Incoming freshmen at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business got a taste of what’s looming in job and internship interviews during the second annual Critical Thinking Night, part of Smith’s ‘Welcome Week’ programming. More than 400 students packed the Riggs Alumni Center for the Aug. 31, 2015 session.

Smith School Professor and Assistant Dean Rebecca Ratner talks with Huff Post Live today, Wednesday, April 29 at 4 p.m./EDT. Many people feel embarrassed about doing fun activities alone, such as dining out or going to a movie. Ratner's research finds that when solo consumers do venture out, they enjoy themselves more than they expect. The challenge for companies that offer fun experiences is to figure out how to market to solo consumers. Watch the show.

Incoming undergraduates at Smith got a taste of what’s looming in job and internship interviews during Critical Thinking Night, a new Welcome Week workshop added to meet employer demand. “Your business savvy and ability to think on your feet will be tested,” Smith senior Lindsay Weilminster ’15 told the freshmen who packed into Frank Auditorium during back-to-back sessions on Sept. 8, 2014.

Incoming undergraduates at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business got a taste of what’s looming in job and internship interviews during Critical Thinking Night, a new Welcome Week workshop added to meet employer demand.

Thursday, November 29, 2012, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 2, 2012, 7:30 a.m. Behavioral Economics for Businesses Many startups base their businesses on changing their customers’ behavior – which can be a challenge. But it doesn’t have to be so hard. The trick is understanding how customers make decisions and how to influence those decisions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently replaced its food pyramid nutrition guidelines with a user-friendly plate icon to help Americans understand the proportions of foods they should be eating each day for a healthy diet. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Rebecca Ratner talks about how her research supports the new nutrition guidelines.

Flight Delays Cost Passengers Billions Mike Ball, Orkand Corporation Professor of Management Science, associate dean of research, and co-director of the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR), published a study showing that in 2007 passengers traveling by plane were delayed by more than 28,000 years, costing them $16.7 billion in lost time. In total, flight delays in the United States cost $32.9 billion each year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently replaced its food pyramid nutrition guidelines with a user-friendly plate icon to help Americans understand the proportions of foods they should be eating each day for a healthy diet. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Rebecca Ratner talks about how her research supports the new nutrition guidelines.

Life is full of decisions – sometimes tough ones– but those decisions can be made easier for informed consumers and savvy marketers. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Rebecca Ratner, associate professor of marketing, talks about her how people can make better decisions and the ways in which they can be persuaded toward a particular decision.

Thursday, June 11, 2009, 7:30 p.m.Sunday, June 14, 2009, 7:30 a.m.Monday, June 15, 2009, 4:30 a.m. Life is full of decisions – sometimes tough ones– but those decisions can be made easier for informed consumers and savvy marketers.