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Syracuse University (Whitman)

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Syracuse University (Whitman) 721 University Avenue
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY, 13244-2450
United States
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Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

47

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

25

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

20 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

111

Females as percent of student body: 

35%


Description of MBA Program: 

Two of the specific learning objectives for the full-time MBA program are:

Our graduates will be able to measure, organize and allocate resources in order to meet organizational objectives in an effective, ethical, and sustainable manner.

Our graduates will be able to appraise situations faced by a business organization from a broad perspective that considers economic, legal, ethical, and social factors.



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

Syracuse University is rallying its campus around sustainability. Many continuing and new initiatives are making SU a more eco-friendly and socially responsible place to learn and work. Leading this charge has been SU’s dedicated Sustainability Division staff.

 

As part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), in 2009 SU released its Climate Action Plan (CAP), the University’s roadmap to becoming climate neutral by 2040. The Sustainability Division is implementing the CAP first with the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). Work is underway to transform VPA’s buildings to use less energy. Students, faculty and staff are also tackling behavioral changes to boost sustainability practices.

 

Campus-wide energy conservation has been in full swing for nearly forty years. Intelligent energy management systems maximize building heating and cooling efficiencies down to the room level in most instances. Other building energy-saving features include using high-efficiency florescent bulbs, compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) where appropriate, high-efficiency building-system motor upgrades, day lighting controls, lighting room occupancy sensors, power-saving features on networked computers, and participation in the Energy Star program. To promote conservation, a student-initiated “Lights Out” campaign was rolled out to prevent lights from being left on in unoccupied offices and classrooms.

 

Building renovations and the University has made a commitment to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification on all new construction and renovations in excess of $10 million. Typical renovation practices include a high rate of recycling construction demolition debris, using steel framing made from recycled scrap iron, using low-VOC (volatile organic compound) adhesives and paints, installing low-flow faucets and toilets to conserve water, and upgrading to high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Four new campus buildings have opened over the past two years and all are in the process of seeking LEED certification. Significant renovations have also allowed the University to seek LEED certification in two existing buildings.

 

SU continues to focus on clean energy solutions. For the past four years 20 percent of SU’s annual electricity purchases have been in the form of low-impact hydropower. Wind power and other renewable energy options are actively being pursued to further reduce the campus’ carbon footprint.

 

Great strides have been made in the waste management area. A new composting program has greatly reduced the amount of campus trash being generated. In the program’s first ten months approximately 100 tons of food waste have been diverted from trash dumpsters and converted into nutrient-rich, organic soil amendment available to the local community. Additionally, a new polystyrene (Styrofoam) recycling program at campus laboratories is keeping this eco-unfriendly material out of SU’s waste stream.

 

Finally, enhancing social sustainability through community development programs in partnership with local groups is a direct outcome of realizing SU’s “Scholarship in Action” vision. One such initiative, headed up by SU’s Whitman School of Management, is the South Side Innovation Center, an inner-city business incubator. There, many business resources and tools are available for local residents to launch and grow a new business venture.

Academic Department

Course Name: Accounting for Managerial Decisions
Instructor: Alex Thevaranjan

In this course, I take the view that meeting a need in the market place, as opposed to maximizing profits, as the ideal goal of an organization. I argue that when an organization finds a market need that they are deeply passionate and well equipped to meet, they have found their niche in the market place. Under this view, both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations can meet market needs. I encourage students to find their niche in the market place and develop and enterprise to meet a market need. In the process of enterprise development, I teach them managerial accounting principles that can help them improve and analyze their effectiveness. I call this approach a SEED: Smart Education using Enterprise Development. SEED also indicates the CSR seed that I am sowing in their minds and hearts!

Course Name: Behaviors in Organizations
Instructor: Yitzhak Fried
Course Name: Corporate Financial Policy & Strategy
Instructor: Thomas Barkley
Course Name: Creating Customer Value
Instructor: E. Scott Lathrop

The course is case-study driven. Non-Profit cases discussed include Aravind Eye Hospital (a non-profit health care institution providing free cataract surgery and blindness prevention services to poor populations in India and South East Asia) and Outward Bound Hurricane Island School (an outdoor experiences organization offering developmental courses to urban youth, developmentally disabled persons, Viet Nam veterans, and other underserved and at-risk populations. These courses are designed to promote self-confidence, teamwork and respect for the environment. )

Course Name: Cross-Cultural Leadership Dynamics
Instructor: Gary Gemmill

The focus of the seminar is on becoming familiar with both cultural anthropological schemas for investigating national cultures as well as schemas for investigating leadership dynamics. Developing skills in learning how to apply the various schemas to various cultures comprises the essence of the seminar.

The topics of cultural differences as well as leadership itself are complex ones surrounded and embedded in quite diverse and sometimes paradoxical perspectives as to the real world issues they address. The seminar will be a multi-discipline learning journey with theoretical concepts and research drawn from cultural anthropology, social psychology of intergroup relations, psychology, and management. The learning goals for the seminar are to assist you in (1) developing a personal schema for invesitgating leadership differences between different national cultures; (2) refining skills in applying the schema to actual cultures; and (3) becoming more aware of the personal dynamics and effects of entering a foreign culture. During the residency in Istanbul a cross-cultural simulation will be used to deepen the experiential reality of leadership dynamics between cultures.

Course Name: Financial Accounting II
Instructor: Danny Lanier, Jr.

The class is taught over a full 16-week semester. As we discuss various accounting concepts, I place emphasis on the role of financial accounting in the decision-making of investors as well as the behavior of management. Given the likelihood that the two parties (can) have different incentive structures, it is important for us to address how managers might manipulate earnings and the consequences – both the distortion of quality information for the transfer of resources from a societal standpoint, as well as any penalties faced by management.

Course Name: Global Innovation Management
Instructor: Kyu Lee, Tridib Mazumdar

• In this course, students travel to Seoul, South Korea for one week to gain deeper understanding of global innovation management through company visits, cultural experiences, and guest speakers. • One important theme of the course is cultural diversity in the global economy. This is addressed both in terms of corporate culture and consumer culture. Students eye-witness the cultural differences through all aspects of the trip, after which they have an opportunity to deeply reflect on the experience and information obtained during the trip by writing a research report, which requires them to analyze the impact of cultural environment on a particular company’s innovation strategy. • “Sustainability” is one of the themes that will be addressed repeatedly during the visit. South Korea (and Seoul in particular) is a very densely populated country where sustainability is a growing concern at the government, business, and consumer levels. Observing the local lifestyle as well as visiting some of the world’s largest manufacturers such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG give the students valuable opportunities to understand the impact of the growing importance of sustainability on the innovation strategy and process of global companies.

Course Name: Inclusive Entrepreneurial Consulting
Instructor: John M. Torrens, Gary Shaheen, Larry Bennett
Course Name: Investment Analysis
Instructor: David Weinbaum

While the primary focus of FIN756 Investment Analysis is on finance and investments, I devote two class sessions to questions that are directly related to social and ethical issues, including executive compensation and conflicts of interest within publicly traded corporations (between executives, board members, stock investors and bond investors). We discuss the two corporate governance mechanisms that can serve to mitigate these conflicts of interest (the board of directors and the market for corporate control) and talk about why they can fail. Examples are drawn from recent significant corporate events (e.g., Tyco, Disney and Lehman Brothers).

Course Name: Managing Sustainability
Instructor: Elletta Sangrey Callahan

Pages

Type of Offering

Sustainable Enterprise Partnership
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 5
Contact Name: Elletta Callahan
Contact Email: escallah@syr.edu

The Sustainable Enterprise Partnership (SEP) links the Whitman School of Management, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SCoE). This unique collaboration integrates business, science, technology, policy, and practice, and emphasizes transdisciplinary collaboration to offer world-class curricula, research, seminars, and outreach on sustainable enterprise.

I. Curriculum

Syracuse University's L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (LCS) partners with the SEP to develop and deliver sustainability-focused curricula.

The SEP’s graduate Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE) was approved by New York State in 2009. The CASSE is comprised of three required core courses and two electives. It is open to all matriculated graduate students at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF.

Thirty-one graduate students from Whitman, SUNY-ESF, LCS, the Maxwell School, and the College of Arts & Sciences completed the first CASSE core course, Managing Sustainability: Purpose, Principles, and Practice, in spring 2010. This course may also be taken as an elective. Twelve students, representing Whitman, SUNY-ESF, LCS, and Maxwell, are currently pursuing the CASSE.

The second core course, Strategic Management and the Natural Environment, was offered in a concentrated format in late August, 2010. It was taught at Whitman by Dr. Michael V. Russo, Charles H. Lundquist Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. The third CASSE core course, Sustainability-Driven Enterprise, is being offered in spring 2011. Interdisciplinary teams of students are working on sustainability-focused consulting projects with Corning Inc., The Durst Organization, and PepsiCo.

At the undergraduate level, Sustainable Enterprise in the 21st Century was offered for the second year in spring 2010 and completed by students from Whitman, ESF, Newhouse, and the College of Arts & Sciences. It will be offered on an annual basis beginning in fall 2010.

In May of 2010, the SEP awarded its first Fetner Curriculum Innovation Grants to Whitman School faculty Kris Byron (strategic human resource management), David Harris (accounting) and Georgette Nicolaides (statistics) for implementation in the 2010-11 academic year. These grants, as well as the Visiting Sustainability Leader and Panasci Competition prize noted below, are made possible through the generosity of Hal Fetner '83 BS, president & CEO of Durst-Fetner Residential, and his wife, Nina Fetner. Awards are in amounts of up to $2,500 each. Proposals that explicitly link economic, environmental and social considerations and take a transdisciplinary approach are given priority.

II. Research

The SEP annually awards mini-grants of up to $5,000 to promote research in sustainable enterprise. In keeping with the SEP's emphasis on transdisciplinary collaboration and integration, investigators from at least two disciplines are required for each proposal.

Three mini-grants were awarded in April, 2010: “Sustainable Modular Building System,” to Don Carr (SU, Industrial Design) and Paul Crovella (ESF, Sustainable Construction Management); “Instrumentation for Demonstration and Exhibit Cases to Promote Sustainability Projects and Products,” to Edward Lipson (SU, Physics), Craig Watters (Whitman, Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises), and Paul Gelling (SenSyr, LLC); and “Sustainable Struvite Production with Anaerobically Digested Dairy Manure,” to Wendong Tao (ESF, Environmental Resources Engineering) and Sharon Moran (ESF, Environmental Studies).

The Potential Certified Wood Supply Chain Bottleneck and Its Impact on LEED Construction Projects in New York State, authored by Pat Penfield (Whitman, Supply Chain Management) and Rene Germain (SUNY-ESF, Forest & Natural Resource Management) was recently accepted for publication by the Journal of Forestry Products. This project was awarded an SEP mini-grant during the first round of funding in 2008.

III. Seminar Series

At least two seminars are offered annually.

On November 3-4, 2010, the SEP, in collaboration with ESF Outreach, presented ""Sustainable Use of Renewable Energy 2010 (SURE 2010): Renewable Technologies and Carbon Cycling.""

Area small business leaders attended “Socially Responsible Entrepreneurs: Building Organizations That Deliver Financial, Social, and Environmental Results,” on February 18, 2010. This program featured Fetner Visiting Sustainability Leader Mike Russo and was co-sponsored by Whitman’s Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship.

IV. Outreach

On April 24, 2010, the first Fetner Prize in Sustainable Enterprise was awarded as part of the Panasci Business Plan Competition. The winning “EcoBaggeez” team was led by Whitman iMBA student Tom Lyga and Beth Race.

A Look at Firm—Regulator Exchanges Friendly Enough or Too Friendly?
Author(s): Kira Kristal Reed

This article examines the relational characteristics of firm—regulator interactions. Many political economists have focused on the relevance, costs, processes, and beneficiaries of regulation. Alternatively, most management researchers treat regulation as one of many environmental factors firms must consider in developing strategy. This article extends management research by examining the subjective, relational components of firm—regulator interactions. Using social exchange and relational governance theories, hypotheses are developed to examine how firms' interactions with their regulators affect both the frequency with which they are monitored and the evaluation they receive. A within-industry (i.e., banking), within-region (i.e., the Northeast) sample is used to examine the relational characteristics of firm—regulator interactions concerning the Community Reinvestment Act. The results indicate that relational characteristics explain a significant amount of incremental variance in predicting the frequency of monitoring and evaluation, over that explained by objective measures and prior performance.

Journal Title: Business & Society Volume: 2 Edition: 48 Page Numbers: 147-178
A Moral Solution to the Moral Hazard Problem
Author(s): Alex Thevaranjan

In agency theory, offering a flat salary contract under unobservable effort creates a moral hazard problem because the agent is motivated to shirk and provide less than a previously agreed-upon level of effort. We examine a moral solution to this moral hazard problem. In particular, we present a principal-agent model where the agent possesses some level of moral sensitivity that causes him disutility if he provides less than the agreed-upon level of effort. We examine the interplay between moral sensitivity and firm productivity in determining the optimal salary contract, and contrast our moral solution with the traditional incentive solution that becomes necessary when moral sensitivity is assumed to be zero. This allows us to highlight the benefits of the agent's moral sensitivity to both the principal and the agent, and thereby, point out the potential cost of ignoring this moral sensitivity. We conclude that adding moral sensitivity increases the descriptive, prescriptive, and pedagogical usefulness of the principal-agent model.

Journal Title: Accounting, Organizations and Society Volume: 35 Edition: Page Numbers: 125-139
Research in social entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future opportunities
Author(s): G. T. Lumpkin

Social entrepreneurship has been a topic of academic inquiry for nearly 20 years, yet relatively little scholarly output has appeared in mainstream management and entrepreneurship journals. Our review of this literature reveals that conceptual articles outnumber empirical studies, and empirical efforts often lack formal hypotheses and rigorous methods. These findings suggest that social entrepreneurship research remains in an embryonic state. Future research would benefit from the incorporation of multivariate methods to complement the case study techniques that have dominated previous efforts. Our review also suggests that social entrepreneurship is informed by common areas of interest to management scholars like entrepreneurship, public/nonprofit management, and social issues, all of which represent fruitful venues for future research efforts. Therefore, we recommend that scholars embrace key themes in strategic entrepreneurship and frame their research using established theories, such as contingency theory, creation theory, discovery theory, innovation diffusion theory, resource dependence theory, and other theoretical bases relevant to strategic entrepreneurship research

Journal Title: Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal Volume: Edition: 3 Page Numbers: 161-194