UNCW: Cameron School of Business

February 2009

Online Alumni Magazine of the Cameron School of Business

The year 2008 was an amazing year for our business students – the world’s economy became a real-time learning lab. For faculty who could manage to look beyond their personal investment portfolio, there was never a more riveting, exciting time to be in the classroom with students. What an incredible series of business and economic events!

Who could have ever imagined Harley-Davidson, the No. 4 motorcycle company, being worth more than The General (General Motors)? Alas, the damper on this incredible learning environment is the reality of economic hurt by so many, hopefully not you.

The Cameron School of Business has turned back just over $300,000, a very significant “hit” to our budget. We were fortunate to have planned a budget reserve fund of $150,000. However, to generate the remaining dollars we have cut class sections (resulting in still larger average class sections), restricted faculty travel to present academic papers, eliminated the Cameron faculty/staff holiday party, postponed initiating a new global business forum and discontinued a faculty search after campus visits. Like all state agencies, we have been required to submit proposed budgets showing how we would meet budget cuts for next year at 7 percent. Clearly, these are challenging times for us.

Aside from the budget challenges, 2008 was another good year for Cameron. We congratulated the first graduates of our new International MBA Program. Business Week was again very exciting, especially the presentations by our two plenary speakers: one of our three Cameron Outstanding Alumni for 2008, David Cole, and the vice chair of the Federal Reserve, Don Kohn. Our Cameron Executive Network continued to provide valuable one-on-one mentoring and other support to our students. This fall Cameron students rallied to support “Cameron Gives Back,” a charitable initiative of Pi Sigma Epsilon. The Cameron Ethics Bowl Team again represented us well in inter-university competition and our annual Etiquette Dinner was again a success. Most important, we were fortunate to again return almost our entire faculty for the new academic year.

What can you do to help us? You serve us well with your successes in these tough economic times. We urge you, if possible, to write a check of support, whatever the amount, to help us retain our superb faculty and prepare great graduates.

Sincerely,

Larry Clark, dean

Cameron School of Business Headlines

Tom Simpson

Analysis:
The current financial
and economic crisis

By Thomas D. Simpson
Executive in Residence
Economics and finance

At the root of the current economic downturn is the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. If improperly managed, it could lead to the kind of devastation experienced during the Great Depression.

At the core of the current financial crisis is a precipitous unwinding of the real estate bubble and over-leveraging of earlier this decade.

Major financial institutions had become heavily exposed to these areas, leading to massive losses as the values of mortgage-related assets and real estate have plunged.

The earlier excesses occurred against a backdrop of very low interest rates, a long period of very stable economic and financial conditions in the United States, and a false belief that residential real estate prices would not drop at the national level.

This was also an era of unprecedented financial engineering in which highly complex and opaque securities were built with mortgages--especially sub-prime mortgages--embodying considerably more risk than was appreciated at the time.

Internships

Experiential education
at Cameron

Internships are the single most important way for employers to identify future employees, and for students to explore career opportunities. With the changing economy, internships are becoming even more important for Cameron students.

According to the National Association of Colleges & Employers, students who have had internships while in college spend an average of 1.96 months looking for their first job out of college vs. 4.98 months for students without internships. Also, the starting salary of former interns averages $2,000 more than non-interns.

An internship may have played an important part in your own career success, and the Cameron School of Business has dedicated additional resources to helping students secure internships. Last May, Joanna Rickard was hired as Cameron’s first service learning coordinator, to identify internship opportunities and assist students in obtaining them.

If you or your company would like more information about hiring a Cameron School of Business intern, please contact Joanna Rickard at rickardj@uncw.edu or 910.962.2466.

Students discuss how internships prepared them for life after college.

Economic growth in Southeastern North Carolina

Wilmington area economy
still growing

By William W. Hall Jr.
UNCW senior economist

The state and national economies are in recession, but as of early February, the Wilmington area economy has yet to enter a downturn.

Major factors to monitor in the local economy over 2009 and early 2010 in-clude real estate activity and retail sales tax collections. After rising through the first nine months of 2008, employment growth slowed, and it is likely that employ-ment will change very little over the next year.

Local unemployment rates rose over the latter part of 2008. Typically, the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator, meaning that it may continue to rise even as growth in the local economy increases.

In contrast to conditions that existed a decade ago, the local economy tends to follow a cycle similar to that for the nation. If so, and if the forecasts for the national economy are accurate, economic stability may be reached by late 2009/early 2010.

Growth will resume, but likely a rate substantially below that associated with other recoveries over the past 30 years. MORE

Plus: Area media reports on local economy

Uncertain times

How to thrive during
uncertain times

By Sital Ruparelia

Over the last two years I have been learning comedy improvisation with the excellent London-based theatre company and corporate trainers, The Spontaneity Shop. I have performed in about five shows so far and it's been great fun.

But whilst I've really enjoyed it, it's not something I have found easy.

You see, in a work environment, I can deal with change, think on my feet and "wing it" with the best of them. But when it comes to walking the uncertain tight-rope of comedy improvisation - on stage with no script and absolutely no idea what will happen next - I've found it challenging and consequently been a slow learner. But earlier this year, I finally started to 'get it'. Around May/June time with the direction of the tutors at the Spontaniety Shop, I finally started to learn and internalise the key lessons on how to handle (and indeed enjoy) the uncertainty that goes with making it up as you go along on stage.

There are eight key lessons or rules I learned. Rules which I think apply equally to comedy improvisation as they do to walking the tight rope of managing careers during these uncertain times.

Plus: Learn how to be a polished professional in strained economic times.