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Top Stories
New roles for Maurer, Barr
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| | Pamela Barr, new chair of
the Department of Managerial Sciences, and Todd Maurer, director of the W.T.
Beebe Institute of Personnel and Employment | |
After being awarded a $1.3 million grant
from the U.S. Army Research Institute
to study leadership development tools,
Todd Maurer is stepping down from his role
as chair of the Department of Managerial Sciences
in order to concentrate on this three-year
project. He will continue as director of the W.T. Beebe
Institute of Personnel and Employment.
A psychologist by training, Maurer’s research focuses on issues
of organizational behavior and human resource management,
including employee and leadership development, performance appraisal
and feedback, aging workers, human resource testing and
selection, job analysis, and legal concerns.
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Discussing the Army grant, Maurer said, “So much professional
and leadership development occurs through informal, on-the-job,
challenging experiences; however, much remains to be learned
about how to unlock the tremendous developmental potential
that these experiences provide.” He added that the goal of this research
is to better understand how to predict and also to intervene
to enhance the positive or constructive outcomes that can result
from people having challenging experiences.
In light of Maurer’s change in role, managerial sciences professor
Pam Barr has been appointed interim chair of the department.
Barr’s research interests center on the role of managerial
and organizational cognition in strategy formulation and change.
She is the author of A Cognitively Anchored Theory of Strategic
Change, which was a 2001 George R. Terry Book Award Finalist. |
| | RMI, Willis establish economic capital forum
The academic and analysis arm of Willis Group Holdings has joined
forces with Robinson’s Department of Risk Management and Insurance
(RMI) to establish the Willis Research Network Economic Capital
Forum at Georgia State University in partnership with ETH Zurich – RiskLab Switzerland and the Risk Management Institute of the National
University of Singapore.
The forum’s first order of business is to support the development and
use of economic capital models required under the Solvency II Directive
codifying the regulation of insurance firms in the European Union
slated to go into effect in January 2013.
Although insurers and reinsurers rely on economic capital modeling
to address fundamental challenges, tactical uncertainties, and
day-to-day choices of how to best manage risk, the discipline is still in
its infancy. Given the global rise in regulation, the industry is in need
of a shared approach to economic capital modeling, including peer-reviewed
methodologies, tools, and best practices to operate
with confidence.
“Economic capital models are the backbone of the insurance
company operations, but we need a greater understanding to employ
them wisely,” said Willis Research Network Chairman Rowan Douglas,
who described the partnership as “a significant development” for the
industry.
“The Willis Research Network Economic Capital Forum has the
potential to generate scientific advances with far-reaching impact on
the measurement and management of risk,” said RMI Department
chair Richard Phillips.
Phillips added that the forum will collaborate with industry on a
technology transfer program to shorten the time required to convert
research findings into commercially viable applications. |
USAID Grant Expands Cairo Partnership
After partnering for four years with Cairo University in the
development of an American style BBA program, the Robinson
College has received an additional $300,000 from the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and
Higher Education for Development (HED), enabling the two
universities to expand the program to its full four-year capacity.
“We have committed to help Cairo University establish a BBA
program that parallels Robinson’s curriculum,” said Bijan Fazlollahi,
director of Robinson’s Center for Business Development in
Transitional Economies. With this grant the total awards for the
program totals $700,000.
Robinson provides the curriculum and syllabi, and college faculty
teach in the Cairo University program, which also includes
a faculty development component. Due to the recent uprisings
in the nation and subsequent travel restrictions, the program has
also had to shift to video-distance learning.
Fazlollahi hopes to continue the relationship and plans to apply
for funding in the future. His wish is to create a self-sustaining
program where “what we teach there, stays there.” | | | |
USLAT named international innovator
The Latin American Strategy Society has recognized Robinson’s U.S. - Latin America
Trade Program (USLAT) with its 2011 award for excellence and innovation in
executive education.
USLAT was founded in 2008 within the Institute of International Business (IIB) to aid
Latin American firms in coming to market in the United States and to help American
companies achieve the same in Latin America.
“USLAT represents an exciting new phase in the engagement of Robinson College
with the international business community,” said IIB professor David Bruce, who,
along with IIB’s Pedro Carrillo and Fernando Doria, founded the program.
Bruce (pictured above left) accepted the award on behalf of USLAT from society president, Dr.
Ruben Rico (pictured above right), at the organization’s 22nd annual conference in Mérida, Mexico.
Rico is director of Total Quality Consulting Group of Argentina. |
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High Octane Event
| |  | | | Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin with
Julie Bryant Fisher, managing editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle |
It began in 1998 as a mentoring initiative
for female graduate students. Today, the
Women’s Leadership Forum is a full-fledged
half-day conference that attracts more than
600 attendees each year.
Under the direction of Maryann Wysor
of the Department of Marketing, the
program began as a series of monthly
meetings between mentors and mentees
that culminated in a year-end conference.
Beverly Langford, also of the Department
of Marketing, joined Wysor as co-director
of the forum in 2002. She recalls that the
Atlanta Business Chronicle showed serious
interest in partnering with the college on the
event in 2005.
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“The Atlanta Business Chronicle thought
the forum would fit well with its events,”
said Langford, adding that “The forum
has grown exponentially since the
partnership occurred.”
The 13th annual forum, held in May, featured
Kathy Betty, owner and CEO of the WNBA’s
Atlanta Dream and former Atlanta Mayor
Shirley Franklin as speakers. The theme,
“Making It Happen” was manifested in
Betty’s and Franklin’s remarks as well during
four breakout sessions. Langford said that
their intentionally broad theme sets the
function apart from others of its kind. Other
factors that make the conference unique are
that “we pack a lot into a short time,” said
Langford, as well as structuring the event to
accommodate a large amount of networking.
“It’s a high octane event. People come
excited about the day. When they hit the
door at 7:30 a.m., they’re ready to go,”
she said.
The 14th Women’s Leadership Forum will
take place on May 4, 2012 with the theme of
“Framing the Future.”
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World Affairs Council of Atlanta: Sharpening the Global Focus
In the 16 months since it was launched, the World Affairs Council of Atlanta has more than lived up to its mission
to sharpen the global focus of its membership and the wider community. The council, which is affiliated with the
Robinson College, Georgia State University and the World Affairs Councils of America, is playing an integral role
in building the international reputation of Atlanta and supporting the economic development of the city and state,
according to its president, Wayne Lord. “We’ve done so by providing a forum for discussion with diplomats and
prominent authorities on global issues, international relations and global business,” Lord said. Three recent events
underscore the stature of the thought leaders who address the group and the critical nature of the issues discussed. |
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The council achieved a rare pairing when it brought
together the presidents of two regional Federal
Reserve Banks - Richard Fisher of Dallas and
Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta - to discuss the impact
of globalization on monetary policy-making.
Fisher and Lockhart, who is chairman of the World
Affairs Council of Atlanta, addressed pressing
financial issues including the threat of | |
| | rising oil
prices on U.S. economic growth. Both disputed the
widely held belief that the primary challenge facing
smaller businesses is an inability to attain financing
from banks.
“Access to credit isn’t what’s constraining
expansion, it’s a lack of confidence,” said Fisher.
“When businesses see more confidence in the
ultimate fiscal solvency of the United States …
they could go to work quickly hiring people again
if they’re also properly incentivized to do it here in
America,” he added. |
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Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, CARE USA CEO Dr. Helene
Gayle and former |
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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen stopped in Atlanta during his |
| | Coca-Cola Company chairman Neville Isdell discussed “connected capitalism” - the idea that
corporations can provide greater value to their
shareholders by investing in the long-term benefit
of the societies where they work.
Isdell, who introduced the concept in a 2009
speech, noted that connected capitalism is
happening “not just [at] Coca-Cola. There are other
companies just as deeply involved.”
Summers thinks that a demonstrated return on
investment will advance implementation of the
model, asserting that, “We are going to have to
find metrics with an emphasis on the quality of
earnings.”
Gayle believes that a shift in thinking is already
taking place and i corporations are finding ways
to be profitable as well as socially responsible.
“These things are not at odds with each other. You
can do good and you can do well,” said Gayle. |
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four-city U.S. tour,
due to the large presence of NATO troops at Fort
McPherson. Rasmussen spoke to the council
about NATO involvement in Afghanistan and Libya,
stressing the need for the nations involved in the
efforts to stay unified.
“No one nation, no one organization, can do it
alone. Even a superpower like America can’t do
it alone - and we certainly can’t do it without
America. Solidarity between the NATO Allies has
been, and will remain, vital to our continued success,”
he said.
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Copyright © 2011 J. Mack Robinson College of Business/Georgia State University
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