School of Management Professors Receive Best Paper Award

By Jacqueline Molik Ghosen

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Two professors and a doctoral graduate from the University at Buffalo School of Management were honored for their paper on corporate security breaches.

H.R. Rao, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, and Raj Sharman, associate professor, in the School of Management’s Department of Management Science and Systems, along with Manish Gupta, PhD ’11, banking officer at M&T Bank, received the best paper award in June at the 6th Annual Symposium of Information Assurance (ASIA) in Albany.

The paper, “Framing Effects of Crisis Response Communications on Market Valuation of Breached Firms,” analyzes companies that have encountered security breaches and their media responses to the events.

News of a security breach can negatively impact a company’s stock price and market valuation, in addition to harming the company’s reputation, research has found. Media announcements about positive security initiatives are often employed as a response to the crisis.

Gupta, Rao and Sharman studied how the content and framing of announcements can impact a company’s stock price.

The paper provides insight on how to frame media announcements relating to breaches, such as using certain technology or security keywords to influence opinion, to maximize gains.

The researchers also found that firms should make announcements of improvements in security after a breach, and that the optimal time to make such announcements is three to four months after a breach.

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.