globalEDGE Business Beat

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on current trends and issues in international business and trade. Bruce Keillor is the guest. He is Professor, Chair of the Department of Marketing, and a core leader of the Williamson Center for International Business at Youngstown State University. Bruce has been tackling international trade issues for several decades; he elaborates on his current take of international trade and global engagement; what the U.S. needs to do to become even more competitive globally than it is now; and if the country should agree to more trade agreements with potential country partners.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on Ray Tadgerson’s involvement for several decades in building the infrastructure in the Greater Lansing area. Ray Tadgerson is President and CEO of Tadgerson Consulting, and former President and CEO of C2AE, known then as Capital Consultants. Ray provides a brief history of his involvement in infrastructure for the Lansing region as an engineer and later as CEO of Capital Consultants - now known as C2AE. Ray talks about his most significant infrastructure projects in the region, and what keeps him busy these days.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on global innovation research. Many companies thrive on being innovative, and some parts of the world even has more innovative companies (and countries) than others. In this segment, we focus on idea generation and implementation of innovative ideas from the angle of state-of-the-art business practice. John Sztykiel, Founder of Created-to-C and former CEO of Spartan Motors is our guest. Created-to-C (www.createdtoc.com/) is a company John Sztykiel started with his wife Joni to help, create, and incubate ideas from various people and companies along the innovation path to success.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on customer satisfaction as a driver of stock returns. Claes Fornell, Chairman of the CFI Group (cfigroup.com) and Founder of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (theacsi.org), is the guest. Tomas and Claes discuss why stock returns on customer satisfaction beat the market based on recent research they published in the Journal of Marketing (September 2016). Claes also elaborates on why some people are skeptical about the abnormal returns on customer satisfaction and why they should not be. He also discusses his viewpoints regarding “A healthy economy has satisfied consumers… (and) a healthy company has satisfied customers.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on current issues regarding international trade, trade agreements, negotiating trade agreements, and what areas of the world thrive by engaging in trade agreements. Jean Schtokal, Senior International Trade Lawyer at Foster Swift, a major law firm headquartered in Michigan, is the guest sharing her expertise on international trade.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses the new campus wide entrepreneurship program at Michigan State University. Started as a minor in the Eli Broad College of Business, the entrepreneurship program is now available throughout campus and provided in collaboration with all 17 colleges at Michigan State University. The guest for this segment isNeil Kane. He is the inaugural Director of Undergraduate Entrepreneurship at Michigan State University. He talks about current activities in the entrepreneurship program; why there is a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation; and how students can get plugged in.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on the American Marketing Association (AMA). AMA is the largest association in the world for professionals interested in marketing as a business field. AMA has both academic and practitioner members, more than 30,000 in total. Tomas Hult and Matt Weingarden, Senior Manager of AMA, dialogue about the uniqueness of AMA, why people should be members, and tie that to Matt’s background as a graduate of Michigan State University.

Tomas continues to speak with MichiganBusinessNetwork.com CEO Chris Holman; they discuss the importance of international trade and global competitiveness in Michigan.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on the current work of Dr. Roger Calantone, one of only a select few so-called University Distinguished Professors at Michigan State University. Roger gives us an update on what he is researching right now; his work with the National Science Foundation which relates to MSU’s world-leading FRIB program; he also talks about why MSU is a great place to be a professor.

Tomas speaks with Sten Sjoberg, chief operating officer of Demmer Corporation based in Lansing, MI; they discuss target countries for international trade and exporting for small businesses in Michigan.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on Sweden and a dialogue with Sten Sjoberg about the uniqueness, in many respects, of Sweden as a country, society, and economically solid part of the world. Interestingly, Sweden has come up regularly in the election cycle of the USA.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on the Greater Lansing community and its globalization of infrastructure, products, services, and people in the last decade. Sheri Jones, Anchor and Reporter for WLNS-TV Channel 6, a CBS affiliate in the Central Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and Tomas Hult dialogue about Lansing from Sheri’s vantage point as a person always in the know about local news, trends, and people.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on incentivizing participation in voluntary green programs. Michael Giebelhausen, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Cornell University, is the expert guest. Recent research by Tomas and Michael shows that incentivizing participation in voluntary green programs has both logical and not so obvious implications. Michael elaborates on what is meant by “adjusting the warm-glow thermostat” and why companies are becoming “greener” in their strategic thinking.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on Created-to-C (www.createdtoc.com), a new company founded by John and Joni Sztykiel and located in Old Town, Lansing, Michigan. John Sztykiel is the guest on the show. He is former CEO of Spartan Motors. Created-to-C is a unique and important “incubator-type” company in Michigan focused on to helping, creating, and incubating ideas from various people and companies along the innovation path to success.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on customer satisfaction as viewed by both company managers and its customers. Forrest Morgeson, Director of Research of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (theacsi.org) is the guest. Recent research by Tomas and Forrest shows that managers may not know what their customers think and or why. Forrest elaborates on the core takeaways from this research, and why companies need to care and need to do much better in understanding their customers.

Hosted by Tomas Hult, this interview segment of the globalEDGE Business Beat focuses on Vector Marketing Corporation and their leading product Cutco knifes. Cutco is the largest manufacturer of kitchen cutlery in North America, and Vector Marketing is the primary seller of Cutco knifes. The guest is Helen Brown, Academic Outreach Manager of Vector Marketing. Helen and Tomas discuss Vector Marketing Corporation and what they do. They also talk about student employment at Vector Marketing and how a student can get involved.