Spring 2019 Buffalo Business 9
leaders prioritize morality, their
organizations perform better
and their employees are more
satisfied, engaged, creative and
proactive. "As Lemoine points
out, what's 'right' can be sub-
jective," the article stated. "Even
as you abide by a particular
approach, you should recognize
that others might have a way
of looking at a situation or the
world that's different than you."
In a Buffalo News op-ed, Larry
Zielinski, executive in residence
for health care administration,
argued that while single-payer
plans, like "Medicare for all,"
could virtually eliminate the
number of uninsured nation-
wide, they fail to address the
reason for rising health care
costs: fee-for-service medicine
that emphasizes "sick care" over
preventative services. "It doesn't
matter who is writing the check
for those services, a government
agency or a commercial insur-
ance company; if the underlying
system stays intact, the problem
continues," Zielinski wrote.
Tom Ulbrich, assistant dean of
entrepreneurship and social
innovation initiatives, was quoted
in a Buffalo News story about
the number of local jobs 43North
and other startup competitions
have created. These events,
including UB's Henry A. Panasci
Jr. Technology Entrepreneur-
ship Competition, "help create
a culture of entrepreneurship,"
Ulbrich said. "We have moved
from, 'Woe is me, there is little to
be hopeful for new business,' to,
'We can do this, and Buffalo
is a place to move to, not to
move away from, for budding
entrepreneurs.'"
Several influential media featured the accomplishments of the School of Management and the
expertise of its faculty over the past year. Below is a summary of some of the school's citations
in prominent national and regional media. These media placements enhance the school's national
reputation and help to brand it as one of the nation's top business schools.
NewsBites
in Bezrukova and [co-researcher
Chester] Spell's fault-line analysis
were not those who were the
most demographically similar,"
an excerpt in Sports Illustrated
explained. "They were instead
those who had players who
could cross-cut between a mix of
subgroups, who could facilitate a
complementarity, as opposed to
a rivalry, based on their
differences."
MarketWatch reported on
research by Arun Lakshmanan,
associate professor of marketing,
that found narcissists are more
likely to donate to charity if the
request focuses on them, instead
of the recipient. "Charitable
giving is about having empathy,"
Lakshmanan said. "Narcissists
have difficulty with that, so ask-
ing them to imagine themselves
as the person in need can help
elicit genuine concern and thus
donations."
Articles in Scientific American
and Salon discussed research
by School of Management PhD
student Katie Badura and Emily
Grijalva, assistant professor of
organization and human re-
sources. Their study found men
are still more likely than women
to be chosen or rated as leaders,
in part because they tend to be
more assertive. "That's a ton of
human capital that organiza-
tions are ignoring," said Badura,
who advised companies to
train employees to rely less on
stereotypes.
Charles Lindsey, associate pro-
fessor of marketing, was quoted
by The Wall Street Journal about
consumer reactions to price
hikes on everything from paint to
tissues. "Companies realize there
may be more inflationary pres-
sure in the next few years, and
maybe consumers will react fa-
vorably right now," Lindsey said.
However, he continued, "custom-
ers are always on a budget and
will always feel pressure."
Veljko Fotak, assistant professor
of finance, was interviewed by
Forbes on how naked short-
selling can impact financial
markets. Contrary to prior re-
ports, Fotak's research showed
that unsettled short sales did not
trigger the collapse of several
financial firms during the 2008
economic crisis. "Blaming short
sellers is always easier than
admitting that betting the farm
on subprime mortgages was a
mistake," he said.
Jim Lemoine, assistant profes-
sor of organization and human
resources, was quoted in a
Yahoo! story about the increase
in businesses and corporate
leaders making decisions based
on morality. "Cynics may say
companies are just doing it so
that they can get good press ...
but it also makes good business
sense," he said. "Paradoxically,
the companies that focus less
on profit and more on stake-
holders make more profit in
the long term."
Inc. also reported on research
by Lemoine, showing that when
Paul Tesluk, professor and dean
of the School of Management,
was quoted by The New York
Times in an article about team
chemistry in the NFL. "Our
natural instinct is to look at the
raw talent of the individuals,"
said Tesluk, who has studied
how chemistry affects on-field
success. "If you don't have things
like stability and leadership, or
you don't take into account how
you build a team culture, you
can only go so far on raw talent.
That's a really valuable lesson for
the workplace as well."
Kate Bezrukova, associate
professor of organization and
human resources, was quoted
in stories by PBS NewsHour and
Forbes about Starbucks closing
stores nationwide last spring for
company-wide bias training.
The articles cited Bezrukova's re-
search showing that for diversity
training to be effective, it can't
be a one-shot deal. "It's about
the training being complement-
ed by other initiatives," she said.
"We call it training that's
embedded in organizational
structure and the way organiza-
tions run the business."
Bezrukova also shared her ex-
pertise in Astroball: The New Way
to Win It All, a best-selling book
that outlines how the Houston
Astros used data and instinct to
transform from the worst MLB
team to World Series champs in
a few seasons. "Intriguingly, the
teams that performed the best
