By Rice Business Professor Eleanor Putnam-Farr. Originally published in The Conversation

Colorado banned plastic bags from large retail stores at the beginning of 2024. A new state ordinance also prohibits restaurants and retail food establishments from using Styrofoam takeout containers.

In Boulder, food shoppers have been paying 10 cents for every bag they need at checkout since 2013, with only paper and heavy-duty plastic bags available. Those fees were expanded this year to retail stores of all kinds and sizes.

The Conversation interviewed Eleanor Putnam-Farr, an assistant professor of marketing at Rice University and co-author of “Forgot Your Bottle or Bag Again? How Well-Placed Reminder Cues Can Help Consumers Build Sustainable Habits,” about the challenges of changing people’s behavior – even when their intentions are good.

How popular are plastic bag bans and taxes?

Laws like Colorado’s are popular. Twelve states, plus Puerto Rico, and more than 300 municipalities, including Philadelphia, have banned plastic bag use by consumers. Charging a fee for bags is less common, but rules like this are in effect in Washington, D.C.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and other U.S. cities.

And these types of regulations aren’t limited to the U.S. Many other countries are also cracking down on plastic bag use, including China, Namibia and Portugal.

Cities and towns have tried a lot of strategies, from educating consumers to banning the use of bags or just nudging them to do the right thing by imposing small fees. Nudges leave the choice up to the consumer and are often more palatable than outright bans.

Do bans and taxes divert waste from landfills?

Many cities have reported decreases in plastic bag use after imposing plastic bag bans and fees, but the effects may be small.

In a study on the efficacy of a bag fee implemented in Toronto, researchers found a 3.4% increase in the use of reusable bags, mostly among higher-income customers.

But even a small reduction is progress, right?

Maybe. Research on parents who were assessed fees when they picked up their children late at 10 different day care centers found that small charges actually led to a big increase in tardy parents – who apparently felt they were paying for the right to be late.

Boulder may be fighting the same sort of complacency. Disposable bag fees collected from 2013 through 2022 fluctuated slightly year to year, but increased more often than not – suggesting that people are buying more bags, not fewer. Earning 6 cents for every bag sold – the stores keep the rest – Boulder brought in US$243,507 in tax revenue in 2021 and $248,518 in 2022.

Why don’t more consumers use reusable bags?

Consumers stick to plastic bags for many reasons, including convenience. Research on farmers market shoppers in Ohio suggests accidentally leaving reusable bags in their cars or at home is an obstacle, and some consumers prefer plastic bags because they reuse them for trash and pet waste. But researchers from Chile, which enacted a complete ban on plastic bags in 2019, found that people there weren’t committed to reusable bags. Consumers in Chile felt pressured to change their behavior, and guilty when they didn’t comply. They also felt like 100% of the burden of sustainability was forced on them, all of which undermined the goal of the ban.

What does work to encourage consumers to use reusable bags?

The most important thing is to understand that most people don’t set out to use more plastic. So the best solutions help consumers achieve their goals and make access to reusable bags easier. The key is to determine the biggest impediment to shoppers bringing reusable bags.

In our research about reusable bottles, my colleagues at the Yale Center for Customer Insights and at Google knew that most employees of the office site had reusable bottles but forgot to bring them to the water stations to refill them. Instead of banning plastic cups or disposable bottles, we created reminders and placed them near the workers’ desks. These reminders helped people behave the way they wanted to behave and had the added benefit of making the people feel good about the overall process, which can be its own reward.

The same can work for reusable bags even without imposing bans or fines. If people don’t have reusable bags, make them available. If people are forgetting their bags in the cars, create reminders in the parking lot. If people are leaving their bags at home, supply bag hooks they can place near their doors. These create easy visual reminders to grab the shopping bags on their way out of the house.

This story has been edited to clarify that Colorado’s plastic ban bag is a state law.

Rice University broke ground today on a new $54.5 million building for the Jones Graduate School of Business, unveiling the innovative design of a facility that will support the school’s growing student and faculty population.

The new 112,000-square-foot structure features state-of-the-art classrooms, modern office spaces and vibrant amenities such as dining areas, open gathering spaces and facilities for private events. The new building will seamlessly integrate with McNair Hall — the current home of Rice Business — enhancing the campus environment and continuing to cultivate a collaborative culture.

“This remarkable new building embodies the evolution of Rice Business over the past five decades and its commitment to equipping graduates who are not only integral to organizations around the globe but are also poised to lead them,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. “We’re committed to offering top-tier facilities that complement our top-ranked academic programs, attracting the best students, faculty and staff to our campus.”

Rice Business has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years due to new programs, including the new undergraduate business major, the increased cohort to the Full-time MBA program, as well as the MBA@Rice and Hybrid MBA, both of which have multiple on-campus residentials each year. The school has increased faculty by 41% to support its new programs and growing student population. In addition, Rice Business hosts large annual events such as the Rice Business Plan Competition, Rice Energy Finance Summit and the Women in Leadership Conference.

“We are energized by the momentum of our innovative new programs, the addition of new faculty and students and a fresh outlook on the future,” said Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Jones Graduate School of Business. “Our commitment is to attract more talented and innovative students, faculty and staff to Rice, who will further improve our programs and research capabilities. This wonderful new facility is critical to fulfilling that commitment.”

Architecture Research Office (ARO) leads the building’s design, while Houston-based Kirksey Architecture serves as the project’s executive architect. Skanska and its joint venture partner, B. Bell Builders, are the general contractors. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2026.  

The interior of the building is designed for various teaching and learning styles, including traditional lectures and informal collaborations. Two 120-seat classrooms, two 65-seat classrooms and breakout rooms throughout the building will support increased enrollment and team-based learning.

The expanded facility will broaden Rice Business’ capacity for world-class innovation and leadership development as a hub for collaborative and interdisciplinary thinking. It will allow Rice Business to:

• Establish a home for undergraduate business education.
• Centralize resources for Rice’s top-ranked entrepreneurship programs.
• Offer versatile spaces for entrepreneurship competitions, events and accelerators.
• Introduce innovative event venues for faculty, students and the wider Rice community.
• Become a premier location for speakers from the Houston and global business community, allowing students to connect with the top organizations and minds in business.
• Lead in addressing global challenges like energy transition, finance, health care and more.

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The new building will expand around the existing one, creating new public spaces between both. Designed to blend seamlessly with the campus and its surroundings, the exterior includes a serrated brick facade, which deflects sunlight and keeps the interior cool, a red clay-tile roof, and a cast-stone trim. The use of glazed brick in bond and herringbone patterns pays homage to the traditional materials found on campus. The new building will be constructed above an existing underground parking garage and will include flood-proofing measures to enhance the school’s resilience to extreme weather.

“The opportunity to design a building on Rice’s historic and exceptionally beautiful campus comes with enormous responsibility,” ARO’s Principal Stephen Cassell said. “Our task is to deliver a contextual yet forward-looking structure that embodies Rice Business’ focus on the future as it continues to grow.”

The new building encloses the Woodson Courtyard with a glass façade and a skylit coffered roof, creating a shaded atrium and landing space. A triple-height pathway called The Walk will connect the courtyard to a new West Commons. Dining facilities on the ground floor will flow outdoors to a tree-shaded terrace, blending indoor and outdoor spaces. The atrium will be a central hub for community gatherings with a larger event space on the second floor.

Rice Business has begun fundraising towards its goal of $40 million in support of the project.

“Donor support has been and will continue to be a crucial part of this project,” Rodriguez said. “I want to thank the alumni and donors who have already contributed. This is a unique moment in our school’s history — particularly as this year we celebrate our 50th anniversary.”

Learn more about the new building and how you can be a part of the future of Rice Business here.

Full commencement coverage

A new cohort of Rice University Master of Business Administration graduates crossed the stage May 3 and are heading out into the world to bring their knowledge and experience to organizations across the nation and beyond. This commencement weekend also featured the first class of students at Rice to attain their bachelor’s degrees in business May 4.

More than 400 graduates were invested with their master’s hoods and received their advanced degrees at the ceremony in Rice’s Tudor Fieldhouse May 3 and enjoyed a thoughtful speech from Rice President Reginald DesRoches.

“Completing an MBA takes discipline, initiative and focus,” DesRoches said. “The skills you have gained in pursuit of your degree go well beyond your finance, economics and marketing knowledge.”

The annual M.A. Wright Awards are nominated by the class and given to well-rounded, exemplary graduates across all of the MBA programs to honor their outstanding academic performance, selfless leadership, community stewardship and career progress.

2024 M.A. Wright Awards

• Full-time MBA: Ahmad Tipu
• Executive MBA: Daniel Williamson
• Professionals evening MBA: Nikki Suarez
• Professionals weekend MBA: Ben Provenza
• MBA@Rice: Sarah Aboukhair

The Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards are conferred upon faculty members selected by the graduating class to honor these professors in each program for their commitment to Rice Business’ mission of creating community and excellence.

2024 Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards

• Full-time MBA: Balaji Koka
• MBA for executives: Petrus Ferreira
• Professionals evening MBA: Kunal Sachdeva
• Professionals weekend MBA: Prashant Kale
• MBA@Rice: John Buffington

Another annual tradition is an award chosen by alumni who graduated two and five years ago and honors a faculty member for excellence in teaching. This year’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Award for Teaching Excellence went to Utpal Dholakia, the George R. Brown Professor of Marketing.

Julian Duncan ’99, chief marketing and strategy officer for the Houston Rockets and a Rice alumnus, was the 2024 commencement speaker for Rice Business. Duncan, who returned to Rice to earn his MBA in 2006, encouraged the graduates to chase a career that feeds their passion and excitement.

“A compelling story is one of the most powerful weapons in your leadership arsenal,” Duncan said. “It can connect you to others, help you articulate your vision, get your marketing buddies to understand data a lot better or even get investors to support your entrepreneurial dream.”

Saturday night’s undergraduate commencement included 60 students receiving their bachelor’s degree in business. The major came to fruition in 2021 when Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez recognized the demand for deeper business education from current and prospective students and knew Rice Business could deliver to undergraduates the high-quality degree programs it has always delivered to its MBA, Master of Accounting and Ph.D. students.

Rice undergrads are known for setting a high bar — rigorous academics, multiple majors and minors, research with faculty and gaining real-world experience with internships, part-time jobs and entrepreneurship competitions. To complete a major in business, students must also complete a finance or management concentration, which requires additional advanced courses. Both concentrations provide the knowledge, research and analytical skills to solve a broad array of today’s business problems.

By taking the inherent strengths of Rice students and combining them with the rigorous business program and the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Houston, Rodriguez explains that Rice Business is creating a new kind of leader who can address critical issues in the world. This includes areas such as accelerating opportunities in the energy transition, artificial intelligence and other fields or contributing to the vitality of urban communities.

“Our undergraduate business students will be uniquely capable of doing that,” Rodriguez said in an interview with Poets and Quants.

The graduates had a preliminary celebration the morning of May 3 at McNair Hall, home of Rice Business, where Rodriguez congratulated the first class of “trailblazers” on their accomplishment and presented awards.

“Talk to these students, look at what they do: There are no finer students anywhere,” Rodriguez said. “Exquisitely well-trained, smart, hardworking, ambitious — these are people who can really go out into the world and make a difference to solve some of the problems of the world.

“It’s a tumultuous time, in some ways, on college campuses. But that’s in part because college campuses are the place where we’re intended to think about, debate, suss out good answers to problems like these. Who better to do that than these Rice undergraduate students? They’re truly extraordinary.”

The Faculty Teaching Excellence Award has been a staple of the MBA program, and Rice Business chose to continue that tradition with the undergrad degree. The winner is determined by the graduating students, and this year they selected Management Accounting Professor Ben Lansford as the inaugural winner.

The Rise@Rice Sen Social Pioneer Prize and the six Rice Business Outstanding Student Awards were created especially for the undergrad program. The Pioneer Prize winner is nominated by their peers and selected by a committee to honor a student who embodies the highest standards of leadership, compassion and collaboration within the business school community.

“I’ve learned so much through this major, and I’m so grateful for everything that’s been given to me by my teachers and my peers as well,” said the winner, Austin Cox.

The Outstanding Student Awards are determined by faculty based on academic performance as well as contributions to the school and major. The inaugural awards were presented to Jordan Billups, Sean Cartwright, Katherine Cheng, April Chung, Joel Hrncir and Ethan Kao.

The major joins Rice Business’ other offerings for undergraduates, a minor in business and a minor in entrepreneurship. Rice Business’ graduate programs offer an MBA, a one-year Master of Accounting program and a Ph.D. program in business, the latter for students seeking academic careers at research universities.

If you are a current Rice student with questions about course or program details or about declaring the business major or minor, please email business.major@rice.edu.

Visit the 2024 commencement photo gallery here, and use #RiceGrad2024 to tag your photos and posts.

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will host a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 112,000-square-foot building designed to accommodate unprecedented growth at the school and the evolving needs of the community.

The new structure will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, modern office spaces and vibrant amenities such as dining areas, open gathering spaces and facilities for private events. The building will seamlessly integrate with McNair Hall — the current home of Rice Business — enhancing the campus environment and continuing to cultivate a collaborative culture.

Over the past five years, Rice Business has experienced rapid growth of its new undergraduate business major, a 50% increase in MBA students, a 41% increase of faculty and an increased cohort to the full-time MBA program and the MBA@Rice and hybrid MBA programs.

What: Groundbreaking ceremony for new Rice Business building

When: Thursday, May 9, 3-5 p.m. The groundbreaking will take place around 3:50 p.m.

Where: Woodson Courtyard at Rice’s McNair Hall. Complimentary self-parking available in the Central Garage.

News media who are interested in attending must RSVP with Avery Franklin, media relations specialist at Rice, at AveryRF@rice.edu or 713-348-6327. Architectural renderings will be provided to the news media.