ICDRiA Receives Two International Grants

UTD's International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis (ICDRiA)
recently received grant funding from two major international
organizations: The North American division of the European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Company (EADS) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Formed in October 2004 by Alain Bensoussan, Ph.D., UTD Distinguished
Research Professor in Operations Management, ICDRiA studies risk
management as it relates to large-investment industrial projects that
involve new technologies, applications and markets.

In January 2005, the center received a $120,000 grant from EADS North
America and its parent company to provide a forum for the exchange of
knowledge and experience in risk management. In November 2004, the
research center was awarded a $104,800 grant by the European Space
Agency (ESA) to study how risk management and decision analysis in
several industry sectors might apply to the agency.

EADS is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world.
The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, and the
helicopter supplier, Eurocopter.

"EADS' support of Dr. Bensoussan's efforts to establish ICDRiA mirrors
the global industrial strategy of EADS to expand scientific and
technical cooperation with the U.S. academic and scientific
communities," says Ralph D. Crosby Jr., chairman and chief executive
officer of EADS North America.

EADS' support will enable ICDRiA to conduct comparative studies in
methodological and organizational aspects of risk management, and will
provide a forum for the exchange of experience and knowledge in these
critical business areas, Dr. Bensoussan says.

Dr. Bensoussan, who joined the UTD faculty last summer, will conduct the
18-month European Space Agency study. The study will address management
of risk in industry sectors, such as telecommunications and aeronautics,
that deal with many of the same risk factors that ESA faces. Dr.
Bensoussan headed the ESA from 1999 to 2002.

"Such factors include huge capital investment, technological innovation
and a high level of complexity," Dr. Bensoussan says. "Once we have
gathered our data, we will assess how ESA might take more advantage of
risk-management methods used in these industry sectors."

Michael Courtois, ESA's chief technical officer, says the management of
risk is an important priority inherent in space exploration. "We need a
stronger involvement of the academic community and more international
cooperation in this field," he says.


The Leadership Center at UTD Signs Accord With Japanese Institute

Akiyama Kenichiro (left) of the MINORI Management Research Institute in
Tokyo, Japan, and Jerry Hoag, director of The School of Management's
Leadership Center at UTD, signed an agreement in January for the center
to help the institute establish a curriculum in leadership and
management in Japan. "Issues of leadership are universal," Mr. Hoag
says, noting that requests have also come from other foreign countries
for materials and supervisors who can help with the teaching of courses
on the topic. Padmakumar Nair, Ph.D., an SOM senior lecturer of
organizations, strategy and international management and assistant
director of The Leadership Center at UTD, will be overseeing the
center's activities in Japan.


IECG Expands Conference Participation and Corporate Partnerships

The School of Management's Institute for Excellence in Corporate
Governance (IECG) drew more than 150 corporate directors and senior
officers to The School of Management last fall for a conference on
strengthening the underpinnings of conscientious corporate guidance. The
conference marked the first of several IECG achievements, including
institute participation in two outside meetings and expansion of its
institutional advisors and corporate sponsors lists.

The school's Executive Education Center hosted IECG's second annual fall
conference, "Compliance and Beyond: Responsibilities of Independent
Directors," held last October 28. The event focused on improving
corporate governance not only to achieve compliance with laws and
regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, but to reinforce
the core system of corporate governance.

High-profile speakers included Michael S. Kesner, a Deloitte & Touche
USA LLP partner; Colleen A. Sayther Cunningham, president and chief
executive officer of Financial Executives International; and Dennis R.
Beresford, director and chairman of the audit committee for
Kimberly-Clark. Mr. Beresford is also Ernst & Young Executive Professor
of Accounting in the J.M. Tull School of Accounting at the Terry College
of Business at the University of Georgia.

Among many distinguished panel members were Michael J. Halloran, chair
and worldwide partner of Mercer HR Consulting; Jamie Heard, vice
chairman of Institutional Shareholder Services; William McGrew,
corporate governance investment officer with CalPERS (California Public
Employees Retirement System); and William F. Quinn, president of AMR
Investments.

"The quality of the speakers we had at this event was phenomenal," notes
Constantine Konstans, Ph.D., professor of accounting and information
management and IECG executive director. "These are some heavy hitters
and leading consultants in their fields."

Further raising the profiles of both the IECG and UTD, Dr. Konstans
recently served on discussion panels at two local conferences.

At the "Best Practices for Corporate Directors" conference in Dallas in
January, Dr. Konstans served on a discussion panel focused on the
leadership structure of corporate boards and appropriate roles for board
members. The North Texas chapter of the National Association of
Corporate Directors sponsored the event.

Dr. Konstans also served on a discussion panel at the Southwestern
Showcase Investor Conference, addressing "Investment Perspectives of
Sarbanes-Oxley." The event, held last November in Frisco, Texas, was
co-sponsored by Dallas-based investor relations consulting firm Beacon
Street Group, LLC, and the Dallas Society of Financial Analysts.

The IECG recently welcomed two new institutional advisors, the Greater
Dallas Chamber and The Center for American and International Law (CAIL),
and three new corporate sponsors, Exxon Mobil Corporation,
Kimberly-Clark Corporation and TXU Corp. These companies are leaders in
their industries, with insider knowledge of the needs of directors and
senior officers in the area of corporate governance, Dr. Konstans says.

Corporate sponsors lend perspective that helps IECG provide high-value
programs. They review and evaluate programs developed by UTD faculty and
strategic partners, and help identify and recruit speakers and
panelists. Existing corporate sponsors include Haggar Corp.; J.C. Penney
Co., Inc.; Lennox International Inc.; The Staubach Company and Texas
Instruments Incorporated.

As institutional advisors, the Greater Dallas Chamber and CAIL will
provide IECG with guidance in the national and global arenas of
corporate governance. Institutional advisors alert IECG to impending
changes and events broadly affecting corporate governance, help review
planned programs, and provide speakers and access to other groups.

"The Greater Dallas Chamber is a very prominent organization in Dallas
and is highly respected," Dr. Konstans says. "They bring a global
dimension to projects that deal specifically with improving the
workforce in Dallas." He adds that CAIL, which is a nonprofit
institution dedicated to the continued education of lawyers and law
enforcement officials, will join with IECG on several initiatives aimed
at serving the global community's need for education in corporate
governance.

The IECG's other institutional advisors are Financial Executives
International, the Dallas chapter of Financial Executives International,
the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and the Texas General Counsel Forum.


IECG Strategic Partner Companies 

Each of IECG strategic partners is a service provider who lends its
expertise and "injects real-world substance" into institute
undertakings, according to Dr. Constantine Konstans, IECG's executive
director. This relationship keeps the IECG at the forefront of corporate
governance developments. The IECG's strategic partners are: Bank One
Foundation Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Haynes and Boone, LLP Marsh and
Mercer


Dr. Liebowitz Participates in P2P Conference

Stan Liebowitz, Ph.D., professor of managerial economics in UTD's School
of Management, took part in a Federal Trade Commission Conference on
peer-to-peer file sharing in Washington, D.C., last December. Dr.
Liebowitz, who is also the director of UTD's Center for the Analysis of
Property Rights and Innovation (CAPRI), was a panelist in a discussion
on "P2P [Peer-to-Peer] File Sharing and Music Distribution."
Peer-to-peer refers to the capability of computers to communicate and
interact with one another directly without going through an
intermediary, centralized device, such as a file server.

The panel discussed current business models for P2P file-sharing
software companies as well as anticipated business models for the
future. Other topics included the differences between P2P file-sharing
technology and single-server downloading sources, the extent to which
P2P file-sharing software programs compete with pay-per-download file
servers, and whether P2P file-sharing lowers the cost of music
dissemination and increases music sales by increasing awareness of
artists. 

The panelists also discussed the effect of intentional corruption of
music files on P2P networks, as well as how lessons learned from P2P
music sharing can be applied to the sharing of other content, such as
video.

Other panelists included Cary Sherman, president of the Recording
Industry Association of America; Jonathan Potter, executive director of
the Digital Media Association; Wood Newton, a songwriter with the
Nashville Songwriters Association International; Koleman Strumpf of the
Department of Economics at the University of North Carolina; Felix
Oberholzer-Gee of the Harvard Business School; Les Ottolenghi, president
of INTENT MediaWorks, LLC, and member of the P2P Revenue Engine Project;
and Sam Yagan, president of eDonkey/Metamachine.

P2P is one of many new technologies under review at CAPRI, primarily a
think tank devoted to studying intellectual property rights and related
issues in the digital domain.


New SOM "Bridge" To Link Businesses Here and Abroad

Helping small foreign companies enter U.S. markets and assisting small
and mid-size U.S. companies establish themselves abroad is the focus of
a new partnership between The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) School
of Management and the International Bridge for Business and Technology
(IBBT), a program recently launched by a locally based international
industrialist who is an SOM alum.

In announcing the partnership in March, Dr. David Springate, associate
dean for executive education at The School of Management, said IBBT's
mission is to help not only both foreign and U.S. companies but also the
regional economy.  "The school's partnership with IBBT will benefit the
economy by helping the expansion of U.S. business in foreign countries
and by giving this region early access to innovative products and
solutions developed abroad," Dr. Springate said.

With offices located in the UTD School of Management's Executive
Education Center, the partnership makes the university's international
business resources available to potential IBBT client companies. These
resources include research capabilities, the school's partner network
with foreign universities and its existing industry contacts throughout
the United States.

Establishment of IBBT at UTD is the idea of Masayoshi Shimizu, an
entrepreneur and international industrialist who has production
facilities in Japan, the United States and Europe. Mr. Shimizu graduated
from UTD in 1996 with an Executive MBA degree. He was named a UTD School
of Management Distinguished Alum in 2000, and he currently serves as a
member of the UTD School of Management Advisory Council.

Mr. Shimizu is serving as IBBT's managing director, while Dr.
Hans-Joachim Adler, director of international business development at
the UTD School of Management, is serving as chief operating officer.

Dr. Adler holds a master's degree in engineering and electronics from
the University of Darmstadt, Germany, and a Ph.D. in information
processing from the University of Lyon, France. Before coming to the
United States, Dr. Adler was a professor of computer sciences at the
University of Giessen-Friedberg in Germany.

Mr. Shimizu said that while he was a student at UTD, he developed a
unique understanding of the need that many of the North Texas region's
small companies have for international markets.

"I saw the role UTD could play in helping innovative foreign companies
establish markets in the U.S. and the positive impact that would result
for this area's economy," Mr. Shimizu said. "In addition, by locating
the IBBT at UTD, I saw that we would be helping The School of Management
link classroom education and real-world business practice."

Mr. Shimizu has stipulated that any profits that come from IBBT's
activities be donated to the university's management school.

School of Management Dean Hasan Pirkul, Ph.D., said he welcomes
establishment of the IBBT and Mr. Shimizu's intentions to donate profits
to his alma mater.

"We continue to expand our programs to make the resources of the
university available to the business community in innovative ways. Such
programs as the IBBT help the UTD School of Management stay abreast of
the latest developments in industry. We also appreciate Mr. Shimizu's
willingness, as an alumnus, to give back to the school."

More information on IBBT is available by contacting 972-883-5921 or
IBBT@utdallas.edu.


C4ISN Introduces New Certificate Programs and Alcatel Employee Training

The School of Management's Center for Intelligent Supply Networks
(C4ISN) recently introduced three new certificate programs as well as a
customized two-day workshop for high-potential Alcatel employees.

The certificate programs address interrelated areas of interest to
supply chain professionals: supply chain management, product lifecycle
management and sourcing management.

C4ISN has been offering a curriculum of two-day modules and site visits
in which participants earn the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Certificate.

"A company's ability to develop innovative products, sell products that
meet customer needs, be early to market and deliver robust margins
throughout the entire lifecycle of a product, is an essential ingredient
for success," says Dr. Divakar Rajamani, managing director of C4ISN.
"The PLM certificate program looks at the entire product lifecycle, from
product inception to retirement."

The Supply Chain Management Certificate program is  an opportunity for
students to earn this professional certificate in three months.

"Globalization and outsourcing being a reality today, companies are
being forced to explore better ways of managing their supply chains in
order to remain competitive in a global marketplace," says Dr. Rajamani.
"With the growing emphasis on supply chain management as a source of
competitive advantage, this subject is receiving increased focus in the
industry and in academia."

To date 32 employees from 13 companies have participated in the program.

C4ISN is also introducing an online training program for professionals
anywhere in the world to complement their experience with an
e-certificate in sourcing management. The program was developed in
collaboration with Supply KnowledgeTM, an affiliate of the Institute for
Supply Management, in Tempe, Arizona.

"With increasingly global operations, sourcing management has gained a
strategic role, and sourcing for supply professionals must play a
critical role in managing the company's bottom line and operational
excellence," Dr. Rajamani says.

The Sourcing Management program requires completion of online training,
assignments and quizzes over 10 months. New classes begin every month,
so students can register before the 15th of any month to start the
program the following month.

Additionally, C4ISN is working in partnership with Alcatel to offer a
series of five to six two-day supply chain management workshops for
high-potential employees. The first workshop took place in Ottawa,
Canada, in February, and more workshops are scheduled throughout 2005.

"These workshops cover the fundamentals of supply chain management,
tailored to critical elements that Alcatel would like to emphasize," Dr.
Rajamani says. "We have been building a relationship with Alcatel over
the last year and a half."


CITM Director Attends Gala

In January, Dr. Michael J. Savoie (right), director of SOM's Center for
Information Technology and Management (CITM), and Rishi Pagnis (left),
CITM's assistant director, were guests at the Starry Night Gala hosted
by Bob Hopkins (center), publisher of Philanthropy World magazine. The
gala benefits the Philanthropy and Volunteerism in Education Ñ PAVE
Program, which is run by Philanthropy Inc., a nonprofit organization
affiliated with the magazine. CITM provides computer and network
support, business process management and value chain analysis services
for Philanthropy World. The event was held at the Fairmont Hotel in
Dallas, Texas.