Digitalization and the future of newspapers?

Students, faculty and members of the community will gather on the campus of Western Michigan University as part of an all day conference to discuss the future of newspapers in the age of digitalization.

The conference theme "Can an Educated Society be Sustained Solely by Digitization?" will examine the future of newspapers and society and will be held on Saturday, March 27, in the WMU Fetzer Center, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

"This conference is probably the first of its kind in the nation," says Dr. Andrew Targowski, WMU professor of business and information systems and conference chairman. "We hope it will serve as a model for similar forums at other universities and colleges in other states."

Keynote addresses include:

• Digital Media & News: Reinventing the Newspaper Future
 - by Dr. Richard Gershon, WMU School of Communication

• Saving Paper Papers
- by Cheryl Kaechele, President of the National Newspaper Association

• Can Democracy Survive in the Google Age?
 - by Dr. Thomas Kostrzewa, WMU Political Science Department

• The Future of Reason in the Digital Civilization
 - by Dr. Andrew Targowski, WMU Center for Sustainable Business Practices

The luncheon talk will address Credibility, Incredibility, and the Demise of Objectivity, Civility, and Wisdom by Cal Samra, editor and publisher of an award-winning humor newsletter (both paper and digital) and former newspaper and Associated Press reporter.

“Newspapers are a national treasure.” Samra said. “A paper paper is the glue that holds a community together. Newspapers survived the Great Depression. They survived radio and television. They survived shoppers. But can they survive the Internet?”

The conference will address these questions:

• Can paper papers be saved?

• Should newspapers give themselves away free on the internet, or should they charge for internet access to their daily editions?

• Are we entering a new era of digital journalism?

• Is there a place for both paper and digital media?

The conference will explore ideas aimed at improving editorial and business practices at newspapers, and open a dialogue between journalists and technologists. The conference has called for papers, with cash prizes to be given to the best paper in each of three categories: Faculty, Student, and Professional Journalist.

Best papers chair Dr. Thomas Rienzo commented that the conference is a “unique venue to consider the implications of an increasingly digital world.” One of other papers to be offered is "Do Copyrights Help or Hurt in a Digital World?" by Joel E. Bair, an attorney who is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on copyrights and trademarks.

The conference is sponsored by WMU’s Haworth College of Business; Center for Sustainable Business Practices; WMU’s College of Arts and Sciences; Haenicke Institute for Global Education; and the National Newspaper Association.

For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.wmich.edu/business/sustainability/newspapers. Admission is $20 (lunch included).

Stimulus impact on Michigan transportation and infrastructure is topic of discussion

Michael Newman, BBA ’73, president/managing director, Michigan Aggregates Association (MAA) and the affiliated MAA Foundation, will discuss “Transportation and Infrastructure funding in Michigan – The Stimulus Impact and Future Financing,” on Friday, Mar. 26 as part of the Keystone Breakfast Speaker Series.

The event will be held in the Dean’s Conference Room of Schneider Hall, home of the Haworth College of Business. The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. followed by the presentation at 8 a.m.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling (269) 387-5050. Parking is available in the nearby Fetzer Center parking lot.

The MAA is a trade association located in Lansing, Mich., that focuses on promoting the interest and growth of the construction materials industry through legislative, regulatory and public policy advocacy. Newman has held his current position with the organization since 1995.

Previously, Newman served as president/CEO of the Michigan Restaurant Association and as executive vice president/COO of the Michigan Retailers Association.

In addition, Newman was appointed to the Michigan Water Resources Advisory Council in 2005 and currently serves as the Co-chair. The Council provides guidance to the Michigan Legislature and Executive Office on water use issues concerning the Great Lakes, inland lakes and other aquatic systems.

Newman has also served on the board of directors of the Trust for Resource Allocation Council, Michigan Society of Association Executives where he served a term as chairman of the board, and the National Aggregate and Concrete Executives Group where he was also chairman of the board.

The speaker series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. It provides an opportunity for the local community to hear prominent business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.

Food marketing conference to focus on operating in the new economy

Food industry leaders will gather to discuss customer service, the future of retailing and the deployment of social media tools at the 45th Annual WMU Food Marketing Conference on Wednesday and Thursday, March 24-25.

Hank Meijer, co-chairman and CEO Meijer Stores, will share his thoughts on serving customers as part of the conference, which annually draws more than 400 food industry executives to Kalamazoo. The event will be held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. This year’s theme is “Essential Business Lessons for the New Economy.”

Kicking off the event at 4 p.m. on Wednesday is Kevin Hunt, president and Co-CEO, Ralcorp Holdings Inc. His presentation and the follow-up executive forum at 4:30 p.m. will examine the customers shifting need for value. Moderated by Michael Sansolo, author and retail food industry consultant, the panel will include Brian Audette, vice president of independent sales for Supervalu; Denny Belcastro, senior vice president for Kraft Foods Inc.; Carole Bitter, president and CEO for Friedman’s Freshmarkets and Michael Malenfant, vice president of customer business development for Procter and Gamble.

Wednesday evening will feature Sansolo along with co-author Kevin Coupe, founder of MorningNewsBeat.Com. The two will draw upon stories and lessons from their new book “The Big Picture,” which examines how popular films provide a treasure trove of lessons large and small, profound and simple, to share and study how to become a better marketer, partner and leader.

On Thursday morning, two concurrent presentations begin at 8:15 a.m. Dan O’Connor, president, CEO for Retail Network Group, will discuss “The Future of Retailing” and Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of digital strategic services for The Nielsen Company, will discuss “Using Social Media Wisely.”

Four concurrent, one-hour morning breakout sessions run from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and include the following topics:

• “Leadership by Investing in People"
• “Tracking Trends That Matter – Consumer & Shopper Insights to Drive Trips and Sales”
• “Manage the Most Diverse Workforce Ever”
• “Private Brands Aren’t so ‘Private’ Anymore”

Additional breakout sessions run from 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. with topics including:

• “Reinventing Retail: How Consumers’ Shifting Values are Changing the Face of Retail”
• “Making a Sustainable Difference in Our World”
• “Understanding the Mindset of the Customer”
• “Optimizing Center Store Meal Shopping: A Focus on Shoppers and Convenience Meals”

At 2 p.m. Hank Meijer, co-chairman and CEO for Meijer Stores and the third generation to lead the Michigan-based retailer, will close the conference by offering his outlook for the future with his talk: “Customers Don’t Need Us, We Need Them.” The title is based on the foundation of the Meijer organization, a philosophy held since 1934.

The Annual Food Marketing Conference is presented by WMU's Food and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Marketing Program in the Haworth College of Business. Proceeds from the conference support Food and CPG Marketing scholarships and related program operations.

For more conference information, including cost and registration details, call the event hotline at (269) 387-2132 or visit www.wmich.edu/business/fmk/fmc/

WMU to host Michigan HR Games – March 27

For the first time since its inception, the Haworth College of Business will play host to HR Games 2010, “Sharing Our Resources -- Benefitting Our Students,” a fast moving day of student competition and food, fun and prizes designed to test students’ knowledge of the human resources field. The event will be held on Saturday, March 27 in Schneider Hall on the campus of Western Michigan University.

Invitations have been extended to over 15 colleges and universities in the state of Michigan to participate in the Jeopardy-style matches between teams where the students are tested in a number of different HR areas such as strategic management, total rewards, employee and labor relations, selection, leadership and risk management.

WMU is expected to have eight to ten teams compete in the event which is expected to draw student teams and family members from the participating schools along with faculty and HR professionals in the field.

“The HR Games are a win-win for our students and the Haworth College of Business,” says Dr. Satish Deshpande, professor of management. “The games are timed to help students prepare for the upcoming Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification exam and it furthers their career development. It also gives them an opportunity to network with HR professionals who are at the games volunteering in various capacities. Since the games attract a lot of outsiders like HR professionals and parents, it is a great way to showcase our campus and can be a great recruiting tool for future students.”

The Michigan HR Games are sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management. The event brings community HR professionals and alumni to campus to serve as speakers, scorekeepers, judges, etc. Last year WMU business students placed third in the competition.

Student leaders from the WMU’s SHRM chapter are working hard to plan the event. In addition to the competition, students may attend a Friday evening reception at the Fetzer Center which will provide them with networking opportunities with human resource professionals from the community.

For further information about the competition or registration information, contact Dr. Dan Farrell, professor of management at 269.387.5850 or dan.farrell@wmich.edu.

Faculty pair honored for service-learning initiatives
Feb. 26, 2010

KALAMAZOO –In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Rev. Coleen Slosberg (center), United Campus Ministry (UCM), and Dr. Timothy Palmer (left), professor of management in the Haworth College of Business, have taken their passion a step further. The two have incorporated an academic component into philanthropic opportunities and are offering these programs as service-learning experiences for WMU Business students.

This initiative has earned the duo this year’s Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award, an honor that recognizes contributions to community service. The prestigious annual award is the highest MCC bestows on faculty and staff in Michigan. The organization held an awards ceremony in early February to honor Slosberg and Palmer along with award recipients from each MCC member campus who engages or influences students to be involved in community service or service-learning through modeling, influence or instruction.

“We are delighted that MCC has recognized Coleen and Tim for this project,” says Dr. Ajay Samant, interim dean for the Haworth College of Business. “Business majors who take part in service-learning projects learn a lot as they gain insight into societal issues. These opportunities offer them an added perspective as they prepare for future careers.”

Slosberg has been engaged in service-learning for more than 15 years having developed leadership and service-learning courses at both WMU and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Palmer teaches a Strategic Business Solutions class. It was through meeting with Slosberg that Palmer was inspired to convert his Strategic Business Solutions class into a service-learning offering. Subsequently, this has become a popular and influential class in the Haworth College of Business.
Students have the option of choosing from several different service-learning experiences, all of which are coordinated by UCM. Some students work with Habitat for Humanity, others with Volunteering with Kids. Some students will choose to attend an Alternative Spring Break. These experiences may take the form of spending a weekend in Chicago where they engage in a variety of activities that may involve preparing and serving meals in homeless shelters, tutoring underprivileged school children, helping ESL adults practice English, or refurbishing social service facilities.

Integrating service-learning into the class provides Palmer the opportunity to complement the traditional business school focus on financial performance with opportunities for students to discover the relationship between the strategic choices that businesses make and how they impact community/urban issues.
Michigan Campus Compact annually recognizes outstanding community service and service-learning by faculty and staff of MCC member campuses. The Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award is given to one person from each campus who engages or influences students to be involved in the community service or service-learning through modeling, influence or instruction. This is the seventeenth year for this award.

Caption for photo, above: From left Dr. Tim Palmer is pictured accepting the MCC Faculty/Staff Community Service Learning Award.  Rev. Smith-Slosberg was unable to attend the event.  Palmer is standing with Renee Miller Zientek, Michigan Campus Compact Executive Director, and Dr. Don Tuski, Chair of the MCC Board of Directors and President of Olivet College.

Students win scholarships at ISM Conference

February 17, 2010

Kalamazoo -- Congratulations to two students majoring in integrated supply management for being named 2009 ISM Services Group Scholarship winners. Matthew Smith and Michael Hankamp and were among 11 students from 5 universities to receive awards.

Each winner received $1,000 plus sponsored registration and travel allowance to attend the ISM Services Conference in early December in Phoenix. In addition to attending the conference, scholarship winners participated in a supply chain case competition with students from the other four universities. Smith and Hankamp along with students from Rutgers University and Michigan State University teamed up to win the competition.



“The conference was an eye-opening experience,” says Smith. “We saw how service concepts are applied to industry and how industry responded to issues such as the downturn in the economy. The conference sessions also paralleled the case competition in which we were required to create a scorecard to evaluate supplier performance and quality. It was a fun experience and we were able to use knowledge from the classroom and apply it to real issues.”

"The scholarship program provides financial support to ISM students, and offers them the opportunity to attend the services conference," says Dr. Bret Wagner, associate professor of management and director of the ISM program in the WMU Haworth College of Business. "Our scholarship winners demonstrate the very best in educational achievement and are the future of the supply management profession. Their knowledge and experience made the conference especially valuable to them.”

The ISM Services Group is one of several groups comprised of ISM members with common interests in education and networking in various topics. Members are either in service industries or are supply management professionals who buy services. ISM Services Group's University Relations efforts focus on four main areas: mentoring, internships, scholarships and on-site activities.

In addition to student recognition, the ISM Services Group recognizes university programs in supply management that will take a leading role to integrate the latest thinking on services procurement into the curriculum. The WMU ISM program is one of five programs recognized.

Photo Caption: Pictured at the ISM Services Conference are Matthew Smith, Dr. Bret Wagner, director of the ISM Program, and Michael Hankamp.

Nationally known author and speaker to discuss corporate restructuring

Feb. 8, 2010

KALAMAZOO— Sheldon L. Stone, BS ’78, MA ’79, a nationally known author and speaker on the economy, automotive industry and corporate restructuring will speak on Friday, Feb. 26, at Western Michigan University as part of the Keystone Breakfast Speaker Series.

Stone, a partner at Amherst Partners, will discuss "Strategic Corporate Restructuring: 2010 and Beyond" in the Dean's Conference Room of Schneider Hall, home of the Haworth College of Business. The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and the presentation following at 8 a.m.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling (269) 387-5050. Parking is available in the nearby Fetzer Center parking lot.

Stone, a partner and head of the Restructuring and Turnaround Practice for Amherst Partners, specializes in advising companies on strategic and restructuring planning and implementation.  Additionally, he has held executive positions in the retail, technology and automotive supplier industries.  His industry experience includes automotive original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, construction and engineering, building materials, retail, real estate and technology.

Stone’s experience includes a position of interim president and COO for a $45 million automotive supplier.  While in this position, he directed the company to an 8.7 percent pre-tax profit in a year, overcoming the previous two years’ losses totaling $3.1 million.  Additionally, Stone was the division general manager for DFS Galleria in Honolulu, Hawaii.  There he grew this flagship from $260 million to $420 million in two and a half years, while significantly increasing margin. Prior to this position, Stone was corporate group director of planning at DFS. He was also with Booz Allen Hamilton and Plante & Moran.

Stone has been featured regularly on NBC, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The Fox Business Network, Fox News, NPR Morning Edition and is frequently quoted in Bloomberg News and The Financial Times. He received his BS and MA in Organizational Behavior from Western Michigan University, and an MBA from Georgetown University.  He is fluent in Japanese.

The Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. The series provides an opportunity for the local community to hear prominent business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.