By EMILY MALTBY

For business owner Chet Biernat, recovery is coming in fits and starts.

His transportation brokerage company, INCON Container USA Ltd., saw sales slip up to 30% in the recession. As customers now trickle back, the Royal Palm Beach, Fla., company is seeing “spurts of positive areas, but then it drops off without rhyme or reason,” Mr. Biernat says. Because of the unpredictable economy, he’s wary of re-hiring four employees laid off last year.

Mr. Biernat’s story is typical of many entrepreneurs, who as a group turned slightly more pessimistic in February, according to the latest data from the National Federation of Independent Business. Small-business owners reporting to the trade group’s monthly economic index started predicting in April 2009 that sales would pick up. But actual sales fell, hitting record lows through 2009 and posting only modest upticks in 2010.

Yet, there are signs that some industries are faring better than others and may see improvements in earnings this year. Manufacturing, trucking and machine-related industries, which experienced sales declines of 20% to 30% in 2009, could make the greatest strides toward economic recovery, according to Sageworks Inc., a research firm in Raleigh, N.C., that collects data on private companies.

“There is some growth in big public companies that are exporting to growing economies,” says Drew White, chief financial officer at Sageworks. “Those big companies are paying vendors who are small businesses. That’s where revenue increases will come and people will start hiring.”

Some large manufacturers are ramping up, including Boeing Co.,

which is increasing aircraft output to meet rising demand. The company said earlier this month that its suppliers are ready for the faster production schedules.

Also, notes NFIB’s chief economist Bill Dunkelberg, stimulus money to the private sector has gone to big construction for government contracts—many of which have yet to break ground —and hasn’t flowed heavily through the supply chain to the smaller manufacturing firms. “This recovery is led by manufacturing and business purchases of equipment,” he says.

Companies that depend on consumer spending, such as grocery, clothing and electronic and appliance stores, posted sales drops of less than 2% last year, while sporting goods, gift, and liquor stores stayed even with or slightly better than 2008. These industries have shown signs life in the early months of this year, too, according to Yellowbook, which tracks contact information-lookup searches by company type. From November 2009 to January 2010, beauty salons, gift shops and sporting goods stores saw some of the biggest surges in search count.

But despite faring better than manufacturing firms this past year, experts say that lifestyle industries most likely won’t be the leaders in economic recovery. This, they say, is because consumer confidence—which drives these types of businesses—has been much slower to bounce back compared to big business contracts, which propel manufacturing firms. “Consumer spending is pretty puny,” Mr. Dunkelberg says. “This time, the consumer is not leading the way out.”

In Napa Valley, entrepreneur Doug Shafer’s winery, Shafer Vineyards Inc., depends on profits from restaurants that stock their cellars with Shafer bottles. Last year, sales fell 10% as fewer guests patronized restaurants and those who did bought food and beverages in the lower price range.

This year, Mr. Shafer and his father, who founded the business, have noticed a slight sales increase in the early months of 2010, but they are being cautious. “Betting on 2010 is playing poker,” he explains. “I don’t think it is doing as well as I had anticipated, but I’m tickled pink that it is doing as well as it is. While things aren’t rosy, I’m not seeing doom and gloom.”

Write to Emily Maltby at emily.maltby@wsj.com

Jonathan Hanson for The Wall Street Journal

Self-control problems often fade away when it comes to obeying religious dictates. These teenagers are eating a kosher meal in Maryland.

I was raised in a kosher household. Though I never fully understood why I couldn’t eat cheeseburgers or pepperoni pizza—the theology still confuses me—I quickly learned to follow the rules. At birthday parties, I always informed the hosts that I preferred my pizza plain. If they forgot, I would just eat the crust.

What’s odd about such self-restraint is that I was terrible at holding back my childish desires in almost every other way. Even as I skipped the pepperoni, I would often gorge myself on cake. I could deny myself lobster, but I would throw massive tantrums if I didn’t get my box of Milk Duds at the movies.

Though I no longer keep kosher, I’m still puzzled by why I found it easy as a child to follow these faith-based rules. Because it’s not just me: People consistently find ways to obey all sorts of onerous religious dictates. During Ramadan or Lent, for example, the observant manage to be self-denying even as they struggle to stay on a diet or hold back their temper. “The world is full of people who are fastidious about Biblical rules but can’t say no to fast food,” says Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. “There’s something about rules from God that make them easier to follow.”

According to research led by Kevin Rounding at Queen’s University in Ontario and recently published in Psychological Science, Rabbi Wolpe is right: People are better able to resist their desires when thinking about God. In a series of clever experiments, the Canadian scientists demonstrated that triggering subconscious thoughts of faith increased self-control.

First, the experiment’s subjects had to unscramble a series of short sentences, some containing words with religious connotations, such as “divine” or “Bible.” The scientists argue that encountering such expressions leads people to think of God, even if they aren’t consciously aware of such thoughts.

After completing the unscrambling task, the students took several tests of self-control. In one, they were paid a nickel for every sip of a foul drink of orange juice and vinegar. Interestingly, those students primed to think of God could endure much more discomfort and swilled twice as much sour juice.

In a second study, the scientists tested students’ ability to delay gratification, asking them if they wanted $5 tomorrow or $6 in a week. Those on a religious wavelength were far more likely to opt for the more prudent option. Finally, the scientists showed that God-minded subjects persisted for a longer time in trying to solve a frustrating puzzle.

“If God is always watching, we better not misbehave—he knows about the pepperoni.”

The effect, it turns out, does not require religious belief. More than a third of the students in the studies were atheists or agnostics, yet the scientists found that they were still influenced by subconscious thoughts of God.

Needless to say, we still don’t know why inklings of religion increase self-control. The scientists describe thoughts of God as providing the mind with “important psychological nutrients” that “refuel” our inner resources, much like Gatorade replenishes the body after a long run.

But how does religion do this? The scientists think that faith-based thoughts may increase “self-monitoring” by evoking the idea of an all-knowing, omnipresent God. Previous research, which showed that priming people to think of a vengeful, angry God reduces the likelihood of dishonesty, supports this view. If God is always watching, we better not misbehave—he knows about the pepperoni.

For Rabbi Wolpe, these results are an important reminder that human nature is deeply shaped by external structures. “People need a system of rules to live by,” he says, adding: “People drive slower when they see a police car. God is a bit like that police car: Thinking about Him makes it easier to do the right thing.”

A version of this article appeared May 12, 2012, on page C12 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Divine Way to Resist Temptation.

By MELISSA KORN

Monday, April 30, 2012

Jack Welch Management Institute Nabs Cornell Administrator

The Jack Welch Management Institute has named Daniel Szpiro, currently associate dean for executive education at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, as its new dean.

Strayer Education Inc. and Mr. Welch teamed up to buy the school from its prior parent, Chancellor University, in late December. JWMI offers executive M.B.A. degrees and certificate programs in “Creating a Winning Strategy” and “Becoming a Leader.” Strayer’s portfolio includes online and campus-based certificates and degrees including an M.B.A. The school caters to working adults completing their degrees.

John Reis

Daniel Szpiro has been named the new dean of the Jack Welch Management Institute.

Mr. Welch described Mr. Szpiro as a “dream candidate,” adding that he had been doing “what we want, for an Ivy League school.”

Mr. Szpiro currently oversees Johnson’s executive M.B.A. and non-degree programs. He was the founding director of the Cornell-Queen’s Executive M.B.A., a partnership with the business school at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and had responsibility for the Cornell Executive M.B.A., based in Palisades, N.Y. The Cornell-Queen’s program has 124 students in the class graduating in 2013, and the Cornell Executive program has 60. Executive development programs have about 450 participants.

Mr. Szpiro, who will begin in his new role June 11 at Strayer’s Herndon, Va., corporate headquarters, said he’s taking the position because it is a “new challenge.” He will work to refine JWMI’s curriculum, attract and retain faculty and possibly broaden the school’s portfolio of offerings, he said.

Mr. Szpiro declined to provide details of his compensation package, other than to say it is “very attractive” and includes some restricted stock grants.

Though JWMI remained small at its prior parent company, Chancellor University, Mr. Welch said the school is expanding rapidly, with employees from companies including IBM and Microsoft — “all the good names” — signing up for courses. Strayer said the school enrolled about 220 students in the spring term, including 76 new students, and is aiming for 150 new students in the next term.

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Friday, April 27, 2012

HEC Paris Changes M.B.A. Curriculum, With Help from Bain

HEC Paris is revamping its M.B.A. curriculum after taking a few lessons from its own classroom: market research and competitive benchmarking.

The school hired consulting firm Bain & Co. on a pro bono basis to survey corporations that do – and don’t – recruit at HEC to gauge what skills those companies seek from students. (Bain itself also recruits from the school.) The consultancy also compared the existing course offerings at HEC against 10 competitor business schools and facilitated a series of workshops with faculty, staff and administration.

In recent years Bain has worked with a number of other schools, though not just on curriculum reform. Projects have included operational reviews at University of North Carolina and Cornell University and a strategic planning process at University of North Texas at Dallas.

If HEC left the project entirely up to the faculty, said Bernard Garrette, associate dean of the M.B.A. program, they would have argued about protecting their own courses. An external perspective, however, “makes them listen much more.”

Beginning this September, the 16-month full-time M.B.A. will include experiential learning – including leadership development programs at a nearby military academy – and a required course on ethics. Mr. Garrette said that class is “about how to take into account ethical thinking in decision-making” and how different cultures interpret ethical principles, rather than an attempt to impose a norm in a multinational setting.

Second-year students, meanwhile, will see the introduction of a new concentration, leadership in global organizations, which Mr. Garrette said is a response to companies’ comments about the importance of business development skills, an innovative mindset and the need to manage diverse teams. (HEC also offers specializations in marketing, finance, strategy and entrepreneurship.)

The existing entrepreneurship concentration is getting a reboot, as HEC takes advantage of ideas that originate in nearby schools with strong technology and science programs. Mr. Garrette said the school is looking to MIT’s Sloan School as a model for the approach.

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Keep reading What’s News from B-Schools

Write to Melissa Korn at melissa.korn@wsj.com

Bunheads

(ABC Family, June 11)

Tony-winner Sutton Foster, who recently left Broadway’s “Anything Goes,” plays a Las Vegas showgirl who settles down with a job at a small-town dance school. The cable channel is hoping an audience of both mothers and daughters will line up for the show, executive produced by “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Dallas

(TNT, June 13)

Producers say they’re going for dramatic intensity, not camp, in the sequel to the ’80s smash. Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy are still playing brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing, but now their sons are butting heads over oil. Unlike the original L.A.-based production, this version was shot in Texas.

The Newsroom

(HBO, June 24)

After films such as “The Social Network” and “Moneyball,” writer Aaron Sorkin pivots back to television—and yet another frenetic, behind-the-scenes milieu—with this drama about a cable news operation and seesawing journalistic standards. Jeff Daniels, in his first leading role on television, stars as a firebrand news anchor.

Episodes

(Showtime, July 1)

In this satire of the entertainment business, a pair of British comedy writers sees their marriage falter and their clever material pulverized by the Hollywood sitcom machine. Their fictional show stars former “Friends” doofus Matt LeBlanc, who plays a caricature of himself. In real life last year, Mr. LeBlanc won a Golden Globe for his season-one performance.

The Closer

(TNT, July 9)

Kyra Sedgwick enters her seventh and final season as witty detective and master interrogator Brenda Leigh Johnson. The show gave TNT its biggest scripted hit and helped energize the summer programming of cable TV. In a spin-off premiering after the finale, a police captain played by Mary McDonnell stays on the case in “Major Crimes.”

Louie

(FX, June 28)

Going into its third season, Louis C.K.’s raw, loosely autobiographical series has helped elevate him to comic laureate status. FX has built a Thursday block of comedy around it, including the returning “Wilfred” (starring Elijah Wood) and the coming premieres of “Anger Management” (post-meltdown Charlie Sheen) and the late-night “Strangely Uplifting,” hosted by Russell Brand.

Breaking Bad

(AMC, July)

The story of a teacher-turned-meth chemist (Bryan Cranston) and his manic sidekick (Aaron Paul) has managed to maintain its speedy pace—and pick up a load of awards—without losing love from viewers and critics. Now series creator Vince Gilligan must stick the landing with a fifth and final season, which will air in two batches of eight episodes each.

A version of this article appeared May 4, 2012, on page D2 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: THE SUMMER SEASON.