Ever since high school, I’ve wanted to work at a Fortune 500 company,” says Perebotie Amughan, who accepted a job at Amazon after graduation. “I’m very blessed and coming to WSU is part of that.
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Daniel Aughenbaugh wants to help others in his professional life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the WSU Online MBA student has helped support the supply chain for Moderna’s vaccine.
» More ...Dear friends:
We’re so thrilled to welcome our 14 new and 47 returning PhD students to campus. After working from home for 16 months, it’s great to be back in Todd Hall! Of course, it’s not so much the building itself as the students, faculty, and staff inside. While Zoom helped us maintain communication tremendously, it’s still not the same. Making an appointment to chat through the computer is not the same as knocking on a door or seeing someone in the hallway.
We’re fortunate in the Carson College of Business that a lot of our research can be conducted from an office (even the “good old days” of PhD students stuck in the library late into the night have been replaced with electronic versions of journals and books.) As a result, many of our students continued to make outstanding progress during the pandemic, culminating with the awarding of nine new doctoral degrees this past spring and summer. Nevertheless, the temporary closing of the Center for Behavioral Business Research lab caused significant disruption to student progress, and we are pleased that it is up and running again.
The other major missing piece during the pandemic was the myriad of informal conversations that occur during normal times. The importance of being able to share ideas with classmates or simply to converse with them cannot be overstated. Certainly, when I was a student, sharing joy and pain in real time was so important to my psyche. And when my advisor wanted to see me, he wanted to see me now. His every bit of advice, however painful at times, was invaluable to my progress.
Now that I’m on the other side of that relationship, I very much want to see my advisees regularly. I think it’s important to keep encouraging them to make progress, but I have also found that informal conversations over lunch or in the hallways often lead to breakthrough research ideas. From my experience, many little conversations lead to more creativity than one major brainstorming session.
Moving forward, an unintended consequence of COVID-19 is a plethora of ideas for business research focused on managing organizations during pandemics or other major disruptions. (I’m working on two such projects myself.) From supply chains, to working from home, to surviving in the hospitality industry when nobody is traveling, many new issues have arisen that are ripe for deep study. Ideally, several of our own PhD students will examine some of these issues so that during the next pandemic (perhaps in another 100 years?), organizations will be better able to adapt nimbly. Sometimes out of tragedy, opportunity emerges.
Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director
Oscar Chi (’21 HBM), a newly minted assistant professor in tourism, hospitality, and event management at the University of Florida, has his sights set on advancing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospitality industry.
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Bitty Balducci, assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and International Business, and Ron Pimentel, director of the Professional Sales Certificate Program, were featured in a June 16, 2021, story by Saydee Phothivongsa in the Daily Evergreen. They discussed the expansion of the Professional Sales Certificate Program to Pullman. The program started at WSU Vancouver about 16 years ago.
Chun Chu (Bamboo) Chen, an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management, was featured in a July 15, 2021, news broadcast by Tim Gordon at KGW8 News in Portland. Chen discussed his research on the psychological toll of COVID-19 on many young hotel and restaurant workers.
Chen’s research was also featured in:
“Pandemic Layoffs Pushed Hospitality Workers to Leave Industry—‘The Younger Generation Was Really Hit Hard,’” July 15, 2021, SciTech Daily.
“Pandemic Layoffs Pushed Hospitality Workers to Leave Industry,” July 15, 2021, Florida News Times.
Christina Chi, professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management, was quoted in a March 30, 2021, article by Lilit Marcus in CNN Travel, where she discussed environmentally friendly practices in the hotel industry. Chi also gave an interview to the BBC on leisure travel in China during COVID-19.
Chip Hunter, dean of the Carson College of Business, was quoted in an April 27, 2021, article by Mark. C. Perna in Forbes, where he discussed what Gen Z employees are looking for in their jobs, and how organizations can attract top Gen Z talent. Hunter was also featured in an April 27, 2021, article by Aayat Ali in All Work Space, “Meeting the Needs of Gen Z Workers.”
Puget Sound Business Journal also ran a Carson College news release on the report on April 6, 2021, “Gen Z Employees Face Unique Pandemic Challenges.”
Dipra Jha, scholarly associate professor and assistant director of the School of Hospitality Business Management, was quoted in a June 28, 2021, article by Adam McCann in WalletHub, discussing the effect of pent-up demand for travel on the 4th of July holiday.
Jha also provided tips on selecting the best cash back credit cards in a Credit Card Insider article by Brendan Harkness, “Best Cash Back Credit Cards of June 2021.”
Jeff Joireman, professor and chair of the Department of Marketing and International Business, was featured in a July 17, 2021, article by Phys.org. After cutbacks and layoffs, remaining employees were more likely to feel they were treated fairly if the companies invested in them, he says.
Amrita Lahiri, assistant professor in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, was quoted in a May 11, 2021, article by David Robson on BBC.com about potential pitfalls for startups that hire star employees.
Byron Marlowe, Don Smith Distinguished Professor and director of the Wine and Beverage Business Management program, was quoted in a July 21, 2021, news column by Christopher Elliott in the Washington Post. Marlowe discussed how health fears are still influencing family decisions on whether to travel.
Marie Mayes, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, was quoted in a May 4, 2021, article by Amy Edelen in the Spokesman-Review about the winners of the 18th annual WSU Business Plan Competition.
NBC broadcast affiliates KNDO23/KNDU 25 in Yakima and Richland carried a May 1, 2021, news release on their website, “Student Startup Teams Vie for $75,000 at WSU’s 18th Annual Business Plan Competition.”
The Spokesman-Review also featured the winner of the competition’s high school division, Zoe Sponseller, in a May 25, 2021, article, “Cultural Ties: Mead High School Student Creates Red Thread Unraveled to Benefit Chinese Adoptees.”
Benjamin Warnick, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at WSU Vancouver, was quoted in an April 29, 2021, article by Connie Lin in FastCompany, where Warnick discussed how entrepreneurs whose faces expressed happiness, anger, and fear during startup pitches were more likely to receive funding.
Warnick’s research was also discussed in an April 30, 2021, article in Psychology Today, “Putting on a Happy Face Can Backfire in Surprising Ways,” a May 10, 2021, article in The Ladders, “A Counter Intuitive Strategy May Help You Get More Investors for Your Business,” and a May 31, 2021, article in Forbes, “Get Happy: The Science of Emotions and How to Harness Them for Happiness.”
