January 2012: Vol. 7, Issue 1
Marketing Monthly Winning the “Super Bowl of Fashion Scholarships”…AGAIN! Competing against schools such as Harvard, Cornell, Wharton, FIT, Parsons and many more, our students completed individual case studies requiring each to create an online retail business, a competitive SWOT analysis, a profitability plan, a marketing plan and a customer retention strategy. Along with the written case study, these students also had to engage in personal interviews with a fashion executive from Whoop Group students (l to r New York. According to Dr. Lampo, “This is a very The Whoop Group Prevails! challenging, intense, but also rewarding project. These students committed 110% of themselves to this case study, conducting secondary research, mystery shopping, focus groups, personal interviews, and survey research with both Sandi Lampo, Rhen Eichhorn, Chelsea Sauder, Alexa Adams, and Kailah Gonzalez industry executives and Rhen Eichhorn, Kailah Gonzalez and Chelsea Sauder. their chosen target markets. They had to They each won $5,000, an internship in the fashion effectively communicate all of their ideas and industry in New York City, and a trip to NYC to attend research in both written and verbal formats. the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund Gala on January 10, They also had to explain and justify all of their 2012 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. business decisions to a fashion industry photo credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFAnyc.com
Our Mays Business School Marketing majors win AGAIN in a nation-wide Fashion Retail Case Study Competition! Four of Sandi Lampo’s students won the prestigious 2012 YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund Case Study Competition. The winners are Alexa Adams,
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Dr. Lampo and three of the Mays Business School scholarship recipients were pictured in the January 15, 2012 New York Times – Sunday Style section in a photo taken by the iconic Bill Cunningham at the gala!
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Winning…. AGAIN!
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The gala’s master of ceremonies, CNN’s Alina Cho, called this competition the “Super Bowl of Fashion Scholarships.” Keynote speakers included, designer Jason Wu, Bridget Foley, Executive Editor of Women’s Wear Daily, and Chief Merchandising Officer of Macy’s Inc., Jeff Gennette. Fashion icons such as Yigal Azrouel, Iris Apfel, Sophie Theallet, supermodel Karlie Kloss, fashion industry executive Tom Hutton of Geoffrey Beene, and over 850 other top executives from the fashion industry’s elite attended the star-studded event. Participating companies such as Geoffrey Beene, Calvin Klein, Li & Fung, Fishman & Tobin Apparel, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, Perry Ellis International, Bloomingdale’s, Kenneth Cole, Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger are just a few of the companies that helped raise over $1.5 million at the 2012 Gala.
Photo credit: David X Prutting/BFAnyc.com
executive…I am so incredibly proud of these students and their work. They definitely exemplified the excellence of Mays Business School students on a national platform.” “Each university is limited to submitting five entries for the YMA FSF case competition. The fact that four of the five students were selected for the scholarship award speaks highly of the caliber of the students, as well as the dedication and commitment of Sandi Lampo who is the instructor for the Retailing Case Competition course,” says Dr. Rajan Varadarajan, Department Head of Marketing at Mays Business School. This is the second year Texas A&M University has been invited to participate in this prestigious inter-university case competition. In just two years, nine of our students have been awarded a total of $45,000 in YMA FSF scholarships.
L to R: Kenneth Wyse (President of Licensing & PR, Phillips Van-Heusen and Executive Committee Chairman of YMA FSF, Kailah Gonzalez, Alexa Adams, Sheri Rosenfeld (Director of Licensing at Fishman & Tobin and our YMA FSF Mentor), Douglas Jakubowski (CMO of Perry Ellis International), Rhen Eichhorn, Chelsea Sauder, and Sandi Lampo
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(cont.) Winning…. AGAIN!
An overview of the FSF Scholarship banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC.
In the Classroom During this past semester, students in Honors Marketing 321 and Services Marketing 440 worked with nine local non-profit agencies: Services MKTG 440 Clients • Hope Pregnancy Center • The Prenatal Clinic • Health for All MKTG 321 Honors Clients • Brazos Valley Symphony Society • StageCenter Community Theatre • Arts Council of Brazos Valley • Safe Harbour • Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) • Downtown Bryan Association Each agency was assigned three student teams. The honors students’ job was to present a situation analysis and a set of marketing
recommendations for their clients. The services marketing students presented services marketing recommendations as well as a recap of the early semester audits they did for their clients. The presentations took place at the end of the fall semester. “The students did a terrific job in representing Mays with these clients,” says Janet Parish, professor in each of the classes. “Each of the clients appreciated the opportunity to work with our students and are planning to implement some of the student recommendations.” The program was so successful that Dr. Parish’s Spring Semester MKTG 440 students will be creating recommendations for new sets of clients: Spoons, Hot Dogs, Etc., West Campus Library, Center for Retailing Studies, West Campus Writing Center and The Rec Center. MKTG 321 clients are: St. Michael’s Episcopal School and the Brazos Animal Shelter.
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Congratulations! Lucy Liu and Venky Shankar have been invited to present their paper entitled "The Dynamic Impact of Product-Harm Crises on Brand Equity and Advertising Effectiveness: An Empirical Analysis of the Automobile Industry," for the 6th Annual Frank M. Bass-University of Texas at Dallas Frontiers of Research in Marketing conference to be held in Dallas in February 2012. The selection was based on a competitive evaluation of papers. Ram Janakiraman, Janet Parish, and Len Berry (2011), “The Effect of the Work and Physical Environments on Hospital Nurses’ Perceptions and Attitudes: Service Quality and Commitment,” Quality Management Journal, 18 (4), 36-49. This study investigates the effect of the physical and work environments of a hospital on nurses' perceptions of and attitudes toward the hospital. Using a unique dataset resulting from a quasi-experiment in which the hospital under study added a new wing to its existing facility, the authors add to the literature by empirically analyzing how physical and work environment factors influence the nurses' perceptions on two key outcome measures: service quality provided by the hospital and the nurses' commitment to the hospital. For the physical environment, they focus on quality of patient areas, safety, and quality of work space. For the work environment, they evaluate supervisor support, communication openness, and teamwork. Analyses of the responses of the nurses prior to and following occupancy of the new facility reveal intriguing findings. The results of the authors' study show that both physical (quality of patient areas, safety, and quality of work spaces) and work environment (supervisor support and communication openness) variables positively affect nurses' perceptions of service quality and commitment. Further, as expected, the effect is more pronounced (positive) for those nurses who moved to the new facility compared to those who continued to work in the existing facility. Based on the authors' results, they offer implications for hospital managers.
The Wehner Building recently had a facelift. New cream colored paint replaces the old pale gray and new square block rugs replace the old rugs with borders.
Len Berry (Distinguished Professor of Marketing) and co-authors Gale Adcock (Director of Corporate Health Services at SAS Institute, Inc.) and Ann Mirabito (Assistant Professor of Marketing at Baylor and former PhD student in our department), have a new publication in the Winter 2012 issue of Sloan Management Review, titled “’Do-It-Yourself’ Employee Health Care.” Motivated by rising health-care costs and commitment to their staff’s health and productivity, many companies are taking matters into their own hands and are establishing on-site clinics to provide health care to employees. The article discusses the rationale for onsite clinics and features the success of SAS and several other companies which have them. Link to ’Do-It-Yourself’ Employee Health Care
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“Back Home after an Inspiring Research Journey” --A Note from Len I had a powerful learning experience in Wisconsin studying healthcare at its best. I was in residence conducting interviews and observing at Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse during late August and September, at ThedaCare in Appleton during October and early November, and at Bellin Health in Green Bay during late November and December. I’ve been immersed in studying healthcare for more than 10 years now and I went to Wisconsin confident in my overall knowledge of the healthcare sector and important service issues. My experience in Wisconsin, however, has taken me to a higher level of understanding and given me many new insights and ideas. It is exciting and energizing. One of the first things that I did upon my return was to revise my class notes for my spring MBA, MS in Marketing, and EMBA courses to incorporate new material from the Wisconsin study. The three institutions I studied not only are superb health systems, they also are superb service organizations and there is much that I learned that is pertinent to my courses. I can’t wait to share all of this with my students. Another early task was to think through and list the specific articles I hope to publish from the study. I’ve identified a series of articles that reflect my interests and the data I collected. It may take me a couple of years to complete the list, but I am going to give it my best shot. My time in Wisconsin included many highlights (including going to Lambeau Field to watch the Packers play). Here are a few that rise to the top for me: • At Gundersen Lutheran I observed robotic surgery for the first time. I had observed a number of surgeries during my earlier Mayo Clinic study, but had not seen a surgeon use the DaVinci robot until this fall. Robotic surgery offers significant benefit to the patient (faster
Len Berry stands by the seven binders of data he collected while studying three Wisconsin health systems.
recovery time, less time in the hospital), but involves very expensive technology. • Gundersen Lutheran has a program called “Care Coordination” in which RN and social worker teams partner with the sickest patients to help them navigate the complexities of their care, their illness(es), and the socioeconomic challenges that often accompany serious disease. Patients and their families love this service (which is free to them) and hospital-related charges for these patients drop significantly once they use the service for an extended period.
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Back Home • ThedaCare is a pioneer application of the Toyota manufacturing system called “Lean” to healthcare. I knew little about Lean before studying at ThedaCare and found myself absolutely fascinated not only by its application to service organizations, but also by its potential to unleash creativity. I’ve studied many excellent service organizations in my career and ThedaCare is among the most innovative. I expected to see efficiency improvements due to Lean and I did. I did not expect to see the bold innovation evident on both the outpatient and inpatient fronts at ThedaCare. • I studied stroke care at Bellin Health and I cannot imagine there is a better stroke center in the country. Teamwork is essential as stroke care requires a lot of different services, ranging from EMS and ER services at the front-end to physical rehabilitation services at the back-end. Speed is critical as stroke patients need to receive a clotbusting medication called TPA within three hours of onset of symptoms. Accuracy of diagnosis also is critical because stroke symptoms mimic other medical conditions and TPA should not be administered unless the patient has had a stroke. Bellin’s average “door to needle” time is 64 minutes, far better than most other health centers. (“Door” refers to entry to the ER, “needle” refers to injecting TPA into the patient). • I studied breast cancer care at Gundersen Lutheran and overall cancer care at Bellin Health and this experience alone would have made my four months away worthwhile. Gundersen uses clinical breast radiologists who not only study the mammogram images but who also interact directly with patients whose mammograms require further attention, personally doing a physical exam and ultrasound exam and – if necessary – a biopsy. The latter exams typically are done in one visit and the patient may receive the results as quickly as the next day. What impressed me was that the same doctor had (if needed) four types of data to make a diagnosis
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and the patient didn’t have to wait anxious days for the results. Bellin designed a new cancer center from scratch three years ago using patient research to guide them to creating a differentiated service that would be superior to what was already available in the market. What I learned in studying this cancer program was inspiring. It certainly reinforces what we believe in marketing: Always start with the customer in designing a new offering. I plan to present my cancer research in my classes as well as at an upcoming faculty research forum – and I am planning to write papers about both cancer programs I studied. I am glad to be home in Texas (warmer), sleeping in my own bed (better), eating at home (Mayor Nancy has been cooking), and starting to reunite with my colleagues. I deeply appreciate the support I’ve received from the Dean’s Office and my colleagues for this study. I also am grateful to the leadership of the three health systems that not only hosted me, but trusted me to “live” inside their organizations. The executive teams in these three systems are exceptional. Two final reflections: Because of my immersion experiences at Mayo Clinic and now in Wisconsin, I’ve certainly learned not to take good health for granted. I don’t think I ever did, but now I count my blessings for good health every single day. When you are in school, you typically do not appreciate how valuable something you learn may turn out to be later. I spent a year as a doctoral student studying with Ph.D. anthropology students and developed a strong interest in anthropological research. That interest has served me well throughout my career. Len Berry
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MS-Marketing Graduation Celebration
The 2011 Master of Science in Marketing Class
Vice Chancellor Steve Moore encouraged the graduates.
December 15, 2011: A graduation celebration was held at Mays Business School for the 2011 MS Marketing class and their families and friends. The celebration included speeches, a hooding ceremony, and a buffet dinner. “This is the start of a new tradition,” says Steve McDaniel, Director of the MS program, “I received nothing but overwhelmingly supportive feedback from everybody–we’ll plan to do this every December.” Steven Moore, Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications for the Texas A&M University System, was the Commencement speaker. He encouraged the students in their future careers and in life, sharing some personal experiences which illustrated that things don’t always go as planned. Mr. Moore went on to challenge the students to work hard, meet adversity head-on, and always act with integrity.
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MS-Marketing Graduation Celebration
Kristina Casey gets hooded by Ram Janakiraman.
Aaron Lopez and Alison Moody listen carefully.
Daisy Enggina and Samantha Dickey have received the assignment and are prepared to execute the command— go forward with integrity!
Family and friends show their appreciation and support.
Guests help themselves at the buffet table.
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MS-MKTG –Our Fine Faculty Congratulate Their Students
Bill Pride
Matthew Johnson
Rajiv Thakkar
Paul Busch
Kelly Haws
Alina Sorescu
Lindsay Hall
Derek Redlinski
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MS-Marketing Graduating Class –Puzzle
This photo graced the cover of the MS-Marketing Graduation Celebration program. The original photo was taken of the graduating class of 2011, however, four students were graduating from the previous class and had to be Photoshopped in. Can you guess which four were not in the original photo? (Answer on last page.)
Congratulations! Kelly Haws, along with co-authors Cait Poynor Lamberton, University of Pittsburgh and Rebecca Walker Naylor, Ohio State University recently received word that their paper, “Same Destination, Different Paths: When and How Does Observing Others' Choices and Reasoning Alter Confidence in Our Own Choices?” was accepted for publication at the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Abstract: Seeing others make the same decision made by ourselves does not always increase choice confidence or tell the whole story of social
influence when consumers expect to have to publically discuss their choice and reasoning. Instead, consumers' confidence in their publically stated choices can be diminished if observed others make the same choice but justify the choice using different reasoning. This effect occurs because confidence in one's own reasoning is thrown into doubt, rather than due to a desire to affiliate with the observed other. These effects are eliminated in both private choice contexts and in rejection versus selection tasks.
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Congratulations! 40th Anniversary Special Issue of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science In their editorial essay, the co-editors of the special issue list the top ten articles published in the 40 year history of JAMS that have been most widely listed. As shown at right, our distinguished colleague, Len Berry is the author/co-author of two of the ten most widely cited articles published in JAMS to date. Rounding up the top ten list is another article co-authored by David Szymanski during his tenure in our department, with David Henard, a TAMU marketing doctoral student . Also, in perusing the TOC, you would find that Kelly Haws is a co-author of one of the invited articles published in the JAMS 40th anniversary special issue. As you would note, some of the other authors of articles published in the issue are Oliver Williamson (a Nobel Laureate), Phil Kotler, Rick Bagozzi and Tulin Erdem. One could characterize this as Kelly being in Good or Great Company.
January 25 brought severe early morning thunderstorms (yay rain!) and a tornado watch which caused a code maroon alert to be issued. Students were advised to stay put until the all-clear.
Top Ten Most Widely Listed JAMS articles 1. Bagozzi and Yi (1988), “On the evaluation of structural equation models” 2. Dick and Basu (1994), “Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework” 3. Woodruff (1997), “Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage” 4. Berry (1995), “Relationship marketing of services – growing interest, emerging perspectives” 5. Wilson (1995), “An integrated model of buyer-seller relationships” 6. Sheth and Parvatiyar (1995), “Relationship marketing in consumer markets: Antecedents and consequences” 7. Gwinner et al. (1998), “Relational benefits in services industries: The customer’s perspective” 8. Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1993), “The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service” 9. Peterson et al. (1997), “Exploring the implications of the internet for consumer marketing” 10. Szymanski and Henard (2001),”Customer satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the empirical evidence”
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New Mays Communication Lab
This bright inviting space has much to offer students and faculty.
The Mays Communication Lab offers a variety of services for both faculty and students. Whether you have a five-minute question or you need a 30-minute consultation, the Communication Lab can help you excel in the classroom and the workplace. Located in 339 Wehner, the Communication Lab offers individual working computers in addition to audio/video recording equipment for team and individual speaking practice. Business Communication Consultants (trained peer tutors) provide constructive personal feedback for targeted improvement in all areas of oral and written communication. The Mays Communication Lab will host an open house 1-4 p.m., Jan. 26, in 339 Wehner. Faculty, staff and students are invited to explore this resource for improved professional
communication in writing and speaking. Faculty and students will have the opportunity to register for workshops this spring, and there will be an interest survey for a staff summer seminar series. Come enjoy refreshments, meet the Business Communication Consultants, and discover how you can strengthen your professional voice! mays.tamu.edu/commlab
Advisors’ Corner Leslie has been working on clearing our graduates for the May 2012 ceremony and preparing for the flurry of activity that accompanies Drop/Add week.
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On a Personal Note… From theeagle.com, January 23, 2012: Driven to Have Fun-- Jeffrey Parish, 9, sends dirt flying as he rides his go-cart Sunday in his backyard in east Brazos County. His dad, who purchased the go-cart, said Jeffrey rides all day on the weekends, and has worn a quarter-mile mini-course that meanders around the perimeter of the family's property. "My favorite part is slingin' mud," Jeffrey said.
As promised in last month’s MM, here is our former IT guy and MS MKTG grad Ryan Macomber with his bride Sara Stone.
Janet Parish’s husband, Jeff Parish, recently received a promotion at Sanderson Farms. As of December 1, he is Transportation Supervisor. He has been with Sanderson Farms for three years.
Photo puzzle answer: Bottom row: second from left (head tilted) and far right. In the row of women in front of the men: second from left and second from right. We want to include your news items in the next issue. Please submit them to Laurie Marshall at lmarshall@mays.tamu.edu,
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