Media Coverage

COVID-19 may give employers a more compelling case to mandate a vaccine, said Joanne Ciulla, director of the Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick.

The disease has killed more than 20,000 New Jerseyans, infected at least 580,000 and has sent the job market tumbling; New Jersey in December had 8% fewer jobs than it did a year ago, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and no sector escaped unscathed.

The vaccine, public health officials have said, could be the state's best chance to finally end the pandemic, saving lives and restarting the economy.

A scenario plan is a forward-looking document that’ll typically look at a couple of good – and not so good – scenarios for your business.
A comprehensive one will take time and money – and, yes, ‘futurists’ are available for hire – but small businesses can still put together a simple one with utility.

Lyneir Richardson is an instructor at Rutgers Business School and director of the institution’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development. Here he provides insight into the importance of planning ahead. "The economic climate is changing so rapidly – it’s important that small business owners do scenario planning to make reality-based assessments and predictions."

The Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited me. Decades after his death, he remains amused and yet humbled by all the fanfare of a national MLK holiday. At the time of his death in 1968, he was deeply unpopular. J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, considered him the most dangerous man in America. Many whites opposed his campaign to obtain more rights and opportunities for Blacks. Most Americans viewed him negatively for one reason or another. On the one hand, his opposition to the Vietnam War and socialist proclivities – namely that the government should take care of those unable to fend for themselves — unsettled the populous. On the other hand, Blacks either questioned the legitimacy of his leadership as the principal voice for the Black community or they disapproved King’s nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience strategy.

By Jessica Remo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The boxes that arrive on my front porch, nearly daily, are reminders that I’m complicit.
I bought almost everything — paper towels, underwear, groceries, you name it — online.
I am the retail apocalypse, the death of brick-and-mortar. The retail apocalypse is me. And I’ve never felt much guilt about it. Until now.

As to whether in-person shopping is on its way out?

Not a chance, says Rutgers Business School Professor Stacy Schwartz. But it may begin to look different.

“I cringe when I hear the phrase ‘retail apocalypse,’ because I don’t think it’s dead,” says Schwartz. “In a time of normalcy, people like to go shopping.”

How does the business world fit into the fight for racial equality?

From Madam C.J. Walker — the world’s first self-made female millionaire of any race — to contemporary business titans, like Jay-Z and Merck’s CEO Ken Frazier, Black business leaders have not only built their companies despite formidable obstacles, but they’ve viewed their work as an essential component of the struggle for justice.

A virtual panel discussion with the producer and director, Stanley Nelson is moderated by Chike Uzoka, founder and CIO of the Newark-based Valentine Global.

Panelists:
Kai Campbell: launched his first restaurant concept, Burger Walla, in 2014.
Stanley Nelson: the filmmaker who created “Boss: The Black Experience in Business.”
Lyneir Richardson: the executive director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School.
Denise Woodard: Woodard is the founder and CEO of Partake, a line of allergy friendly snacks.

The Mini MBA: Business Essentials at Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick teaches students about the power of the consumer, the impact of globalization, and the pervasiveness of the digital era. The 12-week self-paced program has two cohorts entering in 2021, starting in February and May.

Peter Methot, director of Executive Education at Rutgers Business School, notes how their portfolio of Mini MBA programs is topping up business knowledge.

“In our digital marketing program, almost everyone that comes has an MBA—they just earned it before digital marketing was part of the curriculum,” Peter comments.

“Financial illiteracy is one of the driving forces behind income and wealth inequality. What better way to become financially literate, and ultimately financially independent, then to use a framework inspired by the greatest investor ever?” Professor John Longo says. Just released at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indie Bound, Indigo, and Waterstone’s, by John Wiley & Sons, “Buffett’s Tip’s: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life” is co-authored by John Longo and his son, Tyler Longo.

The book was influenced by four trips Professor Longo took to Omaha with groups of Rutgers students for a personal visit with Warren Buffett, affectionately known as the “Oracle of Omaha.” In parallel, he was teaching his teenage son aspects of financial literacy, further leading to the book collaboration. For example, they opened financial accounts and products geared toward minors, such as a savings account, checking account, debit card, credit card, brokerage account, and 529 college savings plan.

“It is important to understand the financial concepts that drive the economy and one’s financial position. Examining these topics through the lens of Warren Buffett may maximize one’s chances for success,” says Tyler Longo.

Sephora’s plan to combat racial bias: Fewer security guards, more Black-owned brands and new protocols
Retail and crisis management experts say the initiative provides a comprehensive — and necessary — road map for the industry

Racism in retail, academics say, has become a persistent problem in an industry that relies heavily on personal interaction. More Black Americans — 24 percent — said they had been treated unfairly in a store within a 30-day period than at work, restaurants, bars, health-care settings or in police interactions, according to a Gallup poll conducted last summer.

“This has been a problem for many, many years because, let’s face it, individuals bring their own biases to work,” said Jerome Williams, a business professor at Rutgers University and author of “Race and Retail: Consumption Across the Color Line.” “To make progress, there are two areas that are critical: employee training and a strong commitment by upper management to treat all customers fairly, without making assumptions.”

How does the business world fit into the fight for racial equality? From Madam C.J. Walker — the world’s first self-made female millionaire of any race — to contemporary business titans like Jay-Z and Merck’s CEO Ken Frazier, Black business leaders have not only built their companies despite formidable obstacles, but they’ve viewed their work as an essential component of the struggle for justice.

In the next PSEG True Diversity Film screening at NJPAC, they will take a look at the long and inspiring history of Black business leadership and Black entrepreneurship, and how both have impacted the social justice movement.

Panelists include:

Lyneir Richardson: Lyneir is the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED) at Rutgers University, where he leads capacity-building programs that have assisted more than 450 local entrepreneurs.

ProfCon speaker Stacy Schwartz, assistant professor of professional practice and program director, MS digital marketing at Rutgers Business School, launched a new digital marketing program at her school. She discusses growing pains and other tips and tricks for developing and launching a new program in her speaking session titled “Lessons Learned: Launching a New Digital Marketing Program.”

The World and Everything in It is an Apple Podcasts top 100 News program delivering essential headlines, field reporting, interviews, and expert analysis every weekday.

Sarah Schweinsberg reports on the problems in the vaccine supply chain that are slowing the distribution of the shots. Xin (David) Ding specializes in healthcare supply chains and comments at 10:00.

Listen to the PodCast

On at least four occasions, Rutgers University students were the beneficiaries of some legendary financial acumen.

That’s a result of Rutgers Business School professor John Longo responding to the question of who might be a good mentor to teach local college students financial literacy with the answer: Warren Buffett.

And, after having his students meet with Buffett several times over the course of about 15 years, Longo is putting pen to paper on the insights he gleaned from the billionaire CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

In November, Rutgers Business School announced it would be endeavoring to make its curriculum more accessible with a new format, called the Rutgers Stackable Business Innovation Program. It allows students to pick classes in an “a la carte” fashion, instead of committing to a standard, predefined two years of college courses for a degree.

Benjamin Melamed, a professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Rutgers Business School, is the program’s director. He said the current model simply isn’t flexible enough for some working professionals.

Nurse Kristen Cline was working a 12-hour shift in October at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota when a code blue rang through the halls. A patient in an isolation room was dying of a coronavirus that had raged for eight months across the country before it made the state the brightest red dot in a nation of hot spots.

Cline knew she needed to protect herself before entering the room, where a second COVID-19 patient was trembling under the covers, sobbing. She reached for the crinkled and dirty N95 mask she had reused for days.

Kevin Lyons, an associate professor and supply chain expert at Rutgers Business School, said nothing the VA did before or during the pandemic showed it had a handle on its own purchase and delivery of supplies, let alone prepare for a global shortage. His research is exploring how the Trump administration’s purge of hundreds of VA staff members created a path to disaster.

The logistics industry has seen a flurry of drone activity with UPS, Amazon Prime, Walmart and others working closely with the FAA. But widespread adoption for these operations has been precluded by the slow pace of regulation. New drone rules bring that future a little closer to reality.

Kevin Lyons, associate professor of supply chain management at Rutgers Business School, noted hurdles still remain. Many people and organizations see drones as a serious privacy issue, which can make the concept of home delivery via drone unappealing.

"Cameras on the drones need to be active at all times so the drones will be literally recording everything it sees," Lyons said in an email. "The ability to see into peoples houses, backyards, etc. is something that currently exists with satellites ... but the drones will be a visible intrusion to many people."

On average, you'll spend 19% more time doing your tasks and solve 22% fewer problems.

“The fact of consulting our smartphone during our breaks, between tasks, or during their completion, is an increasingly common phenomenon. This is why it seemed important to us to explore the consequences linked to the use of this device on the cognitive level. Many of us think that this is just another way to decompress, but it turns out that looking at our smartphone makes it harder to focus on work tasks again”, explains Terri Kurtzberg, co-author and associate professor of management and international business at Rutgers University.

At the end of each year, we publish a list of the 10 stories that most captured our readers’ interest over the course of that year. Our top story for 2020 referred to the themes of diversity and inclusion, which were so important to us all year long.

1. Black and Latino Angel Fund Backed by Rutgers Ready to Hear Entrepreneurs’ Pitches, June 19, by Esther Surden

It’s been a long journey, but the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund of New Jersey is about to hear pitches from the first three entrepreneurs hoping for investment.

The fund, started by Lyneir Richardson, executive director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development at Rutgers Business School in Newark, has 10 angel investors and has raised $500,000 so far. The angels want to invest at the pre-seed level in companies headed by black and Latino founders in the Newark area. The fund continues to look for new angel investors to join on this journey.

While every American hospital was stretched by the pandemic, the VA’s lack of an effective system for tracking and delivering supplies made it particularly vulnerable, according to a recent examination by the federal Government Accountability Office.

As COVID-19 overwhelmed the antiquated system, VA leadership asked employees at more than 170 hospitals to enter inventory by hand into spreadsheets every day and did “not have insight” into how resources were being deployed, the report said.

Kevin Lyons, an associate professor and supply chain expert at Rutgers Business School, said nothing the VA did before or during the pandemic showed it had a handle on its own purchase and delivery of supplies, let alone prepare for a global shortage. His research is exploring how the Trump administration’s purge of hundreds of VA staff members created a path to disaster.

Lyons, an Air Force veteran, told me top VA officials have been able to claim all’s well — even as nurses and doctors describe continued shortages and rationing — because bureaucrats who awarded contracts did little or nothing to track how they worked out. He said the rapid-fire approval of contracts gave “the appearance that we’re doing something. But there was no connection between the nurses and the doctors who actually need it.”

“All they really care about is, you know, signing a contract, and then crossing your fingers and hoping that stuff comes,” Lyons said. “And that’s just not the way that supply chain is supposed to happen.”

“Job interviews are challenging for everyone, but particularly so for people with disabilities who have always had difficulties presenting themselves favorably to gain employment,” said Rutgers Business School professor Mason Ameri.

“People with disabilities encounter an implicit bias that they will not be as productive as their non-disabled peers,” said Ameri, who co-authored the study. “Knowing how to navigate the conversation with potential employers is critical for leveling the playing field.”

This holiday season is shaping up to be quite different for many of us. One marketing professor said the pandemic has created new trends that will probably stick around for a while.

Rutgers Business School marketing professor Ashwani Monga said the new routines created by the COVID-19 pandemic are reflected this holiday season.

"I've created new habits. So now I do my shopping online. I may spend more time with my family on weekends even after COVID is long gone. Some of these habits are going to stay with us,” Monga explained.

Monga said it might be bad news for brick-and-mortar stores but not necessarily for the economy because of online shopping. But he added this trend is a mixed bag.

"You have one segment that's saving a lot of money right now, they are going to have a lot of discretionary income to spend more and we have the other group of people who are unemployed,” Monga said.

Listen: KYW Newsradio Audio On-Demand, 1:11

From children’s books, to cartoons, to the worlds of fantasy and make believe, it can sometimes seem as if Black characters are on the side-lines, or don’t exist at all. Especially around the holidays, Black parents get creative to find toys for their kids that reflect just how beautiful and special they are.

More than three decades ago, Yla Eason took matters into her own hands when her Black son said that he couldn’t be a superhero because he’s not white. Trymaine Lee talks to Yla, about why she created Sun-Man, one of the first Black superhero toys in America, and the challenges she encountered along the way.

Listen to the Podcast, or read the transcript.

“A lot of times, consumers do this through consumption,” explains Kristina Durante, a Rutgers University social psychologist. “It gives you more peace of mind and allaying feelings of internal conflict. Consumer products that we buy make us feel good. They make us feel good, because at least, I can make some sort of decision about where my life is headed. It’s some sense of autonomy. I’ll buy a new tree or some decoration for outside. It restores a sense of peace, because it restores control sense of control.”

Many have been shocked by the silence — and even support — of so many elected members of the GOP in response to Trump’s increasingly outlandish claims. But their behavior isn’t at all surprising to social psychologists: It’s a perfect demonstration of how toxic environments grow gradually, as problematic behavior starts with something small that then continues and expands.

What can we do to avoid following in the footsteps of so many in the Republican Party in our own personal and professional lives?

First, increase self-awareness.

Another subtle strategy for pushing people toward ethical behavior is to ask people to reflect on a time when they did not behave honorably and which they now regret. Research by Ayelet Fishbach at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Oliver Sheldon at Rutgers Business School demonstrates that asking people to reflect on their own bad behavior in the past reduces their willingness to do so again. Why? This step at least pushes us to think about the choice we are making, before we head down that slippery slope.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a plethora of freshly coined words. From maskie to quarantini, 2020 is chock-full of new entries for our collective vocabularies.

“Necessity is the mother of invention. That’s what’s happening here,” explains Ashwani Monga, a Rutgers Business School professor of marketing. “For the retail industry, they were under the onslaught of online, but it was happening gradually, not a big flood. What we have is like a 100-year flood, which changes people and generations moving forward.”

Rutgers expert shares how financial literacy can make an impact.

The road to financial literacy – and ultimately financial independence – is a long one. Embarking on this journey requires the right mindset and desire to improve continuously, according to John Longo, a professor of professional practice at Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick and chief investment officer at Beacon Trust, a $3 billion investment advisory firm.

The company hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co to lead the IPO preparations. Despite an obvious decline in hiring and job postings due to the global pandemic, ZipRecruiter is looking to capitalize on the IPO market for technology startups.

The Future of the Market

While the market has hit record highs this year, it is unknown if the success will continue. Especially with a new administration taking over in Washington D.C., market regulations and taxation will change soon. Michael Barnett, Professor of Management & Global Business at Rutgers Business School, told The Buttonwood Tree, “Regarding market predictions, I treat the market as basically a legal form of gambling. I think the market will rise as COVID clears, but it’ll be offset by the need for government regulation and taxation to take care of many of the problems associated with the last four years, as well as many lingering issues decades in the making. Perhaps a wash or a decline overall as a result.”

Many have been shocked by the silence — and even support — of so many elected members of the GOP in response to Trump’s increasingly outlandish claims. But their behavior isn’t at all surprising to social psychologists: It’s a perfect demonstration of how toxic environments grow gradually, as problematic behavior starts with something small that then continues and expands.

What can we do to avoid following in the footsteps of so many in the Republican Party in our own personal and professional lives?

First, increase self-awareness.

Another subtle strategy for pushing people toward ethical behavior is to ask people to reflect on a time when they did not behave honorably and which they now regret. Research by Ayelet Fishbach at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Oliver Sheldon at Rutgers Business School demonstrates that asking people to reflect on their own bad behavior in the past reduces their willingness to do so again. Why? This step at least pushes us to think about the choice we are making, before we head down that slippery slope.

On this episode of "Bloomberg Equality," Lisa Kaplowitz, finance professor at Rutgers University and the co-founder and executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, looks at how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting women in the financial-services industry. She speaks with Bloomberg's Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn. Watch video.

On this episode of "Bloomberg Equality," Lisa Kaplowitz, finance professor at Rutgers University and the co-founder and executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, looks at how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting women in the financial-services industry. She speaks with Bloomberg's Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn.

As they raced to develop vaccines against COVID-19, executives at some pharmaceutical companies collected huge windfalls by selling stock around the time their companies announced positive news about the vaccines.

John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School and chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Beacon Trust, said 10b5-1 plans were a very common and legal way for executives to diversify their holdings. He cautioned, though, that selling a majority of one’s stock in a single day — as Pfizer’s CEO did — warranted more scrutiny.

“That raises more concerns,” he said, “because you would like to see the selling spread across several months. You would like to see 25% or less of someone’s shares sold.”

“We’ve been living life so differently these past eight months, we’re completely different people than we were in February,” Ashwani Monga, marketing professor and executive vice chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark, said in a story in The Star-Ledger last month, when discussing the prospect of Black Friday.

The admonition to “Put your phone away!” while attending an event is universal.
Yet people persist in texting or posting on social media during experiences of every variety.

Are all these people really undermining their own enjoyment? And is it really the case that generating content during experiences is necessarily detrimental?

Our recent work indicates that these assumptions may not reflect how most consumers actually generate content during experiences. The concerns so regularly expressed by the popular media may be greatly overstated.

In our paper, “Generating Content Increases Enjoyment by Immersing Consumers and Accelerating Perceived Time”, published in the Journal of Marketing, Gabriela Tonietto (Rutgers Business School) and I [Alixandra Barasch is a Visiting Associate Professor of Marketing at INSEAD. She is also an Assistant Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business] found that those who generate relevant content during an experience enjoy it more than those who don’t.

As they raced to develop vaccines against COVID-19, executives at some pharmaceutical companies received huge paydays by selling shares around the time their companies announced positive news about the vaccines.

Such well-timed sales, which occur frequently in the healthcare industry, are highlighted in a new study released Monday that illustrates how executives use prearranged stock sale plans to unload shares on days when their companies release good news. The practice raises thorny questions about whether the trades sometimes cross the line.

Representatives for Pfizer and Moderna defended the stock sales, saying they were executed according to predetermined schedules, known as 10b5-1 plans, that allow executives to plan out future trades. The plans, named for a Securities and Exchange Commission rule created in 2000, are meant to be a way for executives to sell stock while avoiding allegations of illegal insider trading.

John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School and chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Beacon Trust, said 10b5-1 plans were a very common and legal way for executives to diversify their holdings. He cautioned, though, that selling a majority of one’s stock in a single day — as Pfizer’s CEO did — warranted more scrutiny.

“That raises more concerns,” he said, “because you would like to see the selling spread across several months. You would like to see 25% or less of someone’s shares sold.”

It’s no exaggeration to say that the pandemic has decimated small businesses and early-stage ventures, especially those owned by women and people of color. Black women sit at this juncture, bearing a disproportionate share of the virus’ impact.

“Hair salons, catering, restaurants or anything related to events . . . all of that shut down, and so the success of business owners in those industries depends on how much they have in reserves or were able to get from the federal government—both of which pose challenges for Black entrepreneurs,” says Jeffrey Robinson, founding assistant director of The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School.

It’s time to pivot — as we all know by now. But good business advice for small and midsized companies doesn’t end there.

That’s something those who spoke at the virtual symposium held Thursday by Rutgers Business School made clear.

Lei Lei, dean of the Rutgers Business School, led off her organization’s annual Business Community Engagement Symposium. The event has been held in-person for the past four years and has featured speakers such as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Even with it being presented in the form of a Zoom call this year, the Rutgers dean said she felt it was important to continue to share pressing business issues and to promote collaboration in the local economy — and “COVID will never stop” her academic institution from doing that.

The first part of this series leveraged research from the Rutgers Center for Women in Business (CWIB) to envision the impact of COVID-19 on women. While hardly a positive experience for anyone trying to navigate pandemic conditions, CWIB found a potential silver lining for women’s careers, particularly those who are mid-career: the benefit of increased support from partners and employers.

The path forward involves several factors, starting with a solid business case, buy-in from senior leaders, and alignment back to HR. If policies and processes designed to protect the organization are what led to this juncture, then develop policies and processes that safeguard workers, too.

Lisa Kaplowitz, the center’s executive director, said, “We see two sides of this issue. One is to remove barriers, structural barriers, systemic barriers, and the other is to empower women with the confidence and skills necessary to succeed as business leaders.”

Kristina Durante, the center’s director of research, commented, “One thing I stress when I talk about our research is that we need to be responsible for the conversation. Now that we’ve had this experience, now that we see what’s going on, let’s turn it into a positive and keep talking about it. Especially if that helps get the CEO or leadership team members to buy-in.”

Micro-fulfillment focuses on the last mile, said Rudolf Leuschner, associate professor in supply chain management at Rutgers Business School. It blends traditional technology and automation with in-store picking, and it has the goal of getting items closer to consumers for speedy delivery or pickup.

A few industries and business have embraced the fulfillment method. But setting up micro-fulfillment isn’t always cheap, and it’s not easy, especially without technology to track and manage decentralized inventory.

The disruption may not be worth the cost for companies with successful logistics solutions already in place.

“I think consumers are at a point where there’s so much sadness and death and misery that people are looking for any ray of hope to tell themselves the world is going to be a better place soon and start a ‘normal’ consumer lifestyle,” said Ashwani Monga, marketing professor and executive vice chancellor of Rutgers University–Newark.

Ben Sopranzetti is a rock star. The professor of finance has been winning awards longer than most current undergraduate students have been alive. After earning his Ph.D. in finance in 1995 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sopranzetti began his full-time teaching career at Seattle University’s Albers School of Business in 1995. Sopranzetti won the Undergraduate Teacher of the Year award during his first year teaching. For his second year, he won the Graduate Teacher of the Year award.

Since, Sopranzetti has continued to win more than a dozen awards, but now at his undergraduate alma mater, Rutgers University. Sopranzetti is also an innovator. He launched Financial Solutions, a Beijing-based boutique investment banking and advisory services firm in 2000. He also founded the Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology (BEST) organization at Rutgers.

Sopranzetti says if he could change the business school of the future, he’d change it to have more diversity, inclusion, and equity.

When COVID-19 hit, seemingly overnight, all issues beyond safety and survival went out the proverbial window.

Quickly, it became clear that while the crisis wasn’t going to discriminate, it might hit mid-career employees harder than most: Those working from home while managing households and caring for children, while schools, daycare facilities, and similar programs closed.

Recognizing this possibility, the Rutgers Business School Center for Women in Business (CWIB) launched a survey of dual-income households interested in understanding how gender roles in the home might impact gender equity in the workforce.

Kristina Durante, the center’s director of research, explained, “We found that the more men were contributing to unpaid household labor, when there are more hands-on-deck, this was positively related to women’s perceptions of their job productivity and their job satisfaction.”

As Lisa Kaplowitz, executive director of the center, reinforced, “Everybody’s going through this. You hear kids in the background on the Zoom. You see kids in the background. That’s from the CEO down to the admin. We have to be mindful of that.”

Rutgers Today spoke to Ashwani Monga, a professor of marketing and a consumer psychologist who studies consumers' judgment and decision biases, and Kristina Durante, a professor of marketing and a social psychologist who studies the biology of decision-making, about retail consumer behavior this holiday season.

"If people want to be out and about, it's going to be more likely to be local," said Kristina Durante, an associate professor of marketing at Rutgers Business School. "Let face it, people are bored, and they want to get out so that offers them a little bit of safety and also knowing that they're supporting people in their community."

Holiday shopping as a whole won’t have the same meaning this year or for many years in the future, says Ashwani Monga, a marketing professor at Rutgers University who specializes in consumer psychology; with the retail industry in tatters, it’s unlikely to represent the breakeven point for businesses (when ledgers go from red to black). And optimistic forecasts that families will want to maintain the holiday tradition of a visit to the mall may underestimate the desire to cut or consolidate trips, not to mention the specter of more restrictions or shutdowns.

“Even if stores do open, people will be reluctant to go out and have fun or splurge as if the last few months didn’t happen,” he says. “Shopping is a way to connect and do something for yourself, and that habit has changed during this year’s disruption. Shopping is a part of our culture, and this year has changed culture itself.”

The famed investor’s company likely invested in AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and Pfizer because drugmakers are among the few US stocks trading at enticing valuations, Dr John Longo, author of the upcoming “Buffett’s Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life,” told Business Insider this week.

Buffett and his team placed the bets before Joe Biden won the US presidency. Yet they may have considered the prospect of increased healthcare spending during a Biden administration, said Longo, a finance professor at Rutgers Business School and the investment chief of wealth manager Beacon Trust.

Moreover, pharmaceutical companies stand to benefit from aging populations in developed nations and burgeoning demand for healthcare in developing countries, he continued. They are also protected from competition by patents, the high costs of researching and developing drugs, and their relationships with doctors and hospitals, Longo added.

“Buying companies with a durable, competitive advantage, or moat, is central to Buffett’s investment philosophy,” he said.

The science of how a product goes from idea to the hands of the consumer is the essence of supply chain management, and Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick (RBS) is home to one of the largest and most highly ranked programs in the nation. Rutgers Magazine spoke with Rudolf Leuschner, associate professor of supply chain management and director of the master of science in supply chain management program at RBS, about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected supply chains, access to PPE, and more.

Four Rutgers professors have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor awarded by their association peers.

They join 485 other new AAAS fellows as a result of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. A virtual induction ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2021.

Hui Xiong, a professor in the management science and information systems department at Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick.

Rutgers Business School’s strength in preparing MBA students to create new businesses and to demonstrate the innovative thinking of entrepreneurs was highlighted in a new ranking by Poets & Quants and Inc. Magazine.

The Rutgers MBA is ranked as the No. 24 Best MBA Program for Entrepreneurship in the world. That ranking placed Rutgers as the No. 1 Public MBA for Entrepreneurship in the Northeast and No. 1 among public business schools on the East Coast.

Rutgers is also positioned as the No. 4 MBA Program for Entrepreneurship among its peers in the Big Ten based on the ranking by Poets & Quants and Inc. Magazine.

“The ranking shows the strength of our faculty knowledge and the MBA curriculum that is imprinted on our MBA students,” Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei said. “In the face of the fast-changing world of technology, digitization and the Disruption Era, this specialty ranking is more important than ever.”

Taxpayers use IRS Form 1040 for personal income tax returns. Jay Soled, tax professor at Rutgers University, and Kathleen DeLaney Thomas, director of the UNC School of Law Tax Institute, discuss in a Boston College Law Review article how Form 1040s are almost always filled out by tax return preparers or software companies [Regulating Tax Return Preparation]. Both operate under “little regulatory oversight,” according to the authors, which allows tax preparation services to exploit the gap between Congress’s goal of maximizing its tax revenue and tax preparers’ attempts to minimize their clients’ tax obligations.

Rutgers Business School professor John M. Longo wrote in an email that the investments were “not surprising” choices for the University, given the stature of Alphabet and Facebook and the “large weight” of the companies in equity indexes.

Longo noted that the decision could have been made due to favorable market conditions during the quarter.

“It is not clear from HMC’s Form 13F when they purchased the stocks over the quarter. There were brief pullbacks in technology stocks in late July and late September, possibly providing HMC with an attractive entry point. The major risks to the stocks are primary regulatory in nature and not due to near-term competitive threats,” he wrote.

Longo said that HMC could be taking into account worsening COVID-19 conditions in the United States.

Americans are obsessed with deals, especially when it comes to Black Friday.
While Black Friday is traditionally associated with the best prices relative to the rest of the year, we should pause from our spending and ask how good of a deal we are really getting.

What is a good strategy for identifying the best deals on Black Friday?

Know what it is you want and try to avoid the temptation just to "buy" because something is on sale. It is only a deal if you wanted and were considering purchasing the item at regular pricing.

Do you think consumers put too much emphasis on a credit card’s annual fee?

The annual fee is an important factor to consider since, by definition, it occurs every year and can add up over time. It should be an important consideration when choosing a card, but not the only one.

Are there any situations when it’s especially important to get a credit card with no annual fee?

For most individuals, there is no need to open a credit card that has an annual fee. Many no-fee cards have great reward programs, including providing cashback, free plane tickets, and discounts on groceries and gasoline. Specific vendors, such as Amazon.com, also provide cards that provide a discount for items purchased on their websites. However, if you do a large amount of targeted spending, it may make sense to get a card that charges an annual fee. For example, the Platinum Card from American Express charges a hefty $550 annual fee. However, the card's perks include $200 in cash for Uber Rides, $200 for airline incidental fees (e.g., baggage charges), some TSA and Global Entry Fee reimbursement, hotel upgrades, and many other features. If I traveled a lot, that type of card may be attractive to me and eventually pay for itself.