The J. Mack Robinson College of Business and its programs are often recognized by media, and faculty are quoted throughout the year by local, regional and national media. Following are media highlights from fall and winter.
EMBA RANKINGS
Based on the input from over 3,000 graduate students from business schools, BusinessWeek's first EMBA ranking rated the Robinson College of Business as 20th out of the 161 schools surveyed. This is the first survey that has been completed by BusinessWeek in over a decade. The article noted that RCB students benefit from the large number of minority and female students in the classroom.
In other rankings news, Computerworld rated the Robinson College of Business as having one of the top 25 MBA programs in the United States. The nod by Computerworld did not go unrecognized locally. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the news and quoted Dean Sidney Harris as saying, "All of our faculty and staff are to be congratulated. This ranking not only reflects well on our computer information systems department, but on the college as a whole for the way our faculty blend technology with sound business fundamentals."
GENERAL BUSINESS
David Bruce, professor of international business, was featured in an article in the New Jersey Record about the economic crisis in Argentina and its effects here in the United States. According to Bruce, the devalued peso has made it far more expensive to pay for goods in U.S. dollars, which makes it costly for U.S. companies who import raw materials into Argentina. However companies importing goods from Argentina could benefit from the situation. "Right now, Argentina is kind of like Kmart. It's on a discount."
The RETIRE (Retiree Income Replacement Project) Report, published by the Center for Risk Management and Insurance Research, was featured in The Washington Post and The Wall St. Journal. Bruce Palmer, professor of risk management and insurance (recently retired), supervises the research, which is done in conjunction with Aon Consulting. The study has looked at retirement income trends since 1988. This year's report showed that the percentage of pre-retirement income that retirees need to continue their lifestyle rose in most income levels by four to eight percentage points. According to Palmer, "People are probably not saving enough."
Siva Nathan, professor of accounting, appeared on the CNN program "Lou Dobbs Moneyline" which airs on weekdays 6:307:30 pm. He was interviewed for a segment by reporter Allan Chernoff on the regulations being proposed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to deal with sell-side analysts' conflicts of interest. The question posed to Nathan by Chernoff was whether we can rely on the brokerage firms to voluntarily police themselves or whether we need regulation from the stock exchanges, Congress or the SEC to deal with this problem.
Marketing professor Dan Bello was quoted in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about the growing number of publications for African Americans. Previously under-represented, African American residents in Atlanta are gaining recognition through numerous articles and publications geared toward this growing population. The Champion, a weekly newspaper launched in 1991 by Carolyn and Earl Glenn, was intended for the community of African American residents in Dekalb County. "The fact that there are magazines, newspapers and other media [for African Americans in South DeKalb] really reflects the larger phenomenon of [this group] being recognized as a more affluent marketing segment," said Bello.
The business of MBA schools is certainly an area where Dean Sidney Harris is an expert. In a New York Times article entitled, "At MBA Schools, Job Search 101," Harris was among deans from some of the country's top business schools quoted (Sloan and Wharton). In the article, Harris said that this year is likely to be much harder for MBA students. "Many recruiters, under orders to hire very few people, will limit themselves to the most selective and best-known schools."
ONE BAD APPLE THE ENRON DEBACLE
William Messier, interim chair of the accounting department, was quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding Enron's use of off-balance-sheet partnerships. "We're going to find out this is more common than we think," he remarked.
The Enron debacle has generated new debate about how a company reports earnings. One of the issues with Enron is their lack of disclosure to investors. In recent years, companies have reported "pro-forma" numbers, which generally allows a company to take out items like advertising expenses and high restructuring charges. Many experts believe this type of reporting hurts investors. However, a study conducted by Lawrence Brown, professor of accounting, found that wasn't the case. Brown was interviewed by Reuter's News Service and according to him, "GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings figures are not a better indicator of a firm's future performance and its stock price,"
EXPERTS COMMENT ON TRAGIC DAY
The insurance industry, the future of skyscrapers and the economy are examples of issues related to the September 11 attacks about which Robsinson professors were tapped by the media for their expertise.
In the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Bill Feldhaus, associate professor of RMI, pointed out that the most commonly purchased type of insurance is business interruption. If a business suffers property damage, business interruption insurance pays out the amount it would take to put a company back in the same position it was in before the disaster struck.
With the World Trade Towers gone, the future of skyscrapers was in question. According to Jim DeLisle, director of RCB's Real Estate Research Center, who was quoted in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the employee, not the real estate executive, will make the determination.
The economy has been one of the biggest casualties of the terrorist attack. No one knows the effects better than Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center, who provided insight and analysis to several outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Investor's Business Daily, CNN, NPR and the NBC-TV affiliate in Atlanta (WXIA-TV).
