SMLR Update - Fall Term Wrap-Up

Rutgers News

Kean Report on Higher Education Released -- The much anticipated Report of the Governor's Task Force on Higher Education was released on Tuesday.  Its recommendations are very positive for Rutgers, with the over-arching goal of making RU one of the top ten public research universities in the US.  The recommendations include a call for greater and more consistent financial support for the University, an annual capital allocation budget, and merging Rutgers and UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick.  The full text of the report can be found at: http://nj.gov/governor/news/reports/pdf/20101201_high_edu.pdf.

SMLR in the News

Public Sector Workers' Pay and Benefits -- Jeff Keefe's research continues to attract national attention, receiving prominent mention in a front-page story in Sunday's New York Times.  A great way to start the new year:

Port Trucking -- David Bensman's Big Rig Report reveals how port truckers are routinely paid poverty-level wages because of a pervasive industry scheme of misclassifying these drivers as “independent contractors.” The report can be found at www.nelp.org. “The strictest federal tests of employment status show that typical port drivers are subject to strict behavioral controls, that they are financially dependent on the companies they work for, and that they are fully – often exclusively – integrated into the daily business of the companies they work for. In other words, while labeled ‘independent,’ the typical port truck driver is not running his own business and should not be treated like it,” said co-author Dr. David Bensman, Professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University.

The Wall Street Journal published an article on port trucking referencing the Big Rig report.  The article, Unions Want Limits on Firms' Use of Contractors, can be found at the Wall Street Journal online.

Continuing the impact of the study, an article appeared in On The Hill, titled Report: Misclassification Exploits Nation's Port Truck Drivers, Costs Gov't Billions and Pollutes Environment.

A New CNN Regular Feature - Delighted to report that Paula Caligiuri's  “Reclaim Your Career” segment on CNN will now be a regular feature, appearing every other Sunday.  She appeared on January 2nd to provide “Predictions for 2011 and What They Will Mean for Your Career,”  and was on before the break discussing, New Year’s Resolutions to Enhance Your Career. See below.

Breakfast at the Barracks –The Breakfast at the Barracks show that aired on 12/15 featured our very own Heather McKay.  This was also broadcast on the continuing education website. 

PhD. Leadership Development – Sean Rogers, Ph.D. student, is featured in a Chronicle of Higher Education article entitled: Rutgers Program Helps Ph.D. Students Learn the Ropes of Academic Leadership. Sean E. Rogers is a third-year graduate student at Rutgers University, a few years yet from entering the academic job market. Still, he's already thinking about how to make the transition from faculty member to administrator.

SMLR News 

Joseph Blasi Appointed the J. Robert Beyster Professor of Employee Ownership -- On December 14th, the Rutgers Board of Governors created the J. Robert Beyster Professorship in Employee Ownership and named Joseph Blasi to be the inaugural holder of this professorship.  This is the first endowed professorship in the School's history and a wonderful recognition of  Joseph's pioneering work in this field.  It was made possible by the generosity of Bob and Mary Ann Beyster through their Foundation for Enterprise Development.  We hope you can join us on February 24th at 1.30 for the investituture ceremony for the Beyster Professor at Kirkpatrick Chapel.  For the full story go to: INSERT LINK.

Is Collective Bargaining Broken - On Friday December 10, SMLR's LEARN successfully hosted its Sixth Labor and Management Partnership Conference “Is Collective bargaining Broken” at the Labor Education Center. Over 100 people attended the conference. A distinguished panel of LSER faculty and guest speakers from other universities and from the labor relations community discussed effectiveness of dispute resolution, workplace innovations achieved through collective bargaining, and the causes and consequences of privatization. Lisa Schur chaired the panel on dispute resolution, with Jeff Keefe presenting his study “Is Interest Arbitration Broken and Should It Be Abolished?” with comments from Richard Loccke, the Counsel to the New Jersey AFL-CIO, and Matthew Watkins, Manager of South Brunswick Township. Charles Heckscher chaired the panel on innovations through collective bargaining, with Adrienne Eaton presenting her research on “Transforming Healthcare: Innovation through Collective Bargaining” and Saul Rubinstein presenting his case studies on ”Collaborative Approaches to Public School Reform.” Mildred Warner from Cornell University and Ellen Dannin from Penn State University discussed privatization and its causes and consequences to workers, government services, and democracy, nationally and internationally. 

Fond Farewell -- Friends and colleagues had a great retirement send-off for Abe Weiss who is stepping down after 11 very successful years running the Center for Management Development.  Abe will be looking for opportunities for CMD in the Boulder Colorado area and spending more time with his grandkids. 

Honor for Professor II Susan Jackson -- The University of Minnesota Morris recognized Susan as a Distinguished Alumnus for her outstanding career, which includes numerous influential publications and her current role as President of the Academy of Management.

Rutgers Day -- We had an excellent meeting to plan SMLR's participation in the 3rd annual Rutgers Day, which will be held this year on April 30th.  In order to encourage active participation from as many members of the SMLR community as possible, and make a real difference, our plan is to partner with Rutgers Against Hunger and Stop Hunger Now to create a Food Factory where we will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Frederick Taylor's Scientific Management by creating a volunteer worker assembly line to pack up to 300,000 meals during the course of the day.  Under the guideance of Niki Dickerson von Lockette, SMLR student Alexis Lehmann is taking the lead on the Food Factory and  Janice DiLella and Elena Orama have agreed to coordinate SMLR's other activities surrounding the assembly line.  All suggestions and volunteers are welcome.   

Department of Delayed Gratification  -- Fifty years ago, John Burton published his first article on “The Uniform Commercial Code and Conflict of Laws” in The American Journal of Comparative Law.  Recalls John: "I wrote the article as a senior in law school and the acceptance was a major factor in my decision to obtain a Ph.D. and to pursue an academic career." Today the Professor Emeritus remains highly productive, with his latest work, “The Relationship Between Disability Discrimination and Age Discrimination in Workers’ Compensation,” to be published in Richard L. Weiner and Steven L. Willborn, eds., Disability and Aging Discrimination: Perspectives in Law and Psychology, published by Springer in 2011.

Publications - The latest book in the Business Expert Press Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior series, edited by Stan Gully and Jean Phillips, has just been released. It is: Moua, M. (2010). Culturally Intelligent Leadership: Leading Through Intercultural Interactions. J. M. Phillips and S.M. Gully, Eds., New York: Business Expert Press.

Women and Work - Patricia Roos published an article in the Fall 2010 issue of Contexts, a publication of the American Sociological Association that brings sociological insights to a broader audience.  Her article, "Not So Separate Spheres," argues that while separate spheres imagery is still morally and culturally relevant today, it no longer reflects the reality of most women's lives.  Roos examines race differences in women's work behavior and attitudes to better understand how women are weaving together their work and family lives.

New LERA Appointment - Tracy Chang has enthusiastically accepted a seat on the NJ LERA Board.  This vacancy arose with the departure of Professor Eileen Appelbaum.  Currently, Tracy  is the Director of LEARN (Labor Education and Research Now) in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations in the School of Management of Labor Relations at Rutgers University. Her teaching interests include union building, collective bargaining, and political economy; her research interests include sociology of work and occupation, social stratification, labor and politics, and international labor movement.

Alumni News 

New Labor 10th Anniversary Gala -- The Labor Education Center hosted the 10th Anniversary celebration for the New Brunswick-based worker center that has done so much over the last decade to aid low-wage workers in New Jersey.  SMLR was proud to be among the honorees, and to celebrate the key role that our graduates -- Marien Casillas-Pabellon, Carmen Martino, and the late Rich Cunningham -- have played in building New Labor. 

New Article published --  Ron Weisinger M.S. 1993 has written an article, "Storytelling: The New HR Competency," that is featured in the Fall 2010 issue of Insights Magazine (a publication of the New England Human Resources Association).  

SMLR Students Get Real-World Experience -- Selected Problems in Human Resources Information Systems concluded this past semester by introducing the graduate students to HR organizational management lab exercises using the SAP application. With the assistance of Stephen Sequeira, CEO of Perfect Resources, and a former SMLR graduate, the students learned the SAP HR system, its processes and functionality. "I had an absolute great time giving a presentation on SAP HR, and there was a genuine interest by the students to understand the SAP HR system," said Stephen. With the combination of the doing lab exercises and using SAP HR educational videos provided by Perfect Resources, the students successfully created an organizational structure, job positions and descriptions, entered job results and pay grades, and hired an applicant by using the SAP system. Students were already using their experiences from the class and lab on recent job interviews. "It was a great learning exercise for the students, and they provided excellent feedback on enhancing the lab in the future," said Kevin Johns, instructor for the class.
 

Rutgers News

New Report from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development - The Heldrich Center's latest Work Trends report, entitled The Shattered American Dream, has been released.

Events

Friday, January 28, 2011
Time: 12:00 pm-1:30 pm (Lunch provided in Room 101)
Location: Janice H. Levin Bldg., Room 102 (Livingston Campus)
RSVP: jibsea@business.rutgers.edu  

To mark the editorship of JIBS coming to Rutgers from 2011-2013, the Department of Management and Global Business at Rutgers University and the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) are pleased to invite you to attend an informal lunch followed by a talk with:
Dr. John Cantwell,  Editor-in-Chief of Journal of International Business Studies
Dr. Paula Caligiuri,  JIBS Area Editor - International Human Resource Management
Dr. David Reeb,  JIBS Area Editor - International Finance and International Accounting

JIBS is the leading journal in the International Business field.  It is an interdisciplinary journal, so those with international interests from any RBS department or SMLR are most welcome.  

Eric LeGrand Believe Fund -- Fundraiser Set for Sunday, January 30

A collection of New Brunswick establishments will take part in a special charity event to raise money for the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund on Sunday, January 30.  LeGrand, a SMLR student and a junior defensive tackle for the Rutgers football program, suffered a spinal cord injury Oct. 16 against Army. The fund was established to support LeGrand and his family throughout his rehabilitation.

Tickets for this event can be purchased in advance from participating establishments that include Catherine Lombardi, Steakhouse 85, Due Mari, Old Bay, Panico’s Brick Oven Pizza, The Stress Factory, Delta’s, The Frog and The Peach, Glass Woods Tavern at the Hyatt, Panico’s Italian Restaurant and the Tulu Restaurant and Lounge. Whichever location and/or ticket option you choose, a minimum of 50% of the ticket price will be donated to the Fund.