Home > Gazette > December 2007

December 1, 2007

Accounting Faculty Ranked #1 for Research Productivity

Research by faculty of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the Wisconsin School of Business was ranked number one in the nation in a 2007 study published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  The study developed a “Faculty  Scholarly Productivity Index” based on number of faculty compared to the  number of journal articles and books they authored and the number of citations made to their work The time period of the factors examined varied, but  in most cases covered 2002-2006.

The index was compiled by Academic Analytic and examined overall institutional rankings for 375 universities that offer the Ph.D. degree.  Accounting was the only department in the business school to be ranked in the index.

Two Wisconsin School of Business Marketing Professors Receive Major Research Award

Jan B. Heide and Kenneth H. Wathne, marketing faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, have received a major award from the American Marketing Association Foundation, the 2008 Louis W. Stern Award. It marks the third time that Heide has received the prestigious award. He is the only person to have won the award three times.   

The Stern Award recognizes an outstanding article in a widely recognized journal that has made a significant contribution to the literature on marketing and channels distribution. Heide and Wathne received the honor for a much-cited article that appeared in the Journal of Marketing in 2000, "Opportunism in Interfirm Relationships: Forms, Outcomes, and Solutions."  The judges who made the award praised the originality of the article and its impact on academic literature concerning interorganizational issues.

Heide had received the Stern award twice previously.  He and Aric Rindleisch, also a member of the marketing faculty at the Wisconsin School of Business, were honored in 2004 for an article on transaction cost analysis. Heide also received the award in 2001 for an article on interorganizational governance in marketing channels. Still another faculty member, John Nevin, received the award in 2003 for coauthoring an article on collaborative communication in interfirm relationships.

Dean Michael Knetter says winning the Stern Award is another indication of the research strength of the school’s marketing faculty. “Research by our marketing faculty is helping to inform important work in the field. The Stern Award is the latest indication of the high regard in which their work is held. It’s a tremendous personal achievement for Jan Heide to receive this award for a third time in his career.”

From 1996 to 2006, marketing faculty at the Wisconsin School of Business ranked first in the nation for research productivity in terms of the number of articles published in top-tier journals in their field.

Jon Davis Named Arthur Andersen Professor in Accounting & Information Systems

Jon Davis, chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems, has been named Arthur Andersen Professor in Accounting & Information Systems. Davis teaches courses in the graduate tax program and a behavioral Ph.D. seminar. His research interests include compliance dynamics, experimental economics and game theory in the tax policy area, and the psychology of tax professional judgment. He has authored/edited several textbooks in tax and has published research in a variety of journals including Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Journal of the American Taxation Association. Davis received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1987. His areas of expertise include: taxation and capital structure, experimental economics and auctions and competitive bidding.

Academy of Management Honors Paper by Management Professor and Alumna

Berry Gerhart, professor, Management and Human Resources, and former Ph.D. student Meiyu Fang, National Central University of Taiwan, were recently awarded the 2007 International Human Resource Management Scholarly Research Award presented by the Academy of Management’s Human Resources Division. The award, the first of its kind, was given after a retrospective review of academic literature from 2005 and 2006. According to the Academy of Management’s Web site, Gerhart and Fang’s paper, “National culture and human resource management: assumptions and evidence,” was the clear winner because of the importance of its findings. The Human Resource Division focuses on understanding and improving the effectiveness of human resource practices. Gerhart previously won the Academy of Management Human Resources Division’s Scholarly Achievement Award in 1990.

Wisconsin Naming Gift Continues to Receive Worldwide Media Coverage

The recent $85 million naming gift for the Wisconsin School of Business is continuing to receive international media coverage.

 Associated Press ran a feature on the gift on its national wires that generated more than 200 national and international media pick-ups of the story. Newspapers that carried the story included the Washington Post, New York Times and Boston Globe.  

An interview with the CBS Radio Network by Dean Michael Knetter resulted in   coverage in a nationally syndicated radio feature, the “Osgood Files” by Charles Osgood covering the gift.  The feature airs on 400 stations nationally.

BusinessWeek covered the gift in its November 26 printed edition as well as on line.
Other Internet coverage included CNN.com, MSN Money, Kiplinger.com, Forbes,
and Investor’s Business Daily.

Links to some of the major press coverage are posted at: www.bus.wisc.edu/wng/presscoverage.asp

Alumni Encouraged to Join Wisconsin Naming Gift Partnership

In the aftermath of the announcement of the Wisconsin Naming Gift, the business school has several initiatives underway to share the news with alumni and invite them to join the partnership.

One of the Wisconsin Naming partners has offered to match dollar for dollar every individual gift made to the Wisconsin School of Business Annual Fund from October 27 - December 31, 2007 up to a total of $1 million. The alumni relations team is making every effort to deliver the message about this campaign to alumni and friends of the school, encouraging them to make a gift before December 31.  Several special mailings are underway related to this effort. In addition, Dean Michael Knetter is hosting alumni events in key cities in New York, California, Illinois and Wisconsin. 

Alumni Director Alisa Robertson reports that response to the gift has been overwhelmingly positive, with nearly one-quarter of the $1 million goal reached to date. “With all of the buzz around the gift, we feel now is the time to capture the energy and excitement among our many generous alumni,” she said.

Gifts can be made online at www.bus.wisc.edu/wng/getinvolved.asp.

Business Students Advance to Finals of Tax Case Study Competition

A group of undergraduate business students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business advanced to the national finals of the Deloitte Tax Case Study Competition, held in Orlando, Fla., in November. Erik Evensen, Rene Sczygelski, Jeremy Bonow and Margo Zenk competed in the nationwide interscholastic competition. The competition is sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation, a non-profit arm of the professional services organization. The Deloitte Foundation supports an array of national programs, which benefit undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. The team was co-coached by Professor Jon Davis and Senior Lecturer Lynette Stolarzyk.

Earlier in November, teams from various colleges met at regional Deloitte offices and were presented with a case study designed to test students’ knowledge of a variety of tax topics. Teams were allotted five hours to compose a solution to the case study. Judges selected one team from each regional competition to advance to the finals.

Grainger Hall Addition Progresses

Construction of the four-story addition to Grainger Hall is on schedule, with construction to be completed this summer and all units moved in and operational by the time the orientation program for the full-time program begins in August.
 
This month, two units are scheduled to move due to construction. The Copy Center will become fully operational at its new location, 1220 Grainger, sometime this month. In the meantime, staff should continue to take copy jobs to the Copy Center’s original location, 1260 Grainger.
 
Also this month, the Mail Room will move to 1250 Grainger Hall, near the current loading dock (the previous site of the Blue Chip Deli).  The Mail Room will be at this location until completion of construction, when it will move to the new building service area on the far east end of the new Grainger Hall, room 1424.

As part of the construction project, the first floor corridor on the east side of the building will be closed off, including the restrooms. (First floor restrooms on the west side of the building will remain open.) Staff will still be able to access the first-floor vending machines.
 
Associate Dean for Administration Melissa Amos-Landgraf gave a presentation on the construction project to business school staff in November. She reminds those wishing to revise their requests for space assignments in the original part of Grainger Hall to submit them via email to mamos@bus.wisc.edu by December 21 for consideration by the Ad Hoc Space Allocation Committee. (Requests that have not changed do not need to resubmitted.) The committee will provide recommendations to the Academic Planning Council and units should be notified of space reallocations by March.

IN THE NEWS

News of the people and program of the Wisconsin School of Business.

National

CFO.com featured an article on a new study co-authored by Karla Johnstone, associate professor, Accounting and Information Systems. The study discussed CFO compensation and bonuses.

Sarah Barnowski, MBA student, wrote an article featured on BusinessWeek.com discussing her journey to the Wisconsin School of Business. Barnowski, a first-year Operations and Technology Management student, applied to the MBA after her husband accepted a job in Madison.

Local

The Daily Cardinal editorial board wrote a piece, “Fundraise the business way,” discussing fundraising at UW-Madison. The article looked at the number of private contributions to the university, focusing on the recent $85 million gift to the Wisconsin School of Business.

Senior Lecturer Thomas Eggert was quoted in the Daily Cardinal article, “UW must adopt greener standards.” The editorial piece detailed efforts by the university to improve in the area of sustainability, mentioning recent efforts at Grainger Hall to obtain LEED certification.

A “Business, Environment and Social Responsibility Forum” co-sponsored by the Wisconsin School of Business was covered in the Wisconsin State Journal. According to the article, speakers discussed the role corporations play in responses to environmental and energy challenges.

The Capital Times ran a feature piece on the Fluno Center, “Center of attention.” The article detailed international praise for the food and accommodations provided at the Fluno Center.

Professor Tim Riddiogh, director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, was quoted in the Wisconsin State Journal. The article, “T. Wall attracts big investment from N.Y. firm” discussed a New York-based equity fund’s investment into Middleton based T. Wall Properties.

Marsha Lindsay, who has taught MBA courses at the Wisconsin School of Business, was quoted in the Wisconsin State Journal article “Wisconsin will be branded.” State tourism officials are branding the Wisconsin state name.

Professor Anne Miner, Management and Human Resources, was quoted in the Wisconsin State Journal article “Dolls are meant to teach life lessons.” Madison native Kristi Landry Necochea started a unique doll company out of her California home.

The Wisconsin State Journal article “Lower losses boost stock” featured a quote from Professor Antonio Mello. The article analyzed Spectrum Brands’ stock performance.

Professors Antonio Mello, Finance, and Morris Davis, Real Estate,  were quoted in a Wisconsin State Journal  article, on a report released in November by the Wisconsin Realtors Association.  

Implementing the New Wisconsin School of Business Identity

As part of the $85 million naming gift, a new logo was created for the Wisconsin School of Business that builds on the strength of the University of Wisconsin-Madison identity.
 
Downloadable versions of the logo are posted at www.bus.wisc.edu/logo. Also posted are PowerPoint templates using the new logo on white and black backgrounds and an email signature block incorporating the new logo along with  guidelines on referring to the business school in text.

An online ordering system for cards with the new logo will be available later this month. For letterhead, units can simply drop off current letterhead in Marketing Services, and indicate quantity needed. (In ordering letterhead, units that will be moving with the opening of the Grainger Hall addition are encouraged to double check to make sure any room numbers listed are accurate.) Nametags with the new logo will be available in the Copy Center as of the second week in December.

Marketing Services is developing a more detailed set of brand identity guidelines on the look, feel and voice tied to the Wisconsin School of Business brand. The guidelines will reflect the major branding work that has been going on during 2007 for the school, of which the logo is one part. During the transition to the new logo, faculty and staff are asked to make prudent use of existing materials.

Please contact Marketing Services with any questions regarding the school’s identity program.

Dean’s Holiday Party on Dec. 14

Faculty and staff of the Wisconsin School of Business are invited to attend the Dean's Holiday Party, Friday, Dec. 14 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 5120. Please RSVP to the Dean’s Office at 265-4937 no later than Friday, Dec. 7.

The holiday party will feature the annual drawing for prizes from the Partners in Giving program. With the submission of your pledge form, you will be eligible to win a football autographed by Bret Bielema and UW Men's Hockey tickets provided by UW Athletics. You are not obligated to contribute - you can submit the form with a zero contribution to be eligible for the drawing. Submit your pledge form to the Dean's Office, 5110 Grainger Hall.

Adopt a Family This Holiday

Business school employees will again be participating in an “adopt a family” project benefiting a family serviced by Domestic Abuse Intervention Services. The holidays are an especially difficult time for those who have left an abusive situation. The goal of the program is to make their holidays special and relieve holiday stress by providing both fun and necessary gifts for mothers and their children.

Those interested in participating are asked to stop by 5151 Grainger to select a gift request.. All gifts need to be new and should remain unwrapped. Gifts requested from the family include: clothing, household items, grocery store gift certificates and educational toys. Cash donations, which will be used to purchase remaining gift items and/or gift certificates, also will be gratefully accepted. Donations should be dropped off prior to Dec. 12, when the packages will be delivered to the shelter. For more information, please contact Alisa Robertson at 262-8777 or arobertson@bus.wisc.edu.

Business School Provides Opportunities to PEOPLE Students

PEOPLE (Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence) is a high school program run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Wisconsin students of color to gain an increased understanding of college life and expectations and help strengthen their academic skills and abilities.

In this four-year program, the first two summers include three weeks of academic preparedness. The mission for third-year PEOPLE students is to apply what they learn in the morning to hands-on application during an internship in the afternoon. Each third-year student chooses a discipline on campus to study. This past summer, there were 27 students who chose business as an area of interest, the most of any area.

These students attended academic sessions in the morning in Grainger Hall that covered accounting, management, marketing, finance and economics. The students also interacted with the following Wisconsin companies: Alliant, Briggs & Stratton, Marcus Theatres, Great Wolf, American Girl/Mattel and Famous Footwear.

FACULTY-STAFF NEWS

Professor Dan Anderson, Actuarial Science, Risk Management and Insurance, gave several speeches in the past two months on the topic of  “Sustainability Risk Management.” He was an invited speaker at James Madison University’s Department of Geology and Environmental Science in October and at the Property and Liability Insurance Industry in the Philippines in November.  He also was a panelist at the Climate Change Forum on campus and keynote speaker at the Wisconsin State Risk Management Conference.

Assistant Professor, Jon Eckhardt, Management and Human Resources, was invited to organize a panel session on alternative data collection methods for entrepreneurship research at the 2007 Kauffman Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Data. The session was held in November at the Kauffman Foundation, and focused on archival systems, Internet data collection methods, data preservation  and sampling methodologies.

Dianne Rothwell, program assistant confidential in the Dean's Office, will officially  retire on Feb. 1. Her last day in the office was Nov. 23.

Leaving the business school as of Dec. 1 are Scott Savage, outreach specialist, Small Business Development Center, and Tiffany Olson, associate marketing specialist, Executive Education.
 
Ellen Bartkowiak has accepted the academic staff position of Student Services Coordinator with MBA Career Services.  

Lisa Kaufman has accepted the   position of university services program associate A in Conference Services.

Nancie Luther, university services program associate B in Executive Education  Center, will retire on Jan. 2. Her last day in the office will be Dec. 5. 

Jenny Yuan has accepted the classified staff position of financial specialist 3 in the Financial Management Office.

Ann Powell, academic department associate B, Marketing Department, will retire April 2. Her last day in the office will be Jan. 18.

Real Estate News

Three real estate MBA students and David Shulman, visiting assistant professor of Real Estate and assistant director of the AREIT, attended the NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) Annual Convention held in Las Vegas in November   to learn more about REITs.  Michael Mihelbergel, Graaskamp Center executive director, also attended the conference. 

In October, a group of 11 undergraduate real estate students, led by Sharon McCabe, senior lecturer and assistant director of the Graaskamp Center, traveled to Munich, Germany to attend the Expo Real Conference, one of the largest international real estate conference in the world.  The trip gave students the unique opportunity to meet and speak with real estate professionals and distinguished leaders of the international real estate community and attend workshops on global real estate topics.

Out of dozens of applicants, Real Estate MBA student Erica Healey was recently selected to receive a full-scholarship to participate in the “Women as Global Leaders” Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 10-12, 2008.  The annual conference aims to bring together women from more than 85 different countries to  discuss issues relating to women’s leadership.

Information on UW Corporate Frequent Flyer Accounts

Faculty and staff are asked to use the following corporate frequent flyer account numbers when booking UW business air travel. You will still receive your miles under your personal frequent flyer account and the UW System will earn points toward benefits, which will be redistributed back to the institutions.

When you next update your personal frequent flyer profiles, please add the following numbers:

Northwest Airlines - ESQYP
If booking direct with airline, call 800-210-9789, not the regular toll-free number, say you are a Biz Perks customer, and provide them with booking code: ESQYP

American/American Eagle/TWA or Transworld Express
C527711 if booking through a travel agency. If booking direct with airline, call 800-433-1790, not the regular toll-free number, say you are a Business Extra customer, and provide them with booking code: 527711

United - 795FP (If booking direct with the airline, call 888-267-7758.)

Midwest Airlines - B0517 (Second digit is a zero.) [Account cannot be used for reservations made over the phone.]

About the Gazette

The Gazette is published by Marketing Services for faculty and staff of the Wisconsin School of Business. Submissions for the Feb. 1  issue of the Gazette should be sent by Jan. 25  to Editor Lari Fanlund, lfanlund@bus.wisc.edu. The Gazette is not published in January.