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

Posted on by Claire Hall

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.

Video: BCLC Trip to France

Posted on by Claire Hall

Students from the Business Connections Learning Community at the University of Connecticut School of Business escorted by the School’s Office of Alumni Relations took their inaugural international trip to France to explore the culture and visit corporations in Spring 2011.

The MS in Accounting Kicks Off Another Banner Year

Posted on by Claire Hall

The MS in Accounting Program at the University of Connecticut School of Business welcomed over a hundred new students last week. This new class converged on Storrs for the week- in-residence class, “Understanding the Responsibilities of an Accounting Professional,” and infused the campus with their enthusiasm and learning. The students left excited about starting summer classes next week.

The popularity of this program reflects the growing reputation and demand for this acclaimed online program. Out of 133 admitted for the current semester, 123 accepted the admission offers with four deferring until next year. The incoming class represents 44 different undergraduate universities from 17 states and the country of Lebanon. 54% of the students come from undergraduate programs other than UConn.

The School of Business would like to extend congratulations to the Accounting Department, especially Andy Rosman, Marg Sweeney and Linda Petrofsky, for recruiting another outstanding MS in Accounting Program class.

AACSB Extends Accreditation to the UConn School of Business

Posted on by Claire Hall

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting, has extended the accreditation for the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business offered by the University of Connecticut through 2016.

The peer review team report notes that the University of Connecticut is to be commended on the following strengths and effective practices:

  • Experiential Learning – Experiential learning gives students hands-on experience with real business problems in business settings and allows the students to network with professionals in the participating companies. Experiential learning has several components including internships and the accelerator labs where students work with companies on projects.
  • Management and Engineering for Manufacturing – This is a joint degree between the School of Business and the School of Engineering that allows engineering students to learn cost accounting, valuation and capital budgeting skills.
  • Graduate Learning Business Center – Located in the heart of downtown Hartford, UConn’s Graduate Business Learning Center is a state-of-the-art facility with the latest technology and is also home to the MBA and Executive MBA programs as well as the SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator.
  • STAR Accounts – Since 2008, each faculty member has been given a Supplementary Teaching and Research (STAR) Account, with funds for each faculty member to spend on any teaching or research activity and travel. Over the past year, more internal grants have been awarded through an open competition process for research and teaching development.

The School has continuously been accredited by the AACSB since 1957.

AACSB Accreditation is known, worldwide, as the longest standing, most recognized form of specialized/professional accreditation an institution and its business programs can earn. AACSB Accreditation Standards are used as the basis to evaluate a business school’s mission, operations, faculty qualifications and contributions, programs, and other critical areas. AACSB accreditation ensures students and parents that the business school is providing a top-quality education.

As of April 2011, 620 member institutions hold AACSB Accreditation. Overall, 38 countries are represented by AACSB-accredited schools. Only 10 percent of all U.S. colleges of business have all of their programs – accounting, business, undergraduate and graduate – accredited by AAACSB.

Hang Nguyen Awarded Outstanding Ph.D. Student Scholar Award

Posted on by Claire Hall

The University of Connecticut School of Business Ph.D. Program awarded its second annual Student Scholar Award to Hang Nguyen. Hang was unanimously selected for the award from a group of highly-deserving doctoral student nominations and based on a vote by the five department coordinators and Ph.D. Program Director.

The Student Scholar Award is given in recognition of a student’s scholarly accomplishments during the program. The purpose of this award is to reward a Ph.D. Student Scholar in the School of Business, regardless of stage in the doctoral program, for outstanding scholarly performance.

Hang will be entering her fourth year in the Marketing concentration of the doctoral program in Fall 2011 as an ABD (all-but-dissertation) student in residence. Her advisory committee consists of Bill Ross (chair), Robin Coulter, and Joseph Pancras.

“Ph.D. students like Hang make us look good, and make us proud,” notes Gary Powell, Director, School of Business Ph.D. Program and Professor in the Management Department.

Undergraduate Commencement Keynote 2011

Posted on by Claire Hall

It has been almost twenty years since I last sat in this auditorium and listened to a speaker telling us not to do anything stupid.  But most of us, including myself, ignored the advice.  This time around, the roles have been reversed.  I am now the one standing here with the task of giving out words of wisdom.  I am honored to be here today.

This invitation gave me a moment to reflect upon how UConn has influenced my career since the very first day I stepped foot on this campus.  The professors who taught and advised me along with the many great individuals I have encountered here at UConn have helped me to become who I am today.

Over the next couple of minutes, I would like to share with you my experiences as an academic turned chief executive, and offer my opinion on the characteristics necessary to succeed in any of the fields you may find yourself in.

The first piece of advice I would like to offer you is that life is unpredictable.

My decision to attend UConn was out of sheer coincidence.  I used to work in the semiconductor industry in Taiwan, but my wife wanted to pursue her academic career, so we found our way to Storrs.

Initially, my family and I had a difficult time adjusting to the sudden change in scenery.  Before we came to Storrs we lived in Taipei, a bustling metropolitan city.  The plain but friendly New England country side was unlike anything we had ever encountered.  But after six years, with the help of numerous great Professors and friends, I successfully completed my Ph.D.

Upon graduation, I returned to Taiwan and my career quickly flourished.  I spent many years as a Professor but eventually left to pursue a career in the financial world.

I am deeply connected to UConn and view it as my second home, a place where many extraordinary things happened for me.  With that being said, four years ago, I asked my son to enroll in UConn for his bachelor’s degree.  Although he was at first reluctant and shocked by all the cows, trees, and more cows here in Storrs – like his father, he quickly embraced the new environment.

I believe God led me to Storrs for a reason.  I am grateful for everything that has happened to me and my family during my time in Storrs.  This is proof that sometimes life is unpredictable—and if you are willing to embrace your new environment and the challenges that it brings—then fantastic things will happen.

In your life, you will always have the opportunity to make your own decisions.  I offer my life experience as proof. I started my academic research in Mathematics at UConn, but ended up graduating from the Business School with a doctorate in Finance.  I joined academia after graduation, but am now a successful executive.  Life is not a race, but a journey to be chosen and savored each step of the way.

The second piece of advice I would like to offer you deals with the characteristics you should possess upon entering the business world.

Traditionally, MBA programs have taught students that the core principal of business is to maximize corporate value for shareholders.

However, in the real world, this dogma has been corrupted into maximizing stock prices for corporate managers, instead of maximizing corporate value for shareholders.  This distortion of values is especially evident in the financial industry.  Having witnessed three major financial crises in my lifetime, I am convinced that the unethical measures taken by top executives to pursue their personal wealth were contributing factors to the crises.  Therefore, I strongly believe in taking ethical actions to maximize firm value.

What other lessons can we learn from these crises?  I believe most of you are still dreaming of joining big name firms on Wall Street in hopes of a life filled with riches.  But sometimes we are blinded by these dreams and do not take time out of our lives for self-reflection.

After we succeed, we easily become arrogant and fail to appreciate the efforts of our team members.  Do not be conceited, but be self-confident and humble.  Humility is the one and only trait that all great leaders have.  Pursue your goals with this in mind.

Lastly, but most importantly, do not set your goals based on what others deem important, but set them based on what you, as an individual, believe to be important.  Instead of concerning yourself with the compensation offered by companies or stocks, you should focus on creating your exclusive value by tackling every obstacle that you may encounter in your career.

Lastly, I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to a person who has made a profound influence both on my academic life and my business career.

Gene Sellers, my mentor and teacher when I was at student at UConn, is the man I am deeply indebted to and will always remember with fondness.  He provides students not only with academic knowledge, but with ethical knowledge as well.  He is a great man who is always generous and amiable to students, but treats himself with stern discipline.

Being a doctoral candidate, I spent much of time conversing with him during my studies.  One day, I think it was the summer of 1989, he and I walked through campus discussing my future.

He asked me what I would like to do if I became successful after leaving school.  I told him I would like to do many things.  But most importantly, I would give back financially to the school to fund future talents.  As such, by taking this great moment and regarding UConn as not only my alma mater, but as my second hometown, I would like to make my regular donation to my beloved school.  Hopefully, it will allow talented individuals to discover their own true value and change the world.

Finally, as a parent attending my son’s commencement ceremony later this evening, I am deeply touched and extremely grateful for all that this institution has done for my family.  As a father, I am very proud of him and would like to thank UConn for its part in making my son who he is today.

One day, when I have a grandson or granddaughter, I would hope that he or she might one day step foot on this campus as a student.

Best of luck, every one of you, and congratulations my fellow UConn graduates!

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT
April 28, 2011

About the Speaker

Gwo-Duan “David” Jou ’89, ’92 Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman, Bigrock Asset Management Company

Dr. Gwo-Duan “David” Jou is the Founder and Chairman of Bigrock Asset Management Company. The company focuses on direct investments, providing consulting services to major life insurers in Taiwan and property development. Prior to Bigrock, Dr. Jou served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hontai Life Insurance Company, Ltd. in Taipei, Taiwan from 2005 to 2010 where he successfully turned the company around during his first year of service. Under his leadership, Hontai Life enjoyed a buoyant asset growth with CAGR over 20% and a decline in funding costs from 5.1% to 3.9%. Dr. Jou has over 20 years of experience in the Taiwan life insurance industry and plays active roles in regulatory entities, including Chairman of the Taiwan Insurance Institute, Commissioner of the National Pension Fund and Commissioner of the Financial Institution Reform at the Republic of China. He is also on the boards of TaiKang Life China, Taiwan Life Insurance Company, and is Chief Advisor in the Greater China Market for the Zurich Financial Group as well as the Chief Advisor for the Taiwan Insurance Market at Credit Suisse. In 2004, he served as Chairman of the Insurance Anti-Fraud Institute and as Director of Taiwan Life Insurance Company and the Bank of Overseas Chinese. During Dr. Jou’s term as Chairman of the Taiwan Insurance Institute, he successfully conducted the first ever case of liquidating a local insurance company: Kuo Hua Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Dr. Jou earned a Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1989 and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut School of Business in 1992. Dr. Jou and his wife, Frances ’90 MS, are International Alumni Ambassadors for the UConn Alumni Association and live in Taipei, Taiwan. Their son, Geoffrey, is graduating at this year’s Commencement from the University of Connecticut School of Business with a degree in Finance.

CCEI Holds University-Wide Business Plan Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

For the second year in a row, the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) at the University of Connecticut School of Business held a business plan competition. However, this year the competition was expanded university-wide to include any unique business ideas and innovation from all academic levels and majors at UConn, attracting 76 UConn teams to submit their intent to compete. “We are thrilled with the level of interest in entrepreneurship we discovered through this competition,” states Christopher Levesque, Director of CCEI. “The finalists not only submitted strategically sound and well expressed business plans, but also greatly impressed the judges with the refined delivery of their presentations.”

There were many interdisciplinary teams, which helped bring a broader array of perspectives and ideas to any project. Part of the promise of this competition was that all submitted plans would be reviewed by experienced entrepreneurs, investors and UConn faculty. Additionally, this year, The CCEI hosted a workshop in late March dedicated to helping teams improve and polish their plans to help maximize their prospects for success. At this workshop, the competitor teams were presented a brief seminar on what makes a successful business plan and were then given one-on-one time to work with professional and student mentors.

There were 36 official competition entries and ten finalists. The finalists were offered additional mentoring meetings, and many teams took advantage of this in order to continue to improve their plan under the guidance of an experienced entrepreneurial mentor. The finalist presentations were held in late April at the School of Business. The judges for this competition were: Christopher Levesque, Director of CCEI; Kevin Bouley, President & CEO of Nerac, Inc.; Mark Van Allen, President of UConn R&D Corporation; Danny Briere, CEO of TeleChoice; Mary Anne Rooke, President of the Angel Investor Forum; Eric Knight ’82, President of Remarkable Technologies; and Amit Kumar, Senior Business Consultant at UTC Power.

Eric Knight noted, “The University has unlocked a fertile, untapped business energy that could be of tremendous benefit to the State of Connecticut. From this one competition alone, perhaps a dozen real businesses will be born. Who’s to say we don’t have the next Facebook percolating in our midst? Or the next generation of fuel-efficient transportation?”

Among the finalists, Tennis Professionals, a team comprised of two senior Resource Economics majors, Andrew Marcus ’11 and Jesse Silkoff ’11, presented the most well-developed business plan. The CCEI is pleased to award them the grand prize in our 2011 UConn Student Business Plan competition. Second prize went to Hemskies, and third to Combat to College.

“Jesse and I entered the CCEI competition with plans of expanding TennisProfessionals.com after we graduate. It was a great experience writing the business plan, making the finals, and presenting the business plan to respected business executives,” notes Andrew Marcus. “It is one thing for Jesse and I to believe in our own business idea, it is even more satisfying to win a competition and see that others believe in our business as well.”

This competition was an extremely effective and successful way to tap into the burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit here at the University and throughout the State. With the success of the 2011 CCEI Business Plan Competition and the strong student interest in entrepreneurship, the competition organizers plan to run next year’s event over a longer and more continuously mentoring and refining period. In the meantime, the CCEI is extending an invitation to all teams who submitted a letter of intent to compete in the competition to continue discussions and guide them to take advantage of resources The CCEI can bring to bear.

“Our ultimate intent at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is to identify, mentor and help develop new businesses here in Connecticut, and Tennis Professionals, along with the other finalists, represent terrific examples of such promising firms,” stated Christopher Levesque.

For more information about CCEI, please visit http://ccei.business.uconn.edu.

“Summer” at UConn

Posted on by Claire Hall

The week of May 3rd – 5th is finals week at the University of Connecticut School of Business, and Summer, a Certified Therapy Dog came to offer her special brand of help to students.

Summer’s handler, Kathy Hendrickson, works in the School of Business Career Center and is also an instructor at the School.  The Career Center staff sees first-hand the stress that students feel at the end of the semester with regard to finishing classes and landing jobs.  However, as Summer sashayed into the department’s suite and held court on Tuesday and Thursday, the compassion and gentle soul of this six-year old golden retriever gave students a refreshing break to the week.

“Some of the students were showing signs of stress, and it really was a value to them to come sit with Summer for five minutes or even half an hour,” notes Kathy Hendrickson. There was one small hiccup on Tuesday when Summer found a small stream during lunch and proceeded to roll in the mud while Kathy and fellow Career Center staff member Lorraine Liswell ineffectively tried to change her mind.  Summer, and Kathy’s shoes for that matter, were rather fragrant during the afternoon hours, but no one seemed to mind.

UConn Graduates Travelers EDGE Scholars

Posted on by Claire Hall

The University of Connecticut proudly celebrates the graduation of the 2011 Travelers EDGE Scholars. Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment), is a partnership with  Travelers, the University of Connecticut, Central Connecticut State University and Capital Community College.  The goal of the EDGE initiative is to improve access to and success in post-secondary education for undeserved communities and to build awareness of insurance and finance careers in this population. UConn’s EDGE initiative has three components: financial assistance, academic support services and activities for undergraduate students as well as outreach programming for middle and high school students.  Since its inception, 58 deserving students (including some who transferred from the EDGE program at Capital Community College) have been awarded Travelers  EDGE scholarships.

Through Travelers EDGE, the graduates participated in a wide variety of activities including resume critiques, mock interviews and improving their personal finance, project management and computer skills. Additionally, Travelers employees took part in the development of the students; in fact, since the program’s 2007 launch, approximately 200 employees have supported scholars as mentors and managers.

“Travelers is committed to removing barriers to education and career success faced by underrepresented students,” said Marlene Ibsen, Vice President of Community Relations. “Through our relationships with local colleges and universities, we are able to provide hands-on work experience in our industry as well as financial assistance to students who, when given the opportunity, are able to excel.”

Program Director, Seanice Austin says, “we are pleased with the partnership with Travelers and the opportunity EDGE affords our students. Students in this program are better prepared academically as well as professionally.  As employees, our graduates will be able to contribute immediately to Travelers and any other organization they work for”.

This year’s graduation celebrates the graduates from the three EDGE partner institutions; University of Connecticut, Capital Community College and Central Connecticut State University.  The UConn graduates are  Omar Cassells, Business & Technology; Teresa Frausto, Accounting; Sandie Gong, Math & Economics; Eric Jain, Accounting; Elliot King, Accounting; David Macklem, Actuarial Science; Emily McDonnell, Management & French; Xiomara Ortiz, Business & Technology; Christian Osorio, Electrical Engineering; Sneha Parikh, Communication Disorders; Daniel Ratner, Management; Jayna Velez, Management; Prasant Venimadhavan, Accounting & Mathematics; Rex Winful, Business & Technology; Tracy Wright, Business & Technology.

At the graduation, held at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, Travelers EDGE scholar Sandie Gong talked about her experience as a Travelers intern. In addition to representatives from Travelers, CCSU President Jack Miller, Capital Community College President Wilfredo Nieves, and UCONN Business School Dean Dr. P. Christopher Earley also attended the event.

Pictured (left to right): Omar Cassells, Teresa Frausto, Sandie Gong, Emily McDonnell, Elliott King, Xiomara Ortiz, Rex Winful, Sneha Parikh, Jayna Velez, Tracy Wright, Seanice Austin