Media Coverage: May 2008

Indiana (Pa.) Gazette, 05/28/2008—News brief on Smeal's Penn State Entrepreneurship Camp. "Led by the Smeal College of Business faculty, the program includes interactive games, real-world entrepreneurs and field trips to local businesses." (Coming Events: Teens).

USA Today, 05/27/2008—Article on research by Karl Muller, associate professor of accounting. "Newly released academic research shows that executives who voluntarily give the most detail about prearranged plans to sell stock—including how many shares and a general time frame for the transactions—are the ones who have had the best timing with their stock sales." (Execs Often Show Good Timing With Stock-Sales Plans).

International Herald Tribune, 05/20/2008—John Jordan, executive director of the Center for Digital Transformation, comments on the use of technology in business education. "Almost all schools offer discrete majors, such as marketing, accounting, finance, and operations. 'These are separate silos, and you need something to bring them together,'  says Jordan. ...  IT is the ultimate assimilator because technology affects everything business does." (The Importance Of Studying IT).

Chicago Tribune, 05/14/2008—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Electronic Data Systems. "This is an order of magnitude bigger than what [HP CEO Mark Hurd] has done before," Ghadar said. (For HP's Hurd, EDS Deal Will Test Resolve). This article also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Denver Post, and Hartford Courant.

CNBC, 05/13/2008—Linda Treviño, Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, discusses having white-collar ex-cons as guest speakers at business schools. (Squawk On The Street).

Pensions & Investments, 05/12/2008—Article on research co-authored by Charles Cao, Smeal Chair Professor of Finance, and Ph.D. candidate Zhaodong Zhong. The research "has found a relationship between credit default swap spreads and implied volatilities on individual stock options forecast stock returns. (Special Report: Cutting-Edge Academics).

Centre Daily Times, 05/07/2008—Article on Smeal senior Matt Allison winning $10,000 in the monthly IdeaBlob.com contest for the best small business idea in the country. (Idea Worth $10,000 To PSU Student).

WTAJ-TV, 05/07/2008—Story on Smeal senior Matt Allison winning $10,000 in the monthly IdeaBlob.com contest for the best small business idea in the country. (WTAJ News At 11).

The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre), 05/07/2008—Austin Jaffe, chair of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate, comments on the Pennsylvania real estate market. "'Pennsylvania markets are slowing down just like the national markets have slowed down,' Jaffe said Tuesday.  The state and local market, though they follow the national market, do so less dramatically and less quickly. 'Pennsylvania is not as volatile' and there is less speculation, Jaffe explained." (Property Transaction Slowdown Hits County).

TalkZone.com, 05/06/2008—Ken Pasch, instructor in accounting and management, discusses leadership on the Web-based talk show "Your Competitive Advantage."

BusinessWeek, 05/05/2008—Linda Treviño, Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, comments on Walt Pavlo, a former MCI executive who was convicted of money laundering and now speaks at business schools. "Here's a real person telling students what happened to his life. I don't think there is any substitute for that," Treviño said. (Using Ex-Cons To Scare MBAs Straight).

Centre Daily Times, 05/04/2008—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his column about how to deal with "winning" and "losing" in business. "I understand reality and do not deny that the world of business can often become a contact sport," Cataldo writes. "However, we should never forget that the 'winners' of a business transaction can also find themselves on the losing side of a deal as well." (Winning Not The Only Outcome In Business).

CentreDaily.com, 05/04/2008—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his blog about how to deal with "winning" and "losing" in business. "Losing is never easy but when it happens, you need to be prepared, professional, and focused on the possibilities for the future rather than the setback that has just occurred," Cataldo writes. (Playing The Game Counts In Business).

The Patriot-News, 05/03/2008—Linda Treviño, Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, comments on vendors giving gifts to clients. "If they're doing it, they must think that it will be helpful to their business in some way," she said. "That's why it's good to have policies prohibiting gifts. Such policies actually help employees be very clear about what is and is not acceptable." (State Staff To Return Gifts From Vendors).

The Daily Collegian, 05/02/2008—Ginger Breon, chief information officer, comments on Smeal's use of ANGEL in administering final exams. "The college, which has been administering online finals for a decade, is confident ANGEL will function normally, Breon said." (ANGEL Site Upgrades System, Prepares For Finals Week).

HRMagazine, 06/01/2008—Article mentions research by David Harrison, Smeal Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. "An analysis of 46 studies of telecommuting involving 12,833 employees, conducted by Ravi S. Gajendran and David A. Harrison, professors in Penn State's Department of Management and Organization, shows that flexible schedules offer managers more positives than negatives." (Telecommuting: The Good, The Bad, And The Unknown).

SmartPros.com, May 2008—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, writes in his column about executive compensation. "Many corporate executives make more in an hour or two than the average American earns in a year," Ketz writes. "Citizens used to accept some disproportion and imbalance as a fact of life. But as the disparity grows and grows, and as the middle class faces the risk of disappearing from the scene, people are grumbling about this inequality." (Politics Of CEO Pay).

SmartPros.com, May 2008—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, writes in his column about fair value accounting. "While fair value accounting does have problems, both conceptual and practical, the arguments that are being put forward have greater deficiencies," Ketz writes. "One cannot consider fair value accounting in a vacuum, but must consider it as one of several alternatives for use in the financial reports." (The Fair Value Problem).

The Pennsylvania Realtor, May 2008—Austin Jaffe, chair of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate, comments on the mortgage market. "Current buyers are looking around and seeing good news. There is plenty of inventory and there are low prices," Jaffe said. "Those who go for financing will find only the best will qualify. There isn't much money flowing into real estate finance right now." (Understanding The Mortgage Mess).