Deshpande named associate dean

Download a high res image.

Dr. Satish P. Deshpande, professor of management, has been named associate dean for operations and graduate programs in the Haworth College of Business. The appointment is effective July 1, 2011.

Deshpande will assume responsibility and oversight of all graduate programs and several operational activities in the College including faculty and staff development, research support (technology, research assistants, grants, etc.), computing technologies, AACSB accreditation, space, and global programs. In addition, he will provide oversight for the centers within the College (Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Center for Sustainable Business Practices, the Global Business Center and the Center for Health Information Technology Advancement).

Deshpande teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in human resources management. His research includes managerial decision making, healthcare management, and applied psychology in human resource issues. He has had over 80 refereed articles published in various journals and books including the Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Labor Research, Human Relations, Journal of Small Business Management, Compensation and Benefits Review, Health Care Management Review, and Journal of Psychology. He has been quoted on television, radio, and in various newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He has received the Haworth College of Business Dean’s Teaching Award, and most recently, he received the newly established College Research Award. He serves as the faculty advisor of the Society for Excellence in Human Resources, a student chapter of SHRM.

Deshpande received a PhD from The University of Iowa, a post graduate degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from Xavier Labor Relations Institute in Jamshedpur, India, and has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics from The University of Bombay, in India. Prior to his academic work at the University of Iowa, Deshpande was a personnel officer for Sandoz Limited in Bombay, India, where he had responsibilities for recruitment, training and development, labor law and industrial relations at a factory that employed over 800 employees.

Students win national ITERA competition, TIM receives Best Program Award

Pictured from left are Tharyn Taylor, George Sesi, Hugo Martinez Rodriguez and Travis Ross

Three Western Michigan University students won a national case study competition for the second consecutive year and WMU received the 2011 Program Excellence award for its Telecommunications and Information Management (TIM) Program.

Competing against teams of graduate students, the students competed in the International Telecommunications Education and Research Association National Case Study Competition. The final round of the competition and public presentations were held during ITERA’s Ninth Annual Conference on Telecommunications and Information Technology on April 8-10, in Indianapolis, Ind.

This is the second year in a row that WMU has won the case study award. In the final round of the 2011 competition, WMU faced teams from Ball State University, James Madison University and Murray State University. There were 22 teams participating in the competition.

Cheers to our champion team members George Sesi, TIM major, of Croswell, Mich., Travis Ross, CIS major, of Kalamazoo, Mich., Hugo Martinez Rodriguez, TIM major, of Santiago, Dominican Republic and the team advisor Dr. Pairin Katerattanakul, associate professor of business information systems. Tharyn Taylor, TIM major, of Mason, Mich., presented a research paper at the conference.

Each year the 22 schools that make up ITERA are invited to participate in developing a proposal to solve a business / technical IT problem. This year, the problem was to design a solution for providing communications and IT services for a retirement community in Arizona.

The final round involved a 25-minute student presentation in front of a group of judges from both industry and academics. The presentation consisted of three parts: Business plan, technical solution and financial analysis. In addition to the presentation, the students answered tough business and technical questions while still completing their presentation in the allotted time frame.

“We are so honored to receive this year’s Program Excellence Award. It is very encouraging and meaningful for our relatively young undergraduate TIM program compared with those traditionally strong programs in some well-known universities, which shows evidence of the quality, creativity and versatility of Western’s excellent and unique interdisciplinary telecommunications and information technology management education.” says Dr. Mike Tarn, chair, Department of Business Information Systems.

WMU's telecommunications and information management major is designed to train students in a variety of telecommunication and data communication sub-disciplines. Its mission is to give students a well-balanced education in a variety of business- and technology-management issues.

The program is offered through the Department of Business Information Systems in the Haworth College of Business and the School of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences. It is co-directed by Dr. Pairin Katerattanakul, associate professor of business information systems, and Dr. Richard Gershon, professor of communication.

Two WMU students are recipients of national Richter Scholarship

Two WMU students are recipients of national Richter Scholarship

Two Western Michigan University students have been selected to receive a prestigious nationwide business scholarship.

Christopher Mulcahy of Livonia, Mich., and Cameron Tew of Rochester, Mich., are two of ten recipients of the 2011 Richter Scholarship awarded by the R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation and the Institute for Supply Management’s Richter Scholarship Fund.

In its eighth year, the Richter Scholarship Program is the largest nationally recognized scholarship program in the field of supply chain management. Winners will be recognized May 15 at an awards dinner during the Institute for Supply Management's 96th Annual International Supply Management Conference and Educational Exhibit in Orlando, Fla.

Mulcahy is entering his last semester at WMU, where he is majoring in integrated supply management. In addition to being a full-time student in the Haworth College of Business, he also works 20 to 25 hours a week on his second internship assignment with Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Mich. From February to December 2010, he was a business reporting and analytics intern. In January 2011, he transitioned to the customer service logistics innovation team, where he is an innovation project assistant.

As the leader of the Kellogg’s Intern Committee, Mulcahy is responsible for planning and organizing meetings, networking events and other activities that help interns advance their professional abilities and gain exposure for full-time employment upon graduation. Mulcahy also shares his leadership talents as a member of a professional business fraternity. He was elected to the board of Delta Sigma Pi and serves as vice president of alumni relations and is an active member of the APICS student organization.

“I take a lot of pride in leading by example,” Mulcahy says. “I would never ask anyone to do anything I’m not willing to do, or have not done. My experience has taught me that by working together and using individual skills or interests, the group becomes more effective than any one individual could.”

Tew is entering his last semester at WMU where he is majoring in integrated supply management, with a minor in general business. He was awarded the General Motors/EEOC Scholarship through WMU’s Haworth College of Business. Tew is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society and a member of Sigma Alpha Lambda National Leadership and Honors Organization. After graduation, Tew plans to begin a position with IBM as a junior supply chain consultant for the U.S. federal government.

Tew is currently engaged in a purchasing internship with American Axle & Manufacturing in Three Rivers, Mich. As part of his co-op employment with American Axle, he leads a team of employees from various departments in establishing a more efficient and greener filing system for the company’s sensitive documents. Tew led an innovative solution that eliminated manual search and retrieval of thousands of
documents. Packing slips, purchase orders and invoices are now scanned into American Axle’s existing Oracle ERP system and virtually “attached” to a corresponding electronic receipt.

“For me personally, the most exciting feature about supply chain management is that it requires my work to be results-driven,” Tew says. “I take pride in pointing to an implemented system or accomplished cost savings as an example of my team’s ability to create a positive outcome.”

Scholarships are awarded through ISM’s R. Gene Richter Scholarship Fund and through the R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation. The 2011 Richter Scholars receive tuition assistance of up to US$5,000 and the benefits of an executive mentor, which pairs the student with an established executive, and a junior mentor, which pairs the student with a former Richter scholar.

There were 65 applications from candidates representing 26 different universities. Other 2011 Richter Scholars represent Arizona State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Michigan State University, among others. Since the scholarship was created in 2004, WMU has had five Richter Scholars, with Andrea Brown winning first in 2005, Elizabeth Aven in 2006 and Jamie Loeks in 2009.

R. Gene Richter Scholarship Program
The R. Gene Richter Scholarship Program was established and named in memory of R. Gene Richter, who was a galvanizing force in the field of procurement. Richter is admired for elevating the profession to world-class stature. He led the supply organizations at The Black & Decker Corporation, Hewlett-Packard and International Business Machines (IBM). For information on the R. Gene Richter Scholarship
Program, visit www.richterfoundation.org.

Institute for Supply Management
Institute for Supply Management™ (ISM) is the first supply management institute in the world. Founded in 1915, ISM exists to lead and serve the supply management profession and is a highly influential
and respected association in the global marketplace. By executing and extending its mission through education, research, standards of excellence and information dissemination — including the renowned monthly ISM Report On Business® — ISM maintains a strong global influence among individuals and organizations. ISM is a not-for-profit educational association that serves professionals and organizations with an interest in supply management in more than 80 countries. ISM offers the Certified Professional in Supply Management® and Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity™ qualifications and is a member of the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management.

Promoting Kalamazoo is topic of Keystone breakfast

Greg Ayers, president, Kalamazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc., will talk about promoting Kalamazoo at the April presentation of the Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series.

Ayers will speak at 8 a.m., Friday, April 29, in the Dean's Conference Room of Schneider Hall, home of the Haworth College of Business. His talk, titled “Promoting Kalamazoo as a Visitor Destination," is free and open to the public.

The event begins with a continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Reservations are required by calling (269) 387-6059. Free parking is available in the Fetzer Center parking lot.

Ayers came to Kalamazoo in 2007 to become the president of the Kalamazoo County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, doing business as DiscoverKalamazoo. Since his arrival, the organization has been active in positioning the destination for many future successes. The implementation of a three-year strategic plan, development of several partnerships throughout the community, creation of a new destination brand and the launch of a new website are some of the significant accomplishments of his team.

Ayers has been involved locally with the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport’s Business Retention and Recruitment Committee, the Greater Kalamazoo United Way Campaign Cabinet, the United States Tennis Association’s Boys’ 18 & 16 National Championships Advisory Committee and the Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. Board of Directors. He is also serving a second, three-year term on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Sports Commissions.

Ayers has a bachelor’s degree in economics and minors in business administration and speech communication from Illinois State University, where he serves on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. His first full-time position after college was with the Peoria (Illinois) Chiefs minor league baseball team where he had a variety of positions in sales, marketing and promotions.

He began his career in the destination marketing organization industry in June of 1995 when he was named director of the Bloomington-Normal (Illinois) Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Prior to arriving in southwest Michigan, Ayers served as the executive director of the South Bend/Mishawaka (Indiana) Convention and Visitors Bureau for 8 ½ years.

The speaker series is underwritten by Keystone Community Bank and provides an opportunity for members of the local community to hear top business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business.