Greg Laurence, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Management, focuses his research around employee health and well-being, with interests such as workspace personalization, workaholism, and work-family conflict and how these phenomena intersect with the experience of stress at work.
Recently appearing in Real Simple magazine, The Well Workplace is an article that focuses on tips for making your job and workspace healthier. Click HERE to see the article.
Throughout the course of the University’s history, the School of Management has forged partnerships with a number of community colleges across the state of Michigan to provide an easier transition for their students when transferring to the University of Michigan-Flint in pursuit of a BBA degree.
The School of Management is proud to provide financial support to the highest achieving students from our partner schools. We are pleased to announce that 14 top transfer students from eight community colleges around the state of Michigan were awarded BBA Transfer Scholarships worth $28,000 for the 2015-2016 academic year.
The School of Management proudly welcomes these outstanding undergraduate students who bring an average GPA of 3.63 and average accumulated credits of 47.
The University of Michigan-Flint School of Management (SOM) is unveiling a new major this fall as part of its burgeoning entrepreneurship and innovation offerings.
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management major blends the expertise of the school’s marketing and management faculty, and covers an array of issues, such as product design, business start-ups, technological innovation, marketing research, project management, and negotiation skills.
Read full article HERE.
By ROBERT GOLD On August 10, 2015 5:48 pm
It started off as a hobby.
Greg Hooper, who grew up learning how to woodwork from his dad, received a lathe late last year.
And shortly after getting this gift, a visitor stopped into his uncle’s lumber yard in Holly, where Hooper works.
“A gentleman came into the lumber yard with a wooden pen,” said Hooper, who is studying entrepreneurial management through the School of Management (SOM). “I asked him how he made it, where he got the wood, and got the parts.”
By Robert Gold On June 9, 2015 6:07 pm
University of Michigan-Flint student Ashley Knific will move her venture, Jobs 4 Moms, into the university’s Innovation Incubator later this month.
At the core of her organization’s concept is finding balance between raising a family and succeeding professionally. Knific aims to connect employers and employees, which will allow people to work from home and help employers find qualified staff.
Read the full article HERE.
By UM-Flint News On May 14, 2015 6:34 pm
Scott Johnson, Ph.D., is the dean of the School of Management (SOM). He discusses a wide variety of topics in this interview with UM-Flint staff writer Robert Gold.
Read the full article HERE.
Sponsored by Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy
After months of hard work, research, and tough competition, University of Michigan-Flint student and aspiring educator, Ashley Knific, was named the winner of the Annual School of Management Business Plan Competition.
According to the research of Sheryl Sandberg, author and Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, 43% of highly qualified women risk their careers when deciding to take leaves of absence to raise their children.
Ashley’s proposed multi-level nonprofit, Jobs 4 Moms, aims to eliminate the tough decision that mothers often face between fostering their children and pursuing career goals, by implementing emerging technologies and proprietary software to pair mothers with businesses willing to employ skilled workers in flexible positions.
Jobs 4 Moms plans to use the $5,000 first place prize provided by event sponsor, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, to fund the development of a minimally viable website launch. This major first step will allow the nonprofit to fine tune the online platform to best suit both the employers’ and mothers’ needs, prior to full implementation and launch later this year when job placement is projected to begin.
Ashley worked closely with University Outreach’s Innovation Incubator to develop her business plan and refine the final presentation. As the most recent qualifying not-for-profit tenant business, she will also begin receiving free office space in the Northbank Center this summer.
By UM-Flint News On January 16, 2015 7:28 pm
The School of Management is proud to announce a leadership gift of $2 million from the Hagerman Foundation on behalf of the Philip and Jocelyn Hagerman. The gift is the largest single donation to the School of Management, and will create the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation…
Read the full article HERE.
Syagnik (“Sy”) Banerjee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing
(Article by Kim Laux)
Last year, the United Nations released a startling statistic: Six of the world’s seven billion people have a mobile phone; only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet.
Mobile phones are everywhere (including bathrooms). Their potential to conveniently connect you to anyone, anywhere at anytime have helped them become the fastest adopted consumer technology in the history of the world. So, why is 80 percent of mobile usage still taking place within the home?
This is the question that inspired further research by Syagnik (“Sy”) Banerjee, Ph.D., mobile and interactive marketing professor at UM-Flint, and Ruby Roy Dholakia, Ph.D., director of the Research Institute for Telecommunications and Information Marketing. Their findings were released in the article “Situated or Ubiquitous? A Segmentation of Mobile E-Shoppers,” published in the International Journal of Mobile Communications (Vol. 11, No. 5, 2013).
“The numbers from A.C. Neilsen’s research data show that despite the recent explosion of mobile devices and shopping via mobile devices, more than 80 percent of mobile usage was from inside the home,” said Banerjee. “This indicated a paradox—mobile users seemed to predominantly use the device from fixed, situated locations.
“As I thought more about his, it made me recall experiences I had as marketing manager for a vehicle tracking company that ran along the highways of rural Rajasthan, India. GPS, our strongest competitor, suffered a market entry setback because truck drivers refused to allow these seamless, hassle-free tracking devices to transmit data without their control. It drove home a realization that despite appreciating the benefits of a connected world, individuals could potentially feel discomfort in wireless environments if they felt the devices were transmitting personal information without their consent.
“Taxi drivers in Boston and Washington DC raised some of the same concerns about being tracked by their navigation devices. It’s a complex issue because navigation is a two-way process, involving exchange of information. One cannot provide directions without knowing the exact location of the vehicle. When a window opens, it provides an opportunity for flow both ways—and that causes hesitation and skepticism.”
For this study, Banerjee conducted several focus groups where participants were asked to explain the circumstances under which they searched for information using their mobile phones. He then exposed them to location-based advertisements to draw out their reactions. Based on their responses, he drafted several layers of survey and developed a 13-item scale to identify how situated or ubiquitous (freely moving) a consumer was. The scale measured how physical location, timing, people in the area, and a sense of physical and virtual control impacted mobile behavior when shopping online.
“The study led to several findings,” said Banerjee. “Some customers had no problem searching for information on the go, but they would not make purchases or transactions because of concerns they had about network security. Those who felt more comfortable shopping anytime/anywhere were also more open to receiving ads via mobile devices than situated users. We also found that demographic characteristics like marital status, gender and ethnicity made a lot of difference on how situated or ubiquitous the user was likely to be. Marketers could use these insights to segment and target their mobile customers and campaigns accordingly.”
Brian Blume, Ph. D.
Professor of Org. Behavior & HR Management
(Article by Kim Laux)
When commenting on the results of a study that identified the greatest fears among Americans, comedian Jerry Seinfeld joked that “at a funeral, more people would rather be the guy in the coffin than the one delivering the eulogy.”
Fear of public speaking ranked higher on the list than death itself.
Public speaking anxiety is only one form of what scholars call communication apprehension (CA), the fear or anxiety of real (or even anticipated) communication with another person. These feelings may also arise during one-on-one conversations or in group discussions/meetings.
Seeking to understand the implications of CA in the business world, Brian D. Blume, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at UM-Flint, conducted a study in which he measured this level of fear/anxiety in 263 students.
Professor Blume and his two coauthors took a closer look at the relationship between students’ CA scores and leadership, multicultural appreciation, adaptability and grades. Their article, “Communication Apprehension: A Barrier to Students’ Leadership, Adaptability, and Multicultural Appreciation,” appeared in the Academy of Management Learning & Education (Vol. 12, No. 2, 2013).
“My earlier studies indicate that CA can prevent otherwise highly-capable individuals from reaching their full-potential,” said Blume. “Most research from the communication literature focuses on reducing CA in the context of a speech or presentation. However, the ability to overcome CA in a team setting and in a one-on-one conversation is likely to influence practices that are important for both business students and working professionals.”
The study revealed that CA was negatively associated with students’ willingness to take on leadership opportunities, appreciation for a multicultural world, and adaptability to new situations. People higher in CA are more likely to experience anxiety when required to communicate, avoid situations demanding communication and speak less when such situations are unavoidable.
“We believe that more research is needed to develop interventions for these contexts,” said Blume. “For example, if someone is hesitant to speak up in a group/team setting or when interacting with other individuals, s/he may want to set a goal to give a certain amount of input in their next team meeting. S/he may also set a goal to talk to one new person a week by initiating a conversation.”
Professor Blume believes that the first step toward managing CA is self-awareness.
“An honest and accurate assessment of one’s level of CA and its potential effects on academic, social and future career outcomes is essential,” he said. “This should be assessed early on in college to help students understand what they may be experiencing and allow them to confront the anxiety they feel in certain situations.
“People should be educated regarding the implications of higher CA and encouraged to go against feelings of anxiety to communicate whenever possible, particularly in relatively low-risk learning environments like the classroom. This is consistent with the clever adage that, The biggest difference between an experienced speaker and an inexperienced speaker is when an experienced speaker is scared to death, he knows it is normal.”
To help someone become more self-aware of his or her level of communication apprehension, Professor Blume has posted a self-assessment (as well as his full article) at http://www.professorblume.com/research.html. He also included a guide to help with interpretation of the CA score and links to websites that offer practical suggestions for overcoming CA.