Media Coverage: September 2007

The Wall Street Journal, 09/28/2007—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).

BusinessWeek.com, 09/28/2007—Blog entry on research by Henock Louis, associate professor of accounting. "According to a trio of researchers from Penn State, Georgia State, and Arizona State Universities, 'negative publicity could be good for stock prices.' Or at least that's the apparent finding of a study that examined the effect of BusinessWeek's 'Worst Boards' list, which hasn't been published since 2002." (Can Bad Press Be Good For Stocks?).

BaltimoreSun.com, 09/27/2007—Blog entry on research by Henock Louis, associate professor of accounting. "A paper co-authored by a Penn State professor suggests that critical news coverage of poorly run companies spurs them to try to improve, which leads to actual improvement. Works for politics, too!" (Hey, The First Amendment Works!).

Workforce Management, 09/23/2007—Albert Vicere, professor of business administration, comments on the exit of the baby boomer generation from the U.S. workforce. "Everyone has seen the demographics—the majority of companies will lose half their senior management teams by 2010," Vicere said.  "As a result, companies are asking, 'Do we have the talent to deal with all this transition at the top?'" (Logging On To Link Mentors, Proteges; Keyword: Matchmaking).

CNBC, 09/21/2007—Nittany Lion Fund secretary Matthew Simonetti appears on CNBC's "Fast Money" to ask panelist Karen Finerman about Home Depot stock.

The Daily Collegian, 09/18/2007—Dean James Thomas comments on Smeal's new Honor Code. "Much of the University's dedication to academic integrity has developed from the honor code implemented at Smeal College of Business under its dean, Jim Thomas. Thomas strongly promotes student involvement in upholding honesty in education and said it must be a cultural shift with students' futures in mind. '[Integrity] is expected in the marketplace,' Thomas said. 'It is a function of careers in corporate America and the corporate world.'" (Faculty Cracks Down On Academic Dishonesty).

Town Hall Ohio, 09/16/2007—Keith Crocker, Elliott Chaired Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, discusses insurance and consumer risk management on this Columbus, Ohio, radio program.

CNBC, 09/14/2007—Nittany Lion Fund president Morgan Samet appears on CNBC's "Fast Money" to ask a question about the potential sale of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

B to B, 09/10/2007—Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, comments on Net Promotor Score and ISBM's research activities. "The whole business of customer satisfaction is controversial," Oliva said. "NPS is about as good as any other metric out there, but we are tracking other lines of research to get at a compact set of metrics that can be used to measure customer loyalty and advocacy." (Research Spurs Debate Over Net Promoter Score).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09/09/2006—Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies, comments on the impact of technology on business. "The market matures faster," Ghadar said. "If you don't manage that life cycle very quickly, competitors come out of the woodwork and you are doomed." (EarthLink A Painful Lesson: Innovators Often Lose Edge).

The Associated Press, 09/07/2006—John Spychalski, professor emeritus of supply chain management, comments on the lack of government funds in support of high-speed rail. "I don't think there's any question that it would help build momentum for making this kind of service a reality where it makes sense to have it," Spychalski said. "There just needs to be a political will, and right now not enough elected officials see it as a viable alternative." (Gas Costs Spark High-Speed Rail Interest). This article appeared in dozens of newspapers and on more than 100 Web sites.

The Daily Collegian, 09/07/2007—Dean James Thomas comments on his presentation to the Penn State Board of Trustees. "I think Smeal is poised to be a top-five public program in a very short period of time," Thomas said. "It's already top ten and all it needs is a little push and some rethinking, and we're top five." (Board Of Trustees To Decide State Funds Request).

The Providence Journal, 09/05/2007—Article mentions research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "In upcoming issue of Administrative Science Quarterly, two professors from Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of business, Arijit Chatterjee and Donald Hambrick, examine the impacts of CEO narcissism on company performance. Their study, intriguingly titled 'It's All About Me: Narcissistic CEOs and Their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance,' suggests that the more narcissistic the CEO, the more the company tends to pursue big, high-risk strategies." (The Challenge Of The Narcissistic CEO).

The Wall Street Journal, 09/05/2007—Article mentions research by Donald Hambrick, Smeal Chaired Professor of Management. "Two Penn State professors recently attempted to rate CEOs of technology companies on their degree of narcissism. They looked at things like the size of executives' photos in annual reports and how often they use the first person singular in press interviews. The authors concluded that narcissistic executives tended to take greater risks, leading to bigger swings in profitability of their companies." (Scholars Link Success Of Firms To Lives Of CEOs). This article also appeared in the Baltimore Sun and Charlotte Observer.

The Daily Collegian, 09/05/2007—Article on Smeal's ranking in U.S. News & World Report. "Penn State's Smeal College of Business was ranked 10th among public business schools and 18th overall in this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings of undergraduate business programs." (Smeal, PSU Ranked High In World Report).

The Times-Tribune (Scranton), 09/02/2007—Austin Jaffe, chair of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate, comments on the high rate of sub-prime home loan foreclosures. "Overwhelmingly, the defaults are increasing in the subprime market," said Jaffe. "In Wilkes-Barre, I expect that the inventory of homes would start to grow if there is a weakening market." (Local Housing Market In Stable Bubble). This article also appeared the the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice.

Centre Daily Times, 09/02/2007—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his column about the importance of executive education. "Talent development is the best way to stay ahead in the marketplace while improving retention rates. In the 21st century, it takes more than compensation to keep employees motivated. It requires providing opportunities to grow and develop in their careers. High-potential leaders crave these opportunities and appreciate it when they are offered." (Corporate World Goes Back To School, Too).

CentreDaily.com, 09/02/2007—Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education, writes in his blog about the importance of executive education. "The end of summer signals the return to school for people around the world. ... For business leaders, it's the opportunity to invest in their people before the holidays and year-end financial close. And for other adults, it's a personal need to be fulfilled in the lifelong learning process when semester sessions begin again. No matter what the need or requirement, reinvesting in yourself is challenging, fulfilling, and rewarding." (Corporate World Goes Back To School).

National Defense, September 2007—Article cites research by Terrence Guay, clinical associate professor of international business. "Guay contended that 'workers are a U.S.-based defense company's most important asset, and policies should be designed to have the best educated and trained workers designing and building U.S. weapons systems' regardless of origin." (Arms Sales).

BizEd, September/October 2007—Article by Judy Olian, former Smeal dean. "At first blush, the school I call home has a lot in common with the school where I recently was dean. The UCLA Anderson School of Management and Penn State's Smeal College of Business are both research-focused, and they operate within large and complex public universities. They are both chasing after top business research faculty and are increasingly reliant on private sources of funding." (One Size Does Not Fit All).

SmartPros.com, September 2007—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, writes in his column a summary of the past six years of accounting news. "During the last century accounting scandals surfaced every 10-15 years," Ketz writes. "With self-serving business and accounting leaders, defective standards, and a lackadaisical attitude toward ethics, I suspect that trend will continue for a long time." (I'm Back ... To Opine On Financial Accounting And Reporting Issues).

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