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Fall 2025 Newsletter

Volume 2, Issue 1

The Director's Corner

We are excited to bring you another edition of the CABR Newsletter!

We continue bridging the gap between theory and practice, partnering faculty with real-world challenges to foster research that matters. The Summer months are for our CABR Faculty Fellows while they continue to engage in research that has a practical impact on business operations. They also continue to challenge business students and “push them outside the textbook” through study abroad and student research opportunities.

Join us in recognizing CABR Faculty Fellow contributions as we highlight a range of recent research publications, presentations, and compelling podcast interviews.

CABR Whitepapers:
Expect CABR to expand its research footprint, weaving stronger ties with industry, students, and society for meaningful impact

Read on for more information!

Vikkie McCarthy

Meet the 2025 Fellows

CABR Assistant Director
Dr. Matt Farrell, a distinguished 2024 CABR Faculty Fellow, now serves as the Assistant Director of the Center for Applied Business Research. With his extensive experience as a leading researcher and educator, Matt will contribute his expertise to enhance the center's publications and communications.

Dr. Stephanie Bilderback is the 2025 Faculty Fellow for Management, and Instructor of Management, and Owner of Blush Consulting. Stephanie brings her teaching, research, and business experience to enhance the CABR applied research in management.

Dr. Eren Cifci is a 2025 Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of Finance. His work has been featured on platforms such as Realtor.com, Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, Daily Mail, Fortune Magazine, USA Today, New York Post, and Futurity.org, underscoring its broad implications for both industry professionals and the academic community.

Dr. Amye Melton is the 2025 Faculty Fellow for Research Engagement and Learning. She is an Associate Professor of Management and the MBA Coordinator for the College of Business. With over 20 years of executive-level experience in operations and marketing, she brings industry knowledge to her teaching and research.

Dr. Dennis Pearson is the 2025 Faculty Fellow for Economics and an Associate Professor of Economics. He has served as an Ambassador for the Chamber of Commerce and was a board member for the American Red Cross. His consulting experience includes Fortune 500 companies, city governments, chambers of commerce, medical companies, and hospitals.

Dr. Towhid Mahmood is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Austin Peay State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Texas Tech University in 2024. His research interests span applied microeconomics, economic development, political economy, and labor economics. Dr. Mahmood’s work has been published in Kyklos, the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Independent Review, and Scientific Reports. His current projects explore the economic impacts of institutional change, the dynamics of labor markets in developing countries, and the role of regulation and governance in shaping development outcomes.

Group of the 2025 and 2026 Faculty Fellows standing in a line beside each other.

2025 & 2026 CABR Faculty Fellows (pictured left to right)
Terry Damron*, Vikkie McCarthy*, Matt Hampton*, Eren Cifci*, Towhid Mahmood*, Melynda Connor*, Amye Melton, Matt Farrell*, Dennis Pearson, Stephanie Bilderback*

*Denotes our 2026 Upcoming Faculty Fellows!

Faculty Fellow Spotlight

CABR Faculty Fellows Consult!

Faculty Fellow Spotlight: Dr. Stephanie Bilderback

CABR is proud to celebrate Faculty Fellow Dr. Stephanie Bilderback, who is making an impact beyond the classroom as a consultant with Blush Consulting. In this role, she partners with businesses to strengthen strategy, improve operations, and support long-term success. Her work reflects CABR’s mission of bridging academic expertise with real-world business challenges, ensuring that organizations have the tools and insights they need to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

2025 Socrates Award for Excellence

Faculty Fellow Spotlight: Eren Cifci, Ph.D.

CABR is proud to recognize Faculty Fellow Eren Cifci, Ph.D., recipient of the 2025 Socrates Award for Excellence in Teaching for the College of Business. This prestigious, department-nominated award honors one tenure-track faculty member from each of the university’s five colleges each year, celebrating outstanding commitment to innovative, impactful teaching. Dr. Cifci’s dedication to student learning exemplifies the spirit of excellence that drives both the College of Business and CABR.

Faculty Fellow Highlights

In today’s rapidly evolving academic landscape, collaboration across disciplines, with businesses, and alongside students is not just beneficial, it’s essential. CABR Faculty Fellows use research not only to advance knowledge but also to enhance student learning, pushing students beyond the textbook to better understand dynamic business environments.

High-impact practices like study abroad, international research experiences, and conference participation give students the opportunity to apply classroom learning in real-world contexts, broadening their perspectives and preparing them to navigate a changing global economy.

Study Abroad in London & Edinburgh

Dr. Asit Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Stephanie Bilderback posing with a big group of students with the London skyline in the distance.

CABR Faculty Fellows take learning beyond the classroom and overseas!

This summer, our students had the incredible Opportunity to explore London and Edinburgh through our study abroad program led by Dr. Asit Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Stephanie Bilderback. From historic landmarks and cultural experiences to engaging academic discussions, the trip combined learning with adventure.

Students immersed themselves in global business perspectives while building lifelong memories with their peers. Programs like this highlight the value of experiential learning, where classrooms extend into iconic cities and students gain both professional insight and cultural awareness.

Faculty Engagement

Just as we encourage students to expand the diversity of their personal and professional connections, faculty engagement in professional groups and networks beyond traditional academic circles is important for producing research with tangible outcomes. For professionals like ourselves, this entails active involvement in conferences, workshops, and networking events in management, marketing, finance, information systems, or other fields.

This year, CABR Faculty Fellows presented at several conferences, including The Academy of Management Annual Conference, The Atlantic Marketing Association, and The Society of Business, Industry, & Economics (SOBIE).

Learn more about the CABR Faculty Fellows and their research on our website.

Faculty Publication Highlights

Farrell, M., Skorodziyevskiy, V., & Willis, C. H. (2025). Analytic induction: A novel approach in entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 23, e00527.
Farrell, M., Willis, C. H., Siangchokyoo, N., Klinger, R. L., Kreugel, J., Usta, H., ... & Wilson, S. (2025). Board Attributes, Firm Performance, and the Moderating Role of National Culture: A Meta‐Analysis. Corporate Governance: An International Review.
Islam, H. A., Farrell, M., Nair, A., & Zhang, J. (2023). Understanding transaction platform governance and conflicts: A configuration approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 189, 122382.
Stephanie Bilderback (2025) Managing Gen Z anxiety and digital perfectionism on LinkedIn. Strategic HR Review.
Stephanie Bilderback, Chelsae B. Thompson (2025) Developing global leadership competence: redefining higher education for interconnected economies. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning.
Eren Cifci, Alan Tidwell (2024) “Connect” me! Social networking in commercial real estate. Real Estate Economics.
Eren Cifci et. al. (2022) Is Commercial Real Estate Gendered? Journal of Real Estate Research.
Shaomin Li; Matthew Farrell (2025) China's industrial policy and its implications for international business. European Journal of International Management.
Stephanie Bilderback, Matthew Farrell (2025) Integrating social media platforms into expatriate training and development programs: an experiential learning perspective. Journal of Global Mobility.
Dennis Pearson (2024), The Bitcoin Standard. The Review of Regional Studies.
Dennis Pearson (2024) Samuel Gregg, The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World. Book Review, Public Choice.
Dennis Pearson, Amye Melton, Liz Snodgrass (2024) Societal Impact of the Tennessee Small Business Administration: Lowered Barriers to Entry, State Growth, and Economic Freedom. Journal of Applied Business & Economics.

Stories from the Field

Bizzy Research Podcast
Cover artwork for the Bizzy Research podcast featuring a portrait of Dr. McCarthy. While our research questions are developed with an eye to the predominant theoretical models and empirical findings, networking with executives or professionals provides a practical lens for refining the goals of a research project. These relationships with key executives or experts who are immersed in the day-to-day challenges of leading organizations and teams serve as a ‘practical sounding board’ for project ideas or proposals. The CABR Bizzy Research Podcast includes interviews with researchers.

Listen to the Podcast