August 2009

Smeal Forms Advisory Board of Leading Corporate Sustainability Executives

The Sustainability Council at Penn State's Smeal College of Business has formed a corporate advisory board consisting of sustainability executives from some of the world's leading corporations. The eight-member board is made up of representatives from Alcoa, Caterpillar, Dell, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and Xerox.

Customer Service Vital during Difficult Times

Is it possible that there's a business out there that hasn't heard about the need for excellent customer service during a rough economy? You wouldn't think so, but you'd be wrong. Apparently common sense isn't as common as it should be.

Artist Hosts Smeal MBA Alumni at Exhibition Opening

Richard Mayhew, emeritus professor of Art in Penn State's School of Visual Arts, is considered one of the greatest living landscape painters. When his latest exhibition opened at Zone: Contemporary Art in Midtown Manhattan this summer, he invited his longtime friend Vernis Welmon, Smeal associate dean of diversity and community, to attend the artist's reception on opening night, along with a small group of Smeal MBA alumni living in the New York area.

Research: Demanding Lives of Clergy Reveal Tactics for Achieving Work-Life Balance

Through interviews with individuals who face particularly extreme challenges in balancing work and home demands—Episcopal priests—a researcher at Penn State's Smeal College of Business and his co-authors have identified 11 tactics to help employees achieve work-life balance by negotiating the boundaries between their office life and their home life.