MSBA Students Meet Advisory Board Mentors

The Catholic University School of Business Advisory Board met recently to discuss the School's Mission, Vision and Values.  Following an update of the Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) and Master of Science in Business Analysis (MSBA) programs, a reception was held with the current MSBA class.  Advisory Board members serve as individual mentors for the graduate students. 


The mentor program is one of the most popular features of the MSBA program.  We appreciate the time and dedication these busy executives give to helping our students.

Stewart McHie
Director, Master of Science in Business Analysis
mchie@cua.edu

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The Economic Message of Pope Francis" "Evangeli Gaudium"

By Andrew Abela, Dean of the School of Business and Economics
The Catholic University of America

The Pope’s recent Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium has some provocative things to say about the economy.  Dean Abela comments on the Pope’s words in the National Catholic Register. 

“Too narrow a focus by some commentators on  the economic aspects of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) risks hiding the unity of the Holy Father’s challenge to Catholics.

Francis wants the joy that “fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus” (1) to spread through evangelization, with a renewed effort to serve the poor (48). He gives us both principled and pragmatic reasons for prioritizing this concern for the poor. First, because God wills it (187). Second, because this would be the “‘the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the Kingdom’” (199; quoting Blessed John Paul II). Imagine the powerful impact and witness of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world working diligently and daily to improve the lives of the poor. Third, the inequality and lost productivity of the poor is a drag on the growth of the global economy and will lead to further economic crises (202).

He asks us not only to perform “small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter,” but also to “work to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor” (188).

What are these structural causes, and how do we eliminate them?”   Read more here.

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An Oh-So-Brief Brief On Digital Money

By Kelly Campbell, Founder and CEO of Campbell Wealth Management, Alexandria, VA

If you read or watched the news during the past few months, you may already know this, but there has been an explosion of interest in digital money. That’s the reason you may be hearing and reading about dozens of companies that are rushing to coin virtual currency that has real value. It just seems so 21st Century, doesn’t it?

Odds are you’ve already used digital money. For example, you used it the last time you

purchased something online. Digital money is what we use when we pay or are paid electronically. Think smart phones and credit cards. Digital money is not tangible; however, it is possible to convert digital money that is part of a large centralized banking system into paper money by making a withdrawal from an ATM.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve is responsible for maintaining the integrity of U.S. bills and coins by setting monetary policy. Digital currency companies offer a parallel currency universe; a means of transferring electronic money from one person to another without using traditional banking or money-transfer systems.

Digital money companies appear to be delivering American economist Milton Friedman’s dream, according to The Economist. Years ago, Friedman suggested the Federal Reserve be abolished and replaced by an automated system that would increase money supply at a steady, pre-set rate. He believed such a system would better control inflation, making spending and investment decisions more certain. The Economist article said:

“In theory, then, the system ought to keep a lid on inflation – making it attractive to critics of interventionist monetary policy of the sort practiced since 2008 by America's Federal Reserve under the label quantitative easing… It offers other apparent benefits, too. The currency can be used by anyone (unlike credit cards, for instance), anywhere. Transaction costs are also likely to be lower than those for traditional payment systems, though these are not in fact zero…”

The Economist goes on to point out a key difference between central-bank-controlled currencies (which often offer both bills and coins and digital currencies) and digital currency companies is the former are backed by a country’s regulations and laws; the latter are answerable to online communities using the currencies.

Kelly Campbell
Founder and CEO, Campbell Wealth Management
Alexandria, Va.

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Professor Brian Engelland Wins Lifetime Marketing Award

Brian Engelland was tapped as this year’s winner of the Lifetime Marketing Contributor award by the Society for Marketing Advances. The award was announced November 1^st by the society’s president, Dr. Christopher Hopkins, at Hilton Head, South Carolina, in conjunction with the society’s 51^st annual meeting. 

In announcing the award, Dr. Hopkins said, “I don’t know anyone who has done more for the field of marketing at all levels than Brian Engelland.  As a marketing executive, he launched hundreds of products that have made life better for consumers; as an educator, he has inspired thousands of marketing students; and as a dedicated scholar, he has helped spread advances in marketing across America and around the world. All of us in the society continue to benefit from his mentorship.”

Engelland’s research focuses on issues in marketing management, measurement, and education. He has authored over seventy refereed publications and four books, won nine best paper awards, six teaching awards, and been named as a fellow of the Marketing Management Association

Dr. Engelland is better known at The Catholic University of America as a Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of the School of Business and Economics. During the MSBA class of 2014’s orientation Professor Engelland ran a case study workshop involving Walmart coming to Washington, D.C. Prior to becoming an academic, he was a product development executive and served in a series of leadership positions for two Fortune 500 corporations.

We are proud of Brian's many contributions to the field of marketing, The Catholic University of America and particularly the MSBA program.

Stewart McHie
Director, Master of Science in Business Analysis
mchie@cua.edu

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