Kirk Smith, Nancy Napier (seated from left)

Two Boise State business professors recently offered a “train the trainer” course to Vietnamese consultants and educators in Hanoi and Nha Trang (in south Vietnam) on how to provide training to small- and medium-sized firms.

Kirk Smith, associate dean for executive education and head of the Executive MBA program in the College of Business and Economics, along with international business professor Nancy Napier offered training to two groups – about 20 people in Hanoi and 25 in Nha Trang – on how to sell training programs, how to facilitate training and how to write and use business cases in their training.

The participants were consultants and university educators who will be part of a Danish-funded capacity building project to help small business owners become exporters. The project involves training the trainers, who in turn will deliver much of their subsequent training to small business owners in the provinces outside of the large cities.

The executive training session followed a weeklong residency and “trade mission” of sorts in Hanoi by Boise State’s Executive MBA participants as part of the program’s international component. The group studied the country’s rapidly emerging economy, met with U.S. embassy and Vietnamese government officials and explored possible business opportunities with a number of both private and government-run enterprises.

More information about the trip can be found at http://boisestateinvietnam.wordpress.com/.

Samia Islam

November’s Fettuccine Forum will feature two local economists and their take on “Our Great Recession.”

David Eberle, Boise city councilman and economist, will host the discussion with Samia Islam, a professor of economics at Boise State, on Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Rose Room at 718 W. Idaho Street in downtown Boise. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the presentation at 5:30 p.m. Free appetizers will be served and fettuccine will be available for $6, catered by Life’s Kitchen.

Eberle, a native of Boise, operates his own economic consulting firm and is a small business owner. He has a doctorate in economics from the University of Nebraska and has taught economics courses at Boise State and College of Idaho. He is the author of several articles for The Western Planner and the Association of Idaho Cities.

Islam joined the Department of Economics at Boise State as an assistant professor in 2004. She received her doctorate from West Virginia University the same year, focusing on urban and regional economics. Islam serves on several Boise and Treasure Valley planning committees.

The Fettuccine Forum is a free public lecture series on First Thursdays during Boise State’s academic year. Lively and informal, the monthly event invites the public to interact with politicians, artists, historians, activists, advocates and professionals in an effort to promote good citizenship and responsible growth through education.

The Fettuccine Forum is produced by the Boise City Department of Arts & History in conjunction with Boise State’s College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs, with support from Park Lane Management and other sponsors.

This month’s forum includes a companion workshop taught by Eberle Nov. 5-7 titled “Boise’s Urban Core: Past Problems, Future Trends.” Workshops are offered for graduate and undergraduate credit. Register at www.broncoweb.edu. For more information contact nancytacke@boisestate.edu

The next Forum will be Feb. 4 and will feature Carter McNichol discussing “Streetcar Architecture: Portland’s Transit-friendly Downtown.”

Robert Minch, Senior Professor in COBE’s Information Technology and Supply Chain Management Department, will be presenting October 13 at the Future Tech Idaho 2009. His presentation is titled, The Role Of Classical IT In Education Today and will be held at 10:00 AM.

This all day seminar will be held at Boise State University, Student Union Building – Jordan Hall.

COBE Dean Patrick Shannon is a Steering Committee Member of this event.

For more information and a complete listing of events go to the Future Tech Idaho 2009 website.

Sandy Gough was unanimously selected for induction into The Business Strategy Game Hall of Fame as a Master Professor. Out of more than 4,000 registered BSG instructors, Sandy and 13 others have achieved Master Professor status by having one or more Grand Champion teams in the Best-Strategy Invitational competition for August of 2009.

Craig Carter, Tom Gattiker and Lisa Ellram

The Journal of Supply Chain Management recently announced the winner of the 2008 Harold E. Fearon Best Paper Award. Tom Gattiker’s winning paper is titled: ‘‘Structure-Infrastructure Alignment: The Relationship between TQM Orientation and the Adoption of Supplier-Facing Electronic Commerce among Manufacturers.” Xiaowen Huang and Roger Schroeder were co-authors on the paper.

The winning paper was chosen by a subcommittee of the Journal’s Associate Editors. This year’s subcommittee members were Amelia Carr, Phil Evers, Britta Gammelgaard, and Larry Giunipero. The other finalists for the 2008 Award were:

‘‘Strategic Alignment and Purchasing Efficacy: An Exploratory Analysis of Their Impact on Financial Performance” Christian Baier, Evi Hartmann, and Roger Moser

‘‘The Information Technology Capability of Third-Party Logistics Providers: A Resource-Based View and Empirical Evidence from China” Fujan Lai, Dahui Li, Qiang Wang, and Xiande Zhao

‘‘Development of Cooperative Norms in the Buyer-Supplier Relationship: The Chinese Experience” Shaohan Cai and Zhilin Young

‘‘Supplier Innovativeness and the Role of Interorganizational Learning in Enhancing Manufacturer Capabilities” Arash Azadegan, Kevin J. Dooley, Phillip L. Carter and Joseph R. Carter.

The Harold E. Fearon Best Paper Award is generously funded by the Institute for Supply Management. This year’s Award was presented at the Journal of Supply Chain Management Reception at the Academy of Management Conference in Chicago, Illinois on August 8, 2009.

To see this paper go to 2008 Harold E. Fearon Best Paper Award.

Beginning in the fall of 2008, Idaho Universities have been eligible to apply for participation in this program which assigns technologies developed (and protected) by INL scientists and engineers. The general purpose is for Idaho students to first, understand the technologies assigned; second, to develop market feasibility information; and third, to develop and recommend partners for further development and possible licensing.

Boise State’s MBA team, consisting of Michael Brand, Stephanie Wicks, and Anne Wimer, was recognized at TechLaunch 6.0 as the leader in the program for its work this last year. The team was coached and mentored by COBE Management Professor, Sandy Gough. “I was particularly pleased with the students that volunteered to take part, and the quality of their completed effort given the time restrictions,” said Professor Gough.

For more information on this project, view Idaho Ideas to Market Program(I2M) description.

The award, established in honor of John Lawler, former Journal editor and AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) Senior Vice-President, consists of a $500 cash prize and an award. It recognizes the author(s) of the best article published in the Journal during the twelve months ending with the December issue, as determined by the magazine’s editorial advisers.

The winning article was co-authored with Paul Miller, Professor of Accountancy, and Brian McAllister, Assistant Professor of Accountancy, both at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

A Boise State team of Jacob Donahoo, Rachel Alverson, and Heleena Burton finished third and another team of Andrea Buss, Alexandra Alvarez, and Jennifer Wolf finished fifth of nine teams. Megan Stradley was an alternate. Decateur Reed, adjunct faculty in the Boise State Management Department, was the coach. James Pendergrass, President of the HRA headed the conference organization effort.

California State Stanislaus won the competition by defeating last year’s champs Fresno State in the finals. University of Nevada Reno won the Collegiality Award. Universities attending include California State Stanislaus, Nevada-Reno, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State, Western Washington, Idaho State, and Boise State.

Team Members and Coaches Pictured (left to right):

Front Row : Rachel Alverson (in orange), Angela Knassis (in black), Megan Stradley, Jennifer Wolf

Back Row: Decateur Reed (coach), Ryan Wilkins, Jake Donahoo, Alexandra Alvarez, Andrea Buss, Heleena Burton, James Wanek (advisor), Gundars Kaupins (advisor), James Pendergrass (HRA President)

Slideshow from HR Games