November Zine
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.
Ralph Oliva,
Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Business
Markets:
Ralph Oliva is a
professor of marketing at Smeal and executive director of the college's
Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM). Prior to joining Smeal,
Oliva spent 23 years in business-to-business and consumer marketing at Texas
Instruments, where he served as vice president of market communications and
design and developed a "virtual university" for marketing. He was responsible
for global management of the TI brand, market communications, design strategy,
and corporate identity. Oliva is the author of 15 books and lectures on
business-to-business market communications and brand management, among other
topics. He holds a master's and Ph.D. in solid state physics from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute.
More
>>
Alumna Woertz Named Fourth Most Powerful Woman In Business
For the eighth straight year, Fortune magazine has named Smeal alumna Patricia Woertz '74 to its list of the most powerful women in business. Woertz is also featured on the cover of the magazine's Oct. 16 issue and in a lengthy profile inside. Fortune listed Woertz up two spots from her sixth place ranking last year to fourth, the position held by Oprah Winfrey on the 2005 list. Woertz was named CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Co. in May, which, at the time, made the agribusiness corporation the largest public company in the United States with a woman as chief executive officer. For more details, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/woertz.html.
Smeal MBAs Win Supply Chain Case Competition
A team of four Smeal MBA students took first place at this year's Supply Chain Management Case Competition held at Rutgers Business School. Brian Bonnell, Krishna Chovishya, Dan Madden, and Jeremy Vallimont beat out teams of MBAs and engineering graduate students from Lehigh University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New York University, and Rutgers. This victory is just the latest case competition success for Smeal MBA students, who have won the International Graduate Logistics Case Competition three out of the last four years. For more on this latest competition, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/mbacase.html.
Smeal Executive MBA Program Welcomes Record Class
The Smeal Executive MBA Program in Philadelphia recently welcomed the class of 2008, which is the largest class in the four-year history of the program and is more than twice the size of previous classes. Fifty-five professionals from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia have entered the Smeal Executive MBA Program, a 130 percent increase over last year when 24 students entered the program. Because the class size jumped so significantly, the group has been split into two cohorts, maintaining the small classroom learning environment and ensuring each student will receive personal attention. For more on the Smeal Executive MBA, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/execmba.
Penn State Recognized For Leadership In Entrepreneurship Education
Pennsylvania's two largest universities, Penn State and Temple University, were recognized last month by the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (NCEC) with the organization's national Award for Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines. "I am continually invigorated by observing students become passionate about their own opportunities to create companies," said Anthony Warren, director of Smeal's Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who accepted the award on behalf of the University. "That passion is a promising sign for the economic future of the Commonwealth." For more on this award, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/fcfeawrd.html.
Two Magazines Rank Smeal MBA Program
Two business magazines listed the Smeal MBA Program in their separate October rankings of the top MBA providers. Smeal is ranked ninth among U.S. public universities, according to the annual rankings published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist magazine publishing group. BusinessWeek magazine included Smeal in its alphabetical listing of business schools ranked 31 to 38. The magazine only ranks the top 30 schools in order. The next eight are then listed alphabetically and about 30 more schools are listed as "also considered." For more information, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/econrank.html.
Oliva Named To Business Marketing Association Board
The Business Marketing Association announced this week that Ralph Oliva, executive director of Smeal's Institute for the Study of Business Markets, has been named to the association's board of directors. Oliva will also serve on BMA's executive committee as vice president for professional development. BMA, established in 1922, is dedicated to serving the career and professional development needs of business-to-business marketing and marketing communications professionals. For more on Oliva's appointment, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/oliva.html.
Study Questions Exorbitant Compensation For Celebrity CEOs
At a time when the search for major corporate chiefs has been described as a quasi-religious undertaking, a new study co-authored by Timothy Pollock, associate professor of management, raises doubts about the very executives likely to be most in demand and most highly paid. Focusing on a prestigious national award competition for CEOs, the study finds that, although winners wind up with substantial boosts in pay, their companies enjoy less than stellar profits for the rest of the year and actually tend to suffer stock-price declines. For more details, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/starceo.html.
Women In Business Seeks Alumnae For Reunion
Women in Business, last year's Penn State Student Affairs Undergraduate Outstanding Student Organization of the Year, celebrates its 10th anniversary next year and its current leadership is looking for former members to invite to the anniversary reunion this spring. Event details are still being arranged. However, Women in Business alumnae who would like to receive reunion information should send their contact information to Jack Latham, coordinator of student and corporate services, at jml49@psu.edu. For more information on Women in Business, visit http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/wib.
Susman Webinar On Managing Manufacturing Change Garners Record Attendence
Assembly magazine reported a record attendence for its webinar on Nov. 8 by Gerald Susman, Smeal associate dean for research and director of the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change (CMTOC). Susman's presentation, "Managing the Change Process in Lean Manufacturing," addressed how to successfully implement lean manufacturing and the role of strong leadership in managing the accompanying cultural change. The archived event is available online at http://leanmanufacturingwebinar.assemblymag.com. For more on CMTOC, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/cmtoc.
Research: Executive Education Trending Toward Consultatio
When corporations seek out executive-education providers, more and more often they are looking for long-term, consultative partnerships rather than conventional executive-education courses, according to new research by Jeffrey Spearly, managing director of Penn State Executive Programs and senior instructor at Smeal. Spearly surveyed 22 executives responsible for executive education at Fortune 500 companies and found that they seek "deep partner relationships that include assessment and consultation with education as a by-product." At Penn State Executive Programs, "we're already doing the things that my research shows companies are looking for," Spearly says. "Our close relationships with our partners allow us to develop solutions particular to their needs." For more on Spearly's research, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/oct06/execed.html.
Media Round-Up
Members of the Smeal College faculty are contacted regularly by the world's news media. In June, faculty members were featured in media outlets such as Reuters, the BusinessWeek, The Australian Financial Review, and The Associated Press. For a more 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.
February 12-16
Essentials Of Supply Chain Management
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/mesc1.html
February
18-23
Executive Coaching Certification (Week One)
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/ecc.html
March
11-14
Coaching Skills For Managers And Executives
http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/csme.html
