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Business Networks | July, 2007 | Volume 5, Issue 7
Earnings benchmarks and financial reporting: Is there a problem?
If you cannot understand financial statements, you are not alone. “Anecdotal evidence from a couple of years ago indicated that only 20 percent of the members of boards of directors can decipher them,” said Abhijit Barua, assistant professor, School of Accounting in the College of Business Administration. Yet, these reports—whether issued quarterly or annually or both for public companies—contain indispensable information for investors, or for anyone interested in a company’s performance, from bankers to the government to employee unions. In addition to being impenetrable for many non-accounting professionals, financial statements may not be absolutely objective, a possibility with serious implications for those who rely on them for investment decisions. Barua and two colleagues set out to research “earnings management,” which examines accrual mechanisms used by firms in the context of three earnings benchmarks: avoiding losses (reporting zero or non-negative earnings), avoiding earnings declines (meeting or beating prior-period earnings), and avoiding earnings surprises (meeting or beating analysts’ forecasts). Read more. Blog this.
Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam named International Dean of the Year.
At the opening of their annual meeting’s plenary session on June 26, 2007, the Fellows of the Academy of International Business (AIB) presented Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam with this year’s International Dean of the Year Award. As such, she joins an elite list of deans from top international business schools around the world who have received the award in past years. “This singular honor recognizes all Elam has done to foster international business education at the university and elsewhere,” said Chapman School Dean José de la Torre, an AIB Fellow and leading international business scholar. Read more. Blog this. Consciousness-raising 21st-century style: Forums help people understand energy issues.
“I want each of you to look at the person sitting next to you,” said Ed Glab, director, Knight Ridder Center for Excellence in Management in the College of Business Administration, at the beginning of a presentation titled Energy Diversity and Fuel Economy. “Meet the problem.” Glab directed his words at the 185 people who gathered to hear about General Motor’s (GM) energy diversity strategy and to see some of the cars on display that do not rely on petroleum. He alerted the audience that, until we all change our behaviors, the problems spawned by greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel dependences won’t be solved. Yet, solve them we must, he added. Read more. Blog this. Second Life breathes new life into cross-cultural exchanges, collaborative projects, and online learning.
At any given moment, thousands—maybe even millions—of people across the real world log onto a virtual world called Second Life. One of those individuals is Ronald Lee, professor, Decision Sciences and Information Systems in the College of Business Administration. For Lee and a group of five doctoral students, Second Life is not just a place for casual social networking conducted from behind the anonymity of an alternate personality or avatar. Instead, it offers a potentially promising environment for collaborative work and cross-cultural understanding—two arenas of vital importance to the business school. “We are exploring how Second Life—a three-dimensional, highly interactive, Internet-supported platform—can enhance these efforts,” Lee said. “With our university’s multicultural emphasis, our position as a gateway to Latin América, and our leadership in expanding online learning across borders, we are interested in exploring the contributions Second Life can make.” Read more. Blog this. Florida businesses flourish with women at the helm.
Women-led businesses make a substantial contribution to the economy of the state according to a recently released study titled Florida’s Women-Led Businesses, 2007. Conducted by the College of Business Administration, the Center for Leadership, and the Metropolitan Center—all part of Florida International University—along with The Commonwealth Institute South Florida, the survey included responses from 127 women-led businesses with a combined state economic impact of more than $1.8 billion and a combined payroll of about 40,000 employees. The respondents held one of the following titles: president, CEO, chair of the board, and/or primary owner of a for-profit, Florida-based organization. Read more. Blog this. Intellectual property comes to the fore in business plan project.
A recent event brought together the Florida International University’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, the Office of Intellectual Property Management and Resource Development, and the Applied Research Center (ARC); the president of South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA); and 54 students in the College of Business Administration’s International MBA (IMBA) program taking Advanced Business Plan Development. The occasion: The students’ presentations of business plans for the commercialization of technologies developed by present and former university faculty members. Read more. Blog this.
BBA+ Weekend group takes community service to new level by entering the policy-making process.
How bright is the Sunshine State when it comes to autism? That’s the question students in the Business in Society class, part of their BBA+ Weekend program in the College of Business Administration, asked in their required community service project. The answer: Not very. Although the conclusion takes a mere two words, arriving at it involved months of research: heart-wrenching interviews with ten Florida families who have an autistic child, or in one instance, two of them; details on the more humane legislation in a sampling of other states—Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee; a summary of Federal provisions; and an overview of the impact and response across the globe based on information gathered on ways Australia, Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom support families facing the challenge of raising autistic children. Read more. Blog this.
Alumnus offers a novel approach to learning languages.
With an intense desire to learn Spanish and understanding the needs of the language-learning market, alumnus Archie Jeter (IMBA ’06) has created an innovative alternative to traditional Spanish lessons. In 2003, Jeter graduated from Northwest Missouri State University, where his interest in international cultures began. As an undergraduate, he studied in Madrid, Spain, and Brisbane, Australia. After working as a credit manager at Wells Fargo Financial for more than a year, he enrolled in the International MBA program in the college. During his studies, he traveled to Guatemala to learn Spanish. It was there that the concept for Mi-Maestro was born. The idea was to connect talented Spanish speaking teachers to individuals interested in one-on-one Spanish tutoring. “People who want to learn Spanish use books, audio tapes, or CDs, but the best way to learn a language is through one-on-one interaction,” Jeter said. “Most people don’t have the time or resources to travel to another country to immerse themselves in another culture and language.” Read more. Blog this. Alumni Notes
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