September 2011
September 2011
The Patriot News, 09/30/2011—Richard Button, assistant director of the Institute for Real Estate Studies, comments on the Hershey Co.'s deal to sell it's Hershey, Pa., factory and lease it back from the buyer. Button "said the deal is fairly common in the real estate industry. The Hershey Co., Button said, would benefit by freeing up money to invest in its core business activities, as well as being able to deduct its lease payments for tax purposes." (Delaware Trust Buys Hershey Chocolate Plant).
Portfolio.com, 09/27/2011—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on recent accounting issues at Groupon. "We don’t know whether [the revised S-1 is] complete or accurate. We know it’s moved in the right direction," says Ketz. "But they should have seen this the first time because the accounting they were doing did not comply with generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP). These were issues that were not ambiguous. They should have known and their auditors should have known about this." (Groupon Numbers Add Up to Trouble, Accounting Prof Says).
The Wall Street Journal, 09/26/2011—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Pugh Professor of Management. "Chief executives who are paid generously at the outset will get the biggest pay increases and the smallest pay cuts over the course of their tenure, regardless of company performance, according to a new study." ('Overpaid' CEOs Stay 'Overpaid'). This article also appeared in The Wall Street Journal Europe.
Bloomberg Television, 09/26/2011—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, appeared on the program Bloomberg West to discuss recent accounting issues at Groupon.
Business Insider, 09/26/2011—Article mentions J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting. "Back on August 24, 2011, accounting professors J. Edward Ketz and Anthony H. Catanach Jr., reported in their blog that Groupon violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in reporting its revenues and recommended that it restate its financial reports to correct its error." (Were Groupon's and Overstock's Management and Auditors Stupid or Did They Condone Improper Accounting Practices?).
Chicagomag.com, 09/26/2011—Article excerpts from blog post on Groupon cowritten by J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting. "So, despite what the Company says, it is not the primary obligor as it contends, since it is not the 'party responsible to the customer for providing the product or service that is the subject of the arrangement' (EITF 99-19) … the merchants are. Therefore, Groupon is not the primary obligor, but rather a guarantor of sorts!" (Groupon IPO Watch: Groupon Versus the Accounting Blogs).
Forbes.com, 09/24/2011—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, comments on recent accounting issues at Groupon. "I don’t understand how EY let this slip," Ketz says. "Surely the EY auditors on the Groupon engagement are familiar with EITF 99-19 and SAB 101. How could they have approved such erroneous accounting?" (SEC Cuts Off Some Aggressive Accounting At Groupon).
Daily Local News (West Chester, Pa.), 09/20/2011—News brief mentions the appointment of Alphonso Wilson, managing director of the Smeal Executive MBA Program. "Wilson, a 2008 alumnus of the Smeal EMBA Program, will lead the program operationally, overseeing its recruiting efforts, alumni relations, marketing and managing the student experience throughout the 21-month program." (Movers and Shakers).
USA Today, 09/19/2011—J. Randall Woolridge, Goldman Sachs and Co. and Frank P. Smeal Endowed University Fellow, comments on spinoffs. "The idea is to create smaller and more focused businesses," Woolridge says. (Spinoffs Become Hot Stock-Price Strategy).
Scranton Times-Tribune, 09/18/2011—Nirmal Pal, former executive director of the eBusiness Research Center, comments on computer hackers in e-commerce. "Whatever precaution you take, your data and access will be compromised illegally sooner or later," Pal says. "So you must be vigilant and take corrective action immediately." (In E-Commerce, Small Businesses Must Be "Vigilant').
Research, 09/16/2011—News brief mentions the appointment of John Liechty, professor of marketing and statistics, to partner in In4mation Insights. (People on the Move).
BNet.com, 09/14/2011—Article on research by Donald Hambrick, Pugh Professor of Management. "The authors believe that, when it comes to CEO pay, boards get a bit deluded, believing that a CEOs excessive pay is simply a reflection his or her abilities. As long as that CEO is still wearing his or her halo, the board keeps giving him or her big raises, in hopes of keeping the CEO on board and motivated." (Study: For Some, Big Raises Come at a Cost). This article also appeared in Business Insider.
VentureOutsource.com, 09/14/2011—Interview with Gene Tyworth, chair of the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems. "Tyworth has led Penn State's SC&IS program since its inception in 2002. Smeal was recently ranked by Gartner as having the No. 1 undergraduate and graduate programs in the U.S. for supply chain management. With 30 full time faculty, 800 resident undergraduate students, and 50 resident graduate degree students, the program is one of the largest in world." (From Starbucks to Foxconn: A Competitive Supply Chain Is More than Just Lowering Operations Cost and Inventories).
Businessweek.com, 09/13/2011—Article mentions Smeal's Supply Chain Career Fair. "This year, more than 40 companies recruited Carey MBA grads specifically for supply chain jobs, and the biyearly SCM career fairs at Penn State University's Smeal College of Business attract more than 60 different employers." (Supply Chain Management: The Next Big Thing?).
Centre Daily Times, 09/11/2011—Article on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks mentions Wyatt DuBois, manager of marketing and media relations. "DuBois, who would later become manager of the marketing and public relations department for Penn State's Smeal College of Business, is at work at a public relations firm in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Most of the firm's staff is watching television coverage from New York." (Day of Disbelief).
Financial Times, 09/01/2011—Article mentions research by Donald Hambrick, Pugh Professor of Management. (Managers Can't Match Doctors or Lawyers).
Harvard Business Review, September 2011—Article mentions research by Donald Hambrick, Pugh Professor of Management. "A few years ago a compensation committee I was serving on was deliberating about the use of stock options for the senior executive team. As it happened, Penn State University's Donald Hambrick had just published some revelatory research on how stock options affect a company's risk behavior" (Management a Profession? Where's the Proof?). This article also appeared in Singapore's Today and Kenya's Business Daily Africa.
SmartPros.com, September 2011—J. Edward Ketz, associate professor of accounting, writes in his column on accounting issues at Groupon. "The accuracy and transparency of Groupon’s financial statements clearly is suspect," Ketz writes. (Is Groupon 'Cooking Its Books'?).
