The Muma College of Business newsletter brings you news and information from the consolidated USF business colleges (and its six schools) in Sarasota-Manatee, St. Petersburg and Tampa.

USF Muma College of Business Professor Cihan Cobanoglu is all about the service industry. He is a professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the McKibbon Endowed Chair and director of the M3 Center for Hospitality, Technology and Innovation. Recently, Cobanoglu was the announced winner of the prestigious Stevenson W. Fletcher Achievement Award for innovative contributions to hospitality and tourism research. Cobanoglu, who teaches on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, will receive the award in July from the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, a Richmond, Virginia,-based nonprofit that supports hospitality and tourism worldwide. To read more, click here.

Has the workplace changed forever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? Will workers now punch a timeclock next to the kitchen table instead of at the office? Russell Clayton, an instructor with the School of Marketing and Innovation, says deep down, employees sort of want to come back to work.

"While working from home is considered a perk by some, many workers seek the social connections that are made available to them in the traditional workplace," Clayton writes in a recent op-ed piece for the Tampa Bay Times. "Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy noted the positive impact these connections have on the workplace, such as increased productivity and reduced burnout and recommended that organizations make fostering social connections a strategic priority."

"This is easier done in person than via a Zoom call." Read more.

The USF Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management program once again ranks among the top five in the nation and No. 6 on the planet in a survey compiled by SportBusiness International. The results were released earlier this month and the dual-degree graduage program proved to be the best not only in Florida, but in the entire Southeast. Program Director Michelle Harrolle said the ranking is the result of a team effort involving faculty, students and ardent supporters who donate time and money and open up internships for students, internships that often turn into full-time jobs upon graduation. Learn more.

Save the Date: Jan. 15, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., the annual State of the Region will be held on a virtual platform. The event offers a chance for researchers, including graduate students and faculty with the Muma College of Business Center for Analytics and Creativity, to showcase real-time, groundbreaking data that compares the Tampa Bay region with other metropolitan areas of the same demographics and size. The data not only presents comparisons, but also offers recommendations on how to make improvements in areas of transportation, unemployment and quality of life. Watch for registration details. To read more about the program, click here.

The USF Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program is hosting the second USF Esports Summit, set to be held on a virtual format on Oct. 14. Last year, the inaugural summit drew about 400 attendees, speakers and experts serving on panels and giving talks in breakout sessions. Rivaling professional sports on the field and in arenas, esports is catching on across the nation and the world. It now is a global, multi-billion-dollar business that reached an audience of 380 million in 2019. And industry observers expect that number to increase to 557 million by 2121. To read more, click here. To register (beginning on Monday, Sept. 21), click here.

Erwin Danneels, associate professor of marketing, takes a close look at failure in the world of business innovation. The paper, titled "Normalizing vs Analyzing: Drawing the Lessons from Failure to Enhance Firm Innovativeness" was published in the Journal of Business Venturing. To read more, click here.  

Jennifer Cainas, instructor with the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, has received the Jim Bulloch Award by the Institute of Management Accountants. Cainas, was recognized for a case study titled "KAT Insurance: Introductory Accounting Data Analytics Cases Using Excel, Power BI and/or Tableau."

Carol Osborne, marketing instructor, was quoted extensively in an article appearing in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, revealing ways retailers will approach the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Huijian Dong, associate finance professor, was quoted in two recent articles in the Tampa Bay Times, discussing the rise in popularity of delivery apps amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Faizan Ali, assistant marketing professor, and Cihan Cobanoglu, McKibbon Endowed Chair Professor, both with the of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, were featured in The Conversation recently, discussing the state of religious tourism in the time of COVID-19 as sites close and pilgrimages are put on hold.

Nathan Pendleton (‘93, Marketing) was appointed to the newly created position of chief business development officer with MedicarePrepareUSA. He assumes direct responsibility for client growth and management as well as providing strategic input to the company. With years of extensive experience in sales, marketing and operations, Pendleton previously was the chief strategy officer of Ivy Compliance

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Duane Driskell II (’17, Accounting) is now an associate for internal corporate finance and asset management with Google in San Francisco. The former 25 Under 25 honoree and first-generation student was previously an audit analyst with Wells Fargo Investment Portfolio and an intern with Deloitte.

Belicia Montgomery (’17, MBA; MS, Sports and Entertainment Management) was appointed director of diversity and inclusion for Minor League Baseball where she will be the main advocate for Minor League Baseball's diversity initiative for all 160 affiliated teams. She has been with the organization for four years, having served as manager of data and business processes and an analytics specialist.

Gayle Sheppard (‘81, Business Administration) has joined the advisory board for NovaSignal, a medical technology and data company. She currently serves as corporate vice president of Azure Data at Microsoft and previously was chair and CEO of Saffron Technology.

Bill Sutton, who retired last year from heading the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program since its beginning in 2012, was honored by his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, with an Outstanding Alumni Award. The award "recognizes those who attain distinctive professional success and/or perform outstanding community service."

Bob Tiller, the Raymond James Financial Director of the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance' Personal Financial Planning Program, has written a book titled "Forgotten Faces, Family Caregiver Voices" due to hit the bookshelves later this month. The book chronicles the research Tiller conductd as a DBA student.

Aharon Yoki, doctoral student, recently received a research grant from the Institute of Management Accountants. The grant provides funding and access to the IMA membership for issuing a survey for the third paper in Yoki's three-paper dissertation. The IMA is the global organization for accounting managers with 150,000 global members.

Shemar McKoy, a graduate student in the Muma College of Business studying global business, is spotlighted in a video. He shares his experiences attending classes here and how he adapted coming from his native Jamaica. He also is the system supervisor of elections for USF's Student Government. To view the video, click here.

Grandon Gill, director of the Doctor of Business Administration program and Doreen MacAulay, instructor in the School of Information Systems and Management, were recently named Faculty Champions by the USF Office of the Provost and will represent the Muma College of Business on the USF Faculty Instruction and Learning Excellence Development Team. Gill also heads up a faculty mentoring team to ease teaching transitions during the COVID-19 outbreak and MacAulay recently published an essay on navigating the changing work environment. To read the blog, click here.

Paul Solomon, professor of marketing, was honored as Educator of the Year by the American Marketing Association's Tampa Bay Chapter recently. Solomon teaches marketing management.

Dejun "Tony" Kong, faculty director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership on the St. Petersburg campus, published research in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, a Financial Times 50 journal. The co-authored paper is titled "Face Threat Sensitivity in Distributive Negotiations: Effects on Negotiator Self Esteem and Demands." Read more.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award was established in 2004 to recognize alumni 35 and younger for their professional accomplishments and engagement to the university. Selections are based on success in chosen careers; but, a commitment to USF may also be considered. Nominations are open until Oct. 5. To nominate someone, click here.

Alan Bomstein, a Muma College of Business supporter, was honored recently as the 38^th Community Hero this season by the Tampa Bay Lightning for his service to the Tampa Bay area. Along with his time and dedication to USF and surrounding communities, Bomstein gave $10,000 to the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. Read more