Professor Sergio Rebelo (right), the Tokai Bank Distinguished Professor of International Finance, was recently knighted in his native Portugal.
	Professor Wally Scott addresses an audience at the Legends & Leaders Gala in May, where he was honored by National-Louis University for his contributions to improving education. Looking on is Diana Mendley Rauner, chair of the National-Louis Board of Trustees.  Photo © Mary Hanlon

Michelle Buck, associate director of executive education and professor of management and organizations, has been named to a new position at Kellogg: Director of Leadership Initiatives.

In June, Alexander Chernev, associate professor of marketing, published "Decision Focus and Consumer Choice Among Assortments," in Journal of Consumer Research.

Assistant Professors of Finance Andrea Eisfeldt and Adriano Rampini co-authored "Capital Reallocation and Liquidity," published in the April issue of Journal of Monetary Economics.

Michael Ludwig Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Organizations Ranjay Gulati has authored Alliances and Networks: A Resource-Based View, forthcoming by Oxford University Press.

During his recent European speaking tour, Philip Kotler, the SC Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, was awarded an honorary doctorate by The National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Kiev, Ukraine. The ceremony was held May 19 at the academy, which is the country's leading business school.

The Academy of Management has awarded its 2006 Distinguished Educator Award to J. Keith Murnighan, the Harold H. Hines Jr. Distinguished Professor of Risk Management. The prestigious award recognizes innovation in teaching.

Recently knighted in his native Portugal is Sergio Rebelo, the Tokai Bank Distinguished Professor of International Finance. The national honor, awarded by the military Order of Santiago, is bestowed for major contributions to the country's arts and sciences.

Stanley Reiter, the Morrison Professor of Economics and Mathematics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences, authored Designing Economic Mechanisms with Leonid Hurwicz. The book was published recently by Cambridge University Press.

Professor of Marketing Andris A. Zoltners, with Prabhakant Sinha and Sally E. Lorimer, co-authored The Complete Guide to Sales Force Incentive Compensation: How to Design and Implement Plans That Work, to be published in August by Amacom Books. The book is the third in their series. The authors also wrote "Match Your Sales Force Structure to Your Business Life Cycle," published in the July issue of Harvard Business Review.

United Press International recently reported findings from "When More May Be Less: The Effects of Regulatory Focus on Responses to Different Comparative Frames," a study by Nidhi Agrawal, the Donald P. Jacobs Scholar of Marketing (with Professors Shailendra Pratap Jain, Kelley School of Business, and Durairaj Maheswaran, Stern School of Business), published in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Offered in the April 11 UPI article was a summary of the researchers' insights on consumer response to advertising campaigns, some featuring a product's superiority over its competitor, and others claiming products are similar or equal to established brands.

Reuters on April 17 reported that a study by Arvind Krishnamurthy, associate professor of finance, and MIT economist Ricardo Caballero, was presented that day at the Atlanta Federal Reserve by Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson in his discussion of central bank intervention in times of investor uncertainty. "Agents respond to uncertainty regarding other markets by requiring financial intermediaries to lock up some capital to devote to their own market's shocks, regardless of what happens in other markets," Reuters quoted the authors as writing in their research. "This inflexibility leaves the economy overexposed to (moderate) aggregate shocks that are manageable by the private sector in the absence of flight to quality."

Kotler's new book tackles sports marketing challenges In their new book, The Elusive Fan, (McGraw-Hill) Philip Kotler, the SC Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, and co-authors Irving Rein and Ben Shields, present an innovative business model for optimal sports fan satisfaction and retention. Through their analysis of several successful sports leagues, teams and individual athletes, the authors deliver effective methods for transforming sports products into enduring brands that quickly adapt to changing market conditions. The book's topics include responsiveness to the competitive and cultural trends affecting sports marketing, as well as integration of new technologies to engage fans and maximize revenue. Kotler has written 35 books and has served as a consultant to IBM, General Electric, AT&T, Bank of America, Merck, Motorola and Ford, among other companies.  Rein serves on Major League Baseball's Commissioner's Initiative for the 21st Century and is a member of the advisory board for Northwestern University's Master of Arts in Sports Administration. He is also a professor of communication studies at Northwestern University's School of Communication, where Shields is pursuing his doctoral degree.

Embryonic stem cell research was the topic and Scott Stern, associate professor of management and strategy, was one of the contributors in an April 25 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.

"To stop (embryonic) stem cell research now because there are no immediate applications would be like stopping work on transistors in 1947 when their main application was considered as a potential hearing aid," said Stern.

Alexander Chernev, associate professor of marketing, shared his perspective on movie promotion at Starbucks in an April 27 Chicago Tribune article. In January, Starbucks agreed with Lionsgate to promote "Akeelah and the Bee" in exchange for a percentage of the film's net profits. Noted Chernev: "Starbucks has done very well by selling premium coffee. This is just another way to brand themselves. And from Lionsgate's perspective, they're reaching [a targeted audience]. This is the kind of promotion that could really help a film that otherwise might have low attendance in the first weeks."

Advantages of entrepreneurial firms in competition against larger entities were presented in a May 16 Chicago Tribune piece, quoting Barry Merkin, clinical professor of entrepreneurship. "Small businesses have a number of key attributes that allow them to survive and thrive in the face of massive competition from huge, powerful competitors with very deep pockets," Merkin said. Speed, agility, innovation, tenacity and a culture fostering new ideas are specific traits, he noted.

Advertisers have literally found a new vehicle to reach consumers, according to a June 2 Chicago Tribune article. Quoted is Bobby Calder, the Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Professor of Marketing and professor of psychology, who offered insights on why taxi roofs appeal to advertisers, who rent sign space on them. "[Advertising companies] are selling ads in gyms, on parking lot and supermarket floors – anything becomes the medium," said Calder. "So why not taxicabs? Any time you can get people exposed to your product, that has got to be a net positive."