Costello College of Business News

How do “blind box” products like the Labubu make money? Zhechao Yang, assistant professor of information systems and operations management, has co-authored a paper that breaks down the “win-win-win” at the center of this trendy selling strategy.

At the Costello College of Business at George Mason University, students have numerous opportunities to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Case competitions, unconnected to any course or credit, offer an excellent avenue for students to sharpen their analytical and decision-making skills while gaining valuable experience collaborating as a team in a competitive environment.

Entrepreneurship is rapidly reshaping the economic landscape of West Asia, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar where governments are actively transitioning away from oil dependence toward diversified, innovation-driven economies.

Months of hard work and collaboration led to the day of spring final presentations on April 27 for the Mason Consulting Group at George Mason University.

On Saturday, May 16, 20 Fairfax County residents graduated from the Workforce Innovation Success through Entrepreneurship (WISE) Program. These emerging entrepreneurs dedicated the previous nine months to fine-tuning the skill sets and knowledge necessary to continue their entrepreneurial journeys.

Federal acquisition leaders are under growing pressure to move faster. Agencies are being asked to modernize procurement operations, reduce procurement administrative lead time, and process increasingly complex acquisitions with a workforce that is often stretched thin. At the same time, proposal volumes continue to increase, technical submissions are becoming more sophisticated, and evaluators are expected to absorb massive amounts of information under compressed timelines. Against that backdrop, it is not surprising that agencies are beginning to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could assist the source selection process.

The Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason University celebrated 1,119 undergraduate and graduate students at a degree celebration on Friday, May 15 at EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax Campus. Graduates join a Costello network of more than 44,000 alumni.

During his undergraduate studies, Brian Gaydos, MS Finance ’25, took several finance classes that piqued his interest and led him to consider beginning a finance graduate program immediately after graduating.

To learn through experience and gain a competitive edge, finance and accounting students from the Costello College of Business at George Mason University participated in the Costello Fellows on Wall Street program, connecting with major financial services firms and alumni in New York City. What has become an annual tradition continues to grow, with participation expanding significantly—from 10 students in previous years to approximately 30 this year.

For Honors College student and University Scholar Monica Amaya, the journey to a degree isn’t just about the final walk across the stage—it’s about a promise she made to her family and herself years ago.