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Southern Miss Business March 2022 Newsletter

Minding our business

A monthly article written by Dean Becton

The concept of generations and generational differences has been around for quite some time, and it continues to be a popular way people categorize and view each other. We are all probably familiar with the concept by which people are placed in a generational cohort according to birth year. Names for the generational cohorts include Silents, Baby Boomers, GenX, Millennials, and GenZ. The basic idea behind generational differences is that a collective identity and set of values forms for each generation as they experience significant events together during their preadult years, and that their identity and values endure throughout adulthood. Since each cohort group experiences different significant events such as wars, disasters, economic conditions, and cultural revolutions, their identities and values would be different in theory. Most people, from managers to journalists, accept this concept and its premises without question. It is common to see articles about the perceived differences between generations, news pieces outlining attitudes and behaviors about each, even books, workshops, and training resources on how to manage generational differences in the workplace.

The problem is, there isn't much support for generational differences at all. In fact, there are some significant issues with research on generations. First, it is very difficult to separate the effects of age from any perceived generational differences since birth year is the single characteristic that places individuals within a generational cohort. In other words, we can't be certain that differences between Boomers and Millennials are due to the different characteristics of these generations or simply because they are at different stages of life and career. Millennials may be very similar to Boomers at the later stages of their lives and careers. Second, there isn't consensus around the generation labels and the periods of years that define the labels. This makes comparing research results problematic. Overlap in or omission of periods of years considered to define membership in a generation calls into question the validity of results across the body of generational research. Finally, when generational differences in work-related outcomes or behaviors have been found by empirical research, they are typically small to non-existent. So, even if there are statistically significant differences, they are not likely practical differences.

So, what should we do? First, we should recognize that stereotyping people based on birth year likely results in ineffective or counterproductive attitudes, actions, and strategies. The variety of experiences, conditions, and environments each person is exposed to is nearly immeasurable and commonalities or differences can be associated with many characteristics instead of generational membership. Second, we should quit relying on these unproven concepts to shape the way we view and manage people. Implementing practices or policies tailored to specific generations without recognizing the inherent individuality of people is ill-advised. If the pandemic taught us anything, flexibility is critical, and this extends to our management practices and strategies. Finally, we should get to know people personally instead of assuming we can learn most of what we need to know about someone based on their generational membership. If you are of the age that would place you in the Baby Boomer generation, you probably took offense to the trend from a few years ago when "OK, Boomer" was used as a pejorative. People classified as GenX, Millennials, GenZ, etc. probably find it equally offensive to be reduced to a few broadly generalized traits, values, and characteristics simply due to when they were born. No matter what generation you belong to, I challenge you to find unique characteristics and personality traits about yourself that are supposedly common in other generations. I challenge you to get out and have meaningful and intentional interactions with colleagues from different generations. I challenge you to look past what you think you know about generations and seek a diverse range of opinions and outlooks at work. You may just find that what you assumed about people based on their generation isn’t the case after all.

march events for the business community

Alumni of the Year Luncheon

On March 25th, the College of Business and Economic Development honored Cindy Gaddis '85 and Courtney Campbell '14, as the 2022 Alumnae of the Year. Members from the Business Advisory Council, local community, and campus community gathered to celebrate Mrs. Gaddis and Ms. Campbell's achievements.

Courtney Campbell is the Director of Group Sales for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE), Global, the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Barclays Center, and more. She joined the organization just before the start of the 21’-22 season to relaunch the Group Sales department from the ground up. She serves as a National Sports Forum Planning Committee member as well as the BAN Social Events chair, and BSE Global Youth Marketing Research & Strategy co-chair.

During Courtney's acceptance speech, she challenged the crowd with "Five H's" to always remember:

HUSTLE like tomorrow may not come. Remain HUNGRY for growth, opportunity, and challenges. Be HUMBLE through success, failure, and everything that comes in between. Make HEADWAY on your goals every chance that you get, and finally, with all things in life do them and always lead with HEART because compassion is a passion."

Cindy Gaddis served as a global finance executive for Shell Oil Company for 34 years before recently retiring. She has managed staff directly and indirectly in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. During her career with Shell, she held roles including CFO of global chemicals, finance general manager of manufacturing for the U.S. region, manager of the Houston-based internal consultancy group, controller and accounting manager of U.S. upstream business, and several more. Additionally, she visited over 30 foreign countries for business and lived abroad for over four years in London, England.

Servant leadership is a blessing. It's a blessing that you give to someone as you help them to develop, but it is a double blessing back that you get to see those people succeed."

Economic Outlook Forum

The 2022 Economic Outlook Forum was hosted on the Hattiesburg campus in March. The opening presentation was given by Dr. Chad Miller, professor of economic development here at Southern Miss. The featured presentation was given by Adrienne Slack, vice president and regional executive for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans branch.

If you missed the forum, view the full event on our Southern Miss Business YouTube channel:

celebrating student achievements

business student present as the Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Conference

Business students Lauren Beverly (marketing) and Sophie Unson (hospitality and tourism management) recently attended and presented at the Association of Marketing Theory and Practice (AMTP) National Conference in Destin, Florida.

In November, both students had the opportunity to present their research at the Society for Marketing Advances Conference. Due to their outstanding performance there, their research faculty advisors encouraged them to apply to the AMTP conference.

The students shared that they were thrilled to represent Southern Miss at the national conference and enjoyed meeting fellow undergraduate students from other universities. After presenting their research, they received some insightful feedback from experienced professionals in their field to considered for their project moving forward. After graduation, they both plan to enter the Southern Miss MBA program.

Graduate Business Student earns CFA Society of Mississippi Award

Jon Leonard (MBA) received this year's CFA Society of Mississippi Award at their Annual Forecast Dinner. This award goes to a student who has excelled in finance and has expressed interest in the CFA designation (faculty selected and voted). Several other Southern Miss Business students also attending the event, including Wesley Condor, Emma Warren, Justavius Tate, Jose Barboza, and Javier Ferrer.

The CFA Society of Mississippi hosts the Annual Forecast Dinner at the beginning of each year to bring together investors and investment professionals and foster an environment of camaraderie and education. The Annual Forecast Dinner has become one of their premier financial forecast events, regularly hosting over 500 attendees.

Business Student Serves as first intern for the university's human resources department

This semester, the University's Human Resources department recruited management student Heidi Kirsch as their very first student intern! Through this internship, Heidi has had the opportunity to shadow almost every member of the department, including Moriah Rouse, Sharessa Parker, Miranda Newman, and Kaitlyn Hunt from whom she’s learned more about operations, affirmative action, employee relations, equal employment opportunity, benefits, and international involvement. We love seeing our students gain a deeper understanding of what they learn in the classroom through hands-on experiences!

celebrating faculty achievements

USM Professors Take First Runner-Up Award in Marketing Conference

Business professors Dr. Wei Wang and Dr. Chris Croft recently were selected as the first runner-up for the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators AxcessCapon Teaching Innovation Award at their annual conference in New Orleans. Their research presentation “Innovating Teaching Practices in Marketing Education Through Collaborative Experiential Learning” detailed their fall 2021 cross-disciplinary teaching research project between their respective Hospitality & Tourism Management and Sport Management classes.

Accounting faculty member to graduate with doctorate

Valerie Simmons is an instructor in the School of Accountancy and is currently enrolled in Kennesaw State University's PhD program. Last week, Valerie successfully defended her dissertation and will graduate this May with a PhD in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting! Congratulations to Dr. Simmons on this tremendous accomplishment!

Simmons currently teaches managerial accounting and received the Beta Alpha Psi Service Award in 2019. Simmons earned her master's and bachelor's degrees from USM. Her research interests focus on the effect of executive behavioral characteristics in relation to company performance. The title of her dissertation is "Influences on Controllers' Non-GAAP Reporting Decisions." This study examines two sources of external pressure, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) power and controller incentive compensation, on a controller’s decision to opportunistically report non-GAAP earnings in response to a directive from the CFO to manipulate the measure.

Max Draughn Visits Healthcare Marketing Students

Max Draughn, who generously supports the Healthcare Marketing program through an endowment, visited with Healthcare Marketing students in March during a lunch-and-learn event. Max shared his story of success in the pharmaceutical industry and gave students career tips and advice. We appreciate the contributions of Max and his wife, Susan, to the Healthcare Marketing program.

School of Accountancy Continuing Professional Education Event

The School of Accountancy will be hosting a Continuing Professional Education event on Tuesday, May 17th from 8:30-4:30p & Wednesday, May 18th from 8:30-12:00p . The events will be held virtually and in-person on the Hattiesburg campus in Scianna Hall. Presenters include Glenn Terry, Mike Morgan, and Don Minyard.

Business Alumni, What's New With You?

Southern Miss Business Alumni, we want to hear from you! Do you have good news to share? Maybe you got a new job, earned a promotion, or won an award! Share your good news with us so we can help celebrate you. We encourage you to share these things with us so we can include this in future newsletters. Click the link below to fill out the form.

Created By
Bailey Harris
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