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Better Ways to Hire, Announce a New CEO

By Guest PostSeptember 21, 2011Economybetter decisions, business professor, corporate jet, firm, information, management, new ceos, self image, steven boivie, strategic noise, university of arizona

*Two studies by a UA business professor examine the hiring of CEOs, finding that new CEOs make better decisions when their self image is tied to the firm and that “strategic noise” can soften market response to a new hire.*

Two new papers co-authored by assistant professor of management Steven Boivie at the University of Arizona uncover novel facets of CEO and firm performance.

The first of the papers, out now in the Academy of Management Journal, finds a new remedy to the CEO agency problem. Instead of trying to design incentives and controls to keep corporate leaders acting in the best interest of the company, Boivie and his co-authors demonstrate that boards should try to hire leaders who strongly identify with the company itself. (more…)

Latin America’s Social Networking Market Sees 88 Percent Gain in Engagement in the Past Year

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Technologyalejandro fosk, Argentina, brazil, Chile, Comscore, Facebook, latin america, orkut, social media, the rise of social networking in latin america, Twitter, Venezuela

*Increase in Time Spent on Facebook Accounts for 90 Percent of Increase in Total Time Spent Online in Latin America*

comScore Releases Report, “The Rise of Social Networking in Latin America”

Santiago, Chile, September 20, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the report The Rise of Social Networking in Latin America. The report examines the state of Latin America’s dynamic social networking landscape, providing insights into trends at a global, regional and individual market level. The 35-page analysis also reveals how social media has shaped the larger digital environment through its influence on other social web activities and its role in the dissemination of marketing messages.

“Social networking has become an essential part of consumers’ digital lives over the past several years,” said Alejandro Fosk, comScore senior vice president for Latin America. “As it has become more widely adopted throughout the region and across demographic segments, it has redefined the way consumers interact with content and with each other. Social media is also changing the way marketing messages are disseminated and offers a new channel to engage with current and potential customers, which presents a variety of attractive opportunities for brands to effectively integrate social into their digital strategies.” (more…)

CT Study of Early Humans Reveals Evolutionary Relationships

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Sciencea africanus, a boisei, a robustus, africa, anatomy of the face, anterior pillars, australopithecus, bony columns, brian villmoare, classic evolutionary puzzle, convergence, ct scans, east africa, facial features, fossil skull, hollow columns of bone, key ancestor of modern humans, parallel evolution, South Africa, william kimbel

CT scans of fossil skull fragments may help researchers settle a long-standing debate about the evolution of Africa’s Australopithecus, a key ancestor of modern humans that died out some 1.4 million years ago.

The study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how CT scans shed new light on a classic evolutionary puzzle by providing crucial information about the internal anatomy of the face. (more…)

‘Gears of War 3’ is an Action-Packed Father and Son Story

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Technologyamerican chopper, anya stroud, chris wynn, christmas, delta squad, discovery channel, dlcs, downloadable content, epic games, gears of war, gears of war 3, locust horde, marcus fenix, microsoft studios, new york city, new zealand, paul teutul, role playing games, rpgs, sci fi warfare trilogy, times square, troops of delta squad, xbox 360, xbox live

*Thousands of retailers around the world are opening their doors at midnight for the launch of the long-awaited “Gears of War 3,” a dramatic, action-packed finale to the Xbox 360 sci-fi warfare trilogy.*

REDMOND, Wash. – “Gears of War 3,” the dramatic, action-packed, much-anticipated conclusion to the blockbuster Xbox 360 trilogy, marches out at midnight.

Fans who have been waiting for the final chapter in the sci-fi warfare saga are lining up around the world to buy the game, which goes on sale at 12 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20. With 20,000 launch locations, the release is the franchise’s biggest, stretching from New Zealand to Times Square. (more…)

This Beetle Uses Eggs as Shields Against Wasps

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Sciencebeetle larva, beetles, charismatic organisms, cocoon, eggs, joseph deas, m amicus, martha hunter, mesquite and acacia trees, mimosestes amicus, national science foundation, novel discovery, palo verde, parasitic wasps, parasitoids, red eyes, seed beetles, southwestern us, trees of tucson, university of arizona, uscana semifumipennis, wasp

*New UA research has discovered that seed beetles from the desert Southwest shelter their broods from attacking parasitic wasps under a stack of dummy eggs.*

They lead modest lives among the palo verde, mesquite and acacia trees throughout the Southwestern U.S., laying their eggs on seed pods and defending the survival of their offspring against the parasitic wasp species that attacks their eggs before their young can develop.

They are the seed beetles Mimosestes amicus, living all around us in the trees of Tucson, and yet remaining all but invisible to our eyes – or nearly so. (more…)

MU Study Finds Quitting Smoking Enhances Personality Change

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Healthandrew littlefield, anti smoking efforts, kenneth j sher, key elements of smoking, neuroticism, over long term negative consequences, personality, relationship of genetic and environmental factors, smoking, tobacco use, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri researchers have found evidence that shows those who quit smoking show improvements in their overall personality.

“The data indicate that for some young adults smoking is impulsive,” said Andrew Littlefield, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Science. “That means that 18-year-olds are acting without a lot of forethought and favor immediate rewards over long term negative consequences. They might say, ‘I know smoking is bad for me, but I’m going to do it anyway.’ However, we find individuals who show the most decreases in impulsivity also are more likely quit smoking. If we can target anti-smoking efforts at that impulsivity, it may help the young people stop smoking.” (more…)

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Minimum 2011 Extent, the Second Lowest in the Satellite Record

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011EnvironmentArctic, arctic ocean, Arctic sea ice, arctic sea ice extent, atmosphere, california, floating ice chunks, goddard space flight center, greenbelt, greenhouse gases, mark serreze, NASA, national snow and ice data center, sea ice, texas, university of colorado boulder, walt meier, warming temperatures

The blanket of sea ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its lowest extent for 2011, the second lowest recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Arctic sea ice extent fell to 1.67 million square miles, or 4.33 million square kilometers on Sept. 9, 2011. This year’s minimum of 1.67 million square miles is more than 1 million square miles below the 1979-2000 monthly average extent for September — an area larger than Texas and California combined. (more…)

Bailed-out Banks Issued Riskier Loans

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Economybailed-out, banks issued riskier loans, capital purchase program, denis sosyura, federal bailout money, federal program, loan-to-income ratio, ran duchin, risky investments, tarp banks increased 10 percent, troubled asset relief program

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Banks that received federal bailout money ended up approving riskier loans and shifting capital toward risky investments after getting government help, say University of Michigan researchers.

In a new study on risk-taking by banks that received funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, finance professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura of Michigan’s Ross School of Business found that the overall risk level of TARP banks increased 10 percent. Further, these banks were no more likely to issue loans, overall, than non-TARP banks, in contrast to the declared objective of the federal program to increase lending. (more…)

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