Media Coverage: November 2006

Dow Jones Newswires, 11/29/2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on how accounting changes are going to affect FedEx. "I think the great majority of investors are going to be shocked," Ketz said. (An Early Warning On FedEx's Balance Sheet).

United Press International, 11/27/2006—News brief on research by Marvin Goldberg, Irving and Irene Bard Professor of Business Administration. "Researchers at PSU's Smeal College of Business say dozens of research studies done in the past 20 years have found a correlation between alcohol advertising and underage drinking. To counter the effectiveness of those ads, a team of researchers led by Marvin E. Goldberg designed a program for adolescents in which teachers present lessons to students in 50-minute sessions once a day for five days." (Program Discloses Advertising Tactics).

The Baltimore Sun, 11/24/2006—Terrence Guay, clinical assistant professor of international business, writes in an op-ed about balancing the effects of globalization. "The opportunity seems ripe for a deal, whereby the Democratic-controlled Congress renews that trade authority in exchange for policies that would benefit those groups that will lose out on Doha, as well as others adversely affected by globalization." (Make Globalization Fair).

Philadelphia Business Journal, 11/24/2006—Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, writes in an op-ed about the Smeal Honor Code. "Our Executive MBA and on-campus MBA students are now piloting a new honor code that makes integrity and ethical actions an integral part of the academic experience. Companies large and small would be wise to do the same. Don’t just talk about honesty during the interview. Carry it through every day and make it a central part of your culture." (Time Is Ripe For Ethics Emphasis).

Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, N.J.), 11/24/2006—News brief on the scholarships offered by the Smeal Executive MBA Program. "The Penn State Smeal College of Business Executive MBA Program is offering two $25,000 scholarships to members of the class of 2009 who are employees of nonprofit organizations." (Program To Offer Scholarships).

Chief Learning Officer Online, 11/22/2006—Article on executive education research by Jeffrey Spearly, senior instructor and managing director of Penn State Executive Programs. "Corporate learning organizations are looking for deep, long-term consultative partnerships with executive education providers, according to a recent survey from Pennsylvania State University." (Survey Investigates Executive Education Through Universities, Consultants).

The Daily Collegian, 11/16/2006—Article on the Smeal undergraduate competition The Next CEO. "Penn State students who dream of one day running their own businesses are about to get the chance. A six-year tradition in the Smeal College of Business Administration, the Smeal Survivor competition, will continue this year, but with a new look." (Contest Challenges CEO Hopefuls).

Fortune, 11/13/2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on Starbucks' lease-accounting strategy. "Clearly, Starbucks is leveraged more than it admits," said Ketz. (A Darker View Of Starbucks). This article also appeared on CNNMoney.com.

Investor's Business Daily, 11/13/2006—Terrence Guay, clinical assistant professor of international business, comments on the costs and benefits of outsourcing. "When you have differentials of 20-to-1, it's great. At the 50 percent level it is going to become a lot less attractive," Guay said. (Cycling Ahead With New Offshoring Idea).

The Arizona Daily Star, 11/12/2006—Aritcle mentions esearch by Abdullah Yavas, Elliott Professor of Business Administration. "The Yavas-Rutherford study showed that while houses sold by discount brokers got the same prices as those listed by traditional brokers, it took five days longer and the listings were 12 percent less likely to sell." (Real Estate Commissions Taking Hits).

The North County Times (Escondido, Calif.), 11/11/2006—Austin Jaffe, director of the Institute for Real Estate Studies, writes in an op-ed about property's significance to the economy. "Without the protection of property, families are uprooted, small businesses are bankrupted, and entire communities are destroyed in favor of more profitable enterprises that benefit wealthy investors and enrich public coffers. Even worse, our entire economic prosperity becomes vulnerable." (Private Property Key To Economy).

Centre Daily Times, 11/11/2006—Carolyn Todd, instructor of marketing, writes on her and her husband's experiences with Penn State football. (Husband Puts The Fan In Fanatical).

The Baltimore Sun, 11/07/2006—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on the need for pharmaceutical companies to merge to expand their product lines. "The pipelines are empty for the pharma companies, so they have to buy it," Ghadar said. (Mergers Stoke Stocks).

TheDeal.com, 11/06/2006—Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management, comments on leveraged buyout firms. "They tack on debt and they suck out who knows how much in fees, so they've they got their cash back before they even take their investment public," Pollock said. (It's The Ebitda, Stupid).

The New York Times, 11/05/2006—David Harrison, distinguished professor of management, comments on the trend of customer service reps working from home offices. "'Especially for high-dollar customer service, you need someone to hold your hand, and it needs to be someone that sounds like you,' he said, rather than an overseas agent assuming an American identity." (Keeping Customer Service Jobs At Home In The U.S.A., Literally).

The Wall Street Journal, 11/04/2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on the financial health of Krispy Kreme. "Of course, the model plugs and chugs and obtains respectable free cash flows—but so what?" Ketz said. "The inputs are extremely soft numbers, perhaps as soft as the cream inside one of its doughnuts." (What's Behind Sugary Report On Krispy Kreme?)

USA Today, 11/03/2006—John Spychalski, professor of supply chain management, comments on high-speed rail service in the United States. "Railroad tracks in the USA are almost all privately owned by freight companies that run slower, heavier trains. 'They aren't too keen on operating a 125-mph passenger train when they're running heavy freight trains at 30 to 70 mph,' Spychalski says." (High-Speed Rail Service Derailed).

Marketwatch, 11/03/2006—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, writes on the oil market. "Ever since the beginning of the oil industry, we have experienced dramatic rises and falls in the price of petroleum with oil prices fluctuating some 700 percent over the past two decades. The lower prices at the pump today will not last long; we can easily expect oil prices to rise to $100 a barrel over the next five years. " (Oil Prices Going To The Century Mark). A link to this article appeared on The Wall Street Journal Online.

The Daily Collegian, 11/03/2006—Moira Fogarty, first-year MBA student, writes on the Smeal Honor Code. "Honor codes like this one reduce the burden on faculty to monitor and enforce cheating regulations and they help cultivate character by holding all of us repsonsible for sustaining the ethical community. ... What we're doing at Smeal is making it known that we do not tolerate academic dishonesty." (Contrary To Daily Collegian Column, Cheating Is Not Considered The Norm).

SeekingAlpha.com, 11/02/2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, is quoted on CVS' lease-accounting practices. "Ed Ketz, an accounting professor at Pennsylvania State University, wrote a paper that said CVS 'is able to pump up the stockholders' equity and make it look better than it really is' through its perfectly permissible (albeit aggressive) lease accounting. His analysis showed the company's financial reports from last year were 'hiding' $12.766 billion of debt. 'That's a lot of debt to conceal from shareholders and creditors,' he wrote. (Indeed it is.)" (CVS + Caremark = Un-Analyzable Company)

Purchasing, 11/02/2006—Article mentions Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies. "For the past 25 years, [Ghadar] has been researching and writing about global strategy, business and international finance. His publications have been cited numerous times—placing him among the top researchers in the field of international strategic management." (How To Survive In A Global Economy).

Inside Supply Management, November 2006—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, writes on the changing global business market. "The domestic and global marketplace has changed much over the years. Things were simpler in the past, but change is a natural progression. Everyone must adapt to some degree." (Change Is Constant).

SmartPros.com, November 2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, critiques a paper on stock-option accounting from California Management Review. "While Kip Hagopian is entitled to his opinion, the standard setters at FASB, SEC, and IASB should not give it much weight. It is tainted with the greed of Lay and Kozlowski. It is mere rhetoric to justify incredibly exorbitant salaries." (Accounting for Stock Options (Part Three): Why CEOs Fight Stock-Option Accounting).

SmartPros.com, November 2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, critiques a paper on stock-option accounting from California Management Review. "Summing up, Hagopian's reasoning is faulty. He and his signatories ignore basic principles of accounting such as the accrual principle and the entity principle." (Accounting for Stock Options (Part Two): Expense, Expense, and Expense).

SmartPros.com, November 2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, critiques a paper on stock-option accounting from California Management Review. "The paper is as loony as it is self-serving. Yet again, the high-tech industry is trying to thwart good accounting by advocating the overthrow of Statement No. 123R by FASB and the SEC's support of the pronouncement." (Accounting For Stock Options: Reasoning By Authority).