McCombs' Newest Department
The Business, Government, & Society Department focuses research and teaching on the regulatory, political, legal and ethical environment of business. Today’s global marketplace is more competitive, more transparent, more culturally and politically diverse, and more fluid than ever before. Future business leaders will need to be able to navigate the legal, ethical and cultural demands of government and society. The BGS Department will help students cultivate the skills needed to successfully manage the dynamic business environment of the future.
News
Keystone Pipeline Killed: How and Why
One of my teaching duties at The University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business is to help oil company executives learn how to develop positive, productive relationships with “external stakeholders” -- governments, NGOs, neighbors, etc. A key lesson in that work is that the company's relationship with elected government officials is particularly fraught with risk. Business people can never fully trust an elected politician, no matter how close an ally he or she seems to be, because when the politician’s electoral interests diverge from shared policy goals, the former almost always trump the latter. Read more...
Prentice Honored
Robert Prentice has been named one of two ING Professors of Excellence for the UT basketball season. He was selected by a faculty committee and honored at center court at the Erwin Center before the Longhorn men played Oklahoma State on January 7, 2012.
BGS Helps MBA Rankings
BGS 's new MBA concentrations in "Public and Governmental Affairs" and "Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility" helped McCombs for the first time in several years land in the top third of 100 ranked schools in Beyond Grey Pinstripes' global full-time MBA rankings. McCombs ranked #28 overall (and #22 among public schools) in preparing students for social, ethical, and environmental stewardship."
Texas MBA Recognizes Faculty
Each Fall and Spring, the full-time Texas MBA students recognize stellar faculty with their MBA Applause Awards. Based on classroom activity last Spring some McCombs faculty were recognized including BGS faculty members Robert Prentice, David Spence, and Christopher Meakin.
Spence on KUT
Associate Professor David Spence, at the McCombs Energy Management and Innovation Center, spoke to Austin's KUT News about the economic impact of the oil and gas industry--and its impact on Perry's campaign. "As the price of oil goes up, that increases employment in the industry, and as you know, a lot of oil and gas employment for the world is centered in Texas," Spence told KUT News. The full length interview is available on KUT's website.
Faculty Honor Roll
BBA students recognized 11 of their favorite instructors by naming them to the Spring 2011 Faculty Honor Roll. To make the honor roll, professors must garner exceptionally high marks on student-completed surveys. The Honor Roll members were celebrated at a ceremony Oct. 3, hosted by the Undergraduate Business Council and the Undergraduate Programs Office.
Prentice Gives Talk
On October 7, Professor Robert Prentice gave the inaugural talk in the new Business Law & Ethics speaker series at the Georgia Tech College of Management in Atlanta. Professor Prentice spoke about the new field of behavioral ethics research to an audience of faculty and students.
Energy Policy, Risk and Coal
Professor David Spence recently published an opinion piece in the Houston Chronicle on energy risk.
Stidvent on NPR
Veronica Stidvent, program director of the Hispanic Leadership Initiative, in an interview with NPR's Farai Chideya on the results of rapid growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S.
Politics of Oil
Professor David Spence in an ABC News interview: Politics of Oil: Will High Prices Spur Lawmakers to Act?, March 8, 2011
BGS Harrington Fellow
Professor Lamar Pierce of Washington University of St. Louis is the 2011-2012 Harrington Faculty Fellow in the BGS Department. The Harrington Fellowship will support Professor Pierce, a prominent young scholar in business ethics, as he continues his research at The University of Texas at Austin. Professor Pierce will also host a conference at UT to advance scholarship in his field.
Allison Gives Presentation
Professor John Allison will give the Center for Intellectual Property Law Distinguished Professor presentation at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago on April 1, 2011. The topic will be "Patent Litigation and the Internet."
All Things Energy
On Feb. 24-25, approximately 150 McCombs alumni gathered for Hot Topics in Business, the 6th Annual McCombs Alumni Business Conference. “I can’t recall a time where energy was a hotter topic with students,” said David Spence, associate professor for the Department of Business, Government and Society and co-director of the Energy Management and Innovation Center (EMIC). More...
Hispanic Leadership Summit
The McCombs School brings together leaders from all over the United States to collaborate and discuss important issues in Texas and across the nation and the key role Hispanic Americans share in addressing these issues. Associate Professor David Spence will participate in discussion of the new expectations for Corporate Social Responsibility. More...
Prentice Gives Keynote
Robert Prentice was the keynote speaker at the Parker Leadership Conference at the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma on February 25,2011. The theme of the conference was "Leadership and Ethics," and Professor Prentice spoke about research that indicates that leaders can face particularly difficult challenges in staying on the straight and narrow even if they desire to act ethically.
Business-Friendly Regulation
In a time when businesses are more eager than ever to stimulate job creation and compete once again on a global scale, there is an increasing sentiment to give employers more freedom to grow on their own terms. Veronica Stidvent, former assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor during the George W. Bush administration, says the call to review federal regulations is business as usual for a new president. More...
Stidvent Wins Award
Veronica Stidvent, a lecturer in McCombs new Department of Business, Government and Society and program director of the Hispanic Leadership Initiative, was chosen one of four 2011 Outstanding Young Texas Exes award winners. More...