School of Business and Economics

The Great Lakes and their broader ecosystems help shape the industries, recreation, and culture of the people who live near them. The activities of those residents, in turn, affect the lakes and their ability to provide economic services. Associate Professor of Natural Resource Economics, Dr. William S. Breffle, is conducting research that examines the long-term environmental and economic impact of human activity on the Great Lakes environment. Dr. Breffle said he and his team of researchers hope that, ultimately, the research will aid in the development of policy management tools that sustain and protect the environmental and human-use services provided by these critical resources.

Dr. Soonkwan Hong’s research focuses on sociocultural and ideological aspects of consumption, which should better facilitate our understanding of a variety of consumption praxes, consumers’ lived experiences, and stylization of their lives. More specifically, such research illuminates consumers’ non-dialectical identity projects and their transformation into surrogate marketers, whom Dr. Hong and other scholars in the field refer to cyborgian consumers.

A multitude of reality-engineering/truth-making is witnessed in the current market system. Thus, Dr. Hong will continue to theorize about the new perspective of the consumer-market dynamics, as polyvalent power relations, to which consumers as “critical” constituents of the system constantly make sociocultural contributions.

In collaboration with the Sustainable Futures Institute at Michigan Tech, Dr. Graman serves on a team of researchers dedicated to establishing a supply chain solution for a new ethanol plant being built in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In order to boost Michigan's economy, the new company, Frontier Renewable Resources, has arranged for representatives from Michigan Tech and Michigan State to provide consultation on critical issues.

The biggest challenge is the delivery of biomass (logs and wood chips) to the new plant for ethanol production. Transportation costs exceed the value of the logs by more than half, thus creating the need for a sustainable supply-chain system. Dr. Graman and the other researchers will determine how to develop, define, and demonstrate how the supply chain will function to yield an economical product.

Gary Campbell began teaching in the School of Business and Economics at Michigan Tech in 1982. He helped establish the MS in Mineral Economics (currently named Applied Natural Resource Economics) that admitted its first students in 1983. 

He is currently acting as the coordinator of the MS program and the associated Peace Corps Master’s International program. Gary Campbell is also involved with the Enterprise and Pavlis programs.

Prior to arriving in Houghton in 1980, Merz was a Visiting Instructor at Miami (Ohio) University. In 1990-91, he was a Visiting Fellow at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. In 1994, he was elected to his first of three 4-year terms on the Houghton City Council serving as Mayor from 1996-2006. 

Merz was a Visiting Research Fellow at Curtin University of Technology in Perth July-November 2006 and July-August of 2007. He currently holds an Adjunct Professorship in The School of Economics and Finance at Curtin University.

What does it mean to be titled “systems analyst”, when you were hired as a “programmer”? And, if you do not make the transition to “systems analyst”, what will you inadvertently do to your career? These questions motivate Dr. Buche’s research—to investigate the radical impact of changes in technology and information systems on the professionals intimately involved in developing, implementing, and supporting those systems.

Dr. Buche and other MIS researchers are also working to provide recommendations to improve the gender balance in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Karol Pelc began teaching at Michigan Tech over 20 years ago. During his time at Tech, he co-founded and directed the Center for Technological Innovation, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship (CenTILE) and he initiated the founding of the Entrepreneurs Club at Michigan Tech.

As a professor emeritus, Dr. Pelc continues to advance technological innovation across the globe. Dr. Pelc is currently active in editorial work as a guest editor for International Journal of Knowledge Management and he has continued teaching graduate courses at Michigan Tech during the summer months. In spring 2010, Dr. Pelc served as a visiting scholar at Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone, Japan, where he conducted research on manufacturing management practices and lectured on "Japanese Innovation Management".

Gender discrimination isn’t a thing of the past. In fact, courts are now dealing with second-generation sex discrimination where incorrect practices are still being examined. Dr. Goltz co-authored a publication focused on second-generation sexual discrimination cases and how they are currently brought to court. 

After interviewing 14 women about their experiences with second-generation sexual discrimination cases, Goltz and the other co-authors recommend reform of the litigation process. The researchers provide the foundation for adopting a better litigation process for courts, employers, and administrative agencies and the need to focus less on the rule-based approach to court proceedings and more on qualitative evidence.