Media Coverage: October 2007

Centre Daily Times, 10/28/2007—Brief article on honors earned by Daniel Cahoy, associate professor of business law. "Cahoy received the Junior Faculty Award of Excellence—the academy's highest honor for junior faculty—for significant contributions in teaching, research, and the furthering of the profession of collegiate instruction of business law." (Business People: Education).

The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre), 10/27/2007—Austin Jaffe, chair of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate, comments on comments on the real estate market. "Northeastern Pennsylvania feels the same pressures and influences as other markets, but there is a bit of a lag on when they hit here, Jaffe said. 'I don’t think that markets are that different. All local markets move the same way,' he said, adding some don’t move as much." (Area Realtors Say NEPA Market In Better Shape Than Most To Weather Storm).

The Daily Collegian, 10/26/2007—Brief article on a gift to Smeal from Edward and Judith Anchel. "Edward and Judith Anchel committed $2.5 million to establish two scholarships in the Smeal College of Business to benefit students with financial need, Penn State announced yesterday." (Smeal Receives $2.5 Million Donation).

Business Media Matters, 10/25/2007—Article mentions Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets. "Some of the best minds in b-to-b marketing gathered at American Business Media's New York offices on October 10, 2007 to kick off the first meeting of ABM's newly-formed Marketers Advisory Council. ... Leading the Marketers Advisory Council is ... Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets." (ABM Marketers Advisory Council Creates Platform for Industry Discussion).

Human Resource Executive Online, 10/24/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "They report that based on their research, CEOs who received more than 50 percent of their compensation in stock options during that time frame were typically bigger risk takers, and also tended to spend more on R&D and assets such as equipment." (Options For Risky Behavior).

The Salt Lake Tribune, 10/23/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "A new study by Professors W. Gerard Sanders of Brigham Young University and Donald Hambrick of Pennsylvania State University found that 'options-loaded CEOs have a disproportionate tendency to generate more big losses than big gains.'" (Stock Options May Be Big Risk For Companies).

CNBC, 10/17/2007—Segment on "Closing Bell" regarding research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management.

Bloomberg News, 10/17/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "A large stock option may motivate a chief executive officer to such great risks that he ends up making decisions that can backfire for shareholders. That's the conclusion of two business school professors in their paper published by the Academy of Management Journal." (Large Stock-Options Grants May Hurt Investors). This article also appeared in South Africa's Business Report and The Star.

InsideHigherEd.com, 10/17/2007—Linda Treviño, Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, comments on academic integrity efforts. "I think that being very careful and also having safeguards in place also sends a message,' she said, that there’s integrity in the process and that everyone is starting off at the same level." (Beyond The Blue Book).

NetworkWorld.com, 10/17/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "These findings may help put the nail in the coffin of executive stock options," said Hambrick. "And even if not, they certainly ought to give the corporate world pause in using them nearly as extensively as they have been used in the recent past." (Stock-Option Packages Spur Risky CEO Behavior). This article also appeared on PCWorld.com.

BaltimoreSun.com, 10/15/2007—Blog entry on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Professors at Penn State and Brigham Young find that the more stock options executives get, the more likely they are to make risky decisions that will harm stock value." (Study: Stock Options Induce CEOs To Make Risky Bets).

San Antonio Express-News, 10/13/2007—Dennis Sheehan, associate dean of MBA programs, comments on shareholder activism and the actions of hedge fund manager Sardar Biglari. "It's a lot easier to influence small- and medium-sized companies, than something like a Time Warner," Sheehan said. "It's pretty unusual for somebody to do this multiple times. It'll be interesting to see whether he persists." (Sardar Biglari' Actions Similar To Corporate Raider Icahn).

The New York Times, 10/12/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Two professors ... studied 950 companies from 1994 to 2000 and found that those whose chiefs got more than half their compensation in stock options were far more likely to take risks in more and bigger acquisitions and somewhat more likely to spend heavily on research and equipment." (Rethinking Risk's Role In Bosses' Pay). This article also appeared in the International Herald Tribune and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Reuters, 10/12/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "A big package of stock options is no substitute for actual ownership when aiming to encourage chief executives to take prudent risks that provide reliable stock returns, according to a new study." (CEO Option Grants Seem Harmful). This article appeared in several newspapers and on dozens of Web sites, including MSN Money, Conde Nast Portfolio, and InformationWeek.com.

Pittsburgh Business Times, 10/12/2007—Tim Pollock, associate professor of management, is interviewed regarding executive compensation. "High CEO pay is often an expenditure that boards and investors are willing to absorb," said Pollock. "But research shows that shareholders might want to be more careful about exorbitant CEO salaries because they tend to cost corporations far more in their payrolls and in employee turnover." (Five Minutes With: Timothy G. Pollock).

United Press International, 10/12/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Option-loaded CEOs have a disproportionate tendency to generate more big losses than big gains,” says a report in the current Academy of Management Journal. "These findings may help put the nail in the coffin of executive stock options." (Study: CEO Pay Prompts Aggressiveness). This article appeared on several Web sites, including The Money Times of India.

Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City), 10/12/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Well-compensated CEOs with millions of dollars in stock options in their back pockets may be inclined to take greater investment risks. But they also face a higher likelihood of facing big losses than big gains, according to a new study." (Big Losses For Bosses).

Realty Times, 10/12/2007—Article on research by Abdullah Yavas, Elliott Professor of Business Administration. "It doesn't make financial sense to pay for points to buy down the cost of a mortgage only to refinance the mortgage before reaping the advantage of the buy down. Apparently, however, that's what virtually all home buyers do when they elect to include points to lower their interest rate with plans to save money over time, according to ... a special mortgage study by Abdullah Yavas." (Points Taken, But Not Well).

The Patriot-News (Harrisburg), 10/10/2007—Article on Penn State tailgating quotes Smeal MBA student Jeff Hoeflich. "Among those new students and tailgaters is Jeff Hoeflich, a Harrisburg native now in his first year of the university's Smeal College of Business MBA program. While students revel in the parking lot festivities, Hoeflich is hard at work behind his own catering grill with a themed, gourmet menu that draws more than 50 people each game." (PSU Fan Fare).

Economist.com, 10/09/2007—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "The authors, two economists, Gerard Sanders and Donald Hambrick, observe that options create asymmetric incentives: they pay out when a firm’s share price rises above the option exercise price, but once they fall below the exercise price, all further falls make no difference to the ultimate payout, which is nothing." (Out Of Options).

The Associated Press, 10/08/2007—Article on Penn State's new e-testing testing center mentions Smeal. "The facility is modeled in part on a lab at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, and on a facility at Brigham Young University." (Smile, You're On Camera: Penn State Opening No-Cheat Test Center). This article appeared in several newspapers and on about 15 news Web sites.

Centre Daily Times, 10/07/2007—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his column about creating a self brand. "Creating a personal brand is a way for each of us to distinguish ourselves in the marketplace of work," Cataldo writes. "It all starts with this question: What makes you unique? What do you offer to an employer or client that no one else can offer? It also means thinking about yourself very, very differently." (Create Your Own Brand).

CentreDaily.com, 10/07/2007—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his blog about creating a self brand. "While there are a number of pieces to a personal brand, one of the key components is a strong resume, " writes Cataldo. "Whether you are an employer seeking candidates for a position or an applicant seeking a job, you can test a resume against five criteria." (Create Your Own Brand).

The Washington Post, 10/06/2007—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on Japan's immigration policy. "With the age of globalization, these borders are going to open up," Ghadar said. "Unless they don't want to see their economy grow as rapidly, they're going to have to do something about it." (In Traditionally Insular Japan, A Rare Experiment In Diversity).

The Daily Collegian, 10/05/2007—Edward Glantz, clinical assistant professor of information systems, comments on his use of instant messaging to hold office hours. "Ed Glantz, an MIS 204 instructor, said he began using AOL Instant Messenger to hold online office hours as a way to help students get answers to simple questions and understand basic concepts. 'My experience is that students are extremely busy, and it's very difficult for them to go to office hours,' he said." (Some Professors Office Hours Supplemented With Online Chats).

ComputerWorld, 10/04/2007—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on how the falling U.S. dollar is affecting China. "If the U.S. has gone down, China compared to the U.S. has also gone down," said Ghadar. "China, in fact, has become more competitive because they are tied with the dollar." (Dollar Parity May Help Canada Keep Its IT Workers At Home).

Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal, 10/03/2007—Terrence Guay, clinical associate professor of international business, comments on the effect of the falling dollar on the U.S. economy. "Interest rates will have to rise to reel foreign investors back into U.S. markets, Guay said. At the same time, the higher rates will make borrowing more expensive for domestic companies and U.S. citizens." (Foreign Investors Defect From Dollar Iin 'Painfully Slow Dribble').

The Wall Street Journal Europe, 10/02/2007—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on the practice of using market values in liability accounting. "In the past, we would think that if a firm was having problems they would show a higher debt ratio, but now if they are performing poorly, the debt is going to be going down in value," Ketz said. (The Gold At Crunch's End). This aritcle originally appeared in September in The Wall Street Journal.

Marketing News, 10/01/2007—Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, comments on direct mail marketing. "In terms of intrusive media that's getting someone's attention and attempting to bring in a new proposition they haven't gotten before, in b-to-b marketing, I like dimensional direct mail," Oliva said. "If you can make that piece of mail [seem like] a very important care package for the poeple you're trying to reach, you'll get it through." (Sweet Science).

SmartPros.com, October 2007—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, writes in his column about the role of Merrill Lynch in the Enron accounting scandal. (The Merrill Lynch-Enron-Government Conspiracy).