Management - Departmental News

Quotes Management Professor Merideth Ferguson

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 MST

Merideth Ferguson, recently quoted in Newsday, has done research on incivility in the workplace.

Merideth Ferguson, assistant professor of management at the Huntsman School of Business, was recently quoted in a story in Newsday.

The article focuses on the negative effects of workplace incivility and rudeness, which is an area of research expertise for Dr. Ferguson.

The column titled “Workplace rudeness can be bad for business,” states that 98% of Americans have been acquainted with workplace incivility and that these types of rude interactions can lead to profit losses, low morale, and a decrease in productivity.

One area of Dr. Ferguson’s research specializes in bad employee behavior. She is particularly interested in how abusive supervision and workplace incivility cross over to affect an employee’s family experiences.

Dr. Ferguson states in the article that incivility in the workplace is more subtle than bullying and it is often unclear whether rudeness is intentional or not. The best way to eliminate this bad behavior is to stop hiring people likely to participate in it, and she suggests organizations use personality testing in their selection processes.

The full article on workplace rudeness can be read here.

Huntsman Graduate, Jordan Phillips, Gets Education at USU and Iraq

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 MST

By Allie Jeppson

Before attending Utah State University, recent Huntsman graduate Jordan Phillips gained a less formal education — one that involved Howitzer guns, a journey to Iraq, and proved to be every bit as valuable as his business administration degree.

For the last 10 years, Jordan has served in the Army National Guard. His decision to enlist in the military was one that was made at a young age, shortly after high school graduation.

Jordan Phillips wanted to "give back" by joining the military.

Photo by Allie Jeppson

“It was a good way to pay for college,” Jordan said, “but more importantly, I felt that I had been blessed with a lot and wanted to give back.”

Not long after he enlisted, during his time in basic training, Jordan was notified that his unit would shortly be mobilized to Iraq. Five months later, after the completion of his training, Jordan found himself in a different country during the height of the Iraq war.

Jordan said that his mission in Iraq involved many convoys and route clearances because one of the biggest problems at that time was roadside bombs.

“It was unconventional warfare,” he said. “There was a lot going on and I was just a young kid, but it helped me grow up a lot and it was eye opening.”

Jordan said his experience taught him how to adapt and overcome obstacles.

“At a young age, learning that (lesson) kind of helped me in the future with school too,” he said. “When you feel like you’re overwhelmed with assignments, ultimately if you just push through it, you’re ok, but if you think about giving up it’s just going to get you in trouble.”

Jordan Phillips poses with a young Iraqi girl during his first deployment to Iraq.

Photo courtesy of Jordan Phillips

Jordan’s deployment lasted a year and a half after which time he worked at a car dealership for two years and then decided to attend Utah State in fall 2008.

Two years after that, in August 2010, Jordan postponed his schooling as he was sent to Iraq a second time.

During his second deployment, Jordan served as a leader within his unit over a team of seven other men. His mission this time was
to work alongside Special Forces in helping with things like training Iraqi Security Forces, and targeting and pursuing high value insurgents. His service lasted one year, after which he returned and finished school. Though it took him a little longer than usual to earn his degree, Jordan said that the experiences he had in Iraq are invaluable to him.

“My experiences in the military helped me be a better student and my education at USU helped me become a better soldier,” he said.

Particularly, Jordan noted that his second deployment helped him to become a leader and discover what type of leader he wanted to be.

“There’s a saying in the military that states, ‘you can push your men into battle or you can have your men follow you into battle,'" he said. “You want to be the type of person people can respect and that they want to follow.”

Jordan stated that he found this lesson to be applicable in classroom settings where he needed to work effectively with other students and group members. He believes it will also be an important component in his upcoming job as a corporate sales development specialist with Workday where he will help corporations implement Workday’s software.

“The job requires excellent communication skills and the ability to listen to assess client needs,” Jordan said. “Both skills that were developed from the military and my schooling at USU.”

Though his experiences in the military were valuable to his scholarly and professional success, Jordan said that there are many other ways that students can gain school-enhancing experiences.

“I chose the military,” he said, “but that’s not to say that is the best route for everyone. Students can still gain their own unique and valuable experiences through community service, club involvement, student body activities, internships, etc., to help them become better students.

Huntsman Students Create New Marketing Approach Called "The Flash"

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 MST

It all started with an idea — an idea that then became a reality.

First senior Kevin Schmidt and two other Huntsman students created an approach that allowed companies to advertise more effectively to college students, and then the Flash Marketing Group was born.

Kevin, an entrepreneurship major, said they are able to market to USU students rapidly and effectively using business logo-bearing T-shirts, games, and prizes.

“We give out thousands of free shirts on a campus and then have all the students wear them on the same day — that is what we call the flash,” Kevin said. “We have crafted a new and exciting way to market.”

The Flash Marketing Group held its first campaign in October for Firehouse Pizzeria. Kevin said the campaign’s success showed the effectiveness of their approach to advertising, and led to an unexpected increase in the Flash Marketing Group’s business sales.

The Flash Marketing Group’s work became more visible after it conducted a successful campaign for the Huntsman MBA program, Kevin said.

Huntsman Students Doug Deakin and Matt Brown Awarded in Top 25 Utah Student-Founded Businesses

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 MST

Two Huntsman students, Doug Deakin and Matt Brown, were named among the 25 winners of the Top 25 Student- Founded Businesses in Utah. The awards were given by the nonprofit “Utah Student 25” at the Utah Student 25 Awards Gala March 14 at the University of Utah.

Doug Deakin, founder of Organic Farms, a company that distributes organic grain products, placed number 7, while Matt Brown, founder of Grass Masters, a landscaping company, placed number 19.

The Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the Huntsman School, led by executive director Mike Glauser, has focused on creating the academic and experiential opportunities necessary to prepare students to create and launch viable businesses.

“This is the first time we’ve had two students place in the top 25,” he said. “They both worked very hard to prepare for this competition, and I am so proud of both of them.”

The “Utah Student 25” is a non-profit Utah corporation that administers an awards program to recognize top student-founded businesses in the state of Utah. The goal of the organization is to encourage growth and entrepreneurial activities in the state.

My Favorite Professor: USU Grad Nick Bahr Recalls Working on Research Projects with Dr. Chad Albrecht

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 MST

My experience with Dr. Chad Albrecht was life changing in a literal sense. I was privileged to collaborate with him on several research projects while working on my undergraduate degree at USU.

One project, on how management styles are shifting, led to a presentation at the Mountain Plains Management Conference in Utah. It was based on a theory from Simon L. Dolan at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, where I am now studying. Dr. Albrecht and I researched how management styles are shifting from "managing by instruction" to “managing by objectives” to the current and future method, “managing by values.”

Another project, on financial fraud prevention, led to publication in a scholarly journal. In each case Dr. Albrecht listened to my ideas and allowed me to choose what I wanted to work on with him.

Working with Dr. Albrecht is like an ongoing pep talk peppered with enlightening flashes of learning. He treated me like an equal and rarely took credit for the things he did for me. For instance, we decided that my name should appear as the lead author in the article we published.

All along the way he spent time:

explaining how the research process works
guiding me and my student peers through how
to cite authors correctly
teaching us how to use research tools such as surveys and coding.

He also spent time and money drinking hot cocoa with us and discussing our futures.

Dr. Albrecht has a contagious enthusiasm for learning, and never made us feel we were wasting his time.

I can’t thank you enough, Dr. Albrecht, for your time.

Entrepreneurship Club Draws Students From Across Campus to Entrepreneurship Week Events

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 MST

By Allie Jeppson and Steve Eaton

Every year children across the country mix up their best brew, hand-letter signs, and test their parents’ support levels by opening makeshift lemonade stands. During Entrepreneurship Week, USU students, armed with a grownup understanding of marketing, were given a chance to show off how they would make such a basic sales venture successful.

Bryce Smalley pitches an idea for a "quick connect coupler" to a panel of judges during Entrepreneurship Week.

They only had three hours to see how much cash they could earn selling lemonade concoctions of their own creation and at their own prices. Blue lemonade, lemonade mixed with energy drinks, lemonade floats, and even Chik-fil-A’s signature lemonade were all featured at stands around campus.

The winning team called “Aggieaide” decided that in addition to creating a focused marketing campaign, it would tap into what makes successful lemonade stands thrive everywhere - cute kids. The team drafted children to work their booth, and it was the little entrepreneurs who were asking people if they wanted to buy a lemonade at $1 a pop. They also offered to have someone on rollerblades deliver the lemonade to those wanting the service, and rumor had it that rolling beverage servers would sing for a tip as part of the delivery package. With the combination of the tried and true, and the new and innovative, they made $244.75.

Brittney Garbrick, a member of the winning team, and an MBA-MSHR student, said that running a lemonade stand is really no different than running any sort of business.

“It’s very simplified,” she said, “but you have to advertise, and you have to have good product, and you have to get people to come, and basically pay for something they don’t need.”

The lemonade event was one of several activities the Entrepreneurship Club included in Entrepreneurship Week, all aimed at encouraging students to look for innovative solutions and develop new business ideas.

Tyler Nielson, right, holds hands with young entrepreneur London Wilkey who helped his team sell lots of lemonade. Photo by Allie Jeppson

Kyle Ivins, president of the Entrepreneurship Club, said that this year they wanted to promote the type of entrepreneurial spirit that the E-club wants to encourage on campus. Kyle said a recent census revealed that within the Huntsman School alone there are some 80 students who own their own businesses.

“We also had a big push this year to include more students from outside the School of Business,” Kyle said. “We find that there are a lot of entrepreneurs outside the Huntsman School.”

Spike Cheever, director of competitions, said that there were 22 people who entered the elevator pitch competition this year, up from 12 last year. They presented their plans to a panel of judges, all drafted from the Founders Board for the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence. The Founders Board is a group of Huntsman alumni and friends who volunteer time and support to USU efforts that help students with their entrepreneurial ideas.

“They all said that this year’s ideas were the strongest they have seen yet,” Kyle said of the elevator pitch competition. “Usually, in years past, there have been three or four really strong ideas, and this year there were more than 10 strong ideas.”

The judging of the elevator pitch contest ended in a tie, so the prize money was evenly split between the two winners. Bryan LaBar came up with the idea of a foot sleeve that could be extended from sweat pants to cover toes and keep them warm. Matt Seely and Bryce Smalley pitched an idea for a product that is the foundation of their start-up company. It is a device that connects two fluid-transferring hoses called a quick-connect coupler. They claim their new patented design outperforms existing couplers in functionality and performance and can be manufactured at 1/10 the cost of their competitors' products. Matt and Bryce won $2,500, and so did Bryan.

Justin Graham with Delta Designs created a gas camping stove that is 90 percent smaller than a Coleman 2 burner but can perform just as efficiently. He took third place and won $1,000.

Some 30 teams entered the 72-hour competition, up by 10 from 2012, in a contest that challenged students to identify something that “bugged them” and propose a solution to it on video.

The first-place team in the 72-hour competition, led by Chris Chamberlain, came up with an idea to create an app that will allow movie theaters to open their seats for a bidding style approach (similar to Priceline.com) so each seat could be filled if the theater is not completely full. They earned $1,000 for their idea and video.

The second-place team, led by Spencer Finch, was awarded $600 in prize money. Their idea was to create an application that would allow a consumer to view all of the daily or weekly deals for shopping around town and locate the nearest store that price matches and contains all of the items the consumer wants. This way a shopper would only have to go to one place to get the best prices.

Six-Week Entrepreneurship Minor Offered Summer 2013

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 MST

Huntsman's new six-week entrepreneurship minor will help students develop leadership skills.

Photo by: Russ Dixon

In summer semester 2013, the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business will offer students a new opportunity to earn an entrepreneurship minor in just six weeks.

Six two-credit classes are offered, and students will identify a business opportunity to develop throughout the six-week period.

The classes include new venture fundamentals, management, marketing, financing, planning, and social responsibility. These courses will guide students in learning to identify and develop new products and services; start, launch, and manage a new business venture; and develop entrepreneurial leadership skills.

The minor will begin May 6, 2013 and end June 10, 2013.

More information about the unique curriculum and the course can be found on the entrepreneurship minor webpage.

Marketing Professors Adjust Message, Kick-Start New Industry

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 MST

Editor's note: "When Theory Meets Practice - Stories From the Workplace" features professionals who share tales of challenging events that tested them with the unexpected.

By Cathy Hartman and Edwin Stafford, Huntsman professors

One might think that a proposal to save water during a drought would be an easy sell. We discovered that it was not.

We knew that, according to theory, in the world of marketing if you aren’t prepared to adjust your approach until your message connects with your audience’s hearts and not just their heads, you will end up spending all of your time talking to yourself and alienating your audience. We learned that you need to understand your audience’s values when framing effective marketing messages.

It took a bit of Photoshop magic to get Cathy Hartman and Edwin Stafford to appear on top of a wind turbine.

It was in 2003 that we joined the Utah Wind Working Group, a volunteer committee that was supported by the Utah Energy Office with funds from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program. We accepted the task of promoting community acceptance of wind power in Utah to win popular support for legislation that would offer tax incentives to entrepreneurs willing to invest in renewable energy.

In the summer of 2003, Utah was suffering from a severe drought. At the time, coal-powered electricity was relatively inexpensive and the prevailing choice among policy makers even though coal plants in the west consumed 650 million gallons of water every day – a fact that few Utahns realized. Wind turbines, by contrast, don’t require any water to generate power, so we decided to build our messaging around that benefit with a slogan that said, “Wind Power Saves Water!”

Our hope was to drive people to our website to learn how wind power saved water as a viable substitute for traditional coal-fired power. The campaign, however, did not generate the web traffic we had expected. In fact, it appeared that no one cared about the water-energy connection. Our campaign did, however, spark one inaccurate news story that managed to offend a utility plant executive, someone we would have rather not alienated.

We learned two lessons: One, connecting wind power to something people didn’t care about is not effective marketing. And two, marketers need to consider how messages unintentionally could offend specific audiences.

As we reevaluated our campaign, searching for an approach that would resonate with Utahns, we decided to emphasize how wind farms could generate new property tax revenues (paid by the wind entrepreneurs). We reasoned that since about 75% of property taxes in Utah went to fund local schools and supported Utah kids, we could tie wind power to what most Utahns really cared about!

We started a campaign that said, “Wind Power Can Fund Schools!” The marketing pull, which included billboards, prompted thousands to go to our web site. Policymakers began supporting wind power and soon, with an almost unanimous vote, legislators passed their first significant tax incentive package for renewable energy. That market incentive led to the creation of Utah’s first wind project in Spanish Fork in June of 2008.

Keep in mind the legislature had only recently voted down a bill that would have required utilities to use renewable sources of energy to generate a small percentage of their electricity. A change in attitude toward wind power was achieved.

Utahns value education and their children, but raising taxes to fund schools wasn’t politically popular. At the time Utah ranked dead last in per-pupil funding of education. We tapped into that dissonance and showed how wind power could be a solution for funding schools without raising taxes.That resonated with people! Our billboard and slogan were eventually adopted by the U.S. Department of Energy and other states in their wind power outreach efforts.

The success of the campaign reminded us that good marketing often is a matter of reaching your target audiences’ hearts, and not just their heads. Water conservation wasn’t nearly as important to Utahns as children, schools, and taxes. Had we stubbornly refused to abandon the water conservation message our story would have had a different ending.

The idea of being flexible and fine-tuning innovative approaches is constant not just in marketing but in business in general. In our case, we let the winds of change provide some education for us. We adjusted our approach, and helped ignite a new renewable energy industry in Utah.

Ethics Bowl Competition Tests Students As They Wrestle With Troubling Issues

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 MST

By Allie Jeppson

It’s not often that most people have the opportunity to argue with each other in front of a crowd of people and a panel of judges, but on Feb. 21, students from across the USU campus did just that.

They were discussing different ethical situations in the Fourth Annual Ethics Bowl. Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Ethical Leadership, (SAEL), the event was set up as a single-elimination debate tournament. With 24 competing teams, each team of three students was paired against another team, given an ethical case study, and assigned a position to take. The teams then had five minutes to prepare their case before arguing in front of judges that the option they had been given represented the most ethical of the proposed solutions.

Brook Silver, president of SAEL, and Alison Fife, vice president of SAEL tabulate points.

Photo by John Ferguson.

Topics debated during the event dealt with issues such as the DREAM Act, social media, weight regulation, and movie piracy.

“The goal for this event was to help support the Huntsman School’s fourth pillar of ethical leadership,” said SAEL Faculty Advisor John Ferguson. “Our students need to think through difficult ethical problems and this is a one way for them to wrestle with some complex issues now so they’ll be better prepared when faced with such dilemmas in the workplace.”

He said that when some people talk about ethics, they are thinking of all issues having a right or wrong choice. Sometimes, however, the choice is not so black and white.

“What if there are pros and cons on both sides?” he asked. “What if you have two bad choices or two good choices or what if it’s not clear which approach is best?”

Anthropology and political science student Prairie Fox said she came to understand the complexity of ethics while debating a dilemma that asked whether or not using information from Wikipedia required citations.

She said that she had always assumed citing Wikipedia wasn’t necessary but after the debate and looking at both sides of the issue, she decided crediting the website for ideas and facts might be a good idea after all.

“The major thing about (the Ethics Bowl) is that it forces you to look at both sides,” she said. “It challenges how you think.”
Business major Jeff Parker agreed.

“It definitely stretched us because we were assigned which opinion we had to take regardless of our personal views,” he said.
“It is important for students to start struggling with such issues now because if they don’t, they won’t be prepared,” Mr. Ferguson said. “They won’t have thought through some of the ethical issues they might face in the real world.”

Students Win Case Study Competition By Developing Metrics For Skullcandy Training Efforts

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 MST

By Allie Jeppson

A Case Study Competition asked students to submit ideas to help Skullcandy with training and marketing issues.

In search of finding a quantifiable way to measure training efforts, Skullcandy turned to USU students for a help during the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Marketing Case Competition.

The competition put participants into a real-life training and marketing situation as teams of two to five students were given a problem that the company was facing and 48 hours to put together a presentation that offered a solution.

This case asked students to analyze a college ambassador program that Skullcandy will be implementing in the future. Skullcandy is a global designer, marketer, and distributor of performance audio and gaming headphone and other accessory related products. The company markets its products under the “Skullcandy,” “Astro Gaming,” and “2XL by Skullcandy” brand names.

Huntsman School of Business alumnus and Skullcandy Global Training Manager Cohen Summers, told students in presenting the case study on Feb. 20, that the company was looking specifically for metrics, a way to quantify how well the new program is doing.

“Traditionally with a lot of marketing activations we challenged to find ways to quantify, in a tangible way, the return on investment,” Mr. Summers said, adding that the company traditionally looks to “sell-through” metrics — a cause and effect relationship between an event and the sale of a product.

Skullcandy was launched in 2003 and quickly became, according to the company, one of the “world's most distinct audio brands by bringing unique technology, color, character and performance to an otherwise monochromatic space; helping to revolutionize the audio arena by introducing headphones, earbuds and other audio and wireless lifestyle products that possess unmistakable style and exceptional performance.”

Mr. Summers said that many marketing returns, other than sell-through, are intangible, such as brand loyalty, awareness, and customer perception. The company was seeking a way to measure the impact of the program in order to justify spending the money that will be invested in it, he said.

After 48 hours of preparation, the seven participating teams presented their solutions to Skullcandy.

Students Jon Edwards, Ace Beorchia, Spencer Hall, and Brad Cannon took the first place prize winning an overnight stay in Park City, Utah near Skullcandy headquarters, a day on the ski slopes and a tour of the company.

The highlight of their presentation was the generation of a unique equation to specifically measure the effectiveness of an event hosted by one of the Skullcandy college ambassadors.

Ace Beorchia related the equation to a funnel that measured an event in layers. He said it first measured advertising success through event attendance. Then, in the next part of the equation, the number of students that visit a website because of an event is measured. Lastly, he said that the equation measured the number of sales related to a specific event.

According to Ace, the Skullcandy ambassador would then receive a score, based on the equation and according to event attendance, site-visits, and sales. An overall event score that would help calculate brand loyalty and awareness, as well as the effectiveness of the ambassador, would also be produced.

“The great thing about the equation is that many of the variables can be changed to add weight to one section, while also tailoring the numbers for each individual university,” Ace said. “We understand that no two universities are the same so Skullcandy needs a measurement that is both uniform and flexible. That is what we created.”

The equation created by the team reads:

Ea = A/αP
Eh = h/βA
Es = {[(S/xh)[(w1/xh) + (w2/xh)1.1 + (w3/xh)1.2]}
ETotal = .5(A/αP) + .15(h/βA) + .35{[(S/xh)[(w1/xh) + (w2/xh)1.1 + (w3/xh)1.2]}

Where,

E= Efficiency Rating
A= Attendance
P= Student Body Population
h= Website Hits from Event
S= Total Sales from Event
W= Weekly sales
α= Expected percent in attendance
β= Expected percent of website hits
X= Expected percent of sales

Mr. Summers stated that the overall event and experience was a great success for Skullcandy because of all the ideas and insight that they gained.

“It was a complete success and we are really, really excited about the results on so many levels,” Mr. Summers said. “We look forward to doing more with the Huntsman School.”

Skullcandy’s products are sold and distributed through a variety of channels in the U.S. and approximately 80 countries worldwide. Those interested in more information may visit skullcandy.com, or facebook.com/skullcandy or follow the company on Twitter @skullcandy.