Chris Fullan Uses Restoration and Business Acumen to Preserve Local History
January 18, 2019 //
Chris Fullan, BBA ‘10, has made a career out of the idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” With his business Forever Hung Wood Window Restoration, Fullan is working to preserve local Buck’s County history. Fullan urges owners of old homes: do not throw out your old, time-worn wooden windows!
Why is it beneficial to restore these windows rather than get them replaced? Fullan has quite the informed response: “[The original wood frame windows] are far superior than any replacement you’re going to get,” he told The Bucks County Courier Times. “With proper restoration from any quality restoration professional, you’re going to be very happy with the product. When they were originally built, the craftsmen that made these windows put a lot of time and care into making them—and they were made for each individual’s home. So it’s unsettling to see them being thrown into the landfill and ripped out.”
Fullan began working in an office during his post-college career, but quickly realized his calling was of a more entrepreneurial nature. During a period of unemployment, he was doing work on his own home and decided to pursue working with his hands professionally.
After working at several professional firms, Fullan began contracting and then used his business acumen to start Forever Hung Wood Window Restoration in October 2018. Forever Hung specializes in windows from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The oldest windows he ever worked on landed on his lap during his time as a lead carpenter for WMG Historic Restoration in New Jersey. He was responsible for restoring about 130 windows from the Lazaretto Quarantine Station, which is a historic site that guarded the city of Philadelphia from epidemic diseases.
Fullan finds inspiration researching the history of the buildings he helps restore, and is proud he can be a part of preserving the richness of his community.
Love alumni success stories? Check out our recent post about 3 Fox School alumnae shaking up their industries, and learn more about Fox School Research.
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Americans are growing older—and their caretakers need to decide the best and most cost effective way to care for them.
Since 2011, nearly 77 million baby boomers have become eligible for Medicare. For the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases, home healthcare (HHC) is a convenient and cost-effective solution that avoids the necessity of receiving care through hospitals and nursing homes.
HHC meets an important demand in the healthcare system. Experts have found that close to 90 percent of Americans wish to spend their final time at home. But how does the care HHC providers deliver compare to that of larger health institutions?
Last year, In collaboration with investigators at the University of California at Irvine, Dr. Jacqueline Zinn, professor in the Fox School’s Department of Risk, Insurance and Healthcare Management, has received a five-year grant from the National Institute of Health to investigate the cost effectiveness and quality of care provided by home healthcare agencies.
Over the last decade, the home healthcare field has seen dramatic increases in patients, care providers, and spending. The New York Times reported that individual states spend close to $200 billion of their own funds on Medicaid, making it the second biggest item within their budgets.
As projections continue to rise and healthcare technology advances, patients should be aware of their care options.
“What we don’t know is whether or not the technologies that lead to additional growth impact the quality of care delivered,” said Zinn. “In other words, do larger facilities have better quality associated with growth? What is the optimal [home healthcare] agency size with respect to cost and quality? These are the questions we hope to answer.”
Home healthcare not only includes rehabilitative care after surgery, but hospice care and palliative care, which is dedicated to relieving people’s physical and emotional symptoms after facing life-threatening illnesses.
“Healthcare is on track to become 20 percent of the GDP,” said Zinn. “That means one in every five dollars generated by the U.S. economy will be in the healthcare sector.”
Alongside her fellow researchers at the UC Irvine, Zinn aims to discover valuable insights for patients, government, and health institutions, and home healthcare agencies alike by learning more about this under-researched field.
Are you interested in the intersection of healthcare and business education? Read our article, “Why More Surgeons and Health Professionals Are Pursuing MBAs” and learn more about Fox School Research.
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Consumers today are heavily dependent on online reviews to make informed choices about what to buy. In fact, studies show that as many as 90 percent of consumers read online reviews before making financial decisions, and nearly 70 percent trust these opinions.
Given their importance, how do you tell if the reviews are from genuine customers?
Subodha Kumar, director of the Center for Data Analytics and professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at the Fox School, developed an approach to detect fake reviewers on online digital platforms. In his paper published in the Journal of Management Information Systems, Kumar proposes an algorithm that analyzes the behavior of reviewers on a set of key features to help differentiate between the real and the fake.
“A user who reads a negative review of a restaurant is likely to trust the message, even though it was written by a stranger,” Kumar says. “One convincing review can often persuade consumers to shift their brand loyalty or drive several extra miles to try a new sandwich shop.”
This gives firms a strong incentive to influence their online review ratings. “Business owners inject their public ratings with a positive bias,” says Kumar. “They use fake accounts or paid reviewers to either promote their offering or strategically denounce competitors’ products.”
In studying a dataset from Yelp, a popular restaurant review platform, Kumar observed a striking difference in the way spammers interact on online platforms. “Even though individual reviews by a spammer may look genuine, collectively we can capture anomalies in the review patterns,” Kumar says, “In fact, they are remarkably skewed.”
By analyzing this pattern of behaviors, Kumar’s approach to detecting review manipulation can not only improve the experience of consumers across industries but also increase the credibility of reviewing platforms like Yelp.
Kumar considers six distinct features of every review in the data set:
- Review gap: Spammers are usually not longtime members of a site, unlike genuine reviewers who use their accounts from time to time to post reviews. Thus, if reviews are posted over a relatively long timeframe, it suggests normal activity. But when all reviews are posted within a short burst, it indicates suspicious behavior.
- Review count: Paid users generally generate more reviews than unpaid users. In other cases to avoid being detected or blacklisted, a spammer could post very few reviews from one account and create a new account.
- Rating entropy: Spammers mostly post extreme reviews since their goal is either to artificially improve a particular company’s rating or to bring a bad reputation to its competitors. This results in high entropy—or drastic randomness—in fake users’ ratings.
- Rating deviation: Spammers are likely to deviate from the general rating consensus. If genuine users fairly outnumber spammers, it is easy to detect instances where a user’s rating deviates greatly from the average ratings from other users.
- Timing of review: One strategy spammers may use is to post extremely early after a restaurant’s opening in order to maximize the impact of their review. Early reviews can greatly impact a consumers’ sentiment on a product and, in turn, impact sales.
- User tenure: Fake reviewers tend to have short-lived accounts characterized by a relatively large number of reviews and handles, usernames or aliases designed to avoid detection.
After considering these variables individually, the algorithm then looks into the way the variables interact with each other. It employs techniques like supervised machine learning and accounts for the overall review behavior of a user to provide a robust and accurate analysis.
Kumar’s methodology can also be deployed to post the information of the spammers in real-time. Digital platforms like Yelp could develop a spam score using these key features for each reviewer and share it with business owners and consumers, who can subsequently be tagged or filtered.
“The issue of opinion spamming in online reviews is not going away and detecting the perpetrators is not easy,” says Kumar. But developments in approaches like these, he says, “offer great insights to businesses, allowing them to create more effective marketing strategies based on the sheer volume of genuine, user-contributed consumer reviews.”
Interested in Marketing and Supply Chain topics? Check out our recent article “A Guide to Building an International Supply Chain” and learn more about Fox School Research.
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Updates on the Fox School, Alumnae Who Give Back, and How Emotional Labor May Be Affecting Your Work
A roundup of media mentions featuring faculty, staff, and students from the Fox School of Business and the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.
Fox Smarts, Philly Heart
At the Fox School of Business, social responsibility is a guiding principle that the school has honored since it was founded a century ago, rooted in Russell H. Conwell’s notion that “your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them.” Read more>>
Emotional Labor May Affect You at Work
Do you suppress your feelings at work and kowtow to the wishes of clients, patients or difficult supervisors? Deanna Geddes of Human Resources Management tells U.S. News how emotional labor can affect employees every day. Read more>>
Millenials Invest Money Through Apps
Bora Ozkan of Finance went on NBC 10 to share why millennials are considered the perfect demographic for mobile investment app. Automated systems, artificial intelligence, and affordability are all keys to attracting the millennial generation. Watch now>>
Philadelphia Business Journal | Dec. 20
Thomas Fung of Marketing and Supply Chain Management shares what the newly named CEO of Campbell Soup Co. should do to be successful. Read more>>
Business Times | Dec. 12
Why are online reviews so extreme? Paul Pavlou of MIS explains why consumers most often see the five- and one-star ratings on online platforms. Read more>>
Reporter Online | Dec. 7
Alumna Brianna Judge shares her musical talents with a debut eight-song album and performances at locations like Bourbon and Branch over the holidays. Read more>>
CBS 3 | Dec. 5
Digital sexual harassment, also known as cyber-flashing, is on the rise. The MIS Department’s Tony Vance provides insight into why this happens. Read more>>
Business Wire | Dec. 4
The Risk Management and Insurance Career Reception for graduating seniors was featured on an episode of AM Best TV. Read more>>
Introducing Matthew Coughlin
The Fox School and the School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management are pleased to welcome Matt Coughlin to the communications and marketing teams. As associate director of communications, Matt will be responsible for media relations for faculty, staff, students and alumni of both schools. You can reach Matt via email at matthew.coughlin@temple.edu.
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Fox Alumnus Named Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association
January 9, 2019 //
In his new position as executive director of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Harvey Hurdle Jr., MBA ‘89, will blend personal with professional.
Hurdle spent his career leading various nonprofit and for profit organizations, including president and CEO of Leap Strategy LLC and COO and then CEO of Sellers Dorsey, a national healthcare consulting firm. He was also the COO of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest civil rights and public advocacy organization in America.
But his new appointment as executive director of the Philadelphia Bar Association is the first time he will directly serve the legal community, and it is a powerful change of pace for Hurdle. “I really value our legal institutions, because the ability to marry my husband and adopt my son were obtained by very smart lawyers and brave judges,” he says to The Legal Intelligencer. “I’m very excited about this job.”
As his first act of executive director, Hurdle will meet with bar members in order to identify their needs, and what issues should be a priority. However, he already has a few personal goals for the position. He hopes to increase access to justice for people who cannot afford it and to evolve the services the association provides to better assist attorney’s working in the changing legal market.
“The association’s leadership and staff look forward to working with Hurdle because of his passion for the association’s mission; his financial, managerial and operational skills and experience; his business acumen; and his strong interpersonal and communication skills,” Philadelphia Bar Chancellor Mary F. Platt says during the announcement of Hurdle’s appointment.
Prior to Hurdle’s appointment, Mark Tarasiewicz served as executive director for four years, and was a bar association member for more than two decades. After resigning in July of 2018, Tarasiewicz became executive director of administration for Spector Gadon & Rosen.
If you enjoy reading updates on Fox School alumni, read up on real estate mogul Jen Singley, who is using her business degree to help first time buyers find their dream homes in the City of Brotherly Love.
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How does a firm looking to expand internationally build an effective global supply chain network from scratch?
Masaaki ‘Mike’ Kotabe, Washburn Chair Professor of International Business and Marketing at the Fox School, addresses this question by studying the strategies employed by Uniqlo, a Japanese apparel firm which successfully built a world-class global supply chain network in a relatively short period of time.
In his article, ”A Dynamic Process of Building Global Supply Chain Competence by New Ventures: The Case of Uniqlo,” which was published in the Journal of International Marketing, Kotabe proposes a dynamic model on how new firms can create a flexible supply chain network internationally. “By effectively developing partnering flexibility and exerting competitive pressure on partner suppliers,” Kotabe says, “new and small firms can overcome initial business challenges associated with the lack of local reputation, limited capacity for large orders and the presence of locally established competitors.”
Historically, major Japanese manufacturers invested significantly in manufacturing activities with advanced technologies and building close-knit suppliers. But with the rapidly changing global markets in the 1990s and 2000s, these relationships turned out to be a major financial burden with huge fixed costs.
Newly internationalizing Japanese firms began to develop more “asset-light” flexible relationships with local suppliers. But Kotabe says, “They still faced serious gaps due to the lack of initial large-scale production capability and bargaining power with local suppliers.”
However, Kotabe notes a transformational change in the strategy employed by new Japanese companies like Uniqlo. “They focus primarily on building relationships with their suppliers by providing them economic and technological rewards frequently,” Kotabe says. “They also maintain flexibility in their partnership by avoiding suppliers’ over dependence on the relationship.”
By examining Uniqlo’s successful supply chain development, Kotabe proposes a three-stage model that can serve as a guideline for small companies looking to build competitive advantages while expanding internationally.
In the first stage, building close relations with suppliers is crucial. “Suppliers are more cooperative when the partnering firm rewards them with large volume orders,” says Kotabe. By limiting not only the number of suppliers but also the variety of products to be manufactured, companies can ensure that every chosen supplier has a satisfactory share of the business, along with a large volume order per variant.
The second stage focuses on developing collaborative relationships with the suppliers by helping them build their competencies. Uniqlo hired a team of retired experts skilled in Japan’s textile industry to provide technical support to their suppliers’ factories. Kotabe says, “This move was key to Uniqlo’s success story as it helped in building trust and avoiding conflicts with its suppliers.”
“By receiving both economic and technological rewards continuously in the first and second stages of the process,” Kotabe notes, “the partners’ attitude toward the principal firm stays positive and cooperative.”
In the last stage, companies need to create flexibility in their supply chain by encouraging their suppliers to have other secondary customers. This allows them to grow their own business volumes independently and prevents excessive dependency on the partner. “Uniqlo enforced a compulsory non-exclusivity arrangement,” Kotabe says.”Therefore, even when Uniqlo canceled a transaction with a partner supplier, the supplier could easily find new clients.”
With more companies becoming involved in international markets to achieve better product quality and lower costs, it is important to effectively devise strategies to stay competitive. Kotabe’s study serves as detailed guidance for firms with limited international business experience to build a flexible global supply chain network from scratch.
For further reading on a similar topic, check out “What Is the Role of International Business Researchers?”
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In order to stay proactive rather than reactive to 21st century business risks, industries as diverse and exciting as cannabis, cyber security, finance and healthcare use enterprise risk management (ERM). Last year, emerging technology and new management disciplines were explored as the Department of Risk, Insurance and Healthcare Management hosted its first-ever ERM Conference at the Fox School of Business. A grant from the Spencer Educational Foundation made the event possible for over 80 attendees. Industry experts at the conference discussed recent discoveries, longer-term trends and shared their best practices along with pitfalls to avoid.
“Risk can surface in multiple forms—cybersecurity, supply chain, climate change, human capital, data analytics and beyond,” said M. Michael Zuckerman, Temple University, Associate Professor and Academic Director for Enterprise Risk Management, and one of the conference’s organizers.
Steven Schain, Senior Counsel at Hoban Law Group who works primarily with banks, shared insights from within the cannabis industry during his presentation. According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. legal marijuana sales in 2018 were estimated at $10.2 billion. And while cannabis is a lucrative industry, less than .03% of banks are willing to serve marijuana related businesses (MRB). Since federal restrictions make it difficult for MRBs to make financial transactions, challenges abound. MRBs often conduct businesses without bank accounts, and must use cash for crucial functions like employee payroll, rent, taxes and paying vendors. Robbery and assault are also considered higher-risk in this field due to the extraordinary levels of cash.
“Insurance only covers up to $20,000 cash loss, and since many MRBs have $200,000 to $500,000 on hand, theft can be fatal,” says Schain.
Carol Fox, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), presented on cybersecurity. Although estimates vary, loss due to cybersecurity breaches is in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. A 2016 report by Cybersecurity Ventures stated that cybercrime will cost more than $6 trillion worldwide by 2019.
“A disturbing percentage of risk professionals are unaware of disruptive technology prevalence,” she warns.
As a discipline, ERM has the ability to transcend any single industry. Kelly Botti, senior vice president, chief risk officer and corporate counsel at TruMark Financial Credit Union, shared her journey in guiding the TruMark Financial executive team to understand and value risk strategy.
“At its core, Enterprise Risk Management promotes two essential business concepts: informed decision-making and authentic conversation,” says Botti. “Its greatest value is the ability to spark curiosity. In approaching ERM from this angle, executive teams gain insight, as opposed to information, which aid in the development of corporate vision and strategy.”
Planning is already underway for the second annual conference in May 2019, hosted again by the Fox School, with no shortage of fascinating topics on the horizon.
“The opportunity ahead is to harness Big Data,” says Ian Waxman, Principal at Navigate. “How do we use it,? How can we do a better job of getting ahead of risk and being quicker in responding to it?”
For more information about the Fox School of Business and the Department of Risk, Insurance and Healthcare Management, click here.
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Walking in a Temple Wonderland
December 21, 2018 //
Happy holidays from the Fox School of Business!
Everyone at the Fox School of Business wishes you a safe, happy and relaxing holiday. We look forward to a productive and innovative spring semester.
Fox School Updates, Anti-Marketing and Lessons Learned from Amazon HQ2
December 18, 2018 //
A roundup of media mentions featuring faculty, staff, and students from the Fox School of Business and the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.
Eagles’ Odds of Defending the SuperBowl
George Diemer, assistant professor of instruction in the School of Sport, Tourism and Recreation Management, was interviewed by CBS 3 Philadelphia in regards to the Philadelphia Eagles’ chances of making the NFL Playoffs. Watch now>>
Ed Rendell Receives Musser Award
Last month, former Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was honored with the Fox School’s prestigious Musser Award for his service to the city and the state. Read more>>
What is Anti-Marketing?
A new wireless provider “opened” two secret stores—and the mystery is stopping passersby in their tracks. Jay Sinha provides insight into the nontraditional marketing campaign that gets people talking. Read more>>
Lessons Learned from Amazon HQ2
Charles Dhanaraj speaks with Philadelphia Business Journal about the lessons the city can learn from its failed Amazon HQ2 bid. “We can’t be a reactive city,” he says. What can Philly do to encourage more corporate investment? Read more>>
Attracting International Students
Keya Sadeghipour, dean of the College of Engineering at Temple University, mentions the Fox Innovative Idea Competition as one of the many ways universities can take a global approach to recruiting new students. Read more>>
Temple News | Nov. 27
Fox student Alfonso Corona brought his company, Plug, into Research Professor Susan Mudambi’s classroom to learn how to create a successful marketing and communications strategy. Read more.
The Economist | Nov. 1
What is the future of education? James W. Hutchin, senior research fellow at the Fox School and advisor to Flinders University of Australia, shares his thoughts in a new report from The Economist and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Read more.
Economic Times India | Nov. 18
Subscription and streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple Music are all over the world, including India. Jay Sinha, associate professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, describes the appeal. Read more.
The Legal Intelligencer | Oct. 8
Do broken windows and doors impact a neighborhood’s safety or just the building’s aesthetic? James M. Lammendola, assistant professor of practice, and Harper J. Dimmerman, adjunct professor, both of Legal Studies, shed light on a recent decision by the PA Supreme Court. Read more.
U.S. News & World Report | Sept. 12
How can prospective students find ways to differentiate their college applications from the competition? David Kaiser shares his tips with U.S. News & World Report on how to make an application stand out. Read more.
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Philanthropy Served Up By Fox School Deans, Faculty and Staff
December 12, 2018 //
The season of giving has been productive for the Fox School of Business. In the spirit of the holidays, the Fox School faculty and staff came up with creative ways to give back to Philadelphia and the Temple community.
Filling “Purses of Hope” for Local Women’s Shelters
For their annual We Give Back event, the Fox School and School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) marketing and communications team donated to local charity Purses of Hope. This organization delivers purse donations to women’s shelters in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area housing women in poverty or seeking refuge from abusive partners and toxic households. Each purse is filled with female hygiene, beauty or clothing products. The team was able to donate 100 purses to women in need!
Bartending Deans and Student Scholarship Donations
On Dec. 10, the Fox School and STHM faculty and staff came together to celebrate a successful fall semester and give back to Temple University students. From 5-7 p.m., Dean Anderson and the rest of the Fox School dean’s served as guest bartenders at Interstate Draft House in Fishtown. All tips and $1 of every draft beer was donated to the Temple student scholarship fund, which helps provide accessibility and excellent education for students across all walks of life.
Have a suggestion for a great nonprofit or charitable organization that should be on our radar? Contact us!
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Jen Singley Is Finding Joy & Sustainability in Real Estate
December 10, 2018 //
First-time home buyers take notice—after a five-year flurry to start her career at retailer-for-good United By Blue, Jen Singley (BBA ’13) decided to pivot towards real estate. Now, she’s slinging much more than exposed brick and herringbone tile kitchens. Singley has an idea, cultivated at UBB, that could change the way home buyers and sellers approach real estate in Philadelphia.
Singley’s path to real estate has not been straightforward. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she decided to major in marketing at the Fox School of Business with the idea of getting into retail after graduation. Four days after receiving her diploma, Singley did just that, having landed a job at the then retail start-up UBB, owned by fellow Fox alumni Brian Linton and Mike Cangi. Tasked with opening and managing their first storefront at 2nd street, she eventually oversaw the brand grow to include four locations, including one in New York.
“Brian and Mike taught me so much,” said Singley. “I received constructive feedback and was pushed to step outside of my comfort zone. They were a huge part of my career growth.”
Singley credits Fox with helping her prepare for such a huge opportunity immediately after college.
Four Skills Singley Sharpened At Fox
- Financial Management: “At Fox, I learned as much about numbers as I possibly could. Not everyone left college knowing how to manage income vs. debt and I’m glad I did.”
- Interviewing: “I overthink and get nervous before interviews. The mock interview nights at Fox really helped. As realtor, having a “script” ready for clients that answers potential questions comes in handy.”
- Independence: “Fox encouraged networking. Even if my friends couldn’t make it, I’d go by myself to networking nights.”
- Negotiation: “Several of my classes had a focus on negotiation, which definitely translates into my job today. Every deal I work on involves negotiation for prices, rate, and timeline.”
When Singley decided to leave UBB in the summer of 2018, she had risen to title of 
director of operations, but the burgeoning retail guru wasn’t happy anymore. Too busy with managing scores of new employees, she missed out on the litter clean-ups that UBB was well-known for, one of the reasons she liked her job.
“I thought about it for a year and a half,” she said. “I love everyone at United By Blue, but part of me wasn’t whole at that point. I saw my coworkers getting excited about a new product launch or an event, and I didn’t share in that same passion anymore.”
Hailing from a family of entrepreneurs and small business owners, Singley got her real estate license in 2017 while still at UBB and was selling homes part-time. The decision to leave her comfortable position at a growing company was tough, but she felt supported by her parents—her father owns a duct-cleaning and fire restoration company.
“I wanted to do something I was excited about everyday again,” she said. “Having flexible hours and helping young house buyers, that’s what’s motivating me right now.”
There are similarities between her old career and her new one. Singley is organizing neighborhood trash pickups to rally new buyers and current community residents. Her hope is that bringing together social enterprise and selling homes, she can help set a new standard for real estate agents in Philadelphia, one cigarette filter or cheesesteak wrapper at a time.
To get the word out about the places she loves, Singley has harnessed the power of social. She knows that people her age find aesthetically pleasing photos, tips on maintaining homes and defining real estate jargon more interesting than print mailers and cold calls. Her strategy has worked to engage potential home buyers. So far, Singley has sold 14 homes and counting—not bad for seven months on the job.
Singley’s Hot Neighborhoods
- Francisville
- Gray’s Ferry
- Brewerytown
Follow Singley @:
- Instagram: homesweethomephl
- Facebook: WomenForASustainablePhiladelphia [link to https://www.facebook.com/groups/WomenForASustainablePhiladelphia/]
- Yelp: Jen Singley, Keller Williams
Social Enterprises Singley Loves
- Hungry Harvest (CSA) [link: https://www.hungryharvest.net/]
- And We Evolve (consignment clothing) [https://andweevolve.com/]
Bennett Compost (waste pickup/compost drop-off subscription) [link https://www.bennettcompost.com/]
Learn more about Fox School Research.
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Fox Foodies
December 5, 2018 //
Seven alumni-owned food and beverage businesses taking taste buds to the next level
Some people say music is the one true universal language. But, let’s be honest, the one true universal language is food. Nobody knows this better than these Fox School alumni who have launched exciting businesses in the food space. From healthy stir-fries to mouthwatering donuts, fancy cocktails to salads-in-jars, learn more about these seven food and drink businesses owned and founded by Fox foodies.
1. FACTORY DONUTS
After studying finance at the Fox School, David Restituto, BBA ’96, ran Rita’s Italian Ice and Meineke franchises in the Philadelphia area. In 2017, the self-confessed “sweet tooth” opened Factory Donuts in Northeast Philly. The shop, which boasts a hip, industrial aesthetic, sells coffee and about two dozen different types of donuts, including the Maple Bacon Explosion and the Blueberry Bake. The business has already moved into its next phase: franchising. “We have so much positive interest from people,” Restituto says. “We’re ready to launch the franchise end of the business and we’re planning for future growth. It’s a very exciting time.”
2. HONEY GROW
Justin Rosenberg, MBA ’09, is no stranger to the pages of Fox Focus—when we caught up with him in the last issue, he told us all about how honeygrow uses virtual reality to onboard new employees. Rosenberg designed the business plan for honeygrow, the fast- casual salad and stir-fry restaurant, while working on his MBA at
the Fox School. Since opening the rst location in 2012, honeygrow has grown quite a bit. Now there are more than 24 locations in eight states and Washington, D.C. Not to mention three minigrow locations, honeygrow’s new build-your-own dish carryout concept.
3. PHILLY FOODWORKS
Dylan Baird, BBA ’13, worked with Urban Tree Connection, an urban farm in West Philadelphia, while studying entrepreneurship at the Fox School. His passion for the intersection of food and community development morphed into Philly Foodworks, which he co-founded in 2014. The mission? To create a platform for small, non-mainstream food producers—including local farmers, coffee roasters, chocolatiers, tofu makers, and bakeries—to deliver healthy, fresh foods to people. Thanks to Baird and Philly Foodworks, the farmers market now comes directly to your front door.
4. CONSHOHOCKEN ITALIAN BAKERY
Do you love pizza? Of course you do, everybody loves pizza. And if you’re a Philadelphian, you also likely love tomato pie. Conshohocken Italian Bakery has been serving up tomato pies (including a custom Philadelphia Eagles version following the team’s Super Bowl LII victory), pizzas, breads, desserts, and more since it was co-founded by Domenico Gambone in 1973. The family business is now run by sister and brother Christina Gambone, BBA ’92, and Michael Gambone, BBA ’91—Christina is the director of business operations, and Michael is the vice president.
“Mike and I have been working here since our early teens,” says Christina. “There’s no better way to learn the business than from the ground up. We’ve always been close siblings, so working together is very natural. And our dad is still very active in the business and our goal is to support him and his passion. We keep that in mind with every new avenue we pursue.”
5. COCKTAIL CULTURE CO.
Ever watched an episode of Mad Men and wondered how in the heck they make those delicious looking cocktails? Jungeun Park, BS ’16, knows the secrets and she’s here to
help you craft that perfect old fashioned. After completing her studies in marketing and being named a finalist in the Temple University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute’s 2016 Be Your Own Boss Bowl® for the business concept, Park launched Cocktail Culture Co., which offers interactive cocktail and mixology workshops. They also host whiskey and wine tastings so you know what you’re talking about next time you step up to the bar.
6. SIMPLY GOOD JARS
Healthy food is oftentimes not the most convenient to find for lunch at work or on-the-go. That’s where Simply Good Jars, founded by Jared Cannon, MS ’16, comes in. Cannon, a chef, came up with the idea as a Fox School grad student studying innovation management and entrepreneurship. Each convenient plastic jar includes a healthy meal made with local ingredients while creating zero waste for the Philadelphia community.
7. ZEST CULINARY SERVICES
Melissa Wieczorek, BBA ’93, MBA ’02, always loved food, cooking, and entertaining. So, when she left her position as the director of the Fox School’s Executive MBA program in 2005, she knew exactly what to do: Zest Culinary Services, a personal chef and boutique catering company, was born. “There’s always something new to discover in food—a recipe, an ingredient, a technique, a favor combination, or even a new business model,” says Wieczorek when asked why she loves working with food. “The possibilities are endless and the food industry is constantly evolving so it never gets boring. And the ability to make a positive impact on people’s lives on a daily basis through food—whether it’s a meal, an educational talk, or a dining experience—is extremely gratifying.”
A board of directors plays a crucial role in determining the success of any organization and is largely responsible for major strategic decisions. However, females in these top management roles are often underrepresented. Without women on boards, companies are losing out—not only on talented leaders, but also on different perspectives of business. This raises the question: in what ways do companies with women on the board perform differently than companies with all-male boards?
Prior research suggests there are gender differences in risk-taking decisions, with many researchers supporting that women are more sensitive to risk than men. However, Ofra Bazel-Shoham, research assistant professor in the Department of Finance at the Fox School, reconsiders the implications of this conclusion.
Bazel-Shoham argues that female leaders change the way business is being done in her paper, “The Effect of Board Gender Diversity on R&D.” She looked at boards’ decisions regarding high-risk, high-reward investment decisions, as well as their professional behavior, to understand the differences in outcomes that gender-diverse boards produce. The research recently won the Best Paper Award at the 2018 Engaged Management Scholarship Conference, hosted by Temple University this September. The award was sponsored by Business Horizons, an academic journal from Indiana University.
As a proxy for analyzing risk-taking decisions, Bazel-Shoham used choices around research and development (R&D), often a potentially risky yet highly rewarding investment. “It requires upfront resources and has a very low probability of success,” she says.
Bazel-Shoham, who is also the academic director of Fox School’s new part-time MBA Program in Conshohocken, collected data from CEOs and board members in 44 countries and over a period of 16 years. The gender disparity was already obvious, as she notes in her sample only 2% of all CEOs and 9% of all board members were female.
The study found that while the direct correlation between the number of women on boards and the number of investments in R&D was negative, women were more likely to focus on monitoring performance, which ends up incentivizing risky but data-driven decisions. Bazel-Shoham says, “As female leaders put more emphasis on monitoring, gender-diverse boards were able to quantify and measure their decisions better than all-male boards.”
Bazel-Shoham elucidates this argument by analyzing the behavior of female directors who are most often outnumbered by their male counterparts. Her interviews with female leaders suggest that being in a minority puts more pressure on women to not make mistakes and make data-driven decisions.
She elaborates, “We realized that female directors felt they were ‘under a magnifying glass’ most of the time and were judged more stringently than their male colleagues.” This made them make more conservative decisions, which usually translated into making lesser high-risk R&D investments. However, teams that quantified their results better supported performance-based compensation where incentives are measurable and dependent on the actual outcome rather than on vaguely defined promises.
Organizations often use performance-based incentives to motivate managers to make riskier but potentially profitable long-term investing decisions. Bazel-Shoham says, “We observed that such remuneration systems encourage CEOs and senior management to engage in more R&D activities.” With women involved, boards more often supported this form of compensation, in affect encouraging managers to make more of these investments. Bazel-Shoham found that these actions successfully mitigated women’s effect of being more risk-averse.
Besides indirectly increasing R&D spending, Bazel-Shoham notes having even one woman on the board of directors significantly influences how the board behaves, the decisions it makes and their resulting outcomes. To illustrate this, she quotes an experience of a male CEO of a large educational organization. “The women directors read all the materials ahead of time, have specific questions and are more professional than the others,” he says. “They have changed the organizational culture of the board. The men, in turn, have started to prepare themselves better as well.”
Underrepresentation of women on boards of directors continues to be a pressing issue to shareholders and society at large. However, organizations are slowly understanding the strategic importance of leveraging a more diverse top management team. With rapidly changing market dynamics, leveraging the power of gender diversity is beneficial for the long-term success of businesses.
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With $7,000 in prize money on the line, five startups walked away with the cash to grow their ideas at the 21st Annual Innovative Idea Competition in November. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) at Temple University’s Fox School of Business hosted the contest, which focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and education.
Big ideas were transformed into reality for the five winning pitches. Grand prize winner PureTrip walked away with $3,500 in winnings for a portable, efficient and lightweight washing/drying machine concept. Created by College of Engineering (ENG) seniors Salmon Alotaibi and Yaqoub Bushehri, the PureTrip team also won the “Crowd Favorite” category.
“The washer can be applied in the real world in multiple ways—military, hikers and even third-world countries can use the equipment for different purposes,” says Bushehri. “We’re creating a prototype with more awareness to attract investors before commercializing and trying to figure out the rights to our idea.”
In the “Innovation” category, Athlete Crush won for a sport-specific, user-generated mobile platform that revolutionizes the way athletes and fans connect. To help athletes build and monetize their brands easily, professor Thilo Kunkel of the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) developed a way to help fans learn more about their favorite athletes, and provides athletes with a platform to promote social good through the medium of sport.
“The idea came while working with professional soccer player Michael Lahoud,” says Joonas Jokinen, Athlete Crush COO. “Michael cares deeply about his homeland of Sierra Leone. He even built a school there. But as a successful athlete, he was having trouble growing his brand. That’s where our idea and inspiration came from.”
Another pitch, Invest Out, founded by Tyrone Glover, FOX ’96, won first-place in the “Upper Track” category. Glover’s company partners home sellers with houses that could potentially sell for more if renovated with capital from interested investors.
“We’re currently beta testing the model with a limited target of area home owners and investors through www.investout.net,” says Glover.
The first-place winner in the “Undergraduate” category was Mouse Motel, a modernized mouse glue trap founded by ENG senior Paul Gehret.
“My dad and I knew how ineffective classic glue traps were and wanted to design a new one that would remedy the (mouse) problem,” says Gehret. “Mouse Motel was our solution. Through many experiments in our basement, we achieved a much higher efficiency than the glue traps that are commercially available.”
Other award-winning ideas included second-place “Upper Track” start-up Miranda, an online legal tech company that provides on-demand, 24/7 remote legal service. Founded by Fox graduate student Nikolas Revmatas, the idea came from Revmatas’ first-hand experience of navigating the U.S. legal system as an international student.
“I’ve had to figure out a fragmented legal system that is often expensive and intimidating,” says Revmatas. “In most cases, I only needed a few minutes of a lawyer’s time. I always wished there was a way to quickly, conveniently and affordably get legal advice, so I decided to create one.”
Founded by Rahul Nimmagadda, FOX ’19, and Jonathan Huynh, FOX ’19, another second-place winner was Mailroom in the “Undergraduate Track”. Mailroom is a digital platform that connects people with trusted small businesses and peers in their community to receive packages.
“We’re looking forward to making a difference in our communities by turning ideas and prototypes into a fully functional Mailroom mobile application that consumers can use,” says Nimmagadda. “We’re hoping that by this time next year, we’ll be making a dent in the package delivery problems that Philadelphians face.”
List of Winners
GRAND PRIZE
PureTrip – Salmon Alotaibi, ENG ’19 & Yaqoub Bushehri, ENG ’19
GLOBAL INNOVATION PRIZE
Athlete Crush – Thilo Kunkel, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management
1ST PLACE – UPPER TRACK
Invest Out – Tyrone Glover, FOX ’96
2ND PLACE – UPPER TRACK
Miranda – Nikolas Revmatas, FOX ’19
1ST PLACE – UNDERGRADUATE TRACK
Mouse Motel – Paul Gehret, ENG ’19
2ND PLACE – UNDERGRADUATE TRACK
Mailroom – Rahul Nimmagadda, FOX ’19 & Jonathan Huynh, FOX ’19
1ST PLACE – CROWD FAVORITE
PureTrip – Salmon Alotaibi, ENG ’19 & Yaqoub Bushehri, ENG ’19
2ND PLACE – CROWD FAVORITE
Mailroom – Rahul Nimmagadda, FOX ’19 & Jonathan Huynh, FOX ’19
Fox Students Add Value for Local Companies With Cherry Consulting
November 29, 2018 //
Cherry Consulting was founded in 2014 as a part of Temple University’s chapter of the American Marketing Association. The firm is completely run by the chapter, consisting of student directors and consultants that meet weekly to serve clients in the Philadelphia area. Since inception, it has grown from 35 to 75 active participants and has increased its average number of clients from four to eight companies per semester.
The firm began by offering primarily market research to companies including Sodexo, Soom Foods and Xfinity Live. As Cherry Consulting began to grow, they have been able to offer more services to clients, including market research, content creation and 
digital marketing. They now exchange services for sponsorship. Cherry also houses its own creative team to service all client creative needs from logo creation to social media content.
Sixteen students hold leadership positions to manage the organization. Co-director Brittany Pescatore says, “It is our goal to enhance the standing of our clients through the implementation of marketing strategy and innovation. Our work is centered around driving measurable results for our clients, introducing our members to hands-on marketing experiences and increasing partnerships within the Temple community.”
More recently, Cherry Consulting has worked with the Philadelphia Flyers, The U.S. Dream Academy, The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Temple University’s Division of Student Affairs and the Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD) at the Fox School. Clients have provided great feedback to the team.
“Cherry Consulting has been an amazing experience. The project the Cherry team has worked on for our company brought tremendous value to our business, and I would highly suggest working with them! Our first semester went so well that we are now in talks to create a year-long project!” – Brandon Bahr, co-founder and chief operating officer, TM38
“From emails, phone calls & an in-person meeting, everything went very smooth and
the team produced a solid result. In addition, on their own they conducted a research project that showed how willing they were to go above and beyond expectations.” -Joe Heller, vice president of marketing, Philadelphia Flyers
Participating students love Cherry Consulting because it provides them with an opportunity to gain real-world experience. For some students, Cherry Consulting has led to internships and full-time job opportunities.
Cherry Consulting works with Philadelphia-based businesses, large and small. We love working with Temple University organizations. Any interested parties may reach out to the current co-directors, Brittney Pescatore and Chris Dignen.
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