Leading Thon

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Feature/Student Success

Full Strength

Penn State’s 2022-23 men’s hockey team was stacked with business students preparing for careers on and off the ice.

Feature/Lifelong Learning

Working Hard, Playing Hard

One-year master’s students balance academics and athletics at Smeal.

Feature/faculty research

Deals Amid Disarray

Thrift shops thrive when disorder is balanced with high seller knowledge.

Feature/driven community

Like Father, Like Son

For the Allreds, Ph.D.s are a familiar family achievement.

Charles H. Whiteman

DEAN’s Perspective

A Strong, Prepared Smeal in the Future of Penn State

Perspective

Smeal Thought Leaders: Better Business Podcast

The Better Business Podcast offers research-based insights and industry perspectives on the issues and trends shaping the world of business. Hosted by award-winning financial journalist and Smeal alum Farnoosh Torabi, the series features Smeal alumni and faculty members as well as other high-achieving thought leaders in the world of finance, accounting, supply chain, marketing, management, real estate, and international business. Listeners can subscribe to or download episodes at most popular streaming services or at www.smeal.psu.edu/podcast.

With inflation, it is often all in our heads.

Episode 5

Friends, Partners, and Allies:

The Future of U.S. Trade Relations Abroad | Read More

What does inflation reveal about consumer preferences?

Episode 6

When Social Activists
Target Organizations

Can — and should — social activism change an organization? | Read More

The impact of inflation on rent: It’s probably worse than you think.

Episode 7

The Leadership Trajectory of Women:

How COVID, Roe v. Wade, and Other Obstacles Have Brought New Challenges to a Longstanding Struggle | Read More

News

Smeal Thought Leaders: In the News

Smeal faculty members and researchers are frequently asked to contribute to conversations about topics of importance to consumers and business leaders around the globe. Here are a few national media stories that featured insights from Smeal thought leaders:

Forbes

Rent declines have already solved the FOMC’s inflation problem.

This piece, which cites the Penn State/ACY Alternative Inflation Rate, appeared in Forbes on Feb. 27. The ACY was created by Brent Ambrose, professor of real estate, Jason and Julie Borrelli Faculty Chair in Real Estate, and director of the Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies and Jiro Yoshida, professor of business and King
Faculty Fellow.

“Data published by researchers at Penn State University say that since June 2022 there has been a growing divergence between rents in the real world and rents as they are measured officially: in fact, the Penn State data show that rents have actually declined over the past two months — and, as a result, the overall inflation rate has actually been increasingly negative.”

Zynex: Company’s accounting practices raise red flags, according to accounting experts.

This article, which quotes Ed Ketz, associate professor of accounting, talks about how electrotherapy device manufacturer Zynex is accounting for adjustments, allowances, and nonpayment of the claims it submits to insurers. It appeared in The Capitol Forum on May 24.

“The firm does not provide a quantitative analysis of allowances. That’s a bit unusual as most firms provide at least some data. Their description provides no data about the amounts in the allowance accounts, nor the changes in the account, nor the corresponding bad debts expense. It’s a bit strange.”

The New York Times

The “Reverse Logisitics” of returning stuff

An interactive Shop Talk story exclusively quoted Dan Guide, Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, in The New York Times in February.

“Retailers and manufacturers also make calculations about where to store returned products; if they are, say, damaged or out of season, they should probably go back to warehouses, not stores, Guide said.

Guide said using the specialized retail term underscored its importance as a business imperative. “‘Product returns,’” he said, “make it sound like, ‘Oh, retailers are going to take it back, and it’s no big deal.’”

Authentic brands kicks consumer data strategy into high gear with new CDP.

Research conducted by Brent Ambrose, professor of real estate, Jason and Julie Borrelli Faculty Chair in Real
Estate, and director of the Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies, and Jiro Yoshida, professor of business and King Faculty Fellow, was cited in an analysis of the consumer price index that appeared in Bloomberg and was reprinted in The Washington Post on Nov. 21.

“Does this truly represent market prices? That is, if you’re on a two-year lease, or you’re a long-term renter with a good relationship with your landlord, does the change (or lack of it) in your rent accurately reflect what’s going on with the cost of housing? Probably not, argued economists Brent W. Ambrose and Jiro Yoshida of Pennsylvania State University and N. Edward Coulson of the University of California at Irvine in a series of papers …”

Republicans swim against tide of ESG money.

This piece, which cites research conducted by Smeal’s Center for the Business of Sustainability on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, was published by Reuters on March 2.

“Republicans haven’t convinced the American public to ditch ESG, either. A total of 63% of voters oppose government restrictions on sustainable investing, according to a survey conducted by Penn State University and ROKK Solutions. Meanwhile, seven in 10 Republican voters pushed back against ESG constraints, saying they ‘interfered excessively’ with the free market.”

Credit ratings agencies like Moody’s decide the U.S. credit rating. Here’s what you need to know about them.

This article, which quotes Sam Bonsall, professor of accounting and Deloitte and Touche Teaching Excellence Professor, explored the role credit ratings agencies played in the U.S. debit ceiling negotiations. It was published on May 27.

“Participants in international transactions may start saying ‘we’re not quite so comfortable denominating everything in dollars. We’re not so comfortable holding U.S. bonds. Maybe we should start thinking about the euro as an alternative currency for doing business.’”

News BRIEFS

Student-led events continue to make an impact.

Two longstanding events that are organized by students continue to make an impact on the Smeal experience. | Read More

Lori Koch joins Board of Visitors.

Lori Koch, executive vice president and chief financial officer at DuPont, has been appointed to the Smeal Board of Visitors. | Read More

Darrell Williams addresses Smeal grads at commencement.

Retired United States Army three-star general Darrell K. Williams ’91 MBA, who currently serves as the 13th president of Hampton University, delivered Smeal’s spring 2023 commencement address. | Read More

Smeal introduces digital resource for entrepreneurial alumni.

The Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Smeal’s Department of Management and Organization have introduced a digital repository and portfolio of services to help entrepreneurial alumni and graduate students. | Read More

Smeal Retirements

Bob Novack & Jim Thomas | Read More

Karen Quintos appointed to Penn State Board of Trustees

Smeal Board of Visitors Chair Karen Quintos was appointed in early May to the Penn State Board of Trustees representing business and industry. | Read More

Students embrace new Diversity Enhancement Programs space.

Smeal’s Office of Diversity Enhancement Programs has transitioned from a collection of adjacent offices to a newly renovated space in the Business Building. | Read More

Tarriff center advisory board adds members.

The Penn State Smeal Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility welcomed two new members to its advisory board: Eric Goldstein, chief risk officer of Antares Capital, and Suzanne Clement Libby, senior director of ethics at Capital One. | Read More

Alumni

Finance career exploration fund to benefit Smeal students.

Lori Koch ’97 Fin and her husband, Greg, have endowed the Koch Finance Career Exploration Fund. | Read More

Congratulations to our 2023 Smeal Award Recipients.

Penn State Smeal College of Business Alumni Award recipients are selected by the executive team of the Smeal Alumni Society Board. | Read More

Program fund to support study of purposeful brands at Smeal.

Virgin CEO Richard Branson once predicted that “the brands that will thrive in the coming years are the ones that have a purpose beyond profit.” | Read More

Meredith Monroe receives 2023 Alumni Achievement Award.

Penn State Smeal College of Business alum Meredith Monroe was one of seven Penn Staters to receive the University’s Alumni Achievement Award earlier this year. | Read More

Seminar course connects future business students with alumni volunteers.

Third-year marketing student Sofi Choinski took BA 197, a one-credit asynchronous business seminar course for students pursuing a major at Penn State Smeal, in her first semester at the University’s Abington Campus. | Read More