R2@Saunders | Saunders College of Business

Research with Purpose

Saunders faculty are impacting businesses and society through impactful research—addressing one challenge at a time.

Saunders faculty are making significant contributions to businesses and society through impactful research—addressing one challenge at a time. In this (the second) edition of R²@Saunders, we feature research on the trade-off between operational performance and sales in retail, the implementation of SEC guidance on sustainability disclosures, the economic effects of common institutional ownership in the market, and cyber incivility in the hospitality industry.

Retail businesses often grapple with the challenge of managing product inventory to optimize both operational performance and sales. Professor Kevin Sweeney’s research indicates that retail managers can achieve this by considering the inherent difficulties in demand planning and forecasting for hedonic products – ones that are used for fun and experience – and dedicating resources to plan for individual products. Whereas, traditional planning tools, such as risk pooling, can be employed for products that fall under a general category of utilitarian products.

Our faculty's research also carries significant policy and regulatory implications, particularly related to the SEC's guidance regarding sustainability and human capital disclosures. Forman Research Professor Manlu Liu and Professor Jing Tang’s recent study, published in the Accounting, Organization, and Society, highlights the critical role of auditors in sustainability disclosures, whereas Professor Kean Wu's ongoing research has been cited by the SEC in a proposed rule and its semi-annual report to Congress. Rosett Research Professor Hao Zhang’s recently published study in the Contemporary Accounting Research work on common institutional ownership and stock price crashes identifies this ownership structure as a major factor influencing crash risk, underscoring the need for improved information-sharing mechanisms and incentive systems to mitigate stock market risks.

In the hospitality industry, cyber incivility is a pervasive and significant issue, particularly in light of current labor shortages. Professor Edwin Torres’ research, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, provides a framework for understanding virtual incivility in the hospitality industry.

Enjoy this edition of R²@Saunders!

Shal Khazanchi

Associate Dean Research and Graduate Programs

585-475-7126

skhazanchi@saunders.rit.edu

In this R2@Saunders edition

Featured Research

Variety’s Not Always the Spice of Life

Trade-offs between operational performance and sales in a retail environment.
Journal of Business Logistics
Read more

Uncivil Wars

Incivility meets remote work: A typology of cyber incivility behaviors.
International Journal of Hospitality Management
Read more

Benefits of a Seeming Monopoly

Common institutional ownership and stock price crash risk.
Contemporary Accounting Research
Read more

View full Saunders Research Insights catalog

External Grants

Clyde Eiríkur Hull, Ph.D., department of management, received a $1 million extension on his ASEAN grant from the U.S. State Department, and will hold the 3rd annual symposium on circular economy entrepreneurship, smart cities, and sustainability in Kuala Lumpur.

Forman Collaborative Research Professor, Sandy Rothenberg, Ph.D., department of management and chair of public policy, received a grant for Essential Emergency Resources and Services and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community in Monroe County NY: A Geospatial-Visual Approach (Sr. Personnel) from NSF for $1M.

Vic Perotti, Ph.D., professor in management information systems, marketing, and analytics, received a grant for Data Science for Non-Computing Majors in Data Science (Co-Pi) from NSF for $750,000.

Jerrie Hsieh, Ph.D., and Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., department of international hospitality and service innovation, received a grant from Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for $125,000.

Rick Mislan, Ph.D., department of management information systems, marketing, and analytics, is part of a team that has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant of $100,000 to develop MAGNETO: Magnetometer-based ATAK Guidance for Network Evaluation of Threats and Operational-Conditions. This technology “harnesses the untapped potential of smartphone magnetometers for sensing and mapping RF spectrum data,” and has a number of defense applications. Rick also received a grant from SBIR (Phase 1) AFWERX, U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Innovation Office, for $50,000.

Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, and Ashok Robin, Ph.D., department of finance and accounting, received corporate funding to study cybersecurity threats risk modeling (Phase 1) grant for $50,000.

Awards and Recognitions

Soon Hyeok (Steve) Choi, Ph.D., department of finance and accounting, won two awards from the American Real Estate Society. He won the Best Practitioner Research Award for his co-authored paper, “Pricing the Upside Potential to Downside Risk," along with the Innovative Thinking Award (“Thinking Out of the Box”) for his article, “Selling Houses as Minority Broker: Quantifying Diversity Discount."

Yu-chin (Jerrie) Hsieh, Ph.D., and Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., both in the department of international hospitality and tourism management, co-authored the paper “Enhancing Inclusive Hospitality: An Investigation into Autism-Certified Hotels and Guest Experiences,” which won the Best Paper Award at the 11th Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Management (AHTMM) Conference.

Shubhobrata Palit, Ph.D., department of management, won a Chan Han Best Paper Award in the Operations and Supply Chain Management Division of Academy of Management 2024 Buyer-Supplier Networks and Innovation: The Role of Technological Knowledge Spoilers, 2024. Professor Palit also received Honorable Mention for the Doctoral Dissertation Award Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Academic Research Symposium (Nashville), 2024.

Clyde Eiríkur Hull, Ph.D., department of management, has been recognized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) with the prestigious ICSB Mini-Globe Award for his “extraordinary dedication and substantial contributions to the organization.” The award letter recognizes Professor Hull’s “significant impact on the global entrepreneurship and small business community.”

dt ogilvie, Ph.D., department of management, is a member of the Analytix Group team, which won two Best Paper awards at the Academy of Business Research Conference. January's AMSTATNEWS shares the winning papers are “Movie Sequel Marketing and Predictive Analytics: The Movie Marketing Analytics of Marvel’s Sequel, Wakanda Forever” and “The New Remote Work Revolution: An Empirical Study on the Management Crisis with the Rise in Remote Work Preference with Employees.”

Michael Palanski started his tenure as co-Editor-in-Chief at the Journal of Leadership and Organization Studies in July 2024.

New Faculty Hires

Alex Butler

Visiting Lecturer

MIS, Marketing and Analytics
MBA, Rochester Institute of Technology

Areas of expertise
Marketing strategy, Marketing analytics, Entrepreneurship, Process automation

Jieun Lee

Assistant Professor

Management
Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia

Areas of expertise
Corporate governance, Collaborations and innovation, Stakeholder relationship

Sriniwas Mahapatro

Assistant Professor

Finance and Accounting
Ph.D., Indian School of Business

Areas of expertise
Banking regulations, Credit rating, Debt contracting, Auditing, Related party transactions

Shubhobrata Palit

Visiting Assistant Professor

Management
Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology

Areas of expertise
Economics of innovation, Buyer-supplier relationships, Technological knowledge exchange between firms, Global supply networks

Siavash Rashidi-Sabet

Assistant Professor

MIS, Marketing and Analytics
Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Areas of expertise
Marketing strategy, Social dilemmas, Corporate social responsibility, Capability building

Kevin Sweeney

Associate Professor

Management
Ph.D., University of Maryland

Areas of expertise
Supply chain management, Inventory management, Simulation, Esports

Matthew Vollmer

Lecturer

MIS, Marketing and Analytics Ph.D., University at Buffalo

Areas of expertise
Consumer behavior, Communication, Social science

View Saunders Faculty Directory

Research in the News

Saunders values publications that translate and make academic research accessible for practitioners. Saunders' faculty research is cited in local and national news media, including the following examples.

NVIDIA’s Disclosure Needs To Catch Up With Its Valuation
Forbes cites a paper co-written by Sriniwas Mahapatro

Proposed rule and semi-annual report to Congress
Recommendation regarding human capital management disclosure
U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission cites articles authored by Kean Wu

Wayne LaPierre: Dapper as Charged
No suit, no tie, no problem: Casual is the new formal for modern professionals
The New York Times and Ladders cite Michael Palanski's research in their stories

There are alternatives to the four-year degree
Rochester Business Journal interviews Richard DeMartino

States Where Employers Are Struggling the Most in Hiring
WalletHub interviews Dena Bateh

RIT's 'Beers of the World' course brews excitement among students
Spectrum News story features Edward Ganster's Beers of the World class

Making AI Work: The Generative Edge in Workplace Productivity
The do’s and don’ts of giving effective employee feedback
University of Sydney Business School The Management Lab podcast episodes co-hosted by Saunders Endowed Professor Sean Hansen

Western N.Y. workforce training program helps refugees get jobs
Spectrum News story features Jerrie Hsieh and Muhammet Kesgin

View full Saunders Research News

Faculty Research Video Spotlights

Digital Transformation

Finance and Accounting

Strategy and Innovation

Detecting Fake Review Buyers Using Network Structure: Direct Evidence from Amazon | Assistant Professor Ali Tosyali

The color of shareholders' money: Institutional shareholders' political values and corporate environmental disclosure | Forman Research Professor Rong Yang

The role of experience interpretation and assessment and its board-level microfoundations | Associate Professor Ettore Spadafora

Sustaining collaborative software development through strategic consortium | Forman Research Professor Manlu Liu

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Challenges and opportunities in building circular-economy incubators | Professor Clyde Eiríkur Hull

View all Saunders Ph.D. Research Spotlight videos

Ph.D. In Business Administration

This fall, Saunders College of Business welcomed its second cohort of students into the Ph.D. in business administration. The program is designed to inspire and train scholars to identify, investigate, and solve unique business challenges at the intersection of business and technology. The program has three areas of specialization: (1) digital transformation, (2) strategy and innovation, and (3) finance and accounting. Meet our students:

Matthew Joseph Agone