Briefs
- Students Take Up Consulting for Non-Profits
- Research on Judgments Finds its Way into the Courts
- Texas Joins International Consortium
- USAA Becomes a UT Customer
- Prospective MPAs now have Another Option
Students Take Up Consulting for Non-Profits
Austin area non-profit organizations seeking business advice can now learn from MBA and MPA students. The Community Consulting Program, sponsored by Net Impact, a business student service organization, and the McCombs School of Business, allows students to share their knowledge in areas such as accounting, marketing, financial reporting, and strategic planning with a wide range of non-profit agencies. While the agencies benefit from the donated expertise, the students come away with marketable skills and the satisfaction of giving back to their community. For more information about the program, visit the NetImpact Website at
www.utexas.edu/students/netimpact-grad/ or send email to
netimpact@mccombs.utexas.edu.
Research on Judgments Finds its Way into the Courts
For the most part, people can come to consensus when making judgments about the outrageousness of a defendant's behavior and the appropriate severity of punishment in products liability cases. But when people try to translate their judgments into dollars, the resulting damage awards become extremely erratic and unpredictable, finds UT business professor David Schkade and colleagues from the University of Chicago Law School and Princeton University. The difficulty jurors have in making this translation was identified as the largest source of unpredictability in damage awards.
Their research results also show that both the degree of harm suffered by the plaintiff and the size of the damaging firm have a pronounced effect on jury awards. In light of their findings, the researchers evaluate various reforms designed to deal with erratic awards, including damage caps, compensatory judgment multipliers, and conversion formulas.
Schkade, et. al.'s research, published in the Yale Law Journal in May 1998, is already becoming incorporated into the law in several jurisdictions, and was most recently cited in a March 6, 2000 California Supreme Court decision in the case of Lane v. Hughes Aircraft Co., in which two punitive damage awards by juries were reversed. Texas Joins International Consortium The McCombs School of Business was recently nominated as a member of the Program in International Management (PIM). This prestigious international consortium was founded in 1973 by the HEC School of Management in Paris, France, and now includes 40 schools worldwide. PIM's goal is to afford the opportunity for international exchange of graduate management students, faculty members and researchers, and to develop a global network for business education. The McCombs School of Business will be officially admitted at the November 2000 meeting of PIM in Barcelona.
Texas Joins International Consortium
The McCombs School of Business was recently nominated as a member of the Program in International Management (PIM). This prestigious international consortium was founded in 1973 by the HEC School of Management in Paris, France, and now includes 40 schools worldwide. PIM's goal is to afford the opportunity for international exchange of graduate management students, faculty members and researchers, and to develop a global network for business education. The McCombs School of Business will be officially admitted at the November 2000 meeting of PIM in Barcelona.
USAA Becomes a UT Customer
Headquartered in San Antonio and recognized as one of the best run and best-to-work-for companies in the United States, USAA became UT's customer in February. USAA financial analysts are attending a new custom Texas executive development program. Working closely with USAA managers, UT McCombs School of Business professors Court Huber, Jim Nolen, and Eric Hurst designed the nine-day program.
The program focuses on developing a common and enhanced framework for financial analysis and reporting in order to provide senior management with better information for making business decisions. "We're teaching financial analysts to have a positive effect on the value chain at USAA. It's based on similar custom programs we've done for Shell Oil, Dell Computer, and others," said Professor Nolen.
So that financial analysts can begin applying the new framework immediately, teams are working on current USAA projects. "By including key work issues as team projects, we'll accelerate our progress," said John Clamp, a USAA business planning analyst. "We chose The University of Texas for this program because of its national reputation in finance and accounting." (UT's graduate accounting program ranked 2nd in U.S. News and World Report's latest rankings, April '00. The undergraduate accounting program ranked 2nd, and the finance program 5th.)
Prospective MPAs now have Another Option
Beginning in the summer of 2000, the Department of Accounting will offer an Option II Masters in Professional Accounting Program. The program was created chiefly for company-sponsored students with non-accounting BBA degrees. Responding to immediate demand, the program will have an audit/assurance service focus. The students will undertake a sponsor-arranged internship during the spring semester. Coursework will parallel that of the current MPA program. For more information, call (512) 471-2617 or email TexasMPA@mccombs.utexas.edu
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
