On March 27 2010, BonaResponds will be sponsoring the first Bonaventure (inter) national service day. We are asking all alumni (and everyone else) to get involved.
It is really easy. No matter where you are around the world (we have at least one group in Singapore and maybe another in Western China as well). Go out into your local community and volunteer. Then share your experience with the hundreds of other volunteers that will also be volunteering.
It will be great fun and a great way to "change the world!"
An article about Laurie Branch in the OTH. Not only is Ms. Branch the CEO of Iroquois Group, but she is on the SBU Board of Trustees and teaches a couple sections of Finance 301 at SBU. Lessons in Leadership
"Part in parcel of the changing workplace, Ms. Branch said, is the vision workers have of what their lives can be like. “I think now we do a great job of managing expectations so that women don’t graduate from school thinking ‘Hey, I’m going to be a great mom, a great wife and a great executive.’”
Life facilitates choices.....
She said they have a game room at the office, complete with a Nintendo Wii."
Sounds like a good new course! And yet another example of how the distance between all fields is shrinking. As it has been said many times, "we no longer live in a world of silos".
Business Reporting (JMC 401B, M 5:30-8:10)
"Will the Buffalo Bills move to Toronto or Los Angeles? Michael Jackson died — so why was his comeback reincarnated as a movie? How were millionaires stripped of their wealth by an elaborate scam? These are some of the hottest stories of the last year. You’ll find one in the sports section, another in entertainment, and the third on the front page. But each is a business story. Business journalism is telling stories about people — how they create strategy, negotiate deals, take risks and make (or lose) money. That includes Wall Street, of course, and it includes the small shops you’ll find on Main Street in any town. It also includes multibillion-dollar industries like sports and entertainment. In this class, you will learn how to navigate financial statements and ask questions about numbers in a way that’s understandable to the ordinary citizen. This class is vital for anyone who plans work within – sports, entertainment or any field in which big money drives the big decisions. The instructor is Tim O’Shei, managing editor of the Business First newspaper in Buffalo. "
Rodney Paul, Ph.D., had the paper “Sportsbook Pricing and the Behavioral Biases of Bettors in the NHL” accepted for publication by the Journal of Economics and Finance.
Art Roberts, a 1968 graduate and former U.S. Army artillery officer, will draw on his most recent experience as the Vice President of Human Resources for Eastman Kodak on November 10 at 8 p.m., in the Quick Arts Center. The Leadership Center encourages all students in leadership positions or interested in pursuing a business degree to come, interact and engage with the fellow Bonnie!
YouTube - New Sports Management Minor up and running at SBU!: "Just a reminder that there is now a sports management minor at SBU. It is available to you if you from any minor. Here Rodney Paul tells us what classes are available to fill slots this semester."
Former SBU School of Business Professor, Dr. Steve Horan, will give a talk this Thursday Nov. 5th at the University Club above the Hickey. The event is scheduled for 8:30 am and breakfast will be served. Dr. Horan will discuss various topics dealing with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Dr. Horan is currently Head, Professional Education Content and Private Wealth for the CFA Institute.
The event is $10 for those outside the School of Business.
Dr. Mahar is listed in the "100 Best Professors Who Blog" article dated October 12, 2009 posted on www.onlinecollege.org/blog/. He is listed at #76 under the Economics section. Check it out.
As you may have heard, we launched a new graduate MBA Behavioral Finance class semester this semester. While the semester is not even half way over I wanted to report on the class. So far it is going very well even though we do not have a traditional text book and are relying on readings and a series of books.
The students have projects to do which either replicate existing behavioral economics work or extend the literature in interesting ways. For instance one student is testing the impact of learning on behavioral biases by testing introductory finance students as well as upper level students. Another student is examining the impact of social groups on portfolio changes following the market collapse. (Other projects include: determining if what consumers say is important in advance really is when the purchase is made; a look at risk taking by age and gender; and a survey of behavioral literature.)
In addition to the readings we have been using many short videos that address the brain and its impact on finance and economics (neuroeconomics). For instance recently we addressed what has traditionally been seen as a challenge to economists: why rational people would freely give money to others (charities).
Many hypotheses have been proposed that attempt to reconcile this apparent irrational behavior. These include the desire for public recognition, wanting to be apart of something, how you view yourself, and the popular "warm glow" which basically says it feels good to do good.
New technologies now allow researchers to peer into the brain to find the cause of this "warm glow". The findings suggest that there is more to it than meets the eye. Specifically the glow has roots as both an emotional (chemical) reaction as well as rational (thinking) response.
The thinking part suggests that people do want to be seen as generous and as the type of person that does "good" things. This is true even if the only person "seeing it" is the actual giver. In other words they behave as they do to fit their view of themselves.
The chemical side (which appears to be dominated by Oxytocin and Dopamin in case you were wondering) is particularly interesting since it begs the question of why would the body have such a response from an evolutionary perspective.
This led researchers to what in finance we would call an out of sample test; they considered monkeys. (Although I am not sure if they felt the monkeys were further evolved or less evolved that humans.)
The monkeys' behaviors are similar to that in humans that have vexed economic researchers and at least suggest that what at first glance appears to be irrational may be well grounded in our evolution.
Examples of monkey behaviors and their corresponding human counterpart:
* Monkeys shared their nuts. People give to charities. Why? It makes us (and probably the monkeys too, but they are not speaking right now) feel good to help others) (Uh, BonaResponds reference here? :) )
* Monkeys trusted each other. Without this trust the trades would not have occurred. People are the same way. We are hardwired to "trust others". This makes social living easier.
* Envy and Fairness both matter: Monkeys who were perfectly content with a dry cracker grew jealous and upset when other monkeys got a better prize. On one hand this is a long term motivator, on the other this can be to cause of fighting and unhappiness.
A fascinating class so far. Stay tuned, we are only half way!
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BonaResponds meetings
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BonaResponds General Meeting Monday, September 9, 2019 at 5:15-6:00 in Swan
101.
Topics will include Local workdays, HaitiScholarships, PositiveRipples...
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