’s caliber will be leading UConn’s School of Business,” said UConn Provost Peter Nicholls. “His charge is to ensure that the upward trend of the school continues nationally and, as importantly, globally, through strategic growth and achievement. Our School of Business, its faculty and our students must be on the cutting edge of this ever-evolving field.”

“The UConn Business School’s trajectory is compelling and the future offers many opportunities,” said Elliott. “I am delighted to join a vigorous, ambitious group of faculty, staff, students and alumni as we embrace that future. President Herbst and Governor Malloy have put education in the forefront of the economic development of Connecticut and the Business School will play a key role in realizing that vision.”

Elliott has authored numerous publications in his field as well as serving at the editorial boards of several distinguished journals including The Journal of Financial Statement Analysis (1995 – 1999), The Accounting Review (1984 – 1987, 1989 – 1995), Accounting Horizons (1994 – 1995) and The Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (1983 – 1985).

He earned his B.S. in Economics from the University of Maryland in 1967, an MBA from Maryland in 1972 and his Ph.D. in Accounting from Cornell University in 1982.

He will begin at UConn in August.  His salary will be $390,000. His immediate family includes: his wife, Laura Philips; son, Jesse Elliott; daughter, Dawn Elliott; her husband Marc Guerissi and grandsons Jack and Nick.

WGC Names the School of Business 2012 Educational Institution of the Year

Posted on by Claire Hall

The National Black MBA Association Westchester/Greater Connecticut Chapter (WGC) named the University of Connecticut School of Business the 2012 Educational Institution of the Year.  This award recognizes different organizations and businesses for their successful efforts in encouraging the development of African American students.  UConn has provided commitment and resources towards both the programming and membership initiatives in relation to the WGC’s outreach to the high school, undergraduate, and graduate community in Westchester County and Greater Connecticut.

Last summer the Office of Diversity Initiatives (ODI) at the UConn School of Business hosted the National Black MBA Association’s Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) 10th Annual National Business Case Competition.  The case competition, held on the Storrs campus, challenged high school students all across the country to excel at the highest levels of analysis, public speaking, strategic planning financial analysis, marketing, and management.  After being trained by members of the National Black MBA Association, Inc., the teams analyzed a graduate school Harvard-style business case.  They then presented recommendations, forecasts, and implications before judges from the highest levels of business and academia.  The winning teams received thousands of dollars in scholarship prizes.

The University of Connecticut continues to show its support of the WGC and its dedication to helping encourage higher education in the youth of our community.  The Office of Diversity Initiatives enhances the School of Business’ outreach to high-quality student applicants and prospective faculty through its initiatives with high schools, colleges, universities, and minority business/professional organizations.  ODI’s goals include outreach and service excellence. This is accomplished by increasing the admissions of high-quality minority students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the School of Business, and by providing scholarships, fellowships, mentors and role models to help foster high retention rates and success within the University of Connecticut and the School of Business.