Building Events That Reflect Our Mission

I’m pleased to introduce the Mendoza Events & Engagement Team (MEET) — a new team name and a refreshed approach to event planning and execution across the College. 

MEET reflects a renewed commitment to aligning events with Mendoza’s mission, enhancing collaboration and optimizing the use of our shared resources through a more consistent and streamlined process. We’re excited to share where we are headed next.

Events are an essential expression of our work at Mendoza. Whether it's a marquee conference, a student program celebration or a graduate student enrollment event with the purpose of showcasing the very best that Mendoza has to offer, each event is an opportunity to bring our mission to life. But to do that well, we need consistency, clarity and the right structures in place to support everyone involved in event planning — whether that’s a faculty partner, staff member or a teaching/research assistant.

Why We’re Evolving the Process

This new approach and design is intended to improve how we plan and manage events by leveraging our collective resources and designing a support structure that provides clear points of contact for hosts (faculty) requesting support, teammates (staff) who organize and manage logistics, and partners (event managers) who deliver high-impact experiences that reflect Mendoza’s brand and values.

This shift aims to cultivate consistency in our event planning processes, foster transparency through clear roadmaps and accessible resources, and deliver a greater value to all Mendoza events. 

Introducing a Tiered Approach to Event Planning

One of the key developments is a new event tier structure that provides clear guidance based on an event’s size, scope, audience and visibility. From intimate department gatherings to high-profile conferences, the tier system helps us determine the appropriate level of support, approvals and communications needed for each type of event.

What You Can Expect

MEET provides a formalized annual event planning and delivery process that includes the following:.

• An annual event planning request process that starts during the spring prior to the next academic year aligned with the College’s annual budget planning process.
• Clearly defined support structure for hosts that can manage the details, logistics and communications, keeping hosts included and informed. 
• A breakdown of event tiers and related workflows.
• The MEET website that will house event-related tools. 
• A one-page overview of our new process for quick reference.

What’s Next

We will offer in-person informational sessions for staff in the coming weeks, where you will be able to walk through the new process with the MEET team and ask questions.

With this shift, and in partnership with each of you, we will lift up the people and programs that make Mendoza distinct. Events are often the first point of contact someone has with our College. When we plan and execute them with intention, we not only reflect our values, we invite others to experience them.

In partnership,

Meghan

Meghan Huff
Assistant Director, Program & Events
Mendoza College of Business

As we reach the final week of classes, I'm pleased to highlight our faculty's impressive research achievements. Following are several notable papers recently published or forthcoming in leading academic journals that showcase our faculty's ongoing commitment to advancement in their fields.

Ben Golez, William and Cassie Daley Associate Professor of Finance
Ben Matthies, Assistant Professor of Finance
Fed Information Effects: Evidence from the Equity Term Structure (Journal of Financial Economics)
The researchers explore whether Fed interest rate decisions signal information about the state of the economy to investors. The authors use option prices to construct a short-horizon equity asset, a claim to aggregate dividends over the next six months, and study its response in a narrow window around Federal Open Market Committee announcements. They find a positive relationship between monetary policy surprises and short-horizon asset responses, revealing that short-term and long-term equity assets move in opposite directions on average following FOMC announcements. This pattern suggests that market participants interpret central bank policy decisions as conveying information about economic conditions. As a result, surprise accommodative monetary policy actions intended to stimulate economic growth may prove counterproductive if market participants interpret them as indicators of deteriorating economic conditions and curtail investment accordingly.

Vamsi Kanuri, Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing
Disentangling the Customer-level, Cross-channel Effects of Large-Order-Advantaged Online Shipping Policies (MIS Quarterly)
This study investigates the causal effects of replacing a tiered online shipping fee with a flat-rate policy at a large multichannel retailer. Applying a regression discontinuity approach to a large customer-level panel dataset, the authors find that the flat-rate policy counterintuitively led to a 23% increase in offline sales and reduced the number and share of online purchases. These outcomes are driven by two mechanisms: (a) order aggregation in the online channel and (b) longer interpurchase intervals that prompt customers to make smaller purchases in physical stores. The policy also increased total customer spend across channels. The findings have important implications for legacy retailers seeking to defend their brick-and-mortar presence against online-native competitors such as Amazon and demonstrate that shipping policies can be used strategically to stimulate cross-channel engagement.

Laurel Mazur, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
Corporate Financing Activities and Business Cycle Fluctuations (forthcoming in the Accounting Review)
While market watchers and researchers typically focus on corporate profits to gauge where the economy is heading, this study reveals another powerful predictor: how companies raise money. Using data from companies’ Statements of Cash Flows, this study tracks when businesses borrow money or sell shares to raise funds. When economic conditions weaken, companies’ financial health suffers, making lenders less willing to provide financing and raising the cost of borrowing. This forces companies to cut back on hiring, research and investment, which further weakens their financial position — a self-reinforcing cycle called the “financial accelerator.” While large, established firms can usually raise money even during economic downturns, watching how smaller and medium-sized companies raise funds proves especially revealing. By focusing on these more economically sensitive companies, the authors create a new measure that accurately forecasts economic changes up to a year ahead, outperforming traditional economic indicators in predicting both GDP growth and employment trends. This research gives economists, policymakers, and business leaders a new tool to spot early warning signs of economic changes and better prepare for economic shifts before they fully materialize. 

Shawn Qu, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Francis Bilson Darku, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Shapley-Value-Based Feature Attribution for Data Masking (forthcoming in Management Information Systems Quarterly)
As personal data becomes central to digital innovation, balancing its value with the growing risks to individual privacy is a pressing challenge for businesses and society. This study tackles the issue by introducing a novel framework that applies Shapley-value-based feature attribution to data privacy protection. Unlike traditional approaches that assess privacy risk at the dataset level, this framework evaluates the tradeoff between data utility and disclosure risk at the feature level — offering more granular, ethical decision making. Its method-agnostic design equips organizations and policymakers to unlock business values while upholding responsible data practices.

Amanda Sharkey, Coyle Associate Professor of Management & Organization
Corporate Social Responsibility at the Margin: Firms' Responses to Marginal Inclusion on the Vault 100 Law Firm Ranking (Strategic Management Journal)
This study examines how marginally ranked firms respond to the anxiety of constant external evaluation. The researchers found that such firms strategically increase their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to secure their positions, meet expectations and preemptively address criticism. Analysis of pro bono work at major U.S. law firms confirms this tendency, especially among firms with fluctuating rank positions. The findings reveal how rankings drive CSR strategies as firms attempt to balance status concerns with performance.  

Andrea Tamoni, Associate Professor of Finance
When It Rains It Pours: Cascading Uncertainty Shocks (Journal of Political Economy)
The paper investigates what happens when uncertainty shocks occur in close proximity rather than in isolation. The authors find that these back-to-back shocks inflict more economic damage than traditional models predict. Their effects are superadditive: the combined impact of two shocks exceeds the sum of each shock’s standalone effect. What drives this amplification? The answer lies in how individuals adapt their behavior when facing repeated risks. While standard economic models account for precautionary behavior under risk, this paper emphasizes that state-dependent precautionary responses — those that vary depending on prior exposure to uncertainty — only emerge in higher-order mathematical models (fourth order or higher). The authors highlight the importance of higher-order risk attitudes, particularly edginess, which corresponds to the fifth derivative of the utility function. Just as the concept of prudence (the third derivative) explains how individuals increase savings in response to risk, edginess captures how they react to a new risk when another is already present in the background. Future models of uncertainty must go beyond standard approximations and incorporate these higher-order methods to better capture how serial uncertainty shocks shape economic outcomes.

Thank you to Ben, Ben, Vamsi, Laurel, Shawn, Francis, Amanda and Andrea for your research contributions, and congratulations.

I also hope you will be able to attend the Mendoza Mission Research Awards presentation and reception on Friday, May 2. The presentation is from 3-4:30 p.m. in Mendoza 161 with the reception following in the atrium. Hope to see you there!

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

Martijn Cremers
Martin J. Gillen Dean
Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance

Happy Easter! The Lord is risen, alleluia!

I’m pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Mendoza Mission Research Awards, an annual recognition for Mendoza research papers published in high-quality academic journals that exemplify the College’s imperative to “Grow the Good in Business.” 

I also invite you to attend a presentation on May 2 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. in Mendoza 161, where the award winners will briefly describe their research findings. A reception will follow in the atrium.

Here are the recipients for 2025:

John Donovan, Gerspach Family Associate Professor of Accountancy
Yadav Gopalan, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
Pay for Prudence (Journal of Accounting and Economics)
This study introduces "pay for prudence" (PfP) in banker compensation, showing how it balances shareholder risk preferences with regulatory requirements. Detailed PfP terms correlate with equity incentives while reducing tail risk, bad loans, and regulatory downgrades without sacrificing profitability. PfP serves as "guard rails" complementing traditional equity incentives in guiding investment decisions.

Gregory Robson, Associate Research Professor of Business Ethics and Society
James Otteson, John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics
Freedom in Business: Elizabeth Anderson, Adam Smith, and the Effects of Dominance in Business (Philosophy of Management)
This paper strengthens Anderson's critique of workplace dictatorships by incorporating Smith's insights on labor division's harmful effects. The authors argue that workplace unfreedom is more severe than Anderson acknowledges, requiring stronger institutional remedies than she proposes to address worker domination.

Ben Matthies, Assistant Professor of Finance
Benjamin Golez, William and Cassie Daley Associate Professor of Finance
Fed Information Effects: Evidence from the Equity Term Structure (Journal of Financial Economics)
This study explores whether Fed interest rate decisions signal information about the state of the economy to investors. The authors use option prices to construct a short-horizon equity asset, a claim to aggregate dividends over the next six months, and study its response in a narrow window around FOMC announcements. The authors find a positive relationship between monetary policy surprises and short-horizon asset responses, revealing that short-term and long-term equity assets move in opposite directions on average following Federal Open Market Committee announcements. This pattern suggests that market participants interpret central bank policy decisions as conveying information about economic conditions. As a result, surprise accommodative monetary policy actions intended to stimulate economic growth may prove counterproductive if market participants interpret them as indicators of deteriorating economic conditions and curtail investment accordingly.

John Lalor, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Ahmed Abbasi, Joe and Jane Giovanini Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Kezia Oketch, Ph.D. in Analytics Candidate
Should Fairness be a Metric or a Model? A Model-based Framework for Assessing Bias in Machine Learning Pipelines (ACM Transactions on Information Systems)
This paper introduces FAIR-Frame, a framework for modeling fairness across multiple protected attributes in ML models. Extensive testing showed that FAIR-Frame’s representational fairness measures better align with and predict allocational harm observed in downstream applications. FAIR-Frame has important implications for various ML contexts, including information retrieval, user modeling, digital platforms, and text classification, where responsible and trustworthy AI are becoming an imperative.

Cindy Muir, Professor of Management & Organization
Supervisor integrity empowers employees to advocate for diversity in problematic climates (Journal of Applied Psychology)
This research explores why supervisors often struggle to inspire employees to engage in diversity advocacy — moral, value-centric behaviors that actively support equity in the workplace for all employees. The authors propose that a key reason may be that employees don’t feel empowered to take such action. However, they argue that when supervisors demonstrate strong integrity by consistently adhering to valued, acceptable principles, it can inspire employees to step up as advocates, especially in environments where the diversity climate is perceived as poor because that’s when employees may feel their actions are most needed. The theory is tested through three studies: a field survey, an experimental vignette, and a behavioral experiment.

Shijie Lu, Howard J. and Geraldine F. Korth Associate Professor of Marketing
Within-Category Satiation and Cross-Category Spillover in Multiproduct Advertising (Journal of Marketing)
This study examines how privacy-preserving policies, such as reduced consumer data retention, affect consumer behavior, advertiser profits, and platform revenues in the context of multiproduct ads (MPAs). While enhancing privacy, these measures lower ad variety, reducing consumer engagement and ad effectiveness due to intensified within-category satiation and weakened cross-category complementarity. The findings underscore the challenge for ad platforms in balancing privacy with consumer interest and advertiser profitability.

Please join me in congratulating the winners and I hope to see you at the presentations on May 2.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

Martijn Cremers
Martin J. Gillen Dean
Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance

Enhancing Our Learning Environment: Upcoming Relocation of the Mahaffey Business Library

As part of our continued efforts to modernize and enhance the academic experience at the Mendoza College of Business, we are preparing for the thoughtful relocation of the Mahaffey Business Library. 

This change was necessitated by the temporary space crunch during the construction of the North Addition, which also provided an opportunity to rethink and reimagine the role of the Business Library and all of the ways the library has been serving our faculty and students. The purpose of the relocation is to expand space for students, faculty and staff, while maintaining the critical research tools, support services and collaborative culture that define the Mendoza learning experience.

First, I would like to thank Kristen Collett-Schmitt, associate dean for the Undergraduate and Specialized Master's Programs, and Ron Grisoli and Chris Fruehwirth for their invaluable support and partnership during this significant transition. Additionally, I want to recognize our committed business librarians — Pete Pietraszewski, Kim Ferraro and Michael Deike — as well as Hesburgh leadership, including Dean Margaret Meserve and associate University librarian Mark Dehmlow, for their ongoing collaboration. Their joint efforts have been crucial in developing a relocation strategy that respects the library’s vital role within the Mendoza community.

A Strategic Move to Strengthen Services

The relocation reflects a broader plan to align our physical spaces with Mendoza’s evolving academic and strategic needs. The Mahaffey Business Library’s core services will remain as a vital part of our community, now in a reimagined format that maintains close access to technologies, research tools and librarian expertise.

To ensure minimal disruption and maximum benefit, the transition will include:

• A new Technology and Collaboration Corridor (TCC) positioned between two of our largest computer classrooms, L068 and L062. This will allow the library to maintain crucial on-site equipment and services, while also providing scale-up access to free computers when our students most need them, particularly outside of class hours and during study days and exams (see ground plan).
  
• Enhanced access to Bloomberg terminals through the creation of our new Trading Room and by placing additional units within the TCC for general use. We will more than double our current capacity of Bloomberg terminals within the College walls.
  
• Ongoing presence of business librarians in Mendoza, offering in-person consultations and instructional support by using the adjacent computer classrooms and team rooms.
  
• A dedicated printer cluster, preserving essential printing access in the heart of Mendoza.
  
  

Listening to Our Community

Input from faculty and students played a central role in shaping this plan. We’ve heard the value you place on proximity, support and collaboration — and this plan directly reflects that feedback. We remain committed to a smooth transition, with clear communication and ample opportunity for feedback throughout and beyond.

What’s Next

The relocation will occur in phases throughout 2025, with careful planning, continuous support, and opportunities for community input along the way. We will continue to share updates as the process unfolds.

This move preserves and enhances the research, teaching and learning support that Mendoza depends on. By evolving how we use our space, we better position our College to support a growing and dynamic academic community.

Finally, we are now exploring the best way to repurpose the space currently occupied by the business library, including the offices for the business librarians. We are in urgent need of additional space for staff, especially space that can accommodate a larger group of staff to be housed together, rather than working in multiple separate offices. During the construction of the North Addition, we are also in critical need for offices for our faculty. We will be communicating more definite plans as those are developed over the next few months.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we move forward together.

Ryan Retartha

Advisor to the Dean and Senior Director of Strategy & Planning

Mendoza Website Redesign: Your Voice, Our Future

Dear Mendoza Colleagues,

Over the past several months, our Marketing & Brand Strategy team has been laying the critical groundwork for an all-new website experience. This initial phase has been about understanding our current digital landscape and charting a strategic path forward.

Behind the Scenes: Strategic Groundwork

Our groundwork has involved:

• Comprehensive meetings with Notre Dame’s Creative Web Services Team.
• Collaborative sessions with Mendoza IT and our Mendoza developer, MinHee Myung.
• Thorough auditing of our current digital ecosystem and current websites.

We learned:

Our Mendoza websites are scattered across different platforms, making it difficult to tell a consistent story about who we are. We see this as a chance to bring our digital branding together in a way that truly showcases the Mendoza College of Business and our strategic goals. We aim to create a cohesive website experience that highlights our collective excellence and makes it easier for visitors to find information across our entire ecosystem.

Bringing Your Voice to the Forefront

Over the next month, we'll conduct a series of focused feedback sessions with each academic department, program and key stakeholders. We want to create a meaningful opportunity for you to shape our digital future, share your insights, and, ultimately, help us build a user-focused website that aligns with our College’s strategic priorities.

What to Expect

• Collaborative Feedback Sessions: Brand managers will be inviting all departments, faculty and staff to attend sessions at various points. Student feedback will also be collected.
• Real Impact: Your input will inform our digital identity and comprehensive strategy.
• Open Dialogue: We’re committed to establishing a setting where you can share your candid thoughts and ideas.

Our Approach

Our goal is to create a website that not only looks great but serves the diverse needs of its users — including prospective & current students, faculty, staff, alumni, employers and more. We want to understand:

• What works well on our current website.
• The challenges you face —  or those you hear of students facing —  when navigating our web pages.
• Your vision for a more effective Mendoza College of Business website.

Your Feedback is Our Greatest Asset!

This is our opportunity to reimagine how we present ourselves to the world. We’re committed to a thoughtful, transparent process that values your perspective.

Stay tuned for your department’s invitation. We’re looking forward to building a new and improved website that reflects the Mendoza difference.

Best,

Rebecca Wood
Senior Associate Director Brand Strategy
Marketing & Brand Strategy Team
Mendoza College of Business