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May 29, 2008

Competition Flies With Airlines

Here’s the paradox: the more aggressively a firm competes, the greater its performance. But by competing so aggressively, it also forces its rivals to compete more aggressively, thus improving their performance, too. At the same time, if competition is too intense, it can be difficult for any firm to make money. Case in point: the U.S. airline industry.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Curt Grimm talks about how the brutal pace of competition, while it may have negative as well as positive effects for individual firms, creates stronger and fitter industries as a whole. He points to the airline industry as an example.

Grimm, the Dean’s Chair Professor of Supply Chain and Strategy, has conducted extensive research in both supply chain and strategic management. His research has focused on the interface of business and public policy with strategic management, with a particular emphasis on competition, competition policy, deregulation and microeconomic reform both in the U.S. and overseas. This research has resulted in four books and more than 80 published articles.

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Human Resources: Waging the War for Talent

One of the biggest issues facing companies today is the war for top talent. Companies around the world are competing for the best and brightest employees. They have to work harder than ever before to recruit and retain the best, even in a contracting economy.
In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Joyce Russell uncovers why the war for talent exists and how to win.

Russell is a Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow and a senior executive education fellow in Smith’s management and organization department. She is consistently honored as one of the school’s top teachers. Her expertise is primarily in the areas of leadership and management development, executive coaching, negotiation tactics, training and career development, work teams, and change management. An author of more than 50 articles, books and book chapters, Dr. Russell is currently the associate editor for the Journal of Vocational Behavior and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Resource Management Review and Performance Improvement Quarterly.

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May 1, 2008

Africa Trip for MBAs

It was an undeniably powerful experience for two Smith MBAs – a trip to Africa to install solar panels in a rural community center, then watching children crowd under the electric lights to read.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Jason Lee, a student finishing up his first year of Smith’s full-time MBA program, talks about his work on a business project that recently took him and another Smith student to a remote village in Africa.

In January, the Smith students joined a group from the University of Maryland’s chapter of Engineers without Borders to travel to Dissin, Burkina Faso. They installed 11 solar powered lighting system in a local community center to provide access to an efficient, safe lighting source. Now the group is hoping to win a World Bank-sponsored grant competition to set up solar power systems in villages that would make some villagers into entrepreneurial power suppliers for their neighbors.

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Job Outlook for Grads

Recession is the buzz word. Are students worried about how the sluggish economy is affecting the job market?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Jennifer Kinder of the Office of Career Management talks about the outlook for students preparing to enter the workforce in the current economy, and provides advice to workers already in the mix who may be looking for employment or thinking of switching jobs.

Kinder is the associate director of employer development at the Smith School and works closely with students and employers, mainly in the areas of consulting and finance.

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Personalization in Marketing

What if marketers knew what you wanted before you did?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Michel Wedel, the PepsiCo Professor of Consumer Science, talks about personalization in marketing and his groundbreaking new research that creates a technology that delivers what consumers want before they even know they want it.

Wedel’s research — conducted along with Smith marketing chair Roland Rust — created an algorithm that learns individual tastes and can zero in on the type of music a listener wants to hear to offer songs that fit that user’s taste, with very little input from the user. They call it an adaptive personalization system. They implemented the system to download play-lists of songs in to users’ mobile devices, but the technology could be used in many other ways, too, as marketing becomes increasingly personalized.

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Consumers Are Ready to Spend on Green Tech

Americans’ appetite for environmentally friendly technologies and consumer products is grossly underserved, with a potential $104 billion market waiting to be tapped, according to the 2008 National Technology Readiness Survey from the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

In this episode, Charles Colby, president of Rockbridge Associates, the research firm that conducted the survey, talks about this year’s findings and how marketers can capture the untapped green tech market.

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Going Global: Strategies for Every Business

With each passing day, every industry is becoming a global industry and every business a knowledge business. For most medium to large companies, globalization is no longer a discretionary option, but a strategic imperative. For businesses – large and small — there are many ways to become a global company.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Anil K. Gupta, the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, talks about the how to go global and think globally with your company.

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Do you have to be an Innovator to be an Entrepreneur?

There is no denying that entrepreneurship is hot right now – the idea of running the show and working for one’s self holds great appeal for many people. But do you have to have a completely inventive new approach to a problem to really make it big, or is there still room for tried and true solutions to meet market needs?

In this episode, Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, talks about the role of innovation in becoming a successful entrepreneur. 

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Navigating the Digital Landscape

New technology has made it easy to create digital versions of music, newspapers, magazines, books, television shows and movies – but not without challenges, such as how to make the content readily available to consumers while fairly compensating the producers. This issue has been raised by striking Hollywood writers, whose demands include a cut of the profits studios reap from digitized content.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Professor P.K. Kannan discusses the opportunities and challenges created by the increasing digitization of content and how consumers, retailers and those that produce the original content can best capitalize.

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What’s the marketing strategy behind political advertising?

We’re well into the political primaries season, with Feb. 5 “Super Tuesday” elections or caucuses in 24 states and Maryland, DC and Virginia primaries coming up on Feb. 12. The races have political advertisements out in force and promising only to intensify leading up to the general election in November. Candidates, political parties and issue groups are expected to spend a record $3 billion on ads to sway voters, according to Campaign Media Analysis, which tracks politics and public affairs advertising.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith marketing faculty member Dr. Hank Boyd discusses the marketing strategy behind political advertising, how voters should interpret ads, and where to get accurate information on candidates

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Which stocks should you pick in 2008?

The uncertain economy and ripples from the subprime mortgage crisis have created waves in the stock markets that threaten to continue their choppy behaviors at least for the first half of the new year. Where should you put your money in 2008?

Scond-year MBA student Bill Song gives his investment picks for 2008 and talks about the Smith School’s $3 million Mayer Fund and his role as the fund’s portfolio manager.

The Mayer Fund, established in 1993, has grown under the management of a select group of second-year MBA students at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Each year the fund pays a dividend to the Dean’s office, used to support a variety of school programs. The Mayer Fund’s goal is to achieve capital appreciation by capturing the superior returns that equity investments have historically provided. The fund’s long-term performance goal is to outpace the appreciation of the S&P 500 index on a risk-adjusted basis.

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