Costello College of Business News

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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Sustainability commitments have serious consequences

Katelynn C Hipolito — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 17:29:09 +0000

Sustainability commitments have serious consequences Katelynn C Hipolito Fri, 08/07/2026 - 13:29

Amid increasingly stiff competition for capital, one way for a business to stand out is to make strong social impact pledges.

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

For example, companies can voluntarily commit to environmental impact goals in hopes of attracting sustainability-minded investors and lowering cost of capital. However, it isn’t easy to tell whether these commitments, in and of themselves, make a difference to the marketplace—or, for that matter, to the planet.

“In regular settings, it’s really hard to evaluate the real economic effect of providing environmental commitments, and also establish that in making the commitment, the company is catering to real stakeholder preferences as opposed to their own idiosyncratic preferences,” says Yi Cao, assistant professor of accounting at Costello College of Business at 911��.

Cao’s paper in Review of Accounting Studies capitalizes on a unique setting that helps isolate the impact of environmental commitments. It was co-authored by John (Jianqiu) Bai of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Xiumin Martin of Washington University in St. Louis, and Chi Wan of San Diego State University. In 2018, leading crowdfunding platform Kickstarter added an optional “Environmental Commitments” section to project pages where creators could post about their sustainable practices (e.g., responsible sourcing, recyclable packaging, and/or low-emission manufacturing). The new feature was rolled out gradually across product categories, enabling the researchers to compare not only project-to-project differences, but also overall changes within entire Kickstarter verticals.

The researchers scraped information from Kickstarter pages to form a data-set comprising 173,874 observations of unique projects during the years 2016 to 2021. They also gathered data on a host of outcome variables, such as whether the project was successfully funded, how much money each project ultimately raised, how long it took for fully funded creators to deliver products to backers, etc.

The researchers found that, on average, about one-third of creators chose to declare an environmental commitment once doing so became possible in their category. Several of the largest categories (e.g., Design, Technology and Games) saw significantly higher take-up rates.

On the whole, projects that included environmental commitments were 13.2 percent more likely to be funded and increased the pledged amount relative to the funding goal by 8.7 percent.

Using Google BERT, a natural language processing model, the research team separated projects into two categories: those with largely local appeal, and those with a national market base. “We pre-trained the AI with all projects from 2010 to 2016 that had at least 50 backers, and measured the geographic dispersion of these projects’ backers traced by their IP address,” Cao explains.

The purpose was to spare the human researchers the tedious and painstaking work of hand-classifying every project in the data-set. The BERT results showed that national projects with eco-commitments received 62.2 percent more backers from more environmentally aware states—that is, states whose residents reported above-average levels of concern about climate change on the Yale Climate Opinion Maps—than local projects that had made eco-pledges.

For Cao, these findings add crucial nuance to the general idea that pledges of social responsibility help attract capital. In the Kickstarter example, projects of national scale benefited much more from eco-commitment because they were pitched to a larger and more diverse backer base, including environmentally aware consumers from other states.

Additionally, projects offering physical products, as opposed to intangible services, confronted tougher economic trade-offs resulting from e-commitment. “First and foremost, the Kickstarter creators want to know whether [e-commitment] will benefit them,” Cao says. “Because this is pretty costly, based on our analysis. It delays delivery and increases costs, because recycled and other eco-friendly materials, for example, are a little bit more expensive.”

The fact that entrepreneurs were clearly grappling with these economic challenges suggests that e-commitment amounts to more than mere “greenwashing.” “We find consistent evidence that when these small businesses are trying to access environmentally aware consumers through e-commitment, they do incur cost. It isn’t cheap talk. And that means that consumers are attracted by a genuine commitment, rather than lip service or a nice-sounding pitch,” Cao says.

In sum, Kickstarter’s e-commitment feature was a net improvement for the ecosystem, giving creators (especially those with national aspirations) access to an untapped source of consumer demand—namely, environmental awareness. At the same time, creators had to weigh the financial benefit against the increased costs of making good on environmental commitments.

Cao suspects that the same basic rules might apply to other types of pledges related to issues that animate large groups of consumers. “For example, AI is especially polarizing nowadays. You could appeal to consumers or investors who are polarized against the technology with a declaration that no AI was used in the creation of a product, etc. It could be anything where there are differing preferences, and a broader impact on the social perception of those preferences,” he says.

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Costello MBA alum leads the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting into the future

Katelynn C Hipolito — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:39:08 +0000

Costello MBA alum leads the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting into the future Katelynn C Hipolito Fri, 08/07/2026 - 11:39

At the beginning of 2026, Mike Derrios, MBA ’06, returned home to the Costello College of Business at 911�� as the executive director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

Mike Derrios, MBA ’06, Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting Executive Director. Photo provided by Mike Derrios.

Bringing 30 years of experience across military, federal government, and private-sector organizations, he saw it as an ideal opportunity to strengthen the workforce, enhance the relationship between government and industry, and expand outreach. As Derrios explains, “We have the opportunity to inform and influence value-added offerings that can help the community reach better outcomes.”

Paramount to Derrios’s decision to take the job was the remarkable experience he had in the Costello MBA program and how it empowered him to take the next steps in his career. “The caliber of the professors and the curriculum set me up for success and gave me the tools that I needed to step into senior executive roles on the government side,” he says.

After separating from the United States Air Force, where he got his start in procurement, Derrios had hit a wall. In need of developing a business background, he turned to Costello, where he immediately felt that the faculty members understood the notion of service and his purpose for pursuing an MBA. “This university smiles on veterans and gives them the opportunity to advance,” he says.

“We have the opportunity to inform and influence value-added offerings that can help the community reach better outcomes.”

— Mike Derrios, MBA ’06, Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting Executive Director

Now, with attrition on both the government and industry sides of the acquisition workforce, Derrios is seizing the opportunity for the Baroni Center to help fill the gap. “We’ve added about 1,200 new people to our contact list, and that’s just from a couple of webinars that we’ve done so far,” he says. “And we’ve published several research papers so far this year that are laser-focused on highly relevant topics.” The center is continuing to expand education and training opportunities for professionals to upskill and advance their careers.

Since graduating, Derrios has witnessed the incredible growth of both the university and the business college, extending their impact and elevating their reputations across the country and around the world. With that growth, he sees increasing opportunities to broaden the Baroni Center’s reach and deepen its influence. Valued by policymakers across the political spectrum for its objective and nonpartisan viewpoints, the center is being consulted by senior government officials on new policy.

Along with reaching out from campus, the Baroni Center is also looking inward. “We brought people in for a storytelling event,” says Derrios. “And we’re going to actually bring those storytellers back to talk to students in the fall. We’ve got 40,000 brilliant minds on our campuses, and we want to connect some of them with people in government and industry to explore viable career paths. 911�� really has the potential to create a strong candidate pool for the future workforce.”

While the center will continue to devote significant attention to the defense market, Derrios plans to expand its focus on the civilian sector, launching new flagship events designed to convene leaders around research, innovation, and thought leadership.

After the Costello MBA helped transform his career, Derrios is eager to give back to his alma mater, continuing to elevate and expand the influence and impact of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting and connecting policy with practice.

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Costello MBA Executive Mentoring Program bridges experience and aspiration

Katelynn C Hipolito — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:13:50 +0000

Costello MBA Executive Mentoring Program bridges experience and aspiration Katelynn C Hipolito Fri, 08/07/2026 - 11:13

When Q Miceli saw that the Costello College of Business at 911�� was offering the Executive Mentoring Program as part of the Costello MBA, she was all in. “I had just hit a point in my career where I started supervising more people and really wanted to get some perspective,” she says.

Q Miceli, Costello MBA Student. Photo provided by Q Miceli.

Cynthia “Cindi” Stuebner, MBA ’99, had recently left full-time employment to start a small business consulting firm for part-time work. “My experience at 911��, getting my MBA, was really valuable and very positive,” says Stuebner.

Miceli and Stuebner were matched through the MBA Executive Mentoring Program, which connects high-achieving Costello MBA students with accomplished C-suite executives who are Costello and 911�� alumni.

The program was developed and is run as a partnership between the Costello MBA and the Costello Alumni Chapter based on a mentoring program that Brad Stein, MBA ’94, had implemented at his company several years ago. The MBA program matches the mentors and mentees according to the professional needs, interests, and aspirations of the student.

“Cindi’s range of experience and the senior roles that she’s held—she’s been able to share with me all kinds of really valuable stories, anecdotes, and insights into how to be successful as a female executive, particularly when you are the only woman in the room or the highest-ranking woman in the room, and how to show up with a professional presence at meetings.”

— Q Miceli, Costello MBA Student

Cynthia “Cindi” Stuebner, MBA ’99. Photo provided by Cynthia “Cindi” Stuebner.

“Our Costello College of Business Alumni Chapter comprises alums with vast experience across a wide range of industries and a steadfast commitment to supporting our Costello students,” says Stein. “It has been a pleasure working with the MBA program leadership to put this MBA Executive Mentoring Program together and to see the impact our alums have on the professional lives of our MBA students."

Stein says the program has evolved and expanded significantly since the fall 2025 pilot. "We expect continued growth as we demonstrate increasing value to our MBA candidates," says Stein. "Our alumni are prepared to support and sustain this momentum.”

Rob Shaffer, who was completing a mix of online and in-person classes, really wanted to make sure he was taking advantage of everything that the MBA program had to offer. “I joined the MBA program to improve my soft skills and my ability to deal with people, and I really felt the mentoring program would be a great way to get some of the extracurricular benefits of the MBA program,” he says.

Shaffer was paired with Peter Conlon, Executive MBA ’96, who credits the Costello College of Business with changing the trajectory of his career. “I owe a great debt to the place, so I wanted to give back,” says Conlon.

At least once a month, the 10 mentor–mentee pairs met to share experiences, ask questions, and work through challenges together. To ensure productive conversations, students determined the discussion topics in advance, allowing their mentors to come prepared for each meeting.

Rob Shaffer, Costello MBA Student. Photo provided by Rob Shaffer.

Despite the differences in their ages and experience levels, Stuebner and Miceli found that they approached their work in remarkably similar ways.

“Cindi’s range of experience and the senior roles that she’s held—she’s been able to share with me all kinds of really valuable stories, anecdotes, and insights into how to be successful as a female executive, particularly when you are the only woman in the room or the highest-ranking woman in the room, and how to show up with a professional presence at meetings,” says Miceli.

One situation in particular was causing Miceli considerable concern. She began to question whether a direct report she had hired was the right fit and was unsure how to address it. Turning to Stuebner, she received practical, actionable advice that helped her navigate and ultimately resolve the issue.

After recently transitioning to a larger, international company, an environment quite different from what he was accustomed to, Shaffer benefited from Conlon’s big-picture perspective as he worked through unfamiliar challenges at work.

“I have a folder full of notes from some of Peter’s wisdom because I want to remember and be able to go back and look through the different insights he shared,” he says. “It is very nice to have somebody to talk to, to let you know you’re not crazy sometimes.”

Peter Conlon, EMBA ’96. Photo provided by Peter Conlon.

Conlon was cognizant of what his role as a mentor meant; he was there to help Shaffer become more comfortable in his role. “A mentor—you gotta listen,” he says. “That’s probably the number one skill.” Besides giving back and helping others, many mentors find that the program has helped their own careers and lives as they reflect on their own experiences and gain new perspectives. “It’s just been extremely rewarding and has given me more optimism about what I can still contribute,” says Stuebner.

Complementing a rigorous curriculum led by inspiring and knowledgeable faculty, the range of resources offered by the Costello MBA is designed to cultivate well-rounded leaders. Students benefit from mentors who bring deep professional expertise and a shared foundation as alumni, providing the support, clarity, and confidence needed to navigate their leadership paths successfully.

"At the Costello MBA, we continually strive to innovate across the full student experience by emphasizing learning that happens inside the classroom through market-responsive courses and stackable credentials, outside the classroom through experiential and hands-on learning, and beyond coursework through structured opportunities that support personal and professional growth,” says Ioannis Bellos, director of the Costello MBA program. “By building on the ecosystem of a large public university and 911��’s extensive alumni footprint in the region, these initiatives create a distinctive advantage for our students."

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Why quick responders have the edge on the job hunt

Katelynn C Hipolito — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:25:41 +0000

Why quick responders have the edge on the job hunt Katelynn C Hipolito Wed, 07/22/2026 - 12:25

In some settings, playing hard-to-get may telegraph value. But that doesn’t neatly translate to the labor market, says Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at Costello College of Business at 911��.

Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at Costello College of Business. Photo provided by Einav Hart.

“Faster replies yield a higher likelihood of being hired, across different types of employers and employment—and every minute can count,” Hart says.

Hart’s recently published paper in Management Science draws upon both real-world and experimental studies, confirming a dramatic “speed premium” for job candidates.

The paper was co-authored by Eric M. VanEpps of Vanderbilt University, Ovul Sezer of Cornell University, and On Amir of UC-San Diego.

The researchers analyzed more than 11 million exchanges from freelancer marketplace Fiverr, which included pre-hiring conversations between employers and service providers.

The results showed an inverse correlation between the amount of time it took for a service provider to respond to an employer’s message and that provider’s likelihood of being hired. Even a one-hour delay in replying nearly halved a freelancer’s chance of being hired, and replying after more than 24 hours was equivalent to not replying at all. This negative effect of delay held even when only one freelancer was contacted for the position, showing that it is not simply about availability but about what speed signals.

“Faster replies yield a higher likelihood of being hired, across different types of employers and employment—and every minute can count.”

— Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at Costello College of Business at 911��

“Across every dimension we examined—job type, project size, prior platform experience, technology, and more—even a brief delay of five to ten minutes could dramatically lower the likelihood of hiring the provider,” Hart says.

Experimental studies with over 8,600 participants replicate this effect and illuminate a key reason for it: “Faster replies yield a higher likelihood of hiring because reply speed serves as a signal of employees’ future responsiveness,” says Hart. “If you respond to me very quickly, I expect that you will also respond to my needs and concerns if I hire you, which is a big signal of hireability, and increases my desire to work with you.”

Experimental study participants instructed to act as “employers” were more likely to hire providers who responded more quickly (e.g., after one hour versus several hours), even in specialized professions such as catering and medicine. Moreover, participants rated providers who responded quickly as more warm, competent, and more likely to be responsive in the future. Thus, speed acted as a signal of the provider’s characteristics that, in turn, affected hiring decisions. In other words, it wasn’t the speed per se that swayed employers; instead, it was being used as a proxy for other qualities deemed highly desirable in an employee.

Moreover, one of the studies showed that messages with highly responsive language (e.g., “I’ll make sure to stay in close contact”) produced a higher hiring likelihood, even when delayed, than a more neutrally worded message fired off quickly. This suggests that the content of communications can help compensate for a modest delay. Still, the same content sent faster always led to higher hiring probability, underscoring the speed premium.

Although the paper largely focused on contract-based employment, Hart expects her findings would generalize to more permanent, full-time employment. “Certainly, speed is not the only signal,” she says. “Over a longer relationship, the more you know about a person, the less weight speed might get in those decisions. However, both contingent and potentially long-term hiring begin from the same place of uncertainty on the part of the employer. In fact, if you’re hiring someone to be employed indefinitely, it’s all the more important for them to respond to your needs in a timely manner.”

These findings may tempt job-seekers to automate their responses to be fast. However, Hart argues against this in her recent Harvard Business Review article (co-authored by VanEpps). Automating responses or using AI to respond quickly is unlikely to be beneficial: When Hart’s study participants suspected the replies were automated or otherwise not genuine, there were no benefits to speed.

"An algorithm's reply speed does not signal anything about the employee's warmth, competence, or responsiveness and so, a fast auto-reply can even backfire and make you less hireable,” says Hart.

To distinguish themselves in a competitive labor marketplace, Hart recommends that job-seekers “take their time to craft your materials, prepare your application, and consider your future responses if and when you are later contacted. But once you get that first bite from an employer, that’s when the clock starts and speed starts to be a much bigger signal of responsiveness and thus of higher hireability.”

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Patriot Pitch Competition

Experiential learning fuels veteran’s entrepreneurial success

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:33:42 +0000

Experiential learning fuels veteran’s entrepreneurial success Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 07/14/2026 - 11:33

Bailey Mahoney, MBA '26, presenting at the Patriot Pitch Competition. Photo by John Boal Photography.

“I think it's the real American dream to have something of your own, build something of your own,” says Bailey Mahoney, MBA '26. He grew up witnessing firsthand not only what could be built but also the freedom it created, as his father, who owned an electrical contracting business, always made time to be present for the important moments in his life. Without even realizing it, Mahoney found his first business mentor in his father.

Bailey Mahoney, MBA '26. Photo by Denise Van Photography.

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Mahoney was looking for his next chapter. He began working for a company but soon realized that the corporate environment did not empower the kind of independent, mission-aligned decision-making on which he had thrived on in uniform.

When his constructive input on improving company culture went unheeded, it only strengthened his resolve. “If the CEO is not going to listen to me when I’m providing some advice that I know could have a meaningful impact on the culture of the company, let me go build my own,” he says.

“I think it's the real American dream to have something of your own, build something of your own,”

— Bailey Mahoney, MBA ‘26.

Rather than feeling dejected, he was inspired to found Pathfinder Federal Solutions, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business delivering federal business development consulting and mission-focused management support to defense agencies and the broader federal market. Months before launching the business, he had enrolled in the Costello MBA program at 911��.

“The MBA was very helpful in that, even if it wasn’t directly related to entrepreneurship, all of the classes that I took touched a little piece of the C-suite,” he says. Several of the courses and programs were instrumental in helping him develop and launch his newest venture, AgentForge, Inc.—a defense tech startup building an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) platform for defense and national security.

(left to right) The Patriot, Gurdip Singh, divisional dean of the School of Computing in the College of Engineering and Computing, Bailey Mahoney, MBA '26, Cheryl Druehl, Interim Dean. Photo by John Boal Photography.

In the semester leading up to graduation, AgentForge and Mahoney received a major boost when he won $8,000 for first place in the Innovative Ideas track of the Patriot Pitch Competition. “There were so many added benefits outside of just the prize money that I didn't even realize were a part of it,” he says.

He says he felt fortunate to be assigned Scott Hine, BS Decision Science ‘85, as his Patriot Pitch mentor. “He had made it pretty much to the highest civilian level that you can within the Department of War and then transferred over into the Department of Energy,” says Mahoney. “He was super familiar with our target customer and how to sell to them and how to get in front of them. A few years ago, when he was still working for the federal government, he would have been one of the folks that I am approaching now to sell our products to.”

Mahoney had been encouraged to enter Patriot Pitch by Skip West, the instructor of the Turning Ideas into Successful Companies MBA elective, also known as “Geeks to Gazillionaires.” Drawing on his experience and hard-earned insights, West played a key role in shaping the core of AgentForge.

Additionally, the Innovation and Design Lab for Business and Government elective—taught by Ioannis Bellos, MBA program director, and Natalie Foley, adjunct professor—immersed Mahoney in hands-on, experiential learning, challenging him to make decisions for a nonprofit organization. The course provided a valuable perspective on what it takes to run a successful business.

Experiential learning courses like these provided him with the opportunity to move his learning beyond the classroom, test ideas, and navigate challenges, translating concepts learned into meaningful impact.

Armed with these insights, invaluable mentor feedback, and the momentum from his Patriot Pitch prize victory, Mahoney is now focused on scaling AgentForge to deliver cutting-edge agentic AI capabilities that enhance mission effectiveness for defense and national security stakeholders. His journey exemplifies how 911��’s experiential programs turn ambitious ideas into ventures with real-world impact.

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EV test drives are supposed to boost adoption—but they can backfire

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:38:54 +0000

EV test drives are supposed to boost adoption—but they can backfire Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 07/14/2026 - 10:38

One of the biggest obstacles to wider adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is completely invisible and unquantifiable. It’s the belief in many consumers’ minds that the range restrictions of EV make it a bad option for them. Doubts about mobility, whether or not they are well-founded, can run neck-and-neck with curiosity in the minds of consumers, keeping them from making the switch from ICE (internal combustion engine) to EV.

Hang Ren, professor in the information systems and operations management. Photo provided

These doubts are beyond the remedial reach of automakers and sustainability-minded policymakers. Within the EV ecosystem, auto dealerships are the ones most directly responsible for allaying buyers’ concerns. Newly published research by Ioannis Bellos and Hang Ren, professors in the information systems and operations management area at Costello College of Business at 911��, focuses on one of the main levers at the dealers’ disposal: extended test drives. Bellos and Ren’s paper in Production and Operations Management was co-authored by Vishal Agrawal of Georgetown University.

Test drives have become a standard addition to the EV dealer’s toolkit. For example, BMW's Extended Test Drive Program lets customers use an EV for several days, and Volvo's Test Drive+ lends cars for up to four days. In some cases, government-sponsored initiatives such as Drive Electric USA (a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy) have worked at the local level to facilitate test drives intended to educate consumers about EV.

“A car’s advertised range is public, but the range a driver actually gets depends on personal habits and conditions they can only learn through hands-on experience—which is why dealer demonstrations like extended test drives matter,” say Bellos and Ren. In other words, test drives can prevent range-based doubts from overtaking curiosity. Indeed, if consumers are pleasantly surprised by their experience with the EV, they can leave doubt in the dust, as they zoom ahead all the way to an accomplished sale.

But it can also work the opposite way, as the researchers found using a game-theoretic model of plausible buying conditions. Included in the model were buyers with a range of mobility needs. In the hypothetical scenario, consumers’ natural (pre-test drive) inclination was to favor EV if their needs were high, since high-needs drivers spend more on fuel and EV is gas-free. As in real life, however, even these simulated consumers would not purchase an EV if their overall impression was unfavorable.

Ioannis Bellos, professor in the information systems and operations management. Photo provided

“Offering demonstration service does not always mean that you’ll be convincing the customer to switch to EV,” Bellos says. “As a matter of fact, it may do the opposite—if the test drive convinces the customer that the achievable range is not enough to meet their need.”

The reseachers’ model shows that as EV technology begins to mature, becoming cheaper to produce and thus more profitable, the dealer’s incentive is to offer as many extended test drives as possible to boost sales. But once production costs fall below a certain threshold, the profit potential of EV becomes so high that dealers would be wise not to risk turning a percentage of customers away (or toward conventional ICE vehicles) by offering test drives.

In addition to implications for dealer profits, this dynamic has environmental significance. “If we consider two customers—one who takes a test drive and decides EV is not a good fit, and another who is convinced to purchase an EV after a test drive—the net effect on adoption is zero. They cancel each other out,” says Ren. “Yet the net emissions can increase, because that first customer probably drives more—that’s the reason they were interested in EV in the first place.”

Test drives, then, can be net-negative for the planet to the extent that they deter heavy-use drivers from switching to EV by resolving their range-based doubts.

The researchers also found that test drives can negate the impact of tightening CAFE standards from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which set mandated fuel-economy levels for all automakers. One result of CAFE standards is to encourage production of more fuel-efficient EV as opposed to ICE vehicles. CAFE does not apply to dealers, however. As higher fuel-economy standards pressure automakers to raise wholesale prices for ICE vehicles, the expected switch from ICE to EV is inhibited by the unfavorable impression left in some consumers’ minds by the test drive. The researchers found this can flip the policy's intended effect: Without test drives, tougher CAFE standards reliably push EV adoption up, but once dealers offer test drives, a strict-enough standard can actually leave adoption lower than it would otherwise be.

Bellos and Ren conclude that “dealer demonstration is a powerful but double-edged lever that must be deployed strategically.” The environmental and financial benefits of try-before-you-buy are likely tied to the EV market’s growing pains, and may diminish as it matures.

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Ioannis Bellos

Hang Ren

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A.I. and Innovation - Costello

ESG - Costello

Costello Research Sustainable Operations

Costello Research Business Model Innovation

Costello Research Retail

Machine learning teaches asset traders not to sweat the small stuff

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:40:20 +0000

Machine learning teaches asset traders not to sweat the small stuff Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 06/15/2026 - 10:40

Financial markets are governed by a combination of rational and irrational forces, statistical probabilities, and “animal spirits.” It takes fluency in both to understand the market, let alone to beat it. Yet market actors, including asset traders, now frequently use machine-learning techniques to help generate predictions of future asset prices.

Bo Hu, assistant professor of finance at the Costello College of Business at 911��. Photo provided by Bo Hu.

Scholars such as Bo Hu, assistant professor of finance at the Costello College of Business at 911��, are researching how these machine-learning tools are changing the decision-making processes that move the market, for better or worse.

The subject of Hu’s recent paper in Management Science is a well-known machine-learning technique called LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator), which has been widely adopted by financial practitioners since its introduction in 1996 by statistician Robert Tibshirani.

“If you look at the original paper, it describes an approach created by adding a regularization penalty to the least-squares regression method,” Hu says. Translation: “The power of LASSO is that it can screen out (i.e., penalize) weak signals while capturing stronger, potentially profitable ones. A LASSO-type trading strategy involves an ‘inactive zone’ for smaller-scale activity, in which the trading strategy is to do nothing.”

The paper was co-authored by Wen Chen of Texas Tech University and Liyan Yang of the University of Toronto.

Despite LASSO’s popularity and power, the soundness of its economic rationale remains unclear. Traders are presumably seeking any edge, however small, in the pursuit of outsized returns. How could it make sense for them to adopt a system designed to relegate signals of lesser magnitude to an ignored “inactive zone”?

To resolve this question, the researchers developed a theoretical framework to model a financial market in which multiple agents (read: traders) use an asset’s price history to forecast its return and make trading decisions.

In the benchmark case, when traders know the trading environment and do not face model uncertainty, they act according to an alternative to LASSO known as MSE (mean squared error). “MSE is essentially a Bayesian learning approach grounded in economic rationality,” Hu says. “It means that rational agents use Bayesian learning to update their beliefs and design their trading strategies. That stands in stark contrast to LASSO estimation, which filters out weak signals.”

However, the researchers found that when traders faced substantial ambiguity about the distribution of asset values, the trading calculus shifted. Ambiguity-averse agents will adopt a robust, LASSO-like strategy, refraining from trading in response to weak or intermediate market signals. With linear constraints imposed on the allowable trading strategies, the equilibrium decisions exactly matched LASSO estimates.

As an equilibrium trading strategy, LASSO can improve aggregate profits relative to the edge-seeking Bayesian alternative in the benchmark case, because the more conservative positions dictated by the “inactive zone” soften competition among traders. In a large market, aggressive competition drives the aggregate profits of traders using the conventional MSE strategy toward zero. By trading less aggressively, LASSO traders may preserve positive aggregate profits—a mechanism the researchers describe as “implicit collusion,” even though the traders do not communicate or explicitly coordinate.

However, Hu underscores that LASSO’s usefulness as a hedge against ambiguity depends on how well traders’ beliefs match the market’s true distribution of risk. The profitability of a LASSO strategy therefore hangs in the balance between traders’ biases and their enhanced market power (due to LASSO’s conservatism).

This balance is especially important when traders must distinguish between temporary fads and persistent trends. “Recently, the semiconductor index had a record-breaking run of consecutive gains. That’s very strong momentum, but if you are a contrarian, you might want to bet against that trend,” Hu says. “A trader must decide whether to follow the trend or take a contrarian position. LASSO’s inactive zone can help prevent overreaction to weak evidence, but it may also delay action when an emerging trend is genuine.”

There is also the possibility that a LASSO strategy could increase market volatility when combined with the other objectives and constraints of market makers, including high-frequency traders. “These traders need to control their inventory,” Hu says. “If they follow a LASSO-type strategy with an inactive zone, they will accommodate the liquidity demands of the market until their inventory reaches a certain threshold. At that point, they may start trading like momentum traders and cause the liquidity dry-up in financial markets. This dynamic is part of what fuels incidents like the ‘flash crash’ in 2010.”

In This Story

Bo Hu

Topics

A.I. and Innovation - Costello

Costello Research Machine Learning

Costello Research Fintech

Finance - Costello

Costello Research Financial Crises

Costello Research Risk Management

Costello College of Business Alumni

Artificial Intelligence

Accounting alum gives back by shaping workforce-ready graduates

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:22:14 +0000

Accounting alum gives back by shaping workforce-ready graduates Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 06/15/2026 - 10:22

Ever since her undergraduate years at the Costello College of Business at 911��—where she lived on campus for all four years—Ann Butler, BS Accounting ’94, MS Accounting ’23, has felt a strong connection to her alma mater.

Ann Butler, BS Accounting ’94, MS Accounting ’23. Photo by Al Sali of The Headshot Guy.

Throughout an accounting career spanning industries from hospitality to civil engineering, Butler had long been interested in teaching. When the opportunity arose, she chose to give back in the way she knew best: by bringing her professional expertise and experience to the classroom at Costello.

After connecting with Long Chen, accounting area chair at Costello, during her time as a student in the MS in Accounting Program, Butler began serving as a teaching assistant for her in Accounting 611 (Advanced Issues in Managerial Accounting). Previously, she taught courses at a local community college in her hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

She was driven to teach by a growing concern, observed while hiring employees, that students were entering the workforce less prepared than in the past. “I’ve always loved hiring new grads with little to no experience, and one of the things that I’ve noticed is that, over the years, it seems like students are less and less workforce-ready,” she says. “I felt like maybe I could make a difference.”

Additionally, she wanted to increase interest and excitement for an accounting profession facing a nationwide shortage of accountants and CPAs.

“Ann stood out in my Accounting 611 class not only for earning the top score, but also for her exceptional enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity, and willingness to help her classmates,” says Chen. “Those qualities are all strong indicators of an excellent instructor. I am delighted that Ann has now joined our accounting adjunct faculty and been teaching multiple courses across the undergraduate and graduate programs.”

“I’ve always loved hiring new grads with little to no experience, and one of the things that I’ve noticed is that, over the years, it seems like students are less and less workforce-ready. I felt like maybe I could make a difference.”

— Ann Butler, BS Accounting ’94, MS Accounting ’23

Having recently graduated from the MS in Accounting Program herself, Butler brought a clear perspective on the student experience. “I was hoping that if I could bring passion to the classroom and make accounting fun, maybe we could get more people to major in it,” she says. She wants her students to understand that accounting offers a wide range of career paths, and that success depends just as much—if not more—on strong interpersonal and leadership skills than technical expertise.

Since 2024, Butler has been teaching three online accounting courses at the Costello College of Business—Accounting 695 Graduate Accounting Internship; Accounting 311 Cost Accounting for Undergraduates; and Accounting 611 Managerial Accounting for Graduates—while continuing her professional career in Richmond.

Now serving as controller for Virginia’s largest hotel company, Butler brings her current role and past experiences with her to the virtual classroom. She appreciates the breadth of expertise among her Costello accounting colleagues, many of whom remain active in fascinating careers outside the classroom. She also values Dean Ajay Vinzé’s strong emphasis on career readiness and now sees that as a real difference-maker at Costello. “I think that is really going to set our program apart because that is what employers are looking for,” she says.

Butler’s education at Costello—both undergraduate and graduate—had a profound impact on her life, bringing her full circle as an educator helping to shape the next generation of Patriot accountants. Students in her classes can move forward with confidence, knowing they are developing the skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce.

In This Story

Ajay Vinzé

Topics

Costello Adjunct Faculty

Costello Accounting Department

Accounting Adjunct Faculty