“Following a path made at other universities, Northwest Nazarene University School of Business Dean Steve Mountjoy is teaching a class on social ventures, where students create business plans with a financial and social bottom line.

“’Business really should be meeting the needs of the communities it works in to make those communities thrive,’ said Mountjoy . . ..  ‘Too often, those things are distanced from the real needs of the communities that they serve. Especially in American, where we are bombarded by marketing, we are told what we want rather than having businesses serve our needs.’

Dr. Steve Mountjoy

“The 50 students in the social ventures classes, half of whom are seniors completing a final seminar, will work in small teams making their social venture plan. In late March, they’ll present their plans and compete for a cash prize and the chance to travel to Seattle Pacific University in April for a larger contest featuring teams from across the northwest.

“Potential social ventures include secular or church non-profits, engineering projects, and businesses that address a social need. Though the NNU class is new, Mountjoy sent a team to the SPU competition last year with an idea for a database system that matched volunteers with organizations needing help, based on the volunteers’ expertise and abilities. The winner of last year’s SPU contest was Pterofin, a prototype small wind or water turbine that can generate energy at low speeds. Previous winners include a landscaping company that would train ex-offenders and a soap company that would create manufacturing jobs and a larger supply of soap in the Philippines.

“Mountjoy said the new class is designed to appeal to non-business majors, and that he has students majoring in English, political science and social work taking the class. He also said the class fits NNU’s religious mission.

“’Christians should be doing this kind of thing,’ he said. NNU’s School of Business, which has 300 students split among undergraduate, adult degree and MBA programs, strives to include religious and ethical education. ‘What we want to develop is ethical leaders in business.’”

The panel was posed ethics questions that covered a range of topics, focusing on the current disaster in Haiti. Panelists were asked if they thought it more ethical to build many weaker structures to meet immediate housing needs, or instead build fewer but more stable structures that would leave many people without adequate shelter this year. Additionally, the panelists were asked if in a depressed economy they would work for a company they found unethical but was the only position available. The students of Dr. Emerson’s Business Ethics Class provided the scenarios.

The audience was given an opportunity to interact with the panelists by using a cell phone poll. To participate, an audience member could text his or her chosen response to a phone number designated for that particular response. The results were immediately displayed by a video projector, and the use of audience feedback contributed to the overall effectiveness of the debate.

SIFE is preparing another Ethics Panel scheduled in Boise on April 19. Members of the Boise State University community will participate along with several Idaho business leaders.

Story contributed by Lauren Hartford

The late 2009 survey also looked at how businesses are using these tools – including search engine optimization methods that aim to move a business closer to the top of Web-search lists – and how businesses are trying to measure the results, said Bill Russell, NNU business professor and associate dean.

“My belief was that the practice of managing sales is changing,” he said. For example, taking the traditional geographic approach to establishing sales territories may not be best for a business that generates a high level of sales over the Internet, he said.

“What is clear is that companies across the board are starting to wake up to the need to use the new technologies,” Russell said. “Having a Web site isn’t enough.” Many of the business operators that NNU student Ashley Morman surveyed were aware of some of the online technologies. Many were starting to put the technologies to use or at least preparing to look into the possibility further, she said.

NNU senior sales management student Frank Borbe, who surveyed businesses, said the vast majority of companies that market to individuals use social media. However, social media “forces companies to lose control” in a sense, he said. For example, it’s hard for a business to remove all negative comments without making this move obvious to the social media public, he noted. On the other hand, social media “forces them to be better at their jobs.”

The NNU student survey team included Frank Borbe, Rita Fields, Kendall Gielow, Kayleigh Greene, James Jensen, Danial Masoud, Ashley Morman, Michael Murray, Phillip Myer and Mary Jo Usabel”

Submitted by Bill Russell and compiled from a story by Brad Carlson published in the Idaho Business Review on January 15, 2010

Dr. Bill Russell

Drs. Ron Galloway and Bill Russell attended the Region 7 Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) held at Point Loma Nazarene University on January 21 and 22.  Region 7 is an international Region which is comprised of all ACBSP two-year and four-year schools in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest and Yukon Territories, and Western Mexico (including the Baja peninsula). 

Dr. Ron Galloway

In complimentary recognition of scholarly efforts at NNU, two of the five papers selected in a blind peer-review process for presentation at the Conference were written by NNU professors.  The first paper was a survey of business community and adult learner attitudes toward business faculty qualification, written and presented by Dr. Russell.  The second paper entitled Professional Criteria for Tenure and Promotion Decisions in the Business Discipline, written by Drs. Russell, Galloway, and Jeff Lineman, was selected by conference attendees to be the “Best of Region” winner.  Dr. Russell noted, “Discussion during Q&A in the presentation was vigorous and very supportive, and we have been asked to provide both copies and other assistance to a number of business programs at other schools.”

Dr. Jeff Lineman

As Regional winners, the authors will present their paper at the International Conference of the ACBSP which will be held in Los Angeles in June 2010.  Certainly, the honors of being selected to present papers and chosen “Best of Region” by their peers, speak well for the scholarly credentials and skills of these NNU professors.

“Janet L. Yellen took office as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on June 14, 2004. As a 2009 voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, Dr. Yellen brings her District’s perspective to policy discussions in Washington.  [She] is Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley where she was the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business and Professor of Economics and has been a faculty member since 1980.

“The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through its head office in San Francisco, branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix. As the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government. The Twelfth District is the largest in the Federal Reserve System, encompassing 36 percent of the nation’s land area, and 20 percent of its population, employment, and the nation’s personal income.”

Quotes taken from http://www.frbsf.org/federalreserve/people/officers/yellen.html

He holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming, a master of science in mining economics from the Colorado School of Mines, and a PhD in higher education and adult studies from the University of Wyoming. In addition, Mountjoy completed a diploma in Christian studies at Regent College.

Before moving to higher education Mountjoy worked in engineering and business for 18 years. As professor at Colorado Christian University, he directed one of CCU’s master’s degree programs. Since 2006 he served as professor in NNU’s School of Education, Social Work and Counseling.

When speaking of his new position, Mountjoy said, “I’m excited and challenged by the new position and look forward to building on the excellent foundation that has been laid.  NNU is truly blessed to have so many outstanding faculty and staff in the School of Business and I am anticipating a wonderful working relationship with them.”

Former NNU Dean Dr. Ron Galloway has accepted the invitation to lead two new University initiatives. As NNU moves to doctoral-level programming, Galloway will be director of the doctoral program in business. Further, Galloway will lead NNU’s endeavor to begin a number of permanent international study centers to serve the students. He  assumed his new assignments on August 1.

Reflecting on his 14 years of leadership in the School of Business, Galloway said, “I really didn’t do it by myself. I had great people to work with. I don’t look at them as being my accomplishments—we did it together.” Galloway will continue to teach, particularly strategic and international studies, and remain associated with the School of Business as associate dean for graduate studies.

The School of Business is one of six schools at Northwest Nazarene University.  The School of Business offers bachelor’s degrees in business administration and accounting and a master of business administration.  Business programs are offered on the Nampa campus and in downtown Boise at the CW Moore extension.  A bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA are also offered online. Through an MBA course that can be fulfilled through an international trip, the program has traveled to 17 different countries.

An accelerated-degree program (STEP) is also offered both onsite and online for working adults.  The School is accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, an international accrediting organization for business schools. The School has grown to serve 340 students in a year.

June 28th at the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) conference in San Antonio, Texas, NNU business student Ashley Morman was awarded the Delta Mu Delta Pat & Tony Jablonsky scholarship award. Ron Galloway, NNU School of Business Dean at that time, said this speaks highly to Ashley’s abilities to be recognized by the Delta Mu Delta honor society with this award.

Delta Mu Delta is an international honor society in business administration. Membership in Delta Mu Delta is awarded only to top business students—those striving for their greatest academic and professional potential—and rewards them for their achievement.  Delta Mu Delta focuses on creatively empowering social and economic benefit.  Delta Mu Delta annually awards scholarships to students based on scholarship, leadership, character, motivation, need and potential. More information about the scholarship is available at http://www.deltamudelta.org/scholarship.programs.winners.php

According to economist John Taylor of Stanford University, the Federal Reserve got us the financial instability we see today by buying its way out of the 2001 recession.

Taylor is most famously known for recommending a rules-based economic policy, appropriately called the Taylor Rule. The rule instructs monetary policymakers to set the short-term interest rate in the banking system based on a target inflation rate and the gap between actual and trend gross domestic product.

The theory predicts that we will see better long-run economic growth and less financial price volatility than an approach whereby everyone is guessing what the Federal Reserve will do next. Between 2002 and 2004 interest rates were . . .

Read Dr. Crabb’s full article at http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/734264.html

To be a Keynesian suggests support for a theory that has never been fully tested.  John Maynard Keynes wrote his General Theory as a response to a deepening economic recession of the early thirties.  At the time of its writing, the idea of a depression was unknown.

Support for combating a recession through government intervention began with the New Deal.  Prior to this . . .

Continue this article on the Idaho Freedom Foundation site at http://www.idahofreedom.net/blog/crabb-lets-give-free-markets-chance-once

The Stimulus Bill Will Provide the Jolt That Is Needed                                    
Dr. Steven Van der Ploeg

The stimulus plan is a good idea.  Well, relative to what, you ask?   And the answer is: relative to no stimulus bill at all.  Why might it be better to do nothing, which some people advocate? Because the economy is losing jobs at an accelerating rate. The unemployment rate is now 7.6% (12.6% for African-Americans); half of 3.6 million jobs lost have occurred in the last 3 months. Many people, through no fault of their own, are without employment, and will experience the personal and social costs unemployment. Among these are anxiety, family crises, divorce, homelessness, crime.
More at http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/665298.html

The Stimulus Bill is a Bad Idea
Dr. Peter Crabb

This week David Axelrod, adviser to President Obama, said, “The American people are desperate for us to act.” So the U.S. Senate passed its legislation this week, and the compromise bill with the House is likely to come in around $800 billion. We are not that desperate!  First, the U.S. government already can’t afford it. Federal tax revenue declined nearly 10 percent in the first four months of the fiscal year.
More at http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/665297.html