Bradley University, Foster College of Business
Fast-paced, on trend: Young grads embrace new technologies
Issue 3, Winter 2018
A LETTER FROM
DEAN RADSON
OUR VISION To be the standard for engagement, innovation, and impact in business higher education.
OUR MISSION Through close interaction and experiential learning, Dear Alumni and Friends: It has been a period of intense change within the business world and in the Foster College. Baker Hall now lives only in our memories, and while construction of the new business and engineering complex goes on, we’ve moved into temporary facilities near campus. Some might see this as a period of instability, but I prefer to think of it as a time of dynamic transformation. As the focus on data-driven decision making and analytics continues to increase for business, we’re looking at ways to adapt the curriculum to ensure it meets our students’ needs. Changes in technology — what some are calling the fourth Industrial Revolution — also has us assessing how the “internet of things” will shape the business world and the ways in which we teach. Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” Things may be changing all around us, but one thing that won’t change at Foster College is our belief in the power of teamwork. We hope the stories in this issue
we empower individuals and organizations to achieve great outcomes.
OUR VALUES In everything we do, we value integrity, persistence, innovation, collaboration, impact, growth, diversity, and risk-taking.
CONNECT WITH US
of Experience magazine will remind you how much a part of our team you are. As always,
@BradleyFCB
if you have a story idea you’d like to share, send us an email at fcbdean@bradley.edu.
@BradleyUFoster @BradleyUFoster
Darrell Radson, Ph.D. Dean, Foster College of Business
Linkedin.com/school/bradley-universityfoster-college-of-business
CONTACT US Online: bradley.edu/business Email: fcbdean@bradley.edu Phone: (309) 677-2253 Address: 1501 W. Bradley Ave. Campustown 196 Peoria, IL 61625
CONTENTS Issue 3, Winter 2018
FEATURES
Publishers
Going for global gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Darrell Radson dean, Foster College of Business
A business strategy for excellence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Matt O’Brien associate dean and associate professor, marketing, Foster College of Business
COVER: Fast-paced, on trend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Looking toward the future.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2
Heather McCord ’01 MBA ’06 assistant dean, Foster College of Business Abby Green ’14 director of marketing and communications, Foster College of Business Editorial Team S. L. Guthrie, executive editor Bob Grimson ’81, assistant director Mary Brolley, assistant director
3 NEWS 8
Creative Team Tom Gunter, art director Sarah Dukes, art director Duane Zehr, photographer
Globe-trotting lifestyle. . . . . . . . . 2
Administration
New Turner School leader. . . . . . 3
Gary R. Roberts ’70, president
Coming full circle. . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Getting the 411 on consumers. . . . 3
Walter Zakahi ’78, provost Renée B. Richardson, associate vice president for marketing and communications On the cover Our homage to Andy Warhol features Amazon dash buttons for a popular savory snack that should be enjoyed in moderation. Pictured left, Justina Lister ’16. Designed by Tom Gunter.
4
6
© Bradley University 2018. Experience is an annual
20 COLUMNS Research rundown. . . . . . . . . . . 16 A look back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Degrees of success. . . . . . . . . . . 21
14
publication of the Foster College of Business at Bradley University and produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications. Bradley University is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and the promotion of equal opportunities for all persons regardless of age, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or veteran status. The university is also committed to compliance with all applicable laws regarding non-discrimination, harassment and affirmative action.
NEWS
Scarzo, center, with his team.
Tony Scarzo ’04 MBA ’17 may know the streets of Shanghai and Stockholm better than the Interstate 74 corridor between Peoria and his Shelbyville, Ind., hometown. That’s to be expected from a world traveler who has worked abroad for a decade.
After interning for sprinkler manufacturer L.R. Nelson Corp., the company hired Scarzo as a product manager where he traveled frequently to Shanghai to meet with Chinese suppliers. He honed his management skills for nearly three years before joining home appliance giant Electrolux where he continued to focus on China production. In 2011, Scarzo opted for a project office management position in Shanghai instead of following the business from Bloomington, Ill., to North Carolina. Scarzo hired and developed the Chinese team and traveled all over the world. When the projects were complete, Electrolux transferred him to its corporate headquarters in Stockholm as global product manager. “Going overseas was a huge shock, but it was the best thing to happen to me,” said the international business alum who
2 | Foster College of Business
grew up in a small farming community. “After a year working in Shanghai, I realized I could live internationally forever.” Working abroad also changed his communication style, especially after watching some of the mistakes his fellow Americans made when talking with Chinese employees. “I assume (someone’s) not understanding what I’m saying at first. I try to understand where (they’re) coming from and come up with a different angle on how to say it so (they) get it. I didn’t really do that before.” In 2016, Scarzo took a leave of absence and returned to Bradley to earn an MBA where part of his studies focused on working with startups. The new graduate will take what he’s learned and apply it on the job with San Francisco-based Anova, a fast-growing smart kitchen appliance company purchased by Electrolux last year. “In the startup, they’re only working on one thing,” said Scarzo. “They’re a solid team of people focused solely on one specific goal. You don’t get that in a large corporation, unless you’re large enough to hire so many people, and we’re (Electrolux) not there. We’re kind of in the middle.” Ultimately, Scarzo’s long-term goal is to become a global consultant. “After working with all these small business and startups, I’m getting the entrepreneurial bug. Now, every time I have an idea, it used to be I would think what could the company (Electrolux) do about it. Now, I think what can I do about it? How can I make a company that solves this idea?” — S.L.G.
New Turner School leader champions innovation Recruited from Middle Tennessee State University where he held an endowed chair in entrepreneurship, William McDowell joined Bradley in August as the executive/academic director of the Robert and Carolyn Turner School of Entrepreneurship. He is also the Turner Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship. McDowell was excited to come to Bradley because of the university’s rich history of support for entrepreneurship. “Not many people realize that Bradley is where entrepreneurship got its start in academia. You had Fred Fry, Gerry Hills. This is the top, the school that had the first separate school of entrepreneurship.”
Coming full circle Fred Einbinder ’73 sees law as a bridge between
In Peoria and beyond, McDowell has “hit the ground listening” to the business community. “I’m out meeting people, finding businesses to partner with the school. I’d like to have our partners give lectures and become mentors and coaches for our students. We’ll create an advisory council of entrepreneurial leaders. We’ll ask them, ‘What would have been helpful to you when you were starting your business?’” And as he did at Middle Tennessee State, McDowell will encourage students of all majors to consider a minor in entrepreneurship. “We’ll work with students majoring in the arts, in sciences and engineering, in music. It boils down to: what is the need (you’re filling), and how well can you relate your value proposition?” — M.B.
Getting the 411 on consumers Consumer behavior started in the late 1960s as a field
engineering and business. For his yearlong
of study and research; Jim Muncy said he experienced
appointment to the Department of Entrepreneurship,
its adolescence.
Technology and Law, he brings 40 years of experience as a lawyer, mainly practicing in France. He also taught at the American University of Paris and other French schools. “Law is a classic bridge. When I heard about the business and engineering complex I thought it was consistent with the strengths of Bradley,” said Einbinder, who also holds an executive MBA. “Law is an important part in business and shouldn’t be isolated.” He holds French and U.S. citizenship and teaches business law and international business law. Einbinder strives to relate his overseas experience working for major infrastructure companies to his students’ future careers. He teaches them to be prepared.
“You have to understand the buyer if you want to sell to them,” he said, noting the field’s constant evolution since he began researching it in 1978. “My job is to take this huge body of knowledge and boil it down for my students.” Consumers and their behavior are a key research topic for Muncy, who served as publications director and executive director of the Association for Consumer Research. He also started and operated several side businesses and brings those experiences to his role as professor of marketing. “You’re not in business until you have business. I’ve built (companies) by getting the customer first and then deciding how to build the company around them.” — B.G.
“I don’t say (difficult things) ‘may’ happen — I say they ‘will’ happen.” — B.G.
|3
GOING FOR GLOBAL GOLD By Bob Grimson ’81
An early morning phone call to his boss half a world away is just one reason Jim Foley remembers his first international sales deal. As the London-based European manager for IT firm Paradise Systems, Foley wanted to clinch the deal with a German distributor after a few days of negotiating.
“Later, (the boss) told me he was impressed I woke him up, even at 2 a.m.,” Foley said about landing the $100,000 contract. “I learned that in international business you have to leverage everything you learned because you don’t know what will come up or what the solution will be.” Foley learned how to work well with people in his family’s camera shop in Galesburg, Ill. “I remember saying to my dad, ‘If you have a customer that’s angry, I’m more than happy to work with them.’ I can see myself in other people.”
4 | Foster College of Business
Along with stints overseas and an MBA from the London Business School at the University of London, that empathy gives the director of the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship and the Illinois SBDC International Trade Center a unique perspective on the value of an international business education, a program Bradley has offered since the 1980s. Foster College’s office for international study was the first to send students to China, India and Brazil, as international business became less Eurocentric. “Those are three critical markets from a business perspective,” Foley said. Students can earn the designation of Global Scholar on their transcripts through study abroad, on-campus classes, activities and organizations. “It provides evidence the student made a commitment beyond the classes they took,” Foley said. “That way, the student who still wants to be, say, an accounting major, can send an extra message to employers.” Embedded courses, where students spend the first seven weeks studying about a country on campus, then go overseas at break, provide an opportunity to learn more about a country. Foley said students will see extreme poverty in some cases and often find the experience life-changing. International business director Rajesh Iyer, associate professor of marketing, said students are encouraged to minor in another business field. They’re also required
to take foreign language courses as well as classes covering global areas of interest. “By learning about other languages, political systems and cultures in addition to practical business skills, (IB students) learn to think outside the box and adapt to unstructured situations and changing circumstances,” said James Goodnow, the program’s first coordinator and professor of international business emeritus who now teaches at the University of North Texas. He added 90 percent of graduates don’t pursue global positions but are valued employers in many jobs. Growing globalization can also cause problems, such as the effects on both communities when a Maytag plant relocated from Galesburg to Reynosa, Mexico, in the early 2000s. “I’m still a big proponent of globalization but I’m also sensitive to the fact it can go very wrong for certain people,” Foley said. “There is a lot of disinformation and misunderstanding about international business. I hope that when something comes up about it, students can help foster a more informed discussion.” According to the Census Bureau, nearly 300,000 U.S. companies were exporters in 2015 with 98 percent of those classified as small or medium-sized businesses, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 200,000 firms were importers.
Foley has taken his passion for international business education and experience into wider realms, with a pair of textbooks — “The Global Entrepreneur: Taking Your Business International,” and “International Marketing.” He also teaches International Business 302, Global Trade Management, which is required for international business and supply chain management majors. Another accomplishment saw Foley develop the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) credential through his longtime involvement with the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE). The first CGBP exam was in 2005, and approximately 2,000 people have earned the designation. “I saw the power of a CPA for accounting students. I saw how they gravitated to the SHRM designation for HR majors,” Foley said. “I knew what you learned when you put all this together was a very marketable skill.” He received NASBITE’s highest honor, the John Otis Lifetime Achievement Award, at the group’s convention last March. From his days at the family store through his overseas work experience and now training future international business leaders, Foley keeps one key factor in mind. “Respect and interest in other people and cultures is a great recipe for success.” n
Jim Foley, director of the SBDC International Trade Center and the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship, also teaches, consults and writes textbooks. Through the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE) he developed the Certified Global Business Professional credential and earned NASBITE’s highest honor, the John Otis Lifetime Achievement Award, last March.
Bradley University | 5
A business strategy for excellence The Center for Professional Excellence creates customized solutions to help individuals and organizations focus on long-term success. By Bob Grimson ’81 When a manufacturing client came through the doors of the Center for Professional Excellence, their goal was to improve its performance. After working with the center, the company grew its bottom-line revenue by 16 percent, turning around the entire operation and becoming the best performer of five subsidiaries in its group. “Self-awareness is the first step to leadership development,” said center director Angela Settles. “We work with organizations to identify their talent and leadership gaps and create customized solutions to fill those gaps.” She said most clients come from manufacturing and supply chain, health care, insurance and financial services industries. Everyone from emerging leaders and new managers to C-suite executives can benefit from the center’s talent-development solutions, which cover topics like strategic planning and marketing, financial management, leadership and cross-functional collaboration. The center, which has operated under various names over the past 30 years, recently rebranded and sees itself as an outreach center and a community resource. It works with a variety of regional businesses and reaches global participants through programs in Chicago and as one of four national affiliates of the Center for Creative Leadership, a North Carolina-based company consistently top-ranked globally as a provider of leadership development programs. After an internal assessment, UnityPoint Health Peoria/ Pekin opted to send 17 members of its leadership team to the center to refine their strategic agility skills.
6 | Foster College of Business
“Being able to think strategically and focus on long-term results is key to being an effective leader,” said Unity Point’s Vice President and Regional Chief Human Resources Officer Joy Ledbetter of the customized program. The center’s personnel met with executives and other experts to pinpoint challenges and developed a deep understanding of all parts of the organization and the health care industry. Program participants developed three potential action plans for implementation into UnityPoint’s strategies, she said. The center is externally funded through its programs, and Settles said it is essential to keep abreast of client needs and deal with competition from multiple sources, such as independent consultants and commercial training organizations. Corporate training has prospered with the expanding economy. Forbes reported in its 2014 Corporate Learning Factbook that businesses spent $70 billion on training in the U.S. and more than $130 billion worldwide. It noted management and leadership accounted for 35 percent of the total. “Successful leaders understand that to prosper they need to create value,” said Caterpillar Professor of Management Larry Weinzimmer ’83 MBA ’85, who leads programs for the center. “Strategic management isn’t about applying models — it is a mindset and different way of thinking.” Professors from all Foster College departments facilitate programs for the center, which also uses certified coaches and outside experts to expand its reach. “The research our faculty do really informs how they work with our clients,” Settles said. “They’re experts at taking that theory and making it applicable, which is something consultants typically don’t provide.” Faculty are also able to bring their work into the classroom, which helps all Foster students — undergraduate and graduate — stay current on business practices.
Employees with deep expertise in a specific functional area often rise through the ranks, and get promoted to positions where they need a broader skill set. “Our ability to equip technical professionals with the skills and insights necessary to succeed in broader managerial positions is one attribute that sets us apart from our competition,” Settles said. The center offers public programs, customized corporate solutions, and professional coaching and assessment services. “Anyone can benefit from improved business and leadership skills — being clear and authentic, being transparent, leveraging conflict and managing change. Having refined skills in these areas builds engagement and productivity and ultimately will increase a company’s profitability.” Programs take place on-site at client firms and neutral locations, or the center brings clients to its facility, just blocks from campus. In the most recent five-year statistics available, the center served an average of 700 people a year.
Some of the Center for Professional Excellence’s top clients include: Advanced Technology Services Caterpillar Inc. Country Financial
Ledbetter of UnityPoint called the center’s customer service “exceptional … the staff worked to accommodate our preferred schedule so as not to increase the workload of our employees.” Settles hopes to expand and strengthen the center’s alignment with professional associations, citing current links to organizations for health care financial management and supply chain management professionals. Future plans include bundling talent development solutions and offering Just-in-Time solutions. “This will allow our clients to increase the value they receive from their investment and expose them to all the Foster College has to offer,” she said. Rapid technological innovations and societal changes mean companies have to intentionally plan workforce development. “You have to be ready,” Settles said. “If you’re not paying attention and preparing your leaders, you could find yourself out of business.” n
The customizable corporate Leadership Development and Advanced Leadership Development programs offer six learning modules each plus individual coaching.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MODULES:
ADVANCED LEADERSHIP MODULES:
Embracing conflict
The challenge of leadership
Engaging teams
Flexing your style
Improving performance
Leadership and influence
Building leaders
Motivating others
Leading through change
Maximizing your leadership potential
Supporting change
Making conflict work for you
Selecting candidates
Taking your team to the next level
UnityPoint Health
RECENT WORKSHOPS:
Bradley University | 7
Fast-paced, on trend:
8 | Foster College of Business
Young grads embrace new technologies By Mary Brolley
Promoting or supporting products they believe in, five Foster grads are thriving in insurance, software sales, moving and storage, food sales and children’s toys. Two work in management information systems, two in marketing, and one in online business-tobusiness sales. All left Foster College well prepared for dynamic careers. ROB STANLEY, e-commerce manager Sometimes, when he tells people he helped choose the Conagra Brands’ products to be represented by Amazon dash buttons, Rob Stanley ’11 hears: “Who needs a dash button for a Slim Jim?” Stanley gets the joke about the small Wi-Fi-connected devices that promise almost-instant gratification, and has an answer. “The biggest draw we’ve foreseen for dash button use has been with convenient ‘stock up’ or reorders in not-so-convenient places,” he said. “K-cup reorders at the coffee pot, laundry pod reorders in the laundry room, toiletries in the washroom.” And, he admits, “It’s a PR move.” Hired directly from Bradley in 2012 by the Chicago-based food supplier, Stanley first put his marketing and professional sales concentration to work selling the company’s products to 33 Walmarts spread over 37,000 square miles in the Southeast. In less than a year he earned a promotion to sales analyst and a return to the Chicago area. He helped Conagra’s national account managers by driving all online bids for pasta for various companies’ private label businesses. It was a heady atmosphere. “There was a constant conversation in the (virtual) room,” he recalled. “We’d lose the live/online bid, but win the business in the field, after leveraging our capabilities.”
In his current position, he focuses on advanced business planning and forecasting and acts as a liaison between the company and its customers. Stanley, who married Ashley Shanholtzer ’12 in August, loves working from their Bolingbrook home. “In e-commerce, working from home is the growing standard. I sometimes miss the camaraderie, but I get more value-added work done than I would in an office.”
MINDY SCHANZLE, marketing coordinator As corporate icons go, you could do worse than a shiny, instantly recognizable little red wagon. Mindy Schanzle ’17 has the enviable job of spreading the good word about Chicago’s Radio Flyer toy company on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Last summer, to mark the family owned company’s 100th anniversary, Radio Flyer rolled out a spiffed-up, 26-foottall “World’s Largest Wagon,” originally built to mark the company’s 80th anniversary in 1997. Schanzle helped plan and promote the wagon’s various appearances. After internships in Peoria as a sophomore and junior, Schanzle accepted a social media marketing internship with Radio Flyer the summer before her senior year. She was offered a full-time position the next spring. Radio Flyer customers send in picture after picture — videos, too — to the Facebook page. “Our main theme is sharing childhood memories. Luckily, we don’t have to solicit them,” Schanzle said. “We have plenty of usergenerated content. Our customers are 25-65 — moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents.” One of her favorite parts of working on social media is the blend of creative and analytic skills required. “I manage anything to do with the Facebook page. Content creation, data analysis, customer service inquiries. If I get a tough question, I get help from our customer service reps.”
Bradley University | 9
In her short time at the company, she’s already been surprised by social media’s rapid evolution. “We’re debating how to use videos on the Facebook page,” she said. “What types should we feature? Short ones, or higher-quality, professional ones? We’re always looking at analytics to weigh effort vs. impact. “There’s so much data at our disposal that wasn’t available 10 or even five years ago. It’s amazing what we can learn.”
LLOYD DAVIS, software developer Federal Companies has grown from a Peoria warehouse and distribution center founded in 1913 to a global provider of moving, storage and logistics. Adapting to customer needs, the company has carved out specialty niches such as its motorcycle transport division, which handles about 10,000 transactions a year. A major new business initiative — providing backup cyber storage and security for dozens of other businesses and agencies — required more technical expertise. Fresh out of Bradley with a degree in management information systems, Lloyd Davis ’16 joined the company in 2016. He and his four-person team are responsible for troubleshooting, maintenance and updating of equipment
“I’M A CONTINUAL LEARNER and love to read marketing blogs. It helps me stay on top of trends.” — JUSTINA RISINGER LISTER ’16
and some employee training. A longer-term project involves replacing equipment (some of which is older than he is, Davis jokes) as well as moving 100+ years of company data — inventory lists, departmental data and the relatively new cyber backups — onto a single robust network. “We’re doing it slowly, slowly,” he said. “Internal clients can be afraid of change.” He enjoys the day-to-day variety of his work, from finding and fixing IT challenges that hamper productivity to training fellow employees “who aren’t tech savvy.” “It’s been very rewarding. I hit the ground running in my first real job with my degree. MIS majors are the face of the IT department. We cut through red tape for internal clients.”
“ There’s so much data at our disposal that wasn’t available 10 or even five years ago. IT’S AMAZING WHAT WE CAN LEARN.”
— MINDY SCHANZLE ’17
10 | Foster College of Business
“ Management information systems majors are the face of the IT department. We CUT THROUGH RED TAPE for internal clients.”
— LLOYD DAVIS ’16
His most memorable assist? “An employee was having problems with her printer. I took it apart and found that, somehow, blue cake frosting had gotten inside the gears. I cleaned it up and got it working. “That one’s going to be tough to top,” he said.
JUSTINA RISINGER LISTER, demand generation marketer For most of us, hearing of a major data breach strikes fear into our hearts. For Justina Lister ’16, this unsettling news is a call to action. As a marketing specialist for Austin, Texas-based software company Solar Winds, her charge is to quickly offer effective solutions for IT professionals concerned about data security. Rapid response (or real-time) email or ad campaigns are often tied to “newsjacking,” Lister said. “We pay attention to current events and capitalize on them to spur users to try our products. So, after a well-publicized data breach, we may send out a targeted email saying something like, ‘Worried about the XYZ breach? Here’s how we can help.’”
Lister supports several of the company’s 30+ products — mainly focused on IT security and network management. “I’m a demand generation marketer. It’s my job to get leads and funnel them to sales. My goal is to get people to sign up for free licensed trials of our products, and I’m measured on the cost (of paid advertising) per download,” she said. Through Facebook and LinkedIn, she places ads to attract users — IT professionals — with offers of useful content: e-books, white papers, webcasts, email courses. She also tracks and analyzes the performance of her various campaigns and optimizes for the best performer. Lister, who moved to Austin with her husband, relishes her fast-paced job. “Every day is different. I’m a continual learner and love to read marketing blogs. It helps me stay on top of trends.” The dual major in marketing and French also has a Wordpress blog, Madame Lister, through which she offers a mix of French vocabulary lessons, job search and marketing advice.
Bradley University | 11
Stewards of the brand Launching students into a constantly changing field is equal parts exciting and terrifying, said Heidi Rottier ’98 MBA ’01. “We’re constantly on the lookout for the next big thing,” she said. Rottier teaches Social Media Marketing, the capstone course for students majoring or minoring in the field. Foster College was an early adopter of the social media concentration. Rottier introduces students to leaders in the field and together they follow and study them. She invites guest speakers, like the officer who manages the quirky and popular Washington, Ill., Police Department Facebook account. Homework assignments include creating infographics and a blog, live tweeting events, participating in a class Facebook page, tweeting 10 times a week, spending 30 minutes a week on LinkedIn, and commenting on each other’s posts. What kind of student is drawn to focusing on social media? “Someone who likes to experiment, who’s social, who’s not afraid to reach out to someone. A person who can see the big picture but also pays attention to details.” Her students end up in a variety of jobs — sales, retail management, digital marketing. Sometimes social media is just a portion of their responsibilities. And because their tweets and posts will represent their employer, Rottier and students discuss the challenges of being funny and engaging yet respecting the brand. “Companies have to have a personality. That’s what we expect to see. It can’t be a press release in Facebook format,” she said. “I tell them: 70/20/10. Seventy percent of content should be interesting but not company- or industryrelated. Twenty percent should be related to what the company does. And just 10 percent should be about the company. “Your aim is to provide value without promoting yourself.”
12 | Foster College of Business
“ In e-commerce, working from home is standard. I sometimes miss the camaraderie, but I GET MORE DONE than I would in an office.”
— ROB STANLEY ’11
ALEX LANGE, business systems analyst Another Foster grad who left the Midwest after graduation, Alex Lange ’15 and his girlfriend moved to the Denver area. He’d been hired by MetLife as a business systems analyst, using his degree in management information systems to become the liaison between internal clients and IT developers. The MIS specialty requires a high degree of technical skill as well as an ease with human interaction. “Some days it’s all technical, some days I’m in meetings all day,” he said. “It’s a lot of figuring out implicit meanings. We have deep dive sessions with clients to decide what our goals are, what we want to get out of the project. “Then I go back to the team and say, ‘This is what they want.’ We figure out our current capability and go from there.” Lange supports MetLife’s retail annuity administrative system and is transitioning into a project management role in a giant conversion project to migrate hundreds of the company’s computer systems onto a new platform. But it’s being done carefully, so as not to disrupt or endanger current work. “We’re making our lives easier
(by consolidating onto the new platform). We can’t make anyone else’s harder,” he said. Lange, who grew up playing with computers, is grateful for the thorough preparation he received at Bradley — and for the breadth of opportunities his profession offers. “MIS majors have a strong base of knowledge and know how to ask the right questions. I try to keep a learning mindset. It reminds me of my mentor Dr. (Chuck) West M.S. ’87, who always encouraged us to ‘learn to learn. To apply what we know in one space to another.’” n
“WE HAVE DEEP DIVE SESSIONS WITH CLIENTS TO DECIDE WHAT OUR GOALS ARE, what we want to get out of the project. Then I go back to the team and say, ‘This is what they want.’ We figure out our current capability and go from there.” — ALEX LANGE ‘15
Bradley University | 13
By Joshua Lewer, associate professor of economics Illustration by Richard Mia
How will the rise of the populist movement affect the marketplace? What will the proposed tax cuts do to interest rates? How does a strong dollar help the global economy? Economics professor Joshua Lewer discussed these and other important questions about present trends and future indicators. WHAT IS THE CURRENT HEALTH AND OUTLOOK FOR THE U.S. LABOR MARKET? This is what the new “full employment” feels like. While there are a lot of dynamics taking place in the labor market, there’s a lot to be excited about: namely, job growth has been solid and wages are starting to rise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2016-17 the U.S. economy netted more than 2.3 million jobs, and average wages grew by 2.5 percent. At the same time, unemployment tumbled to its lowest rate since 1973, meaning we’re not observing anything near mass layoffs, and the duration has also moderated. However, there were significant declines in prime-aged male labor force participation rates, and the U.S. had a record 95 million Americans not participating in the labor market at all. Changes in desirable labor skillsets and aging demographics explain a large part of this phenomenon. This issue will be a headwind to economic growth going forward.
14 | Foster College of Business
WITH THE RISE OF POPULIST MOVEMENTS AND INCREASED GEOPOLITICAL UNCERTAINTIES, WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT ON EMERGING AND DEVELOPED MARKETS? WHAT ARE POTENTIAL RISKS FOR THE FUTURE? A few years ago, Peoria-based economist Janice Zagardo and I ran a Monte Carlo simulation with a futures model and found that in a world with 2 percent less trade annually, in 10 years out, there is a heightened chance of interstate conflict among countries, and slower economic growth for the U.S. and especially for exportoriented developing countries. For the U.S. specifically, we found that income inequality slightly improves in a less-globalized world and manufacturing share of GDP increases, but the average living standards fall by nine percent 30 years into the future, primarily due to slower economic growth.
WOULD HIGHER DEFICITS IN THE FEDERAL BUDGET SPUR FASTER ECONOMIC GROWTH? HOW WOULD THEY AFFECT INTEREST RATES AND INFLATION? Since January 2009, the federal government has racked up $11 trillion of new debt, with total U.S. obligations now a whopping $20 trillion. These deficits have no doubt been a stimulatory prescription to our economy. John Maynard Keynes suggests we should “spend against the wind.” That is, during economic downturns, the government should run massive deficits to pull us out of recessions, but in times of economic expansion, the government should
run surpluses and pay off some of its borrowing. As you know, we have trouble with the latter. If implemented, the tax cuts and spending increases would lead to a shot in the arm for economic growth, but they would also generate higher debt burdens for the taxpayer going forward, as well as higher inflation and interest rates.
WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF A STRONG DOLLAR IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY? The positive is that we all feel richer. Our dollar buys more, making the costs of that trip to Europe you’ve always wanted to take more affordable. On the flip side, U.S. exports decline as companies find that their products’ price just went up for international customers. There’s no doubt that our trade deficit worsens as the dollar strengthens.
DO YOU BELIEVE THE GROWING WEALTH INEQUALITY COULD HURT THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM? There are many potential solutions to this problem. (French economist Thomas) Piketty promotes a global tax on capital/assets. Another major initiative is “The Equality of Opportunity Project,” which focuses on solutions to social mobility and inequality. The collaboration found several major factors that strongly correlate with improved economic outcomes within the U.S. and other countries. Factors that significantly improved economic outcomes include desegregation of communities by race and
educational attainments, and K-12 school quality and funding. Improved social capital and community family structures also play a significant role in the study.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INDICATOR OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE COMING YEAR? Yogi Berra once said, “Forecasting is very difficult, especially when it involves the future.” I like to use several leading economic indicators when determining the direction of economic activity. When a great majority of the indicators suggest positive momentum like today, we can feel fairly confident that the economy will grow in the next three to six months. Alan Greenspan was known to follow over 30,000 different indicators when considering the health of the economy, but if you had to pick just one, I’d choose what’s known as the yield curve. The yield curve looks at the difference between long-run risk versus short-run risk. In this case, long-run risk is measured by the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, and short-run risk is proxied as the yield on three-month Treasury bills. The yield curve indicates a recession may be forthcoming when the short-run interest rates are greater than the long-run interest rates. Fortunately, today the yield curve indicates future growth.
This story is a condensed version of an interview originally published in iBi magazine, April 2017. Read the complete text at peoriamagazines.com.
Bradley University | 15
RESEARCH RUNDOWN By Mary Brolley
In this recurring feature, we provide a quick look at what our faculty are up to: what interests them, what they’re thinking about — and how they’re changing the world of business.
CRUISE PASSENGERS TELL ALL Assistant Professor of Marketing Amita Bhadauria primarily studies certain aspects of consumer behavior. In her dissertation, she looked at the role of aesthetics in consumers’ moral judgments. She found that no matter how lofty our goals when considering a purchase — favoring corporate social responsibility, for example — a product’s beauty is the ultimate driver of choice. Bhadauria has a diverse educational background, with degrees in economics, English literature, psychology and social work, plus an MBA and a doctorate in marketing. Her professional experience includes stints in market research and in Google’s online advertising division.
AMITA BHADAURIA
Much of her early research — conducted as a faculty member at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee — is on the likes and dislikes of cruise ship passengers.
MARKETING
News you can use: Know your customers For someone who’s never taken a cruise, Bhadauria knows an awful lot about this popular form of vacation travel. Because of a lack of research on how customers choose cruise companies or destinations — and how satisfied they are with their choices — she decided to explore which factors resonate with customers. The website cruisecritic.com became a rich vein of information. She found that, by and large, cruise customers were a satisfied bunch. To dig deeper, she combed through reviews on the main types of cruises (singles, newlyweds, families, seniors, etc.), to see each segment’s priorities.
“ PEOPLE DON’T CARE HOW BIG A SHIP IS. THEY CARE HOW MUCH SPACE PER PERSON THERE IS. SO, A TAKEAWAY FOR CRUISE SHIP COMPANIES: DON’T OVERBOOK YOUR SHIPS.”
No. 1 consideration for cruisers: competitive rates and great dining options. After that, some interesting differences emerged. Singles and those on cruises to Alaska were interested in great public spaces. Families, seniors and disabled cruisers valued (the quality of) cabins and service as well as the ease of boarding. Customers value the ship’s stability — to avoid seasickness. And they’re not in a hurry to go from Point A to Point B. Some huge ships have malls, auditoriums, ice skating rinks. “It’s like a whole little floating island,” said Bhadauria. Another of her takeaways: cruise clients prefer tall (more vertical) ships. Why? “More windows, and more cabins with a view.” Cruisecritic includes specifications of ships, so she was able to assess how important size was to customer satisfaction. “People don’t care how big a ship is. They care how much space per person there is. So, a takeaway for cruise ship companies: Be aware that customers don’t like to feel crowded. Don’t overbook your ships.” After this virtual immersion in the world of cruise ships, Bhadauria does hope to set sail someday. “I think I’d like to go to the Caribbean,” she said. n
16 | Foster College of Business
THE CAGE MANAGER WAS ACTING CAGEY As the new operations manager for a Las Vegas casino, Fanghong “Jason” Jiao became concerned when the woman who managed the cage — a casino’s financial center of operations — limited Jiao’s access and wouldn’t answer questions about the cage’s operations. Soon after, two employees told him the cage manager had been “borrowing” cash and writing personal checks to cover it. After an internal audit showed nearly $130,000 missing, the cage manager was fired and prosecuted. For Jiao, it was an indelible lesson on the need for businesses to implement and enforce strong internal controls.
JASON JIAO ACCOUNTING
Now an assistant professor of accounting and a CPA, he teaches undergraduate courses in accounting information systems and advanced accounting. His current research involves earnings management, the act of purposely influencing the process of financial reporting to mislead stakeholders or influence executive contracts. The custom, which has grown since then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Leavitt called it “widespread” in 1998, hurts earnings quality and weakens the credibility of financial reporting.
News you can use: Establish internal controls Jiao is interested in fraud in all its forms. Before he began research on the high-stakes practice of real earnings management, he spent years working in operations roles — including human resources — in the hospitality industry. There he acquired knowledge that may be helpful to any business owner or company. Though few businesses and organizations handle the large amounts of cash typical of casinos, the larger lessons hold true.
1 2 3 4 5
Fraud often begins in small increments, so encourage employees to report even seemingly minor accounting discrepancies. Embezzlers often believe they’ll be able to pay the business back, but are rarely able to. The sooner the fraud is caught, the better.
(JIAO’S) CURRENT RESEARCH INVOLVES EARNINGS MANAGEMENT, THE ACT OF PURPOSELY INFLUENCING THE PROCESS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING TO MISLEAD STAKEHOLDERS OR INFLUENCE EXECUTIVE CONTRACTS.
Among employees who handle or reconcile cash stores, take note of personality changes, atypical behavior or mood swings, as they may be a sign an employee is committing fraud. Even small cash-intensive operations must ensure that employee duties are strictly segregated. For example, because the cage manager who embezzled funds from the casino was responsible for cash recording and custody, she should not have been performing reconciliations. Appropriate internal controls are necessary even for longtime, trusted employees. Assure employees that implementing and maintaining control improvements in their areas of responsibility will make them above suspicion. n
Bradley University | 17
18 | Foster College of Business
HARDHATS REQUIRED
Construction of Bradley’s new business and engineering complex continues. Completed so far: utility installation and site excavation, a soil retention system and concrete poured for most of the building’s footings, basement walls and floor. In January, workers poured concrete on the elevated slab (shown in the photo), which allows interior work to progress in the enclosed section on the basement level. In the spring, the building will begin to take shape with exterior walls, along with mechanical, electrical and plumbing installation.
Bradley University | 19
A LOOK BACK Baker Hall: Roots in the 1950s In the years following World War II, enrollment exploded at Bradley,
Hall instead. Completed in 1991, the new building incorporated
and the university needed a building to house its growing College
the latest technology and was double the size of the original, with
of Business Administration. Classes were taking place in six different
additional classrooms, auditoria, computer laboratories, office
buildings, and in 1957 only the College of Engineering had a home
space, an investment trading center, a human behavior laboratory,
of its own in Jobst Hall.
an executive conference center and a faculty-staff lounge. — S.L.G.
After securing more than 85 percent of the $570,000 total cost from Murray M. Baker, an executive with Holt Manufacturing (precursor to Caterpillar Inc.), construction began on a 17,000-square-foot, three-story brick building. Completed on the site where Alumni Hall previously stood, the original Baker Hall opened in 1958 (shown below), and for the first time the college had facilities for its needs. One of the innovative programs offered was industrial distribution, which consisted of business, science and engineering courses. With graduates highly sought after by industry, the program was one of the first examples of convergence between business and engineering, a trend that continues today. In 1985, Bradley’s board of trustees announced a $26 million campaign that would include renovating and joining Jobst and Baker halls. The campaign exceeded its goal by $6 million, which led to the decision to build a new Baker
20 | Foster College of Business
Industrial distribution, offered from 1958-74, was one of the first examples of convergence between business and engineering, a trend that continues today.
DEGREES OF SUCCESS Decade after decade, Foster College turns out successful graduates in a wide range of professions. In this issue, we focused our attention on accounting.
’09
’78
LAUREN PETERSON REEVES ’09 MSA ’10
DANIEL PETERSON ’78
FOLLOWING AN ESTABLISHED PATH Although initially reluctant to follow her father’s career choice, once she took her first accounting class at Bradley, Reeves realized that her ideas about the profession didn’t match the reality.
A FOUNDATION IN BUSINESS After beginning his career at the public accounting firm Altschuler, Melvoin & Glasser, Peterson worked in the banking industry for a few years before joining the National Bureau of Property Administration, considered the oldest property tax firm in the U.S.
Assurance Manager, RSM US LLP
“I thought it was more about number crunching, but it’s actually more about logic,” she said. “That opened my eyes.” CONTINUED CAREER SUCCESS Public accounting has a defined structure, Reeves said, which means her career has followed a specific trajectory at RSM. There are three different sectors, including tax and audit, which offer entry-level positions, and consulting, typically for those with more senior-level experience. Currently, Peterson works in the audit sector. “Audit is a lot more interactive: you’re constantly working with clients,” she said, noting the flexibility of the schedule. “… You might be on a two-week project or maybe you’re working from home one day. The benefits are awesome, but you’re always on call.” Reeves makes sure her clients — most of which are nonprofit organizations — follow all the appropriate accounting principles. She spends most of her time reviewing associates’ work and coordinating client deliverables, but jumps into the details if a complex audit issue requires more involvement. In the next year, Reeves hopes to become a senior manager, at which point she would look into the requirements for becoming a partner at her firm.
Chairman and CEO, National Bureau of Property Administration
The company works with corporate clients on large-scale building projects, e.g., a new headquarters complex; they also reassess existing structures. Peterson and his team work with the appropriate officials to assure their clients have the lowest legitimate assessment. “(For a new building) we start negotiations with the local economic development council and go all the way to the governor’s office in some cases,” he said. “We’re bringing a multimillion or even multibillion-dollar investment with thousands of high-paying jobs and a clean industry to their community, and we negotiate to achieve the best package of tax incentives available.” A SENSE OF ETHICS Reputation is everything, Peterson said, so it’s important to be truthful with clients. The same holds true for the clients themselves. “A lot of people go after the quick money, but we turn down more engagements (about 65 percent) every year by far than we accept.” Peterson said the reason was usually because the company did not think it could add value in a cost-effective way or the client company’s assessment was not out of line and there were no significant tax savings opportunities. “We have the luxury and the discipline to only accept assignments where we think we can truly add value.” — S.L.G.
ADVICE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS: Many graduates pursue public accounting, and Reeves thinks it’s a great way to learn a lot in a short amount of time. She also encouraged people to think beyond the stereotypes. “It’s not just sitting in a cube crunching numbers … You’ll also learn those (important) soft skills.”
ADVICE FOR ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS: Always be prepared. If you don’t know something, ask. Don’t spin your wheels trying to figure it out on your own. Be truthful with your clients: don’t overpromise. Communicate with them to make sure they know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it so they’re not surprised. Do everything in an ethical manner.
Bradley University | 21
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 688
1501 West Bradley Avenue Baker Hall 123 Peoria, IL 61625 Change Service Requested
TOOLS FOR OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES? THAT DEPENDS ON YOU. Even in state-of-the-art facilities, it’s pretty challenging to provide a forward-thinking curriculum without the necessary tools. That’s why Bradley University’s business and engineering complex will have the programming and resources that let students learn and collaborate on the kind of innovative ideas that industries and their employees need to succeed. Please consider making a gift to support the next generation of business leaders. Contact Karen Campbell at (309) 677-3661 or kcampbell2@bradley.edu to discuss how you can impact the student experience.