Media Coverage: October 2006

BusinessWeek Online, 10/30/2006—Smeal's Trading Room included in a listing of the country's 10 most elaborate. "Since its opening, hundreds of undergraduate, MBA, and postgraduate students have taken advantage of Smeal's trading room, which is outfitted with 52 dual-monitor computers, three plasma televisions, dual projectors, moving ticker, and two stock boards." (Trading Spaces, B-School Edition [Slideshow]).

The Associated Press, 10/27/2006—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on Chinese metal production. "They may be able to slow down an increase in imports, but at the end of the day, if they're growing at 10 percent a year, they won't be able to expand domestic capacity fast enough," Ghadar said. "Which is going to put extensive pressure on prices." (Market Spotlight: Base Metals Rally). This article was also distributed internationally by AFX News and appeared on several Web sites.

Reuters, 10/27/2006—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. (Hertz IPO The Latest Coup For Buyout Firms).

Chief Learning Officer Online, 10/24/2006—Article on research by Jeffrey Spearly, senior instructor and managing director of Penn State Executive Programs. "A change in mission and philosophy may be necessary for university-based providers to remain competitive," Spearly said. "Successful university-based executive education providers will need to demonstrate the ability to develop deep, long-term partner relationships and fully align with the client organization, its goals and objectives." (Survey: Trend In Executive Education Heading Toward Consultation). This article also appeared on the Web site of Workforce Performance Solutions.

The Washington Examiner, 10/19/2006—Barbara Gray, director of the Center for Research in Conflict and Negotiation, comments on the conflict surrounding the next president of Gallaudet University. "My primary recommendation would be that they take this out of the public arena and into a private setting where they can listen to dialogue," said Gray. "She has to get her credibility back, she needs to be seen as legitimate." (Dialogue Could Be Solution For Gallaudet).

BusinessWeek Online, 10/18/2006—James Thomas, dean, is interviewed about Smeal's popularity among undergraduates and the college's admissions process. "And one of the other reasons for the applications that come into Smeal and the university is that we have the largest number of alums," Thomas said. "We have about 66,000 Smeal alums that are active, and they're out there as living testimony to what a Smeal degree can do for you." (Supply And Demand At Penn State).

BusinessWeek, 10/16/2006—News brief on executive-compensation research by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management. "The argument out there has been: 'Maybe a CEO is paid $10 million or $20 million—that's a drop in the bucket at most companies.' But if it's being multiplied out over many levels, it's more serious," said Pollock. (I'll Have What He's Having).

The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 10/16/2006—Article on research co-authored by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management. "If the CEO is overpaid by $1 million, and then if everybody at the next level is overpaid by $250,000, and the people at the next level below that are over paid by [several] thousand dollars, times 100 people, it can start to get expensive," Pollock said. (How Much Money Is Too Much For A CEO?)

Fortune, 10/16/2006—In an article profiling Smeal alumna Patricia Woertz '74, Robert Koehler, associate professor emeritus of accounting, comments on his impression of her as a student. "She got job offers from everywhere she interviewed," said Koehler. "That was rare." (The Outsider).

Printing News, 10/16/2006—Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, writes on the top priorities for marketers. "Complacency has created the messes in which marketing has wallowed in the past," Oliva writes. "Avoiding it requires better tools for understanding customer needs, proactive strategies for globalization, harnessing better quantitative tools, building innovation skills, rationalizing the marketing role, and contribution in the organization." (Marketing Study Says: 'Know Thy Customer').

The Main Report (New Zealand), 10/16/2006—Article on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "Research published in Academy Of Management Learning & Education has found 50 percent of business graduate students admitted to cheating in the past academic year." (MBA Students Are Learning How To Cheat).

The Australian Financial Review, 10/13/2006—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Three decades ago the typical CEO was likely to be a Steady Eddie, CEO as steward, who would hold the organization together, want to leave it in good shape, deliver satisfactorily for all parties involved," said Hambrick. "Contemporary CEOs are much more likely to be risk-takers who are flamboyant and colorful and view themselves as something akin to celebrities." (High Testosterone).

The Detroit News, 10/13/2006—Article on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "This may explain a lot: Not only do cheaters apparently prosper, they get graduate degrees in business." (Candidates For MBAs Top Survey Of 5,000 Cheaters). This article originally appeared in September in The Washington Post.

B to B, 10/09/2006—News brief mentions the appointment of Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, to the Business Marketing Association's board of directors. (BMA Elects Directors; Adds 29 New Members).

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), 10/05/2006—George Heitmann, emeritus professor of supply chain and information systems, writes about higher education. "If one takes a traditional, discipline-defined view of a liberal education, the Smeal College has more liberal arts requirements than Muhlenberg College, a liberal arts institution. For example, a Smeal College student must take more mathematics and language courses than at Muhlenberg." (Better Higher Education Is Vital To Nation's Future).

New Zealand Transport & Logistics Business Week, 10/05/2006—News brief on the visiting professorship of Alan Stenger, professor of supply chain management, to be held at the University of Auckland Business School. "The university has established a Logistics and Supply Chain Management  department to help raise management standards within the sector. The new faculty will be headed by Dr. Alan Stenger." (University Of Auckland Pushes Logisitcs Skills).

Denver Post, 10/03/2006—Article on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "Cheating in business starts with cheating on tests, and nobody cheats more than people working on their MBAs." (Wily MBA Students Lead Cheating Pack).

BusinessWeek, 10/02/2006—News brief on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "The study, co-authored by Linda Treviño, a professor of organizational behavior at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, looked at surveys of 5,331 graduate students at 32 schools in Canada and the U.S." (MBA Students Are No. 1—At Cheating). This article also appeared in September in DailyWealth.

St. Petersburg Times, 10/02/2006—Article mentions academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "In a report to be published in the Academy of Management Learning and Education, professors from Penn State's Smeal College of Business, Rutgers Business School and Washington State University College of Business found that 56 percent of business school students admitted to cheating one or more times in the past academic year." (They're Big, But Not Big Enough To Fess Up).

Journal of Commerce 10/02/2006—Article on executive education mentions Penn State Executive Programs' relationship with IBM. "Each year in June, IBM executives attend the intensive residential program on integrated supply chain at Penn State. ...  'The programs are always connected to real business challenges,' [John] Dischinger, [director of university partner programs at IBM Integrated Supply Chain], said. 'That is the key indicator of value for us.'" (Back To School). This article also appeared in Shipping Digest and Gulf Shipper.

Agenda, 10/02/2006—Article on executive-compensation research by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management. "A CEO's pay package has the potential to affect lower-level executives' salaries and increase employee turnover, a new study shows." (Study: CEO Pay Affects Employee Retention).

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/01/2006—Article on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "Smeal instituted an honor code this fall that emphasizes promoting ethical behavior rather than focusing on the consequences of unethical behavior. Students share responsibility for developing rules, investigating allegations of cheating and determining the punishment." (Study Suggests Cheating 101 More Prevalent At Business Schools).

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/01/2006—News brief on executive-compensation research by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management. "Overpaid chief executives lead to other overpaid executives, said a report by Penn State University's Smeal College of Business." (Report: Excessive Pay Spreads).

Houston Chronicle, 10/01/2006—Article on celebrity-CEO research by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management. "Throwing money at the stars isn't necessarily the best avenue to guarantee success," said Pollock. (Study Doubts Star Power).

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10/01/2006—Article on academic-integrity research by Linda Treviño, Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics. "According to a survey released this month, students are increasingly cheating during their courses. And which class is most likely to be trying to fiddle the system? You guessed it: the business-studies mob." (Business School Ethics Get Grades That Are Only Oxymoronic). This Bloomberg News article was originally published in September.

Chicago Sun-Times, 10/01/2006—Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management, comments on the boards of directors firing CEOs. "Boards are under a lot more pressure, and they're being hypervigilant," Hambrick said. "They are cleansing." (Rash of pricey CEO departures felt across the board). This Bloomberg News article, which was originally published in September, also appeared in October in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Journal News (New York).

SmartPros.com, October 2006—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, offers in his column a review of the book The Cheating Culture. "We shall not understand the spate of accounting frauds until we personalize the issue and place responsibility on those who perpetrated the crimes and on those who aided and abetted the crimes either by increasing the incentives to cheat or by refusing to investigate managerial behavior," Ketz writes. (The Cheating Culture).

Town & Gown, October 2006—Article on Smeal's Trading Room. "For someone woefully ignorant about the inner workings of the financial world, stepping into the Smeal College of Business Penn State Trading Room is somewhat akin to finding yourself beamed onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise." (Lion's & Bulls & Bears—Oh My!).