PhD | Student Experiences

Student Experiences Find your place at the Merage School

There are a variety of opportunities beyond the classroom for students to expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge, as well as to share their own research with others. 

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A forum for interaction among faculty, students, and visitors interested in new ideas and applications to the fields of business and management.

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The PhD Brown Bag presentations are organized by the PhD Program Office and they offer an opportunity for our doctoral students and faculty to exchange ideas on current issues and developments in their area of specialization. Topics and discussions have included:   

  • "When the Doctor Speaks: How the Source of Information Impacts Consumers' Perceptions of Side Effect Information" - Jesse Catlin
  • "'Online-to-Store' Channel on Demand Allocation, Online Pricing and Profitability" - James Cao with Professors Rick So and Shuya Yin
  • "Career Concerns for Knowledge Workers" - Frank MacCrory
  • "Asset Transfer in IT Outsourcing Contracts: Why do Client Firms Limit Their Own Options?" - David Zeng with Professors Vijay Gurbaxani and Shivendu Shivendu
  • "Energy at Work: An Investigation of Relational Energy in Organizations" - Dana McDaniel
  • "Search under Earnings Pressure: Evidence from the US M&A Market" - Yu Zhang
  •  “Connecting with Consumers via Emotional Ad Appeals: The Influence of Motivation, Purity of Emotion, and Ad Layout” – Loraine Lau-Gesk and Joan Meyers-Levy
  • “Subprime Lending and the Housing Bubble: Tail Wags Dog?” – Major Coleman IV, Michael LaCour-Little, Kerry Vandell
  • “Strategic Customer Behavior, Commitment, and Supply Chain Performance” – Fuqiang Zhang
  • “Shaping Up For Performance Impacts of Information Technology: The Role of Corporate Governance” – Joanna Ho
  • “Preference Functions for Decisions with Geographically- Varying Attributes” – L. Robin Keller
  • “The Team Negotiation Challenge: An Inductive Study of Negotiating Teams Rationally” – Kristin Behfar
  • “Consumer’s Search Behavior and Their Propensity to Buy:  A Study of Internet Users on Popular Hi-Tech Website” – Ofer Mintz, Imran Currim, Ivan Jeliazkov (Assistant Professor of Economics, UC Irvine)
  • “Founding the Future: The Evolution of Teams from Founding to IPO” – Christine Beckman
  • “The Performance of Emerging Hedge Fund Managers” -  Philippe Jorion and Raj Aggarwal
  • “Insurance Mandates and Mammography” – Christopher Carpenter and Marianne Bitler (Associate Professor of Economics, UC Irvine)
  • "Big Data in Consumer Choice: A Scalable Bayesian Approach" - Rico Bumbaca
  • "Target's Learning in M&A Negotiations" - Qiguang Wang
  • "Distances and Brands in Local Search Analytics" - Yi-Jen Ho
  • "The Logistics of Identify: Institutional logics in the emergence of a new organizational form" - Harsh Jha
  •  "Content Pricing Strategy under Dual Medium Access" - Ran Zhang
  • "Subjectivity in Employee Performance Rating and Promotion Decisions: The Analysis of Job Levels" - Paula Hao
  • "A Test of the Role of Behavioral Factors for Asset Pricing"  - Lin Sun

Professional academic associations aim to nurture and support doctoral students in their professional aspirations in academia. Our students are encouraged to attend annual conferences in their area of study for the networking opportunities, to facilitate the learning and exchange of research ideas and papers, and to celebrate member leadership and professional academic accomplishments.

A sample list of conferences that our doctoral students are members of and/or have attended include:

Each Spring, this yearly event provides a forum for our students to showcase their work and share their current research endeavors with the UCI community. Research Fest consists of a collegial, walk-around style inclusive of posters sessions. Its success is attributed to the enthusiastic involvement of our PhD student participants! 

Past presenters and topics shown below:

Name Area Topic of Paper
Akdevelioglu, Duygu Marketing

"Cultural Approach to Tie Strength: Understanding Social Media Fitness Motivation Communities" (poster 1)


"Representation of Self Through Virtual Consumption"  (poster 2  with Gizem Kurt, Visiting Scholar at UCI)

Autry, Gregory Economics/Public Policy "Government Influence on Community Emergence"
Bai, Jiaru Operations & Decision Technologies "A Queueing Model Arising from Managing Small Projects under Uncertainties"
Balkanska, Daniela Finance "Disposition Effect and Heterogeneous Beliefs"
Beck, Joseph Strategy "Strategic and Environmental Complexity and the Decision to Divest"
Bumbaca, Rico Marketing "Big Data in Consumer Choice: Scalable Bayesian Hierarchical Model Estimation"
Chen, Novia Accounting "Analyst Monitoring, Information Asymmetry, and Tax Planning Activities: Evidence from a Natural Experiment"
Chen, Steven Marketing "Worlds of Design: Design Values, Design Orientation and Problem Solving"
Choi, Ryan Marketing "Fuel Surcharge Pricing: Theory and Practice"
Cross, Samantha Marketing "The Creolization of Family and Society: When Tradition Meets Innovation"
Dibble, Rebekah Organization & Management "Adjusting to Environmental Adversity by Establishing Institutional Relationships"
Feng, Tianjun Operations & Decision Technologies “The Impact of Modular Assembly on Supply Chain Efficiency" 
Ho, Yi-Jen Information Systems

"Distance on Screens vs. Distance on Steps: An Empirical Study of Mobile Local Search" (poster 1)

 

"Online Cashback Platform: A New Affiliate Marketing Model"

Hojjat, Ali Operations & Decision Technologies

"Delivering Guaranteed Display Ads Under Reach and Frequency Requirements"  (poster 1)

 

"Real-Time Policies for the Allocation of Online Guaranteed Targeted Display Advertising" (poster 2)

Huynh, Candice Operations & Decision Technologies

"The Impact Risk Attitude has on the Retailer's and Supplier's Operational Strategies under a VMI Contract" (poster 1)

"Risk Attitude for Means Objective"  (poster 2)

Jamro, Konrad Organization & Management

"Cultural Values and the Relationship Between Income Inequality and Generated Trust" (poster 1)

 

"Dimensionality of Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A rejoinder to the meta-analyses" (poster 2)

Jha, Harsh Organization & Management

"State and Change in Established Professions - A Heterogeneity Based Analysis"  (poster 1)

 

" Institutional Logics and Founding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: An Analysis of California Charter School Petitions"  (poster 2)

Leonhardt, James Marketing

"Chinese Migrant Workers Adoption of Urban Consumer Habits" (poster 1)

"The Name-Control Effect in Consumer Judgment and Decision Making" (poster 2)

"Parents and Pictographs: Probability Format Affects Perceived Vaccine Risk"  (poster 3)

Li, Qin Accounting "The Stock Market Valuation of Information on Non-Technological Innovation: Evidence from New Trademarks"
Liu, Shaoxuan Operations & Decision Technologies "The Effect of Supply Reliability in a Retail Setting with Joint Marketing and Inventory Decisions"
MacCrory, Frank Information Systems "Strategies for Managing the Onshore Workforce in Offshore Environments"
Mitchell, Scott Strategy

"Pain at the Pump:  Organizational Form, Firm Size, and Competitive Intensity"  (poster 1)

 

"The Price is Right: Cognitive and Organizational Influences on Strategic Pricing Decisions"  (poster 2)

 

"What Shortens Horizon? A Multi-Theory Test" (poster 3)

Nadeem, Waqar Marketing (Visiting Scholar at UCI) "Facebook Shopping: Friend or Foe"
Nelson, Russ Marketing

"Financially Constrained: When You Feel Stuck with Your Debt, Just Budge It"  (poster 1)

 

"Market creation as social movement: Kogi BBQ's founding of the gourmet food truck market" (poster 2)

Nye, Zachary Finance "Improved Volatility Forecasting Using Predetermined Macroeconomic Announcement Dates"
Pirouz, Dante Marketing "Neural Response to Addictive Advertising Cues:  A Pilot fMRI Study"
Ramaprasad, Rottner, and Davis (Multiple Areas) "Balancing Economic and Environmental Sustainability in Rural India" 
Ramaprasad, Jui Operations & Decision Technologies "Consumer Blogging, Music Sampling and Sales: Understanding Music Consumption in Light of the Long Tail"
Rao, Alaka Organization & Management "Global Outstanding Relationships: Testing the Effects of Market versus Cultural Congruence on Outsourcing Performance"
Ravindran, Kiron Information Systems "Asset Specificity in Information Technology Outsourcing: The Role of Contracts in Mitigating Ex-Post Opportunism"
Rottner, Renee Organization & Management "Managing Uncertainty Over Time in a Multi-Decade NASA Project"
San Jose, Kristen Marketing "Politically Correct Luxury: Emerging Trend in the Luxury Market"
Simon, Jay Operations & Decision Technologies "Cross-Disciplinary Analyses Using Multi-Attribute Utility Theory"
Sottile, Pedro Finance "On the Political Determinants of the Argentinean Sovereign Risk: Evidence from Cointegration"
Steinberger, Thomas Strategy "Designing Situated, Embodied Action: Artisanal and Chain Korean Rice Bowls"
Sun, Lin Finance "A Test of the Role of Behavioral Factors on Asset Pricing Models"
Toll, Alex Organization and Management

"Building Local Community through the Web: A Women's Book Club in the Age of Social Media" (poster 1)

 

"The Paradox of Popularity" (poster 2)

 

"Can We Get on the Same Page?" (poster 3)

Wang, Liangyan Marketing "Experiments to Address Controversies Regarding Reference Group Messages in Entertainment Education Programs"
Washburn, Mark Strategy "Comparing Models of Social and Self Referent Aspirations"
Yang, Brian Finance "Size and Connectedness Anomalies in U.S. Bank Stock Returns"
Yoon, Kelly Marketing "Do People Talk to Others Who Are Like Them?" The Positive Impact of Interpersonal Similarity in an Online Health Community"
Zhou, Zhizhong Information Systems "Lock-in Customers and Lock-out Competitors- Does it Benefit Proprietary Software Providers?"