Investors generally underestimated the risk and impact of hurricanes, prior to feeling “Superstorm” Sandy’s fury on Wall Street

Posted on May 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, a restaurant cleans out on Oct. 31, 2012 after flood water damaged the South Street Seaport retail district in Lower Manhattan. (Credit Jay Lazarin)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Weather experts are warning that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began June 1, could be among the most active on record. Hurricanes annually cause millions of dollars in damage to households and public infrastructure, but also to businesses.

Hurricanes and other extreme weather events also create spikes in uncertainty that can linger in financial markets for affected firms for months. Mispricing of such events in asset markets can lead to sudden sharp price corrections.

In a paper forthcoming in the Journal of Finance, Mathias Kruttli and Sumudu Watugala, assistant professors of finance at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, studied firm-level exposures to hurricanes over a 24-year period to better understand how extreme weather events impact performance in financial markets as measured by option and stock prices.

They found that investors historically underreacted to the volatility arising from hurricanes and didn’t efficiently update their expectations about it, based on information available in real time.

Mathias Kruttli

“After a hurricane, there is a lot of emphasis based on the damage and the resulting destruction, but what we wanted to highlight was that there’s also a lot of uncertainty about the effects,” Kruttli said. “At the moment of a hurricane landfall, a lot of that destruction is uncertain. Some firms will be negatively affected, certain firms will be positively affected, but it takes time for the uncertainty to be resolved.”

This uncertainty may simply involve whether a hurricane makes landfall where it is expected to do so, or if its path veers away at the last moment and affects another area instead. It also can be based on the amount of time needed to discern the scope of the impact, both to companies’ operations and the surrounding infrastructure, how product demand is affected and if and how insurance and disaster relief will aid recovery from the aftermath.

They used regression analysis to compare the change in uncertainty after a hurricane for firms that were hit, compared with those that were not. Their results show that uncertainty increases and remains elevated for up to three months.

Even though the extreme weather event has happened, it takes time for firms to assess and then communicate the impacts to investors, Watugala and Kruttli said.

Sumudu Watugala

As they examined the data from 1996 to 2019, the researchers found that investors appeared to become more aware of the potential uncertainty after experiencing Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and have, over time, reduced their underreaction to immediate hurricane risk.

“In general, what we found was that investors were systematically underreacting to how much uncertainty there would be about firm outcomes,” Watugala said. “Sandy was an unexpected event that hit the U.S. financial center. There were very significant effects, like the closure of the New York Stock Exchange. It was very salient for a lot of financial investors.” (more…)

Research offers guidance on where companies should position energy storage, which lessens reliance on fossil fuels

Posted on May 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Recent advancements in electricity storage technology have led to increased interest and proven the feasibility of storing energy in a distributed manner, but determining their locations and capacities has been a contentious issue in some places.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The International Energy Agency reports that battery storage was the fastest growing technology in the power sector in 2023. Many storage projects involve large lithium-ion batteries that can absorb excess renewable energy from the power grid and redirect it back to the grid, lessening reliance on fossil fuels. But what’s the best way to position those energy storage facilities?

Owen Wu

“Energy storage has become an indispensable part of power distribution systems, necessitating prudent investment decisions,” said Owen Wu, associate professor of operations and decision technologies and a Grant Thornton Scholar at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. “Optimizing energy storage investment decisions relies on understanding the optimal operations of energy storage.”

Recent advancements in electricity storage technology have led to increased interest and proven the feasibility of storing energy in a distributed manner, thus reducing the total cost of energy services. But this has been a contentious issue in some places, such as California, where the locations and capacities of storage facilities — including how centralized they should be – have been debated.

In a recent paper published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Wu and colleagues at the University of Michigan and OPIT – Open Institute of Technology studied energy storage from both operational and investment levels.

They found that centralized storage, placed adjacent to a central energy generation site, offers more operational flexibility than “distributed storage” sites near the points of energy demand. It provides benefits in reducing the need for energy transfer across demand nodes, but the drawback is that some centrally stored energy becomes lost as line losses.

“Our results augment and contrast with the current practice that storage is often placed at nodes where the distribution capacity is insufficient to cover the future peak demand,” said Wu, who also is director of research and outreach for the Institute for Environmental & Social Sustainability at Kelley. “We find that the minimum demand, which is ubiquitous and often substantial, should be one of the important factors for making storage capacity decisions.

“Storage investment should first be made at the demand locations with positive minimum demand regardless of the level of demand variability, and then storage investment should consider the trade-offs between centralized versus localized investment.”

Wu and his coauthors acknowledge that there are additional factor influencing where energy storage facilities are placed. Large grid-scale battery systems are larger and usually involve significant land acquisition or leasing, while smaller battery storage for industrial and commercial buildings may only need use of an existing room or rooftop.

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Kelley accounting professor studies how corporate ESG efforts and goals are viewed, and how they relate to market value

Posted on May 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Investors often react more favorably when a company directly works to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions directly through operational changes, like sourcing its electricity needs from renewable resources.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When companies announce plans to use a certain percentage of renewable energy, address greenhouse gas emissions or other environmental, social, and governance initiatives, they presumably present a commitment to these issues and a desire to build trust with stakeholders.

But whether a firm is meeting ESG expectations of investors, clients, and other constituents often depends on how they act to mitigate the issue, whether it is doing so directly or by pursuing alternatives such as purchasing carbon offsets, according to research by Donald Young, assistant professor of accounting and a Blanche “Peg” Philpott Faculty Fellow at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

Donald Young

Since joining the Kelley School in 2017, Young has been an author of three journal articles about how companies’ ESG efforts and goals are viewed, and how they relate to market value.

“Commitment is a common theme in business and social psychology research, and it is typically characterized as an enduring and ongoing action for a cause, a relationship that exists over time or a desire to maintain a valued and stable relationship,” Young wrote in the journal Accounting, Organizations and Society. “A Google search for phrases like ‘our ESG commitments’ or ‘our ESG initiatives’ yields hundreds of corporate statements about ESG commitments and initiatives.

“The results of the query raise a valid question, do investors expect a perpetual commitment, finite initiatives, or both?”

In his research, Young generally has found the former to be the case. For example, investors often react more favorably if a company directly works to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions directly through operational changes, like sourcing its electricity needs from renewable resources such as wind turbines, rather than through an indirect means.

“When the firm’s strategy emphasizes purchasing offsets, participants view the firm as less socially and environmentally responsible and assign a lower value to the firm compared to when the firm’s strategy emphasizes making operational changes,” Young and his colleagues wrote in their paper, “The Influence of Firms’ Emissions Management Strategy Disclosures on Investors’ Valuation Judgements,” published in Contemporary Accounting Research.

“Both our theory and empirical findings suggest that investors expect that ‘dirtier’ firms should clean up their own operations before looking to invest in external sustainable activities,” they added.

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Climate crisis requires behavioral change, and social media may be a powerful tool to help bring it about, Kelley research shows

Posted on May 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Social media can be an effective tool to encourage prosocial behavior benefiting others.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Much has been said about the power of social media – for good and for bad — and its importance as a communications and engagement tool. Research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business shows how social media can be an effective tool to encourage prosocial behavior benefiting others — such as energy conservation.

“By combining social proof appeals with the ease of use, scalability, and cost effectiveness of social media, new media in marketing can help play a role in affecting positive change along many social dimensions, including behavior related to climate change,” Kelley Gullo Wight, assistant professor of marketing at the Kelley School, and her two co-authors wrote in their paper, “Making Prosocial Social: The Effectiveness of Social Proof for Energy Conservation Using Social Media.”

Kelley Gullo Wight

“Addressing the current climate crisis requires behavioral change, and social media may potentially be a powerful tool to help influence such change,” they added. “Social media is a cheap and scalable channel, which enables users to reach an audience of similarly minded individuals in order to encourage environmentally sustainable behavior, such as saving energy.”

Their findings are consistent with the remarkable results of efforts by climate activist Greta Thunberg, who successfully used social media to encourage fellow school students worldwide to participate in weekly school strikes to raise awareness about climate change. Thunberg employed two powerful marketing tactics – her affiliation with fellow students and social proof – and millions joined her.

In their research, Wight and her co-authors set out to examine the effectiveness of social media in nudging energy-saving behavior and how it can be best leveraged to bring about mass behavioral change to address the climate crisis. To do that, they used evidence from both a large-scale energy efficiency campaign, the Rhode Island Energy Challenge, which was a partnership between non-profit SmartPower and the electric utility National Grid, and a controlled experiment the authors conducted.

The results of both studies found that social media messages sent by someone with whom the recipients are affiliated — such as local employers, faith-based organizations, or municipal governments — are substantially more effective, particularly when providing evidence of proof that others are taking positive actions – social proof.

This was even the case when an organization isn’t otherwise directly connected to the desired prosocial behavioral outcome.

“This runs counter to what one might predict in other contexts, such as using social media to sell consumer goods, in which nonaffiliate message senders – such as influencers, celebrities and domain experts — may be more effective,” Wight said.

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Kelley Executive Education Programs continuing a legacy of collaboration and innovation in curriculum design

Posted on May 15, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Kelley Executive Education Programs are designed to fit into your busy schedule.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Kelley School of Business has merged three programs into a single unit — Kelley Executive Education Programs.

The Kelley School has long offered programs to help organizations enhance their talent development strategies, and Kelley Executive Education Programs (KEEP) provides maximum flexibility to corporations and professional associations.

Classes can be configured to provide graduate academic credit and/or professional certifications and digital badges, providing a “one-stop shop” for companies looking to build their human capital and improve employee retention.

Each component of Kelley Executive Education Programs has a history of collaboration and innovation in curriculum design.

Online Graduate Certificates and MS Degrees

The Master of Science 30-credit-hour degrees, presented by faculty who teach in Kelley’s other nationally ranked programs, are offered online, and can be completed within one to two years. These programs are open to individual students and those sponsored by partner organizations. With a cost of $25,500, they are a value in comparison to similar master’s degrees offered elsewhere.

Carolyn Goerner

KEEP’s 12-credit-hour graduate certificates provide a shorter-term credential. Graduate certificates are stackable, where all hours completed can be transferred to the online MS degree for those who choose to pursue that option. Non-degree programs, traditionally presented through Kelley’s Executive Education Programs, can be configured to provide graduate certificate credit.

“There are distinctly different audiences for an MBA and an MS degree. Some people want expertise in their functional area – the MS degree provides that specialization. In the MS, students focus on knowledge and skills that will help them immediately in their current role at their current employer” said Carolyn Goerner, faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs and clinical professor of management.

Alex Lopes, associate faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs and clinical professor of Operations, noted that some people coming back into the educational setting may not immediately appreciate that they want to pursue a degree.

Alex Lopes

“Our program is designed to allow students to ‘stack’ their graduate certificates and apply them toward an MS degree – if they choose to do so,” Lopes said.

The Kelley School also sees an increased demand from students who understand the value of certificates verifying acquisition of applicable tools they need now in their jobs — in Six Sigma, project management, leadership, analytics, cybersecurity, and other areas – and that can be completed in a relatively short period of time.

The reimagined Online MS in Business Analytics is designed for those who want to become a brand analytics manager, e-commerce project manager, web metrics analyst, or a consultant to senior decision makers. The Online MS in Finance provides the ideal background in financial expertise for future CFOs. And the Online MS in Strategic Management offers leadership acumen for front-line supervisors.

Custom Corporate MBA

While individuals can complete online graduate certificates and MS degrees, Kelley’s Corporate MBA is restricted to students employed by partner organizations. These entities – including companies such as General Motors, GE Haier, and Booz Allen Hamilton, along with professional groups such as the NFL Players’ Association and the WNBA Players’ Association – sign a Memorandum of Understanding that allows their employees to participate in a streamlined MBA program.

The Corporate MBA is an online program, without the career development and networking opportunities found in the traditional MBA. Partners who pledge a set number of students to the program per year have the opportunity to work with Kelley faculty to customize coursework to meet the needs of their organization.

“Our programs are designed to help people become more valuable to their companies,” Goerner said. “We offer a variety of custom options for companies and professional associations, which allow them to send their employees to Kelley for a shared experience – educational offerings that are designed specifically for the needs of those organizations.”

Customization can include onsite programs for a company’s cohort of students, co-selection of case studies for existing class activities, or even entirely customized courses.

In addition to the obvious benefit of developing firm-specific human capital, having a group of students from the same employer promotes teamwork across the organization. Leaders with shared learning experiences can make better decisions and communicate more efficiently.

Non-Credit Executive Education

Kelley has offered cutting-edge custom executive education programs for more than 40 years. These offerings, also created and taught by Kelley faculty, are co-designed with organizations to ensure their learning objectives are front and center.

Ron Thomas

“We’re now able to say to our client companies that we offer everything, from personal coaching to creating a university within your organization,” noted Ron Thomas, executive director of Kelley Executive Education.

Kelley’s custom programs can be designed as non-credit or for-credit experiences. Timing and location are flexible – from one-day onsite offerings to multi-week online courses. The addition of non-credit programs to the KEEP portfolio allows continued experimentation and exploration of new types of pedagogy.

Many of Kelley’s significant advances in online education were first created in partnership with companies.

“A huge part of our DNA is that we do what we teach. Many of our online education competitors offer programs under their name but partner with external, for-profit vendors who outsource aspects of their programs,” Goerner said.

“At Kelley, everything we provide students — including instruction — comes from within the school. All our classes are presented by Kelley faculty, who also design and teach them. We record our asynchronous video content in-house. This helps us be nimble in responding to the needs of the market. It adds value to our students’ education and their degrees, which is why so many top companies come to us for both open-enrollment and customized programs.”

Bisk partners with Kelley School of Business Executive Education Programs to launch Negotiation Fundamentals Certificate

Posted on May 8, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Integration of AI-enabled avatars into course offers a revolutionary learning experience and approach to developing negotiation skills

TAMPA, FL/ May 8, 2024 — Bisk, a leader in online education solutions, announces a strategic collaboration with Kelley School of Business Executive Education Programs (KEEP) to launch the Negotiation Fundamentals online certificate program. With the aim of equipping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals with crucial negotiation strategies, AI avatars will be integrated into the course to provide realistic negotiation training.

Utilizing AI-enabled immersion, participants are provided with a dynamic virtual platform to practice real-world negotiations, offering a practical avenue to refine their techniques and enhance their skills through active engagement. The ultimate objective is to acquire diverse techniques and foundational skills essential for navigating any negotiation scenario.

Jennifer King

“Integrating AI-enabled avatars into our course will transform the manner in which participants acquire and employ negotiation skills,” said Dr. Jennifer King, Bisk’s vice president of workforce and education. “Through the utilization of 3D spatial learning, we can construct authentic environments that immerse students in genuine negotiation scenarios. Students will have the opportunity to practice negotiation round the clock, independent of live instructor availability.”

Employing 3D spatial learning, which involves visualizing and comprehending objects and spaces in three-dimensional environments, the AI avatars will offer students tailored activities for negotiation practice sessions. Focused on enhancing confidence and honing negotiation skills, the Negotiation Fundamentals certificate program presents a crucial opportunity for professionals seeking to advance their careers and effect significant changes.

Carolyn Goerner

“In today’s ever-evolving business environment, negotiation stands as a crucial skill,” stated Carolyn Goerner, faculty chair, Kelley Executive Education Programs. “Our dedication lies in equipping learners with the essential tools and strategies for success. Partnering with Bisk signifies our enthusiasm to introduce this transformative certificate program to professionals across the globe.”

The first online cohort starts July 1, with future monthly offerings, all featuring rolling enrollment. For more information about the program and registration details, please visit https://learn.kelley.iu.edu/negotiation-fundamentals.

About Indiana University Kelley School of Business

For more than 100 years — first in Bloomington and later in Indianapolis, online and for top companies – Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business has prepared students to lead organizations, start companies, develop new products and services, and shape business knowledge and policy. For more than 40 years, its Kelley Executive Education Programs (KEEP) has designed, developed, and presented customized corporate degrees and graduate certificates. The non-degree division of KEEP offers graduate-level non-degree custom programs and open enrollment short courses and professional certificates. KEEP has established partnerships with leading organizations and industry asscociations such as Allegion, Eli Lilly, General Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, GE Appliances, NCSHA, and the NFL Players Association.

About Bisk

Bisk partners with leading institutions to deliver online degree and certificate programs to learners around the world. We provide the resources, expertise, and technology to help institutions grow and students thrive. Through our online education services, we have supported more than one million enrollments for universities such as Villanova University, Michigan State University, University of South Florida, Emory University, Southern Methodist University, University of British Columbia, Vanderbilt University, Eastern Connecticut State University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Columbia Law School. Our mission is to amplify potential through transformational learning experiences. To learn more, visit bisk.com.

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Kelley Direct Online MBA ranked No. 1 by QS, reflecting the quality and commitment of faculty, staff and students

Posted on April 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Kelley Direct Online MBA program at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business once again has been ranked No. 1 in North America and fifth worldwide by QS Intelligence Unit, a respected research organization that also produces the QS World University Rankings.

Also, with a score of 96.7 out of 100, QS ranked Kelley Direct No. 2 for employability in the U.S and Canada and No. 3 worldwide.

The quality of the class profile, which included factors such as years of work experience, female and international representation, and size of enrollment, was ranked third best in North America and eighth worldwide.

Ash Soni

QS’ editors noted that the market for online MBA programs remains increasing competitive. This year’s online MBA rankings included 102 programs worldwide, including those across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and Africa. They received responses from more than 61,000 employers and 48,100 academics.

“Kelley Direct is a unique MBA experience, and that’s reflected in our rankings,” said Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School of Business and The Sungkyunkwan Professor. “Our faculty and staff have worked very hard to create an innovative curriculum and engaging in-person events that set Kelley apart from other programs.”

Earlier this year and for the third consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named Kelley Direct the No. 1 online MBA program. It also was the seventh time it had done since beginning to rank such programs in 2013. It also is ranked No. 1 by Fortune, Poets&Quants, and The Princeton Review.

Will Geoghegan

“We are grateful for further validation of the Kelley Direct MBA program,” said Will Geoghegan, chair of Kelley Direct and clinical associate professor of management and entrepreneurship. “It’s immensely rewarding to receive our fifth major No. 1 ranking this year. We are deeply committed to the quality of our program, which is designed to provide an online MBA experience that feels anything but online.”

Kelley Direct is the original online MBA program from a top-tier business school, marking its 25th anniversary this year. The program is uniquely designed in how it serves the needs of working professionals. Unlike other business schools who partner with external, for-profit vendors, who outsource aspects of their online MBA programs, all aspects of Kelley Direct are done in-house.

All Kelley Direct courses are designed and taught by more than 130 dedicated full-time Kelley faculty. This ensures that students receive a unique and personalized education that includes in-person and immersive experiences. They include Kelley On Campus, which involves a live case where students apply what they’re learning in a real-world setting that also benefits a real client; and Kelley On Location, which offers optional global and domestic immersions tailored to the students’ goals.

Kelley student-led Professional Dress Closet initiative helps reduce barriers to success

Posted on April 23, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Hundreds of Kelley students attended, browsed and selected clothing to build their professional wardrobes.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On May 4, thousands of students will walk at Indiana University Commencement and at school recognition ceremonies, proudly wearing their caps and gowns.

For some students at the Kelley School of Business, their future career success received a boost from how they presented themselves to corporate recruiters, including professional attire they received through a new student-led initiative.

In January, Kelley Student Government hosted the inaugural Professional Dress Closet for business and pre-business students. Through generous donations from faculty, staff, alumni and corporate partners, students were able to “shop” from a wide variety of professional dress clothes, with an emphasis on inclusivity in sizes and styles.

Bridget Stomberg

Students were invited to visit the Conrad Prebys Career Services Center on Jan. 18-19 to choose a complete business professional outfit at no cost to them.

“The event was extraordinarily well attended,” said Bridget Stomberg, faculty chair of the Undergraduate Program, a professor of accounting and the Glaubinger Chair for Undergraduate Leadership at Kelley.

Hundreds of students shopping the event were surprised to find an array of clothing options that were as diverse and wide-ranging as the Kelley student body itself, and the event had overwhelming support from faculty who teach courses that require business professional attire for presentations.

“We are extremely proud of the students who envisioned, championed, and organized this event, which we hope will become an annual tradition,” Stomberg said. “We believe the event will help reduce barriers to success and enhance students’ feelings of belonging at Kelley.”

The project was the brainchild of Ajith Amba, outgoing president of Kelley Student Government and a graduating senior majoring in finance, accounting, and business analytics; and Eknoor Sethi, the outgoing KSG vice president and a senior majoring in management and law, ethics, and decision-making.

Ajith Amba

During their administration, Amba said he and Sethi were looking to address diversity issues in the student body, and “specifically fill in the gaps of where administration or faculty are unable to touch.” That included advocating for and collaborating with the Dean’s Office to offer professional dress wear to all students who need it.

“Thanks to the efforts of the dean’s office, Kelley Student Government, and, of course, the alumni and the career services office, we were able to give clothing away to about 500 people,” Amba said in a video announcing his selection for the university’s P.J. and Hilda W. Hill Award.

“That clothing now is used for internships, to use for club interviews,” he added. “The greatest part is every so often we now get notes from students that were affected, saying, “thank you so much. I got this opportunity, and it’s all because of a starting point of wearing this type of clothing.”

The Hill Award goes to outstanding seniors on the IU Bloomington campus who have done the most to “better race relationships on the IU campus” during their undergraduate career.

Amba said the project wouldn’t have been successful without the support of his fellow Kelley Students Ellory Smith, Logan Tobery and Anay Terala. He also thanked Kelley professional staff Ben Taylor, senior director of the Undergraduate Program; Rebecca Cook, executive director of career services; and and Muge Tuna, director of employer engagement & strategic partnerships.

Students Mia Wayne, left, and Ellory Smith stand at the entrance to Kelley’s Closet

Mia Wayne, an economic consulting, and business analytics student, helped organize clothes and worked to put clothing racks together and set up the event.

“Feeling prepared is extremely important, especially for an interview. The phrase ‘look good, feel good’ is one I most definitely agree with,” Wayne said. “Being well dressed for an occasion can add an element of confidence that is needed within a professional setting.”

She said students had quite an impressive selection of clothes to choose from. “Although I didn’t take anything myself, there were a few articles of clothing that I definitely had my eye on,” she said.

The Professional Dress Closet project complemented another initiative that Sethi pushed for – in collaboration with Out at Kelley — a professional attire guidebook.

“This was one of my favorite moments at Kelley because I got to see the impact it was making and the people it was affecting,” Eknoor said in a 2023 interview. “I got to work a lot on my allyship in that position. I don’t experience what they face, but I can try to put myself in their shoes and give them a voice if they don’t have one.”

‘Doing Business with ASEAN’ conference helps Indiana companies find opportunities in 10 Southeast Asian countries

Posted on April 19, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Singapore city skyline and downtown business district.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world and leading this transformation is a group of 10 nations called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Two centers in the Indiana University Kelley School of Business are helping to present a half-day seminar about business opportunities for Indiana companies in the region.

Ted Osius

Ted Osius, former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam and president and CEO of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, will keynote the May 8 conference in Fort Wayne, “Doing Business with ASEAN.” It will take place at the Don Wolf Conference Center (the Do It Best headquarters), 1626 Broadway.

The IU Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) is a sponsor, along with primary sponsors — the Indiana District Export Council and the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

Carol Rogers, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Kelley and chair of the Labor Market Information Institute, will be among those presenting an overview of ASEAN markets.

The event will be from 11:45 am to 6 pm and includes lunch and a networking reception. Cost is $65 if registered by April 24 and $75 afterward, plus a service fee.

The World Bank identifies Southeast Asia as one of the fastest growing and dynamic regions in the world. ASEAN member nations include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

With a population of over 650 million, and a nominal gross domestic product of about $3.8 trillion, ASEAN ranks fifth in economic might worldwide behind the U.S., China, Germany, and Japan. The United States exported $107 billion in goods to ASEAN in 2023, up 25% since 2019, with Indiana’s exports to the region up 52% over the same period.

Christine Everett

“Those attending this dynamic conference will learn about trade opportunities for Indiana companies and the nations of ASEAN. Our keynote speakers and panelists bring a wealth of knowledge on ASEAN customs and commerce, and how best to engage for long-term business success,” said Christine Everett, senior director of Kelley Global, the school’s global engagement entity that houses the Center for International Business Education and Research.

The center leverages the institutional strengths of IU and Kelley to help U.S. businesses compete successfully in the global marketplace. It is just one of 16 national resource centers funded by a Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Founded in 1984, the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council represents 180 of the largest American businesses in Southeast Asia through its headquarters in Washington, DC, and its seven regional offices. A diplomat for 30 years, Osius served from 2014 to 2017 as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. In 2021, he published his most recent book, “Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam,” with a foreword by former Secretary of State John Kerry, covering the two countries’ 25-year journey from adversaries to friends and partners.

Osius also has been Google Asia-Pacific’s vice president for government affairs and public policy, senior advisor at the Albright-Stonebridge Group and the first vice president of Fulbright University Vietnam.  he was an associate professor at the National War College and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His diplomatic career also has included posts in Indonesia, India, South Korea, Thailand and at the United Nations.

After Osius’ opening keynote, Rogers and Ahn Tran, a professor at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and an advisor to Vietnam’s prime minister; and Frank Wadsworth, professor of marketing and international studies at IU Columbus, will provide an overview of the markets.

Danica Starks, senior U.S. commercial liaison to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, will follow with a discussion of about the regional development headquartered in the Philippines.

Tom Miller, senior vice president and managing director – foreign exchange at PNC Bank, and Mariel Huasanga, regional director of EXIM Bank, will discuss “risk management and getting paid.

The last session, “Tales from the Trenches,” will feature Christian Parra, director of international sales at Do It Best Corp., and Bob Mason, senior vice president and international sales manager at Ford Meter Box.

The conference is just one example of IU’s engagement in the region. Since 2019, the university has had the IU ASEAN Gateway office in Bangkok, Thailand, which serves as a hub to support many activities. It reaffirmed long-standing partnerships that IU has had with leading educational institutions, allowing it to explore areas of mutual interest relating to ASEAN business, education, government and culture and expanding IU’s international engagement in this important region of the world. It is directed by Peter Boonjarern, a 2000 Kelley graduate.

Kelley’s Full-Time and Evening MBA programs ranked in U.S. News’ Top 20

Posted on April 9, 2024 by George Vlahakis

One of the distinguishing features of Kelley’s Full-Time program is Me, Inc., which helps students shape their personal brand, dive into career development and be on their way to understanding leadership style.

BLOOMINGTON and INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Indiana University Kelley School of Business’ Full-Time and Evening MBA programs each moved up in the latest Best Business Schools rankings released by U.S. News & World Report on April 9.

The Full-Time MBA Program based at IU Bloomington moved back into the top 20 after being ranked 22nd last year. In addition to its overall 20^th ranking, five MBA specialties – led by a No. 7 ranking for its entrepreneurship program – also were in the top 20. Kelley also was ranked 10th in accounting, 17th in marketing, 18th in production-operations, and 19th in management.

The Evening MBA Program based at IU Indianapolis rose from 15th last year to 13th in 2024.

The Kelley School is just one of two business schools to have its full-time, part-time, and online MBA programs all ranked in U.S. News’ top 20. In February, the media company ranked the school’s Kelley Direct Online MBA program No. 1.

No other business school in Indiana offers a top 20 MBA program, according to U.S. News.

Three quarters of in-residence MBA programs ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News are presented by private universities. Kelley’s Full-Time MBA Program ranks fifth among all public institutions. Among public part-time programs, Kelley’s Evening MBA Program is eighth.

Ash Soni

“These rankings reflect the breadth and depth of a Kelley School education,” said Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School of Business in Bloomington and Indianapolis and The Sungkyunkwan Professor. “We have world-class faculty, innovative curricula, award-winning career services, and dedicated staff who are committed to providing an exceptional experience for our students. We also have one of the largest alumni groups in the world, and they are engaged and invested in the success of our students at all levels.”

Fifty percent of U.S. News’ rankings formula evaluates MBA programs on their successful placement and earnings outcomes of their graduates.

John D. Hill, faculty chair of the Full-Time MBA Program, clinical associate professor of operations and decision technologies and Grant Thornton Scholar, noted that his program has a proven return on investment. An analysis of graduates’ salary-to-debt ratio in 2023 was better than any other Top 25 program.

“The affordability of our top 20 MBA program is not only a result of Indiana University’s commitment to a responsibly priced, high-quality education, but also a reflection of the significant financial support that the Full-Time MBA program receives from the Kelley School and our extremely engaged alumni network,” Hill said. “Both provide generous scholarship opportunities in order to attract our talented and diverse student body. That same alumni network, alongside our Graduate Career Services office, supports the return on that investment by assisting students in securing strong positions with top companies globally.”

The other half of U.S. News’ rankings methodology is based on a combination of academic metrics about the achievements of entering students and opinions by business schools, corporate recruiters, and company contacts on overall program quality.

More than 94 percent of 2023 graduates of the full-time program received job offers within 90 days of graduation and the base mean salary was $140,486.

The Evening MBA Program continues to be the top ranked part-time MBA in Indiana since it began in 1974. It is designed to be immediately applicable to students with takeaways they can apply long before they graduate. As a part-time program, students attend courses at night and return to work the next day with fresh ideas they can deploy to confront challenges in their organizations

Julie Manning Magid

“The Evening MBA’s recognition as an elite part-time MBA program reflects Kelley Indianapolis’ sustained commitment to meeting the educational needs of working professionals and strengthening the Indianapolis business community,” said Julie Manning Magid, vice dean of the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. “Our Evening MBA graduates lead innovative organizations that drive prosperity for the city, state and beyond. It is an honor to have the efforts of our faculty, staff, students and alumni nationally recognized for the impact they make in our community and organizations around the country.”

The Evening MBA Program begins with a one-week, intensive experience in which students solve a real business problem for an Indianapolis-based organization. Students collaborated with Indy Pro Volleyball last fall to make recommendations about launch and marketing strategies for the new women’s professional volleyball league. In Dec. 2023, the league announced that Indianapolis would be the 10th city to join the nationwide league.

“Our students work with global companies to solve executive-level problems and offer consulting expertise and strategy opportunities to small and minority-owned businesses,” said Kyle Anderson, faculty chair of the Evening MBA Program and assistant dean for academic programs at Kelley Indianapolis. “We are taking students out of the classroom to help them learn the real implications of their MBA, and we’re making a real impact for Indiana companies, big and small.”

Additionally, although the school does not offer a traditional executive MBA, graduate offerings by Kelley Executive Education Programs were included among U.S. News’ top 25 in its rankings of “Best Executive MBA Programs.” Kelley was ranked 21st.

Kelley Executive Education Programs offers customized corporate degrees and graduate-level non-degree programs and certificates. It has established partnerships with leading organizations such as General Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, GE Appliances and the NFL Players Association.

The fall 2023 Evening MBA cohort was the first to include three IU School of Dentistry students earning simultaneous DDS and MBA degrees to learn business skills, develop their executive leadership ability and prepare to operate their own practices. This option is an expansion of the dual degree options available to students with others including MD/MBA and JD/MBA. This cohort also included the first recipients of a new Scholars Program, which provides funding to those who exemplify the Evening MBA Program’s core values and demonstrate leadership potential.