Faculty Members Gain Promotions
Five McCombs faculty members have received promotions effective Sept. 1, 2008. They are Steve Gilbert (IROM), promoted to the rank of professor; Lorenzo Garlappi (Finance) and Hüseyin Tanriverdi (IROM), promoted to the rank of associate professor; and Doug Dierking (Management) and Christopher Meakin (IROM), promoted to the rank of senior lecturer.

Stephens to Head Up MBA Plus Program
Please congratulate Deidra Stephens, who has been named director of the MBA Plus Program. Stephens has been coordinator of the McCombs Global Connections program since joining McCombs two years ago. Before arriving in Austin, she worked for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for eight years. Stephens holds a bachelor’s degree in human sciences from Texas Tech University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of North Texas and is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in higher education administration at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Media: Ethical Decision Making
The Chicago Tribune, Dec. 25, 2007
A recent paper by Robert Prentice, professor of business law in the IROM Department, applies recent findings from neurology and psychology to how investors and their advisers make moral decisions. "Investment professionals whose ethics go astray frequently believe they hold solid moral values but succumb to the questionable culture of their organizations," Prentice writes. "The urge to obey authority and conform to the group is deeply embedded in the human brain." Another issue, Prentice contends, is that "people in the investment game who espouse simple-minded economic theory often assume a level ethical playing field in transactions with customers. Buyers and sellers are equally canny and unscrupulous. So, what can be wrong? Everybody does it."
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Media: Alum Named Top Executive in Mexico
Mujeres Ejecutivas, January 2008
Diana Carrillo Navarrete, EMBA at Mexico City '04, was recently named one of the Top 20 Executives of 2007 by Mujeres Ejecutivas (Executive Woman) magazine. "We women have the capability to be successful in any arena," said Carrillo Navarrete in the magazine. "Proof of that is the ever-stronger presence of women in top-level positions in the industries of information technology and telecommunications.” Carrillo Navarrete is currently a marketing executive at 3Com.

Media: Market Research on the Cheap
BusinessWeek, Jan. 9, 2008
Large corporations spend millions on sophisticated surveys and focus groups from established researchers. But for entrepreneurs operating on a shoestring budget, there are ways to gather key information about your customers and prospects without hiring an outside firm. Rob Adams, McCombs management lecturer, director of the Moot Corp competition and author of "A Good Hard Kick in the Ass: Basic Training for Entrepreneurs," provides one key tip: Research the same way you sell. "If you sell in person, survey in person. If you sell over the phone, survey over the phone," Adams said. And for entrepreneurs who plan to sell primarily online, a Web survey can gauge interest. "If you get no results, that should tell you something," he added.
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Media: Incentive to Grow
Austin Business Journal, Dec. 28, 2007
In today's high-stakes world of corporate expansion and relocation, incentives are an integral part of the game. Companies bringing jobs and investment expect something in return, and it's not enough to tout quality of life or skilled labor anymore, said John Doggett, a senior lecturer in management at the McCombs School of Business. Doggett said Austin has historically exhibited some arrogance when it came to attracting companies, believing that the city's overall atmosphere was enough to woo business. The chamber's efforts of late have helped alter that mindset, he says. But he argues Austin is still not as competitive as other cities as to the types and values of incentives that lure Fortune 500 and other large companies. "The real question is what type of businesses do we want to attract to Austin?" Doggett said.
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Media: Saying "Aloha" to Sugar Bowl
Marketplace, Dec. 31, 2007
This year the University of Hawaii went where they've never gone before: to a major bowl game. With that came an estimated $4.5 million. It's said to be more money than Hawaii's entire football budget. University officials have yet to decide how that money will be spent, but students are already debating if the money should go to athletics or academics. Sports accounting expert Michael Granof said for many years schools have been in an arms race, paying millions for bigger facilities and better coaches. "Football does bring all sorts of intangible benefits. Now whether they're worth the costs or not, that's another question. And I think schools today think they're benefiting far more from their football programs than they actually are."
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