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Childhood experiences of war loom large over CEOs’ decision-making

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 14:15:51 +0000

Childhood experiences of war loom large over CEOs’ decision-making Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 10/19/2026 - 10:15

Likening business to war has become a cliché. This shopworn comparison glosses over the grim fact that war informs the backdrop, and backstory, of a great many companies, and their leaders.

Eun Hye (Grace) Jo, accounting professor at the Costello College of Business. Photo provided

The trauma of war has long-lasting reverberations, influencing business decisions taken decades later, argue Eun Hye Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business based in 911�� Korea.

Their recent paper in Journal of Business Research (co-authored by Laurelle (Ellie) Chapple of Queensland University of Technology) examines how early-life experience of the Korean War (1950-1953) affected CEOs’ responses to business challenges.

“The project had a personal motivation that emerged from a conversation about the Korean War. We realized that war and military service had meaningful connections to both of our family histories: Eun Hye’s grandfather was a Korean War veteran, while Jenny’s father was a retired South Korean Army lieutenant colonel. Growing up with these family histories exposed us to stories about war and military service and made this research question especially meaningful to us,” comment the pair of Costello researchers.

The three-year conflict between North and South Korea claimed more than two million casualties, over half of whom were civilians. All in all, approximately ten percent of the population of the peninsula lost their lives in the conflagration. The traumatic aftereffects of the Korean War on both sides may be intensified by the lack of formal resolution, with no peace treaty signed and tensions between the combatants continuing into the present day.

“The project had a personal motivation that emerged from a conversation about the Korean War. We realized that war and military service had meaningful connections to both of our family histories: Eun Hye’s grandfather was a Korean War veteran, while Jenny’s father was a retired South Korean Army lieutenant colonel. Growing up with these family histories exposed us to stories about war and military service and made this research question especially meaningful to us.”

– Eun Hye (Grace) Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business

The research team collected financial performance data on Korean-listed companies during the period 2002 to 2023 (excluding the smallest companies and those in the finance industry); their data-set comprised 24,703 firm-year observations. They segmented the data by CEO age, allowing them to analyze firm activity in light of whether the focal CEO was born prior to the Armistice Agreement that ended Korean War hostilities.

They were particularly interested in sales downturns, which could act as trigger events for war-exposed CEOs. Their theory was that these CEOs would have a stronger emotional response to a decline in sales, resulting in larger workforce reductions.

And indeed, the researchers found that when Korean firms were led by war-exposed CEOs, they exhibited lower employment stickiness—hiring about 22 percent less aggressively during sales upswings and cutting employment about 106 percent more sharply during downturns.

On closer investigation, the researchers saw that the entirety of the effect was concentrated among CEOs who experienced the Korean War between the ages of 4 and 15, as opposed to earlier childhood years, which do not usually produce lasting memories, due to the phenomenon known as “infantile amnesia.”

Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professor at the Costello College of Business. Photo provided

“Our interpretation is that early-life war exposure may heighten sensitivity to downside risk. War is an extreme environment marked by uncertainty, loss, and resource scarcity, and exposure to that kind of instability during formative years may shape how individuals perceive threats and make decisions under pressure later in life,” the Costello co-authors explain.

As additional verification that their findings were due to war exposure in formative years and not a generational mindset or the effects of aging, the researchers performed birth-region comparisons between war-exposed CEOs. They identified a direct relationship between CEOs’ downside risk sensitivity (as measured by employment stickiness) and the number of civilian Korean War casualties in their home environment as they were growing up.

“For us, the broader takeaway is that experiences during formative years can leave lasting imprints that may surface decades later in managerial decisions,” Jo and Lee say. Because their study dealt with a historically specific example of wartime trauma, they are hesitant to broaden their findings to other potentially scarring events, such as economic depressions or pandemics. However, they say, “We do not view war as necessarily unique in the broader theoretical sense. It is plausible that other severe formative experiences could also leave lasting imprints on how leaders perceive risk and make trade-offs later in life.”

For Jo and Lee, these findings highlight the need for power balance as a counterweight to the effects of wartime trauma and other early-life experiences that may inordinately impact an individual leader’s decisions.

“Boards can provide greater oversight of major workforce decisions, particularly during downturns,” they suggest. “Senior leadership teams and HR functions can introduce more structured decision processes that require managers to consider not only immediate cost savings, but also operational continuity, talent retention, and longer-term organizational costs. Bringing multiple perspectives into the process may help balance the influence of any one executive’s personal experiences.”

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Alumni build careers behind the scenes of the Washington Commanders

Katarina Benson — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:44:50 +0000

Alumni build careers behind the scenes of the Washington Commanders Katarina Benson Wed, 09/30/2026 - 10:44

On an NFL game day, tens of thousands of fans see the finished product.

They see the players take the field, the brands lining the stadium, the in-game experiences, and the moments that will be replayed long after the final whistle. What they rarely see are the hundreds of professionals whose work began hours, days, months, and sometimes years before kickoff.

911��’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) alumni Matt Hayes, BS Sport Management ’15, MBA ’23, and Mark McCracken, BS ’12, are two of those professionals.

Both work for the Washington Commanders, but their careers occupy distinctly different corners of the organization. As director of partnership development, Hayes builds relationships between the team and companies seeking to connect with Commanders fans and the broader Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Mark McCracken, BS ’12, assistant head athletic trainer for the Washington Commanders. Photo provided by Washington Commanders.

As assistant head athletic trainer, McCracken helps lead the sports medicine operation that keeps players healthy and safely returns injured athletes to the field.

Their paths offer a glimpse into the breadth of careers that exist behind professional sports.

For McCracken, few moments capture the meaning of that work better than game day. “When all the work is put in, your effort is recognized when a player you’ve been working on all year scores his first touchdown, [or] the player who you rehabbed last week makes an open-field tackle,” he said. “There have been so many individual moments like that. It’s a nice feeling to have, knowing you played a part in that.”

Hayes sees game day through another lens. His work may take the form of a partnership activation, hospitality experience, community initiative, or brand presence, but the process starts much earlier with a conversation. “I work to build relationships with companies that may become strategic partners of the organization,” Hayes said.

And that starts with discerning what the company is trying to accomplish. “My role starts with understanding a company’s business goals, whether that is regional awareness, customer engagement, or community impact, and then showing how the Commanders can help bring those goals to life,” Hayes said.

That means following business news, researching prospective partners, making calls, and collaborating with colleagues across the organization. “The strongest partnerships are about finding an authentic connection between a brand, the Commanders, our fans, and the broader DMV community.”

It is a side of professional sports Hayes did not know existed when he arrived at 911�� in 2011. Growing up, he imagined a career in sports media, being drawn to sports talk radio and “the energy, opinions, and storytelling around teams and athletes.”

Then, at CEHD he realized how much happened outside the broadcast booth and off the field. “As I moved through the Sport Management Program and gained hands-on experience through practicums, volunteer work, and internships, I started to see the scale of the industry behind the games,” Hayes said.

Matt Hayes, BS ’15, MBA ’23, is the Commanders' director of partnership development. Photo provided by Washington Commanders

One of his earliest opportunities came when he volunteered at the Washington Wizards’ training camp at the Patriot Center (now EagleBank Arena). That connected him with 911�� Athletics’ marketing and promotions department, and he continued volunteering with 911�� Athletics from 2012 until his graduation in 2015. “That was my first real glimpse behind the scenes of the sports business,” he said.

That experience led to a part-time ticket specialist position with the Washington Nationals in 2014. From there came opportunities in ticket sales, premium sales, leadership, and partnership development. His career would ultimately include chapters with the Nationals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and now the Commanders. “My transition into sports business began with saying yes to opportunities and treating every experience as a chance to build relationships,” Hayes said.

He said CEHD Professor Craig Esherick and Professor Emeritus Robert Baker also helped make an industry feel accessible. “What stood out was their willingness to help and pay it forward,” Hayes said. “Hearing firsthand career stories from coaching and media to other areas of sports made the industry feel more accessible and showed me the value of learning from people who had lived the experience.”

McCracken’s introduction to professional football also began while he was a 911�� student, although his route took him from the classroom and clinical setting directly to the sideline. He knew he wanted sports to be part of his future and was equally fascinated by exercise, science, human anatomy, and physiology. 911��’s Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) introduced him to a profession that could combine those interests. “911��’s ATEP program opened up my eyes to the expansive world of athletic training and sports performance as a whole,” McCracken said.

As a rising senior, McCracken interviewed for a clinical position with Washington’s NFL franchise and was selected for a full-season rotation in 2011.

His CEHD faculty and clinical mentors remained part of that journey long after the rotation ended. “My professors like Dr. Shane Caswell, Dr. Amanda Caswell, Dr. Candace Lacayo, Dr. Jatin Ambegaonkar, and so many other adjunct professors and clinical preceptors were very supportive of me,” McCracken said. “They continued to support me and invest in my growth even after graduation and well into my career. That is something I will never forget.”

Today, McCracken helps lead the Commanders’ athletic training staff across injury prevention, short-term and long-term injury management, and the process of returning players to football as quickly and safely as possible. He works closely with team physicians and alongside professionals in strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, sports science, and player mental health and wellness.

McCracken helps lead the Commanders' athletic training staff. Photo provided by Washington Commanders

It’s up to clinicians to manage a particular injury based on the athlete, available resources, sport-specific demands, and the body’s healing process. “My foundation of athletic training knowledge began at 911��,” he said, “but my skill set continues to grow, even still. My knowledge continues to advance as the medical world advances.”

That commitment to lifelong learning is one of several themes that connect McCracken and Hayes.

Both say success in professional sports requires more than a love of the game.

“One of the first lessons I learned is that you have to separate fandom from the job,” Hayes said. “Many students interested in the industry lead with, ‘I love sports,’ or, ‘I know everything about this team.’ Passion is important, but it is only the starting point.”

An NFL franchise, he said, is ultimately a complex business. “My role is about building relationships, understanding business challenges, and using the excitement of sports to help companies meet their goals.”

Still, that excitement matters. Hayes believes sports offer something that few other industries can replicate. “That combination of business strategy and emotional connection is powerful.”

On the medical side, McCracken sees his work as more than technical expertise.

“The ‘science’ is the building blocks,” he said. “Their ability to blend all aspects of sports performance and deliver it on an individual case-by-case basis is the ‘art’ of this profession.”

That art requires being relatable, personable, and genuine, he explained. An athletic trainer must understand the medicine but also know how to communicate it to an individual athlete—and make a plan meaningful enough for a player to embrace.

For Hayes, relationships are equally central. His advice reflects a principle he has carried since the beginning of his career: work hard, follow through, and make people have “happy thoughts” when they hear your name. “In sports, relationships and reputation can create opportunities years down the road,” Hayes said.

That philosophy became even more valuable as his responsibilities expanded. About six years into his tenure with the Washington Nationals, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic prompted Hayes to think more intentionally about the kind of leader he wanted to become. He returned to 911�� and earned his MBA from the Costello College of Business in 2023. “The MBA gave me a more analytical lens.” Together, those experiences help him look beyond the inventory a sports organization has to sell and instead understand the business problem a potential partner wants to solve.

Both alumni say students interested in professional sports should broaden their understanding of what working in the industry can mean. “As a student, I naturally focused on the visible side of the industry: teams, games, athletes, and media,” Hayes said. “Today, I see sports as a broad business ecosystem.”

Professional teams need expertise in finance, law, human resources, marketing, technology, analytics, real estate, operations, community relations, sales, sports medicine, performance, and many other areas.

McCracken highlighted emerging fields such as sports science and opportunities for additional credentials in areas such as strength and conditioning, dietetics, physical therapy, and other clinical professions that continue to expand what a career can look like.

“As a student, you don’t know what you don’t know,” McCracken said. “My advice would be to be a sponge, and treat each day as an interview.”

He also cautions students that a dream career is rarely immediate. “Do the fellowships, do the internships, do the hard work now, and it will pay off for you in the long run,” McCracken said.

Hayes offers similar advice for students seeking careers on the business side: Be curious. Be proactive: Reach out to professionals whose careers interest you. Ask about their experiences before asking them for employment. “Wherever you start, focus on building a reputation,” Hayes said. “Be prepared, work hard, follow through, treat people well, and leave every interaction in a better place than you found it.”

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Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:24:45 +0000

Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 15:24

When 911�� business major Neha Bandaru saw Northrop Grumman's table at the on-campus Career Fair, she figured that any opportunity the company had to offer would be catered to engineering students.

Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

However, when she spoke with a Costello College of Business alum about what the aerospace and defense company had on the business side, it opened her eyes to the exciting opportunities available to her. After seeking out more conversations and doing her own research, Bandaru eagerly applied for the role of contract admin and analytics intern.

With Northrop Grumman divided into four business sectors—aeronautics, defense, mission, and space—Bandaru's position was located within the defense sector. From day one of her internship, she was thrown into meeting calls. After a few weeks of meeting everyone and learning about the company culture, she began her assigned projects, working intensely on one for a few days before being rotated to another.

"The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is. Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

—Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student

Primarily working on contract closeout, she completed more than 60 projects throughout the summer. "The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is," she says. "Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

Costello College of Business student Neha Bandaru studying abroad at the University of Oxford, Christ Church College. Neha took a legal aspect of AI tutorial there that helped her through her Northrop Grumman internship. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

Among her favorite experiences from the internship was visiting the hangar to see the planes being built, as well as taking a look at the old technology in laboratories. Getting to know and collaborating with employees and other interns was another highlight.

Two months of interning in this high-intensity environment have helped Bandaru think more deeply about different directions she may want to take her career. She also found that most people she spoke with had not followed a direct career path, figuring out their ambitions along the way.

“That provided some relief for me because I feel like there’s stress in your early 20s, like knowing exactly where you have to be for the next 40 years,” she says. “So, it was definitely very relaxing to be able to talk to people who say it’s OK not to know exactly where you’re going to be.”

She remains highly interested in project management and analytics but has now also begun considering business law.

Bandaru completed her internship with the meaningful experience of seeing both the business and production sides of a major company, along with the confidence that comes from being better able to work under pressure. By putting her skills to the test in real-world settings, she discovered career paths that she had not previously considered. As she begins her senior year at the Costello College of Business, she brings a sharpened skillset, an expanded network, and a clearer vision for her future career.

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Greenwashing in stereo?: When benefit corporations get certified

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:09:24 +0000

Greenwashing in stereo?: When benefit corporations get certified Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 14:09

The term “benefit corporation” is becoming increasingly familiar as a label for companies with a hybrid commitment to the social good as well as profit-making. Interestingly, the term itself has taken on a hybrid meaning.

David Lucas, assistant professor of management at Costello College of Business at 911��.

“Benefit corporation” is a legal structure recognized by most U.S. states, but the term is often used synonymously with “B Corp,” a certification granted by B Lab, a global NGO. The confusion is understandable, given that B Lab was the principal lobbying force behind the adoption of “benefit corporation” as an official legal entity.

“The legal framework is viewed by proponents as a way to help benefit corporations ‘lock in’ their social commitments. It layers on additional requirements that traditional for-profit legal forms don’t have related to non-financial reporting and the resolution of conflicts over these goals,” says David Lucas, assistant professor of management at the Costello College of Business at 911��.

Lucas’s recently published paper in Journal of Business Research uses AI to shed light on what happens when a benefit corporation becomes a B Corp. Does the dual affiliation equate to redoubled commitment, or “greenwashing” in stereo?

The paper was co-authored by Clara Scheve of Hamburg University of Technology and Joel Gehman of George Washington University.

The researchers took advantage of Minnesota’s unusually robust monitoring regime for benefit corporations. “A few studies now have documented relatively low compliance across states, and seemingly few penalties,” Lucas says. “Minnesota is the only state we could find where the Secretary of State published every benefit report that they received, and if they don’t receive one in the annual timeframe, they revoke benefit status.”

However, Lucas emphasizes that there is a difference between reporting regularly and reporting substantively. The disclosures were by no means equally meaningful or forthcoming. “There’s huge variation,” Lucas explains. “Some of the reports are just the cover sheet that’s required and a couple of sentences. Others have long, well-structured reports with a lot of detail and quantitative evidence.”

The researchers aimed to use report quality as a signal of sincerity and effectiveness in pursuing social or environmental impact goals. But first they would have to construct a balanced and comprehensive barometer of quality, over and above very coarse criteria such as length. That is where AI came in.

Lucas and his co-authors trained large language models (LLMs) to rate the reports according to what Lucas calls “the things we really care about: how they talk about stakeholders, how they talk about impact, how transparent they seem to be, etc.” All in all, the researchers accessed 766 benefit reports uploaded to Minnesota’s Secretary of State website from 2015-2023.

The reports submitted by benefit corporations that were also B Corps were significantly longer (by approximately 1.38 pages on average), and of markedly high quality. In particular, they provided far more evidence of real-world impact, greater transparency on challenges and more clarity on next steps.

“There are at least two mechanisms behind these findings,” Lucas says. “First, benefit corporations that also pursue B Corp certification tend to be more serious about the mission. They pay fees to get certified, and they go through the actual audit and process, which is extensive and costly to retain. Second, B Lab’s certification requirements yield a lot of tools to communicate impact. The process of being audited and having to account for these things gives firms measures, both qualitative and quantitative, that speak to these issues in detailed and specific ways.” Rather than undermining or duplicating one another, the legal form and the certification appeared complementary.

For Lucas, the study serves as an example of public and private entities filling in each other’s blind spots. NGOs, after all, have little legal pull, while governments often lack resources for sharp oversight and close collaboration with companies. “Redundancy can appear wasteful, but it has a real value, not just across public and private oversight, but even across different kinds of private certifications,” Lucas says.

Viewed in this light, Minnesota’s approach may be a happy combination of compulsion and flexibility. “The healthiest thing possible is to allow businesses to say as much or as little as they want, but they have to say something,” Lucas says. “That way, all stakeholders are able to see and assess for themselves, and the process is shielded from political swings about what counts as ‘social value’.”

Lucas’s analysis implies a unique role for AI in measuring quality abstracted from politics. “There are other legal forms that are emerging across different countries that are getting at the same or similar goals,” Lucas says. “My ongoing research on these new legal forms and their role in society uses AI in a similar fashion, pulling new dimensions and insights out of this reporting.”

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Deloitte internship helps Costello student shape her future in consulting

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:37:15 +0000

Deloitte internship helps Costello student shape her future in consulting Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 10:37

Interning at Deloitte was on Iman Chaudhry’s radar ever since she entered the Costello College of Business at 911�� as a freshman and learned about the major firms in the area. As the president of the Mason Consulting Group, she’s tuned in to what’s happening at Costello and the opportunities available.

Deloitte’s discovery internship program students. Photo provided by Iman Chaudhry.

Promoted heavily across campus, Deloitte’s discovery internship program immediately caught Chaudhry's eye, especially because she had previously participated in a case competition with the firm.

“I always tell everyone that a cold application isn’t usually enough,” she says. “You have to be intentional about networking; it's really about building genuine relationships.” She put in the legwork before ever submitting her application by networking with recruiters and partners at Deloitte, many of whom were Costello alumni. Because of that, she felt few nerves as she began her internship, already familiar with many of the people working at the firm.

Joining about two dozen other students in the discovery internship program, Chaudhry was assigned to do strategy consulting work for a national security defense client. Mixed in with her rotations across different workflows, meetings, research tasks, and other deep work were plenty of opportunities to connect with senior leadership, as well as social events to bond with fellow interns.

“I always tell everyone that a cold application isn’t usually enough,” she says. “You have to be intentional about networking; it's really about building genuine relationships.”

— Iman Chaudhry, Costello College of Business Student, Mason Consulting Group president

Even though she's only halfway through her undergraduate education, Chaudhry has pushed herself to take both her academics and career development seriously. Working in small groups and presenting to audiences, both in the classroom and in her extracurriculars, prepared her for the intern work she did this past summer. She continues to be excited to see how the skills she developed in the classroom translate to the real world. “The tools may change, but the growth mindset remains the same.”

Iman Chaudhry, Costello College of Business Student, Mason Consulting Group president at Deloitte’s discovery internship program. Photo provided by Iman Chaudhry.

Witnessing how fast technology is evolving in the workplace has encouraged Chaudhry to pursue more courses in ethics and AI and other emerging tools. Interning at Deloitte has also made her contemplate the specific field of consulting that she wants to pursue. "I had a lot of fun this summer, and it's given me a lot to think about where I want to take my career," she reflects.

In the shorter term, Chaudhry is eager to leverage her experiences to implement new ideas in operating and optimizing the consulting work she oversees as president of the Mason Consulting Group.

Iman Chaudhry found her discovery internship experience to be immensely educational, informing her about the areas she wants to study further and the career direction she wants to take. As a junior studying management information systems at Costello, she looks forward to future internships where she can continue to expand her knowledge and explore her career possibilities.

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Digital marketing internship develops creativity, data analysis, and empathy for one Costello senior

sholla4 — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 20:30:49 +0000

Digital marketing internship develops creativity, data analysis, and empathy for one Costello senior sholla4 Wed, 08/26/2026 - 16:30

When an email from AARP pops into your inbox, a Gen-Z rising senior at 911�� is probably not who you first think is on the other side of that send. But Jack Sorenson, a marketing major in the Costello College of Business, is one of the faces behind the digital newsletters.

Jack Sorenson. Photo provided

Sorenson knew he wanted an internship this summer, "ideally at a large, well-known business-to-consumer and mission-driven organization in the DC area." Costello's Career Services helped him find opportunities based on his criteria, skills, and goals. AARP was one of the options. And when AARP tabled at one of 911��'s career fairs, he made sure to introduce himself to a recruiter.

As a digital marketing intern, Sorenson works on a few projects, including supporting several of AARP's newsletters in both content creation and engagement analysis. "I love marketing because it sits at the intersection of creativity and analytics," he said, "and this role really exemplifies that."

From content selection through performance analysis, Sorenson is part of a newsletter's full lifecycle. That comes with hands-on experience with leading industry tools like Adobe, Microsoft Office, Tableau, and Palantir. His colleagues at AARP are proof that knowing the tools is an advantage in the job market.

"I met a former intern who got a great job at another organization because of his experience with digital tools while at AARP," Sorenson said. "Experiential learning is probably one of the biggest benefits of any internship."

Soft skills are important, too. AARP's audience is, primarily, those 50 and older: a much different demographic than Sorenson, a rising senior, is used to interfacing with. But adapting to the audience is a key skill he's developing that will serve him well in future positions. "It's definitely taught me a lot about how to think beyond my own little echo chamber," he said. "We might be inclined to think that people within a demographic might all be similar but seeing how their audience interacts with marketing shows that's just not the case. It's actually a huge audience with varied needs and wants."

That empathy extends beyond audience dashboards. "I'm more conscious now of how I interact with older demographics. I'm more curious about their lives and what they need."

AARP extended Sorenson's internship through the fall semester, with potential for further extension through spring 2027. Sorenson notes that, while AARP is developing critical skills for his future career, it's the strong foundation from 911�� and Costello that makes his growth possible.

"I think one of the biggest advantages of Costello is that you're not just learning concepts through an exam, you're developing skills you can take into the workplace," he said. "I came into the internship already understanding a lot of the concepts and terminology, as well as knowing things like executive control, active listening, and collaboration: skills that are just as important in a professional environment."

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This business analytics major is pouring the foundation for a future in sports analytics

sholla4 — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:43:49 +0000

This business analytics major is pouring the foundation for a future in sports analytics sholla4 Wed, 08/19/2026 - 09:43

When asked what advice he would give to students interested in internships, rising 911�� senior Dominic Jones said, "don't limit yourself."

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It's advice he's already following. This summer, the business analytics major in the Costello College of Business interned for Bognet Construction, focusing on project management.

Jones wants to work in sports analytics or analytics within consulting. But much like he advises, he's approaching his studies with an open mind. "Since you can do anything with business, I didn't want to home in on one sector just yet," he said.

When he met the Bognet Construction team at one of 911��'s career fairs, he saw an opportunity to broaden his horizons. "I don't have a background in construction," he said, "but the Bognet team was excited for me to learn and try. They wanted me to grow throughout each week."

His internship responsibilities include project management, supporting engineers, architects, and other project managers to ensure the build is on track. Despite this being a new field for him, his skills from business analytics have been able to transfer. "Being detail-oriented is really important in both," he said. "Every single little detail matters, because one error can build into a much bigger problem."

And just as Jones is growing into this role, he said the best part of the internship has been watching something grow from a blank space. "Seeing all the different subcontractors come and go, how the plans are communicated to them, how they get their jobs done: There's a lot that goes into good construction, and it's cool to see."

Jones is no stranger to teamwork. A member of the intramural basketball team, he understands the importance of maximizing strengths and communicating clearly and effectively. Working in construction, he said, has helped him further develop that skill. "There's so many moving parts and people; everyone has their own viewpoint and focus area. Learning how to communicate and work with everyone's individual skills and strengths is a skill I'll take into my classes and the workforce."

As Jones prepares to start his senior year at 911��, he's coming back to campus ready to take advantage of all the possibilities. "The more things you go to, the more opportunities you have to meet people and the chance to get the career you want," he said. "Go to events, join clubs, and try new avenues. You never know what opportunities might teach you that will make you stand out."

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Planting fake customer reviews hurts businesses big time

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:13:22 +0000

Planting fake customer reviews hurts businesses big time Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 08/18/2026 - 11:13

The capital of any business comes in (at least) two categories.

There’s the kind that has a price—land, cash holdings, etc.—and a less tangible, priceless kind. Reputational capital falls squarely into the latter category. Try as they might, companies cannot buy positive public opinion, even with the largest of marketing budgets. But that doesn’t prevent some from engaging in dark marketing tactics, such as planting or buying fake “customer reviews” on influential platforms like Yelp and Amazon. Crossing that line can backfire if the company is caught. When its ethical lapses are brought to light, the company undergoes reputational damage, essentially auto-cannibalizing some of its intangible capital.

Yi Cao, assistant professor of accounting at Costello College of Business at 911��. Photo provided by Yi Cao.

And that bite stings more, and for longer, than you might think, suggests a recently published working paper from Yi Cao, assistant professor of accounting at Costello College of Business at 911��. The research plumbs the financial consequences of flagged false reviews on crowdsourcing platform Yelp, a key reputational broker for local businesses throughout the United States.

The paper was co-authored by Sean Wang (formerly of Southern Methodist University), John Bai of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Chi Wan of San Diego State University.

To punish businesses that it deems guilty of gaming the customer-review system, Yelp places a prominent “Consumer Alert” banner on all of their associated listing pages. These are typically 90-day penalties. (As of 2023, more than 4,900 businesses had been disciplined on Yelp in this way.)

“We don’t know every signal Yelp uses to identify fake or paid-for reviews, but from what we know, Yelp relies substantially on reports from consumers and business owners,” says Cao. “There are also reports that they also have an algorithm running in the background to screen reviews for AI-generated language—which is a sign of possible review inflation.”

The researchers accessed Yelp data for the years 2019 to 2024—288,426 firm-month observations in all, including 16,837 observations of flagged firms and their demand-side peers, during the six months surrounding an alert. They analyzed this data-set alongside monthly foot traffic reports for the observed businesses from global location data firm SafeGraph. For some of the businesses, they were also able to obtain credit card transaction data through Consumer Edge, a customer intelligence company.

Cross-referencing these three data sources, the researchers traced the rise and fall of businesses fingered for false reviews. The general demand premium for businesses with a high proportion of four- and five-star reviews equates to about 2.9 percent more foot traffic than lower-reputation rivals in their local area. This difference in demand is one objective way to measure the material benefits of intangible capital.

“This is a classical theory of a trade-off between the benefits of manipulating reputation and the risks of getting caught,” says Cao. “When the risk is relatively low, the business owners decide the incremental benefits are worth the risk.”

Once publicly censured by the platform, however, businesses endured a surprisingly durable—and measurable—dip in demand. Almost immediately upon exposure, foot traffic went down by eight percent on average relative to matched peers, a stark indicator of reputational collapse that was mirrored in the credit card transaction data (an even better reflection of bottom-line outcomes). The decline was greater under conditions of so-called “intermediation intensity,” such as holiday periods when consumers were more reliant on the intermediary (Yelp) to help them plan their free time.

What’s more, the demand penalty outlasted not only the 90-day alert itself, but also (in many cases) the multi-year observation period of the research study. On the whole, foot traffic estimates for the censured group of businesses were still well below pre-alert levels even after a year and a half, implying recovery was nowhere on the horizon.

Part of the problem, the researchers found, is that the manipulated-review alert instantly degrades the informational environment on Yelp around that business. In other words, fewer reviews are posted, and those that do go up tend to be more negative on average. This makes it harder for businesses to rebuild their reputation by offering positive trustworthy signals.

For Cao, the research points to a basic conundrum that has worsened in the digital age: Once depleted, intangible capital is very difficult to restore. “Businesses nowadays heavily rely on digital platforms such as Yelp and YouTube,” he says. “Because the information reaches so many different corners, they are so widespread that you cannot ignore them. This increases not only the benefit of high performance, but also the reputational penalty if you are found manipulating your content.”

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This SAIC intern Excels in and out of the classroom

sholla4 — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:08:41 +0000

This SAIC intern Excels in and out of the classroom sholla4 Thu, 08/13/2026 - 09:08

Gabriella Lemus, a sophomore accounting major, entered 911��’s Costello College of Business with a head start and no plans on stopping. Not only is she a year ahead in school thanks to college and AP credit, she’s also been building her resume as a real estate agent and vice president of Mason Consulting Group. Now, she’s tackling her first summer internship with that same determination to excel.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Lemus is a project control intern for SAIC, a major government contractor, working on cleaning up invoices, updating reports, and ensuring all the accounting is correct.

Business analytics courses prepared her well for this position. “Knowing how to navigate Excel has really helped me, and that’s thanks to Professor Michael King. I was able to say confidently that I have strong Excel skills and experience when applying. I’m actually helping other interns improve their Excel skills, and they come to me with questions.”

Lemus may be teaching her fellow interns, but she’s doing plenty of learning as well. Being open-minded is, she said, a key part of the experience. “You have to be willing to learn everything, growing your knowledge and abilities in order to complete the tasks.”

Learning how to ask questions, for example, is one skill she’s working on improving. “I used to be very shy reaching out to my managers with questions,” she said. “I’ve gotten much more comfortable by reminding myself that people are here to help, that they are investing their time into me because they saw something in me. And if I have a question, others probably do too.”

Those communication skills are one tool she hopes to use in both future courses as well as her extracurriculars. As the vice president of Mason Consulting Group, she organizes events, interviews new consultants, and works with external clients. Communicating through differences in order to solve problems is an invaluable skill, one that she’s further developing through her SAIC internship.

Working within a large company has also given her valuable insights into how to best manage the growing consulting group and her growing career. Lemus works as a real estate agent for the Piano Home Group, with dreams of growing her own agency in the future. “I really love what I’m learning at SAIC, because I can apply it at a smaller level to my own business.”

If there’s one thing Lemus hopes her fellow students will learn from her experiences, it’s the importance of getting involved. “The networking at Costello has given me so many great opportunities, including this internship,” she said. “And it helps me academically, too. I’ve become a better student by being more engaged with my classmates.”

"One of the goals of the Costello Business faculty is to support our students in being 'Career Ready.' It is an inspiration to see how Gabriella Lemus is using the knowledge and skills that she learned in my Business Analytics classes to succeed in her internship," said King. "Her commitment to hard work and positive attitude will carry her far!"

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