SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- John Hancock rallied a nation with his large autograph on the Declaration of Independence, but new research from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business shows that signature size on corporate financial statements can signal far less noble intentions.

Thursday, November 1, 2012, 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, November 4, 2012, 7:30 a.m.

The Smith School is honored to welcome the following new faculty this fall. Department of Management and Organization Rajshree Agarwal, Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurship and Strategy, received her Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

After the uproar over the Forbes list, Maryland Smith experts compile a quick list of their own, with just a few of the women that should make any list of innovators.

There's more to signature size than meets the eye. As it turns out, chief financial officers with large signatures are more willing to exploit others and bend the truth in their favor.

Researchers find a correlation between declining firm performance, narcissism and large signature size on annual SEC filings.