Students Bring Home Prize from Annual Tau Pi Phi Case Competition

Six Marietta College EMA students traveled to Columbus, Ohio, on the weekend of March 28-29, 2008 to participate in this year's Tau Pi Phi Case Study Competition. The Marietta three-person team (Brian Ashton, Khrista  Halaiko and Robert (Bo) Richardson) brought home a Third Place plaque. Business students from regional colleges and universities participated in the two-day event hosted by Capital University. Student teams were required to analyze, prepare, and present recommendations to two Harvard Business School cases to a panel of judges. Dr. Jim Falter did two case study review sessions to prepare students for the competition and Prof. Jeremy Wang accompanied the Marietta teams to the event.

Eighteen teams represented Wittenberg College, Juniata College, Capital University, Mount Union College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University and Marietta College. Marietta College's two teams in the three-person competition were Team 1: Brian Ashton, Khrista Halaiko and Robert (Bo) Richardson; Team 2: Nicolette Kynkor, Tian Zhang and Nicholas Manson. Pictured at left, Richardson, Halaiko, and Ashton.

Johnson and Co-author Present Work in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Professor Grace Johnson traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to present her work at the 19th Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues, November 11-14, 2007. Johnson's co-author on the paper, Dr. Abdel Halabi, is a professor of accounting at Monash University, Australia. "Examining the Impact of Albrecht & Sack (2000): A Citation Analysis 2001 - 2006," looked at the incidence of citations of the landmark report written to criticize the current state of accounting education.

After the conference, the event's co-organizers (University of Malaysia and California State University - Fresno) arranged a day of travel to some sites of interest in and near Kuala Lumpur. These included the national government city of Putrajaya and various monuments in KL city. Works of local artisans (pewter, batik, and chocolate making) were highlighted, as well.

As a result of friendships made at the conference, Johnson has two invitations to give lectures in 2008 in Korea, at Kyungpook National University in Daegu and Chonnam National University in Gwangju

Pictured above, Johnson with Australian co-author Halabi. At right, Johnson and colleagues from Chonnam National University, Kyungpook National University, Seoul National University, and Silla University in Korea.

Accounting Students Travel to Columbus

Professors Ed Osborne and Grace Johnson took six accounting majors (four seniors and two juniors) to visit the Master of Accountancy program at The Ohio State University on October 26, 2007. They met with representatives from the program's admission and career service offices, as well as faculty and current students in the program. Following lunch, the group traveled to Plante & Moran, the nation's 11th largest certified public accounting and business advising firm.

Osborne and Johnson have been taking students to visit OSU's master's program and meet professionals from the public accountign firm for the last few years, thanks to a generous donation from an alumnus that supports transportation costs for short department field trips.

Management Students Tour Toyota Factory

Dr. Sid Potash and approximately 30 students from his Mngt 301 class (Managing Organizations) toured the Toyota Motor Manufacturing facility in Buffalo, West Virginia, on October 2, 2006. The plant, which manufactures engines, transmissions, and transmission gears, was established in 1996. Its output is used in Toyota's assembly plants in Japan, Canada, and several US locations.

Students started their visit with an overview of the facility and watched a video about its daily operations. Later, students were taken into the factory to see computer integrated manufacturing, numerical process control systems, and cutting edge robotics at work.

The EMA Department's Advisory Council met for its annual meeting on September 20, 2007. The Council met with various department members to talk about programs and issues of interest. During lunch, they met with College administrators and student leaders of the Department's academic honor societies. The EMA Advisory Council was established in the 1980s to guide the Department in matters related to curriculum, internships, and related issues. Its members come from academe, government, and industry. The Advisory Council generally gathers with the Department once each year, in late September, for a day of meetings and discussion. Members are invited to sit on the Council for a three-year term.

Johnson Publishes Portuguese Language MIS Textbook

Marietta College professor Grace Johnson's textbook is at last a reality, five years after it began as an idea over coffee with the co-author. Sistemas de Informações: Administração em Tempo Real (Information Systems: Realtime Management) is a text to be used in management information systems courses, an area Johnson taught extensively for years at Marietta. The book was written and published by Qualitymark in Brazil, where Johnson worked at Marietta's sister school, Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (UNIMEP). The history of the book began in the summer of 2002 when Johnson was at UNIMEP and came up with the idea for it over coffee with the book's co-author, Andre Sathler Guimarães. The two laid out a rough plan for a practical text, and began work seven months later when Johnson returned to Brazil on sabbatical. "It met my interests and there was a need for it in Brazil," Johnson said of the book. "There is a real shortage of applied texts in the area there," said Johnson, adding that she and Guimarães wrote the book because he had little else to teach from. Johnson has no plans to use the book at Marietta—in part because she no longer teaches MIS and because it was not meant to be translated or used outside of Brazil. -- text courtesy of Kevin Hazlett, College Relations

Khorassani Teaching in Ireland

This semester, Dr. Jacqueline Khorassani is a Visiting Professor of Economics at the National University of Ireland in Galway, the capital of the West of Ireland. Established in 1845, NUI Galway has over 15,000 studnts from Ireland as well as other (mostly european) nations. At NUI, Dr. Khorssani is teaching courses in Managerial Economics, Money and Banking, and International Economics. Classes at NUI are large. There are anywhere between 100 to 200 students enrolled in each of Dr. Khorassani's courses. While in Ireland, Dr. Khorassani is residing in a small old house in the heart of Galway. The house belongs to a university professor who is on sabbatical leave in Canada. There is a twenty minute walk between this little house and the University; most of which is along side of a beautiful canal that is home to a variety of ducks & geese.

Taylor Consults at Historical Center

Most current and alumni EMAers know that Dr. Mike Taylor has authored several books and numerous articles about spinning wheels. This summer, Taylor continued his scholarly work in this field when he visited the Somerset (Pennsylvania) Historical Center to consult with its staff about local spinning wheel makers. During the time he spent in Somerset, Taylor had the opportunity to inspect locally made wheels from the collections of the Fort Bedford Museum, Springs Historical Society, Spruce Forest (Grantsville, MD), and several private individuals. In addition, he advised staffers at the Somerset Historical Center as they prepare a new exhibit of textile equipment.

In November, Taylor will return to the Center to lecture on the development of production spinning wheels.

Information for this news story came from the August 6, 2007, article from the Somerset Daily American. Photo courtesy of Mark Ware.

Johnson Presents Paper in Southwest China

Professor Grace Johnson presented her recent project, "Shifting Sands: Exploring the Moving Landscape for Medical Practitioners in Yinchuan," at the International Conference on Anti-Poverty and Regional Cooperation & The 4th Annual Conference of the Consortium for Western China Development Studies, July 24-26, 2007, in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. Based on work she has been doing in northwest China for the last year, her paper described the results of discussions from four focus groups of health care practitioners in Yinchuan, capital of China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The conference brought together scholars and government officials from more than 15 countries. Johnson has been fortunate to present her work at each of the annual conferences since the Consortium's establishment and inaugural meeting in 2004.

Spring 2007 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers, Indicates Top Jobs

The Spring 2007 Salary Survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicates top jobs for 2006-07 graduates. Many of the top jobs are in the area of management, marketing, finance, and accounting.

Updated: 18-April-2008
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