December 2000
Mergers, Mergers, And Mergers
The Federal Trade Commission recently approved the $74 billion merger between British Drugmaker Glaxo Wellcome P.L.C. and SmithKline Beecham P.L.C.
There is a Middle Ground in the Purchase-Pooling Controversy
The Financial Accounting Standards Board's tentative decision on December 6 to back down on a key provision of its plan to eliminate pooling of interest accounting is not the end of the on-going debate. That's according to a Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration accounting professor who has been monitoring the situation.
Businesses Need To Build Alliances Or Get Used To Competing Against Them, Advises Penn State Marketing Expert
In today's markets a business can't go it alone. Firms, business units and functions, which never connected before, are finding that it makes sense to get together.
Study Highly Ranks Smeal College Faculty for Research Productivity
A new study ranks the faculty in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration as among the best in the nation for their research productivity.
Forthcoming Study Ranks Penn State Professor for Real Estate Research
A forthcoming study examining published research in real estate highly ranks a Penn State professor in the Department of Insurance and Real Estate in several categories.
Professor's Online Calculator Tells Employees When to Sell Stocks
A new experimental online calculator designed by Steven Huddart of Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration gives employees some idea of the value they receive from exercising a stock option today as opposed to waiting until later.
Girl Scouts Enlist The Help Of Smeal College MBA Students To Increase Profits From Cookie Sales
Second-year MBA students in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration are helping Girl Scout Councils save money on the distribution of their popular cookies.
Penn State Students Create Website That Gives Quality Improvement Professionals Free Software
Quality management professionals often need computer software to help with decisions. Unfortunately, software is expensive and consultants often charge exorbitant prices. Graduate students in Penn State's Quality and Manufacturing Management program have created a Web site that provides--free of charge--all the charts, selectors, diagram generators, and other tools that quality improvement professionals and the general public may need.
No Logic to the Pepsi-Quaker Acquisition
PepsiCo Inc. has agreed to acquire Quaker Oats Co., the maker of Gatorade, Cap'n Crunch cereal, and Aunt Jemima pancake products, in a deal worth $13.4 billion in stock. But the logic of the merger escapes one of the nation's leading researchers on U.S. mergers and global strategy.
Leader In Operations Management Announces Plans To Retire
After a 38-year career at Penn State, Dr. Michael P. Hottenstein of the Department of Management Science and Information Systems will official retire on January 6, 2001. He is professor of operations management in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration.
Top Management Team Diversity Can Work If Group Consensus is Allowed to Develop Over Time
Diverse management teams can perform well if teamwork is allowed to develop naturally among members and if there is no push to achieve immediate consensus of ideas, a Penn State management expert says.
Protagonists in Hazardous Waste Dispute Use Different Styles of Argument
Supporters and opponents of hazardous waste disposal facilities and other environmentally sensitive projects often employ completely different styles of argument that apparently allow no common ground for peaceful resolution, two Penn State researchers say.
Recent Gift to Endowed Fund Benefits Research in Smeal College
Some recent contributions to an endowed fund will benefit research in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration for generations to come.
Executives Have to Practice Moral Management
For business executives to be true ethical leaders, they have to be both moral people and moral managers, otherwise employees will assume that they are ethically neutral and care only for the bottom line, a Penn State researcher says.
Penn State Professor Receives Prestigious Sloan Fellowship
The New York-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recently named Anne L. Beatty of Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration as a recipient of a Sloan Industry Center Fellowship.
Smeal College Students Takes The Helm Of Two Student Organizations
A junior in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration was recently elected to leadership roles in two organizations. Nichelle Evans, a junior majoring in marketing with a dual minor in the fields of sociology and African American Studies, was recently elected Chairman of the Smeal College Business Roundtable and named President of the Penn State Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants.
MBA Student Perseveres Against Overwhelming Odds
In Romania, Mircea (Mitch) Rusu, probably never heard of Horatio Alger. But this remarkable student could easily be a role model for one of Alger's diligent, industrious, and persevering heroes.
MBA Graduate Starts New Weather and Climate Information Business
Jan Dutton is wasting no time combining his advanced degrees in business and meteorology.
Gift Supports Graduate Fellowships
A recent gift from the Verizon Foundation to Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration will support graduate fellowships.
Smeal College Announces New Director For Outreach & Cooperative
Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration has named Dr. Jack M. Stevens as director of Outreach & Cooperative Extension. Stevens is professor of management and organization. Stevens will be liaison for all of Smeal College's interactions with Outreach & Cooperative Extension, including: the World Campus, Continuing Education, Distance Education, Conferences and Institutes, Independent Learning and Distributed Learning. He will immediately assume his new responsibilities.
Gift Benefits Minority Students In Smeal College
A recent gift of $10,000 will benefit minority students interested in pursing or completing degrees in business at Penn State.
