8 times the UB School of Management made headlines in 2016

By Matthew Biddle

BUFFALO, N.Y. —  The University at Buffalo School of Management uncovered ways to make both crowdfunding and traditional fundraising more successful. Through our faculty research, we helped business leaders welcome diverse perspectives into the C-suite, set goals for their employees and prevent their workplace from turning toxic. Our faculty shared their expertise with the world (visit “In the News” for a sample), and major media lauded the success of our programs, students and alumni.

Here are eight of the many times the UB School of Management made headlines last year:

A typical fundraising letter includes a list of suggested donation amounts. But which amounts will raise the most money? Indranil Goswami, assistant professor of marketing, discovered that low suggested amounts bring in more donors, while high suggested amounts result in higher average donation amounts. The right strategy depends on the charity’s campaign goals.

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Sites like Kickstarter help entrepreneurs get their projects off the ground. After examining more than 170,000 crowdfunding campaigns, three School of Management researchers — professors Yong Li and Supradeep Dutta and doctoral student Christopher Courtney — discovered three secrets to success: high quality photos and video, previous crowdfunding success and positive comments from backers.

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Challenging goals can motivate employees to action. But impossible stretch goals can turn employees off and cause successful organizations to become inefficient. Through his research, James Lemoine, assistant professor of organization and human resources, advises managers to consult with their employees as they set goals.

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Could it be the end of accounting as we know it? In his new book, Feng Gu, associate professor and chair of the Accounting and Law Department, argues that Generally Accepted Accounting Principles have lost relevance, and a company’s true worth lies in its strategic, value-enhancing resources — not the variables found on traditional earnings reports. He and his co-author propose overhauling the traditional system and adopting a new one.

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Disrespectful and selfish acts can cause a workplace to turn toxic. KiYoung Lee, assistant professor of organization and human resources, found that employees who have been undermined at work begin to undermine their colleagues — creating a vicious cycle. He advises organizations to develop workplace ethics training programs and hire employees who value morality.

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It’s no secret that men still hold the majority of leadership positions in U.S. companies. But new research by James Lemoine, assistant professor of organization and human resources, found that when male-dominated work teams foster collaboration and communication, it’s women who take the lead. Lemoine recommends executives take a hard look at their office culture to help bring new perspectives forward.

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While more consumers say they want to eat healthy, junk food still ends up in our shopping carts. Minakshi Trivedi, professor of marketing, studied how prices and discounts affected food purchases and found that all shoppers make tradeoffs on healthy and unhealthy foods to varying degrees. Retailers can use her findings to design strategies that encourage healthy purchases.

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The School of Management is part of an elite group of AACSB-accredited business schools ranked in every major media ranking — and this year we climbed even higher. In Bloomberg Businessweek, the full-time MBA program ascended 13 places, coming in at No. 47, solidly in the top 10% of accredited B-schools. Meanwhile, our undergraduate program vaulted 37 spots to No. 85. In U.S. News and World Report, our undergraduate program rose three spots to No. 77, and our full-time MBA program was ranked No. 81, the only one in the Buffalo Niagara region to make the list.