March 2007
Welcome to the Smeal Zine!
Here's the latest issue of SMEAL Zine, a monthly electronic magazine designed to keep alumni and friends in touch with the latest news and information from Penn State's Smeal College of Business and its nationally ranked programs and world-renowned research centers.
Robert Macy, Clinical Assistant Professor Of Entrepreneurship:
The United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), the U.S. affiliate of the International Council for Small Business, recently honored Robert Macy, clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Smeal, with its Extraordinary Educator award. Macy joined the Smeal faculty in July 2006 upon earning his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His research focuses mainly on the strategic management of intellectual capital and the use of knowledge and knowledge workers to facilitate innovation. He has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years and is member of the Oregon State Bar. In addition to his Ph.D., Macy holds an M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Oregon and a bachelor's degree from Washington State University.
March 2007
Eugene Kelley, Second Dean Of Smeal, 1922-2007
Eugene J. Kelley, pioneering scholar in the field of marketing management and dean emeritus of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, passed away Feb. 10 at age 84. Kelley joined Smeal in 1963 as a research professor of business administration, charged with expanding the college's doctoral program. As dean, Kelley is credited with bringing to Smeal a modern approach to academic management. "Gene set the bar very high for future deans of Smeal and left a lasting impression on what we do here," said James Thomas, the college's current dean. "He began an untiring pursuit of excellence that guided the college to new heights during his 15 years as dean, and still continues today." For more, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/kelley.html.
Dean Thomas Meets Friends And Alumni At Receptions Around The Country
At two recent events in New York and Washington, friends and alumni of Smeal connected with Dean James Thomas and heard firsthand his vision for the future of the college. At the New York event, which was part of the Penn State Alumni Association's "City Lights" series, Professor of Finance J. Randall Woolridge joined Thomas to share some of his expertise on strategic investment and explained how one's investment personality can affect financial decisions. Additional meet-the-dean receptions are planned for this month in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. In May, Thomas will meet with friends and alumni in the Boston area. For more details, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/jan07/mtd.html.
Research Center Name Change Reflects Evolving Digital BusinessEnvironment
Smeal's eBusiness Research Center is changing its name on March 1 to the Center for Digital Transformation to more accurately reflect its focus on the continually evolving impact of information and communications technologies on global business. The center brings corporate executives together with leading academics in the fields of entrepreneurship, information sciences, management, marketing, supply chain, and more, to study how the use of networked digital resources alters competition, strategy, and execution. For more on the Center for Digital Transformation visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/cdt.html.
Smeal MBA Students Travel To Four International Cities In Global Immersion
First-year Smeal MBA students will travel to one of four pivotal global business regions next week as they participate in the Smeal MBA Program's annual Global Immersion component. This international business experience, launched in 2004 as a required part of the MBA curriculum, offers students firsthand exposure to the international economy and the particular challenges and opportunities of doing business in another culture and under different laws and regulations. This year, students will spend a week in Santiago, Chile; Shanghai, China; Istanbul, Turkey; or San Francisco, Calif.—the latter designed for international students. Learn more and read participant travel logs—updated daily March 5 to 9—online at www.smeal.psu.edu/goglobal.
START Conference To Address Diversity Awareness And Respect In Business
Corporate, academic, and community leaders will join together on March 30 to discuss business initiatives in diversity at the eighth annual START (Striving Towards Awareness and Respect for Tomorrow) Conference, Smeal's forum on diversity issues in business. Smeal Board of Visitors member William A. Donan '68, retired corporate vice president and president of Allegiance Healthcare Corporation-Southeast Region, is the keynote speaker. Representatives from several corporations will join faculty and administrators from Penn State and Smeal to discuss ways to raise awareness in the corporate world and increase respect for individuals in the workplace. For more on the START Conference, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/start.html.
Smeal Freshman Revives Business Fraternity's Penn State Chapter
A Smeal freshman recently resurrected the Penn State chapter of a national business fraternity and has grown its membership to about 35 students. Upon arriving in University Park in September, Matt Hawkins was disappointed to find that the local chapter of Phi Beta Lambda was no longer active and had been so for several years. Hawkins took it upon himself to revive it, and after several months of work, the Penn State chapter of Phi Beta Lambda was activated on Jan. 24. Hawkins says he would like to hear from former members of Penn State's previous Phi Beta Lambda chapter. Alumni can reach him at msh5071@psu.edu. For more information, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/pbl.html.
Nittany Lion Fund Announces 2007 Management Team
The Nittany Lion Fund LLC, Smeal's $4.7 million student-managed investment portfolio, has appointed its new executive board and management team for 2007. Each year, the new leadership is appointed by the previous executive board in consultation with J. Randall Woolridge, Smeal professor of finance and chief executive officer of the Nittany Lion Fund. Unlike most of the nearly 200 other student-managed investment funds around the country, the Nittany Lion Fund did not come from a university endowment. Rather, 69 individual investors have each placed at least $25,000—and as much as $250,000—under the control of the student fund managers. For more details on the fund and its new leadership, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/nlfmgmt.html.
Research: Prior Earnings Deflation May Create Positive Performance After A Stock Repurchase
The positive returns and reported improvement in operating performance that accompanies many stock repurchases may be the result of downward earnings management leading up to the repurchase, according to new Smeal research. Guojin Gong, Henock Louis, and Amy Sun, assistant professors of accounting at Smeal, examined financial data from 1,720 companies that made open-market repurchases between 1984 and 2002. Their results show that managers deflate earnings around announcements of open-market repurchases, thus creating the appearance of abnormal positive gains after the buyback. For more on this paper, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/feb07/buyback.html.
Manufacturers To Discuss Lean Operations And Employee Involvement At Smeal
Manufacturing executives from four of the most successful operations in the United States will gather in April at Penn State to discuss their experiences introducing change in their plant processes. The 61st meeting of the Advanced Manufacturing Forum, hosted by Smeal's Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change (CMTOC), will convene April 12 to 13 at Toftrees Resort and Conference Center in State College, Pa. For more details and registration information, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/cmtoc/forum/forum61.html.
Members of the Smeal College faculty are contacted regularly by the world's news media. In February, faculty members were featured in media outlets such as Scripps Howard, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Seattle Post Intelligencer. For a complete list, please visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/innews/index.html.
Programs and Events
Penn State Executive Programs is currently accepting reservations for its upcoming programs. Please visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/date.html for more information or click the links below for some of the specific programs being offered.
April 23-27
The Human Resources Management Program
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/hrmp.html
April 29-May 9
Executive Coaching Certification (Week One)
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/ecc.html
May 7-11
Finance For The Non-Financial Manager
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/finance.html
