The University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration faculty haven taken a lead role in organizing the Nagoya 2009 International Conference on Business, Economics and Information Technology, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Nagoya, Japan on March 9^th and 10^th 2009. This year’s conference theme is “Doing Business in the Global Economy: Economic, Political, Social and Cultural Environments”. Taking the lead in organizing and chairing this conference are co-chairs Dr. Maria Claret M. Ruane and Dr. James J. Taylor of the University of Guam’s School of Business and Public Administration, together with co-chairs Dr. Barbara Wiens-Tuers of Penn State Altoona’s Division of Business and Public Administration, and Dr. Akihiro Noguchi of Nagoya University’s Economic Research Center. The UOG SBPA, Penn State Altoona-Division of Business and Engineering, the Alumni Association of the Nagoya University’s School of Economics (KITANKAI) and DAIKO Foundation are sponsoring the conference.

Nagoya 2009 is the latest in a series of annual international conferences aimed at providing a venue for scholarly interactions among academics, researchers, business people, government officials and students. It is the third conference that UOG SBPA has sponsored and organized, beginning with Guam (2007) and Hanoi, Vietnam (2008). Information on Nagoya 2009 can be found on http://www.altoona.psu.edu/icbeit, and on past conference by clicking on “Conference Archives”. Our group prides itself in supporting and encouraging each other’s scholarly contributions.

Nagoya 2009 is truly an International Conference, with almost 80 participants in each of the two days of conference. Participants will come from: U.S., Japan, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Ecuador, Vietnam, and Guam.

By design, the conference series encourages collaborative efforts with multiple universities, including at least one university from the city where the conference will be held. In the past these efforts and the relationships they create have extended beyond the conference, developing opportunities that mutually benefit the institutions involved and the faculty, students and administrations affiliated with these institutions. Past conference partners have included Alfred University’s College of Business, Vietnam National University’s Hanoi School of Business, and the University of the Philippines’ School of Economics.

The Nagoya 2009 Conference will be similar to previous conferences in supporting SBPA’s mission “to excel as the regional center for education, developing socially responsible professionals and leaders for business and government…” The Nagoya 2009 will highlight the importance of the global environment in doing businesses, and how we at UOG can design strategy to strengthen Guam’s regional and global position. Faculty participants from SBPA will be able to enhance their understanding of these global factors bringing back from the conference to their students and colleagues new knowledge and experience. Only by increasing our understanding of Guam’s regional and global position can we fully carry out our mission at UOG as a land-grant institution.

Nagoya 2009 will also provide additional opportunities for faculty-student scholarly collaboration as well as give students the experience of participating as paper writers, presenters and active participants. Presentations by the SBPA team will be as follows:

Dr. Filomena M. Cantoria

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“Minority Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements: A SURVEY”

Dr. Elizabeth E. Foma

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACTS OF 1933 AND 1934 AND THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002: HAVE THEY ACHIEVED THEIR PURPOSE?”

Dr. Ronald L. McNinch

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“CONVENIENCE SAMPLING IN FINITE AND STATIC POPULATIONS: THE 2008 GUAM USA ELECTIONS, SOCIAL OPINION ASSESSMENT AND TREND DEVELOPMENT (A RESEARCH NOTE)”

Dr. Maria Claret M. Ruane

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“INCOME DISTRIBUTION ON GUAM”, co-authored with Dr. Ning Li, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Dr. Annette Taijeron Santos

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“Going Green: The Impact on Higher Education Institutions”

Dr. Annette Taijeron Santos

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“Virtual Leadership: A green possibility in critical times but can it really work?”, co-authored with Dr. Richard S. Colfax, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam, and Ms. Joann Diego, Yamashita Educator Corps, University of Guam

Dr. James J. Taylor

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

“130/30 Investment Strategies: Hedging in a Classroom Setting”

Dr. Ansito Walter

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Dr. Marilyn C. Salas

Center of Excellence for Chamorro Language, University of Guam

“The Underserved Micronesians in Guam: On Becoming Contributing Members of a 21st Century Guam Global Economy”

Dr. Karri T. Perez

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Ms. Kathy Dote

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Ms. Juliet Damian

School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Mr. Mitchell Taylor

Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech

Mr. Allen Dickens

College of Business and Economics, Radford University

“Business Culture on GUAM AND SAIPAN: Deriving Hofstede's Scores”, co-authored with Mr. Chip Brown, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam and Ashley Moffat, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam

Among the papers above, two papers (by Dr. Santos and by Dr. Colfax, Dr. Santos and Ms. Diego) feature a “green” theme; one paper (by Dr. Perez et al.) represents faculty-student research collaboration; and three papers (by Dr. McNinch, by Dr. Ruane and Dr. Li, and by Dr. Walter and Dr. Salas) are specifically about Guam, while the remaining papers (by Dr. Cantoria, Dr. Foma, and Dr. Taylor) are aimed at pedagogical improvements.

There will also be presentations by other UOG participants outside of SBPA, including

Dr. Helen Noyes Downey

School of Nursing, University of Guam

“COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR STUDENT ADVISING”

Dr. Ye-Kyoung Kim

School of Education, University of Guam

“TOURISM AND PEDAGOGY IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: A DUAL-LINGUISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS OF A CREDIT CARD USE ONLINE IN NORTH ASIA”

Dr. Amy Owen

Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, University of Guam

“Globalization Impacts on Pacific Cultures: Local Perception and Response to US military Build-up on Guam”

Ms. Leah Beth O. Naholowaa

Career Development Center, University of Guam

“ONLINE COURSE DELIVERY: AN ALTERNATIVE IN TEACHER CERTIFICATION”, co-authored with Dr. Lourdes M. Ferrer, University of Guam

Like previous conferences, Nagoya 2009 will also provide UOG faculty with the opportunity for publication in the conference proceedings and in an academic journal. Both of these are subject to a double-blind, peer-review process. Papers that are accepted for journal publication will appear in the highly regarded Allied Academies’ Journal of International Business Research. This scholarship supports UOG’s efforts to maintain its WASC accreditation and the SBPA’s application for IACBE accreditation. Scholars from multiple academic institutions serve in the journal editorial review board under the editorial leadership of Dr. Ruane and Dr. Taylor of SBPA and Dr. Wiens-Tuers of Penn State Altoona.

Nagoya 2009 also offers the opportunity for UOG through SBPA, to become more visible internationally and to display the University’s success as an academic institution, despite a relatively small size. Feedback from past conference participants highlights admiration for how a relatively small academic unit like SBPA has been able to actively organize and deliver a successful, well-attended, international conference. These positive impressions help elevate UOG’s reputation as a truly excellent university in the Western Pacific. This is particularly remarkable in light of the fact that most of the participants have not heard of UOG prior to attending the conference. Supporting this effort, promotional materials for both UOG and SBPA, those including the “Go UOG Green” initiatives, will be on display throughout the two-day conference.

Following the two-day conference in Nagoya will be a three-day study tour of the Toyota Motors plant near Nagoya, as well as places of educational importance in Nagoya, Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, and Hakone. Joining this study tour is SBPA student, Mr. Joseph Conolly, who is pursuing a Business Administration major, Finance-Economics concentration.