2003-2005 - Graduate School - The University of Alabama

Manderson Graduate School of Business217Alabama Productivity CenterThe Alabama Productivity Center is a vehicle for improving productivity in man u fac -tur ing and service fi rms throughout the state. One of its primary activities is to coordinateapplied-research projects in which University faculty and students work jointly with acompany’s management and labor to resolve specifi c marketing, production, or otheroperational problems. These projects have simultaneously a research/educational focusand a real-world mission. Academic benefi ts include thesis topics, scholarly articles,research assistantships, and permanent employment contacts. Other activities of thecenter include conducting basic research in productivity analysis and improvementtechnologies and administering a state productivity and quality award.Alabama Real Estate Research and Education CenterThe Alabama Real Estate Research and Education Center (AREREC) is a state ofthe art, comprehensive research and education facility designed to support Alabama’sreal estate in dus try and the state’s overall economic development efforts.The center serves as a clearinghouse for real estate expertise and a depository forlocal, state, and national data that can be used to provide real estate decision makerswith site selection, fea si bil i ty, and market area analyses.The center also offers professional real estate education for practitioners and conductsacademic research on real estate related topics, real estate markets, and housing policyissues that impact both real estate professionals and the consumer.Enterprise Integration LabThe EIL was founded by C&BA in 1996 to help business organizations seamlesslyintegrate business activities using in for ma tion technology (IT). Confronted with globalmarket demands and evolving IT, the ElL’s mission is to develop business best practicesfor sharing, managing, controlling, and coordinating business data, work practices, andnetworks. To accomplish this goal, the lab performs• basic research to expand the fundamental knowledge related to developing complexmanagement information systems• applied research to examine how to align theoretical concepts with constraints ofthe real world• business outreach to aid business in applying accepted best practices• education to transfer best practices using state of the art techniques and methodsEach of these areas nurtures the others. The results of the lab’s basic research isintended to provide the fundamental tenets that are used to solve real business issuesfor the fi rst time (applied research). Once these tenets are used and their value substanti at ed, they become the basis for generalized outreach projects. Outreach projectsserve a broad segment of the business com mu ni ty and provide experiential educationto students through real-world consulting assignments.Family Business ForumThe Family Business Forum, a unit of the Manderson Graduate School of Business,was organized in 1997. The forum seeks to improve the success rate of family businessesby providing members with knowledge and experience on the topics most crucialto their success and survival. The forum specifi cally focuses on family dynamics as theypertain to the family members who own and/or run their businesses as well as on themanagement of family-owned businesses.Garner Center for Current Accounting IssuesThe Gamer Center was established within the Culverhouse School of Accountancy in1988. The center has been successful in fostering and enhancing accounting researchand education by providing a focal point for scholarly activities and a vehicle for faculty