Editor's note: This faculty profile is from UNCW’s ‘We Are UNCW’ series and was posted on September 5, but has been updated for accuracy.

When Stephen Harper officially retired at the end of the spring 2018 semester, his career at UNCW spanned six chancellors, four deans and more than 40 years of teaching students the finer points of business and entrepreneurship. Coincidentally, Harper, the Duke Energy/Betty Cameron Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Cameron School of Business, celebrated his 70th birthday just two months after UNCW observed the 70th anniversary of the date it first opened its doors, Sept. 4, 1947.

Guest Blogger: Heather McWhorter, Regional Director, Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC)

Depending on the size of your small to mid-sized business, you may be the CEO, CFO, COO, CHRO, CTO, and more. Managing a small to mid-sized business is difficult – but you don’t have to do it alone. Tap into passionate, experienced professionals and colleagues that can help you to address critical management issues, while enabling your business grow and thrive.

Guest Blogger: Robert Burrus, Ph.D., Dean, Cameron School of Business

This time last year, I took the opportunity to write about Cameron’s partnerships with - and impact - in the community. This year, I would like to explore Cameron’s partnerships and impact in the world.
 
A quick look through Cameron’s current Strategic Plan, as well as UNCW’s Strategic Plan, UNCW’s Vision Statement, Cameron’s Mission Statement and other planning documents, it is easy to find the strategic initiative of having a “global mindset.” 
 

Guest Blogger: Teresa Walker, Director of Work Practice at the Cameron School of Business

This month, the population of Wilmington will grow by thousands…almost overnight! Wilmington is one of the fortunate cities to be home to several post-secondary educational institutions made up of young professionals seeking knowledge and experience.

Guest Blogger: Dr. Pete Schuhmann, Professor of Economics, Cameron School of Business

In May 2017, Dr. Schuhmann and two other colleagues completed an economic report on the effect of degradation of coastal and marine resources on Barbados tourism. The information below is from the summary of their report. Click here access the full report.

Guest Blogger: Dr. Donald Barnes, Associate Professor of Marketing, Cameron School of Business

Customer satisfaction is no longer enough to ensure profitable customer relationships. Satisfied customers are not loyal or willing to tell others about your business and how great it is; they are simply satisfied. Their expectations were met. Why would they tell anyone about that?
 

(Photo: Dr. Bill Sackley with students in the Financial Trading Room of the Computer Information Systems building)

Guest Blogger: Dr. Cetin Ciner, professor of finance at the Cameron School of Business 

Stock prices, if determined in rational and operationally efficient markets, should reflect future profits. Since the earnings of corporations should be highly correlated with economic activity, stock-price changes should reflect the market’s expectations of economic growth.

Guest Blogger: Dr. Peter Schuhmann, Professor of Economics, Cameron School of Business

What is clean air worth? Is clean water good for the economy? Do parks, wetlands, beaches and coral reefs have real economic value? 

These are important and timely questions to consider as politicians and policymakers debate the merits of environmental protection.  Arguments for scaling back environmental regulations often include suggestions that environmental protection limits “free” market forces, increases costs to businesses, results in less economic activity and causes the economy to preform worse than it would if such regulations were absent.  

New Potato Technologies will be launching their latest product, the Brio Coaster, to the Wilmington community in June. Worked on by a team including four UNCW alumni (Chris Sumner, James Smith, Alan Linz and Amanda Harman) and two Cameron School of Business alumnae (Kellie McLiverty and Corinne Conto, IMBA), this 'smart' coaster is designed to alert you via your phone if someone tampers with your drink while you're away from it.

Guest Blogger: JoAnn Toscano, visiting instructor at the Cameron School of Business and Cameron Executive Network mentor

In the past, companies have had the luxury of more time to adapt to change than that which is quickly becoming the standard today. In fact, on the technology front, many believe we are outpacing Moore’s Law, which states that technological processing power will likely double in as few as 18 months.