December 2024
Leadership
Podcast: How to Get Delegation Right, Part 3 of 3
On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” we finish our conversation by getting real about the emotional stakes that make delegating hard.
Leadership
Podcast: How to Get Delegation Right, Part 2 of 3
On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” our conversation continues with a discussion of which tasks and functions to delegate—and which to keep.
Podcast: How to Get Delegation Right, Part 1 of 3
It’s a tricky skill to master. On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” a Kellogg professor and executive coach says it begins with assessing your team members and playing to their strengths.
Leadership
How New CEOs Can Start Off on the Right Foot with Their Board
Building a constructive relationship requires setting expectations, communicating clearly, and holding each other accountable
Economics
Overnight Success? AI Has Been a Century in the Making.
For clues about the future of AI, it helps to understand the past.
Finance & Accounting
Online Sports Betting Is Draining Household Savings
Most impacted are the bettors who can least afford it, new research shows.
Organizations
When Our Work Is Disrupted, the Story We Tell Matters
Pandemic-era lab, school, and daycare closures threatened the careers of people in “up or out” professions. Employees benefited from the opportunity to frame these productivity lapses as temporary and out of their control.
Finance & Accounting
Half of All Species Might Face Extinction. Could Biodiversity Bonds Help?
Maybe. But don’t expect investors to cut governments a break.
Finance & Accounting
How Should Investors Price a Block Trade?
These off-market trades have their advantages, but the terms can be hard to manage.
Organizations
Feeling Outraged? Think Twice Before Hitting “Share.”
Misinformation fuels outrage—which in turn leads to mindless social-media shares, a new study finds.
November 2024
Leadership
Podcast: The AI Risks Your Business Should Avoid
On this episode of The Insightful Leader, why your trade secrets may not be safe, and other considerations.
Strategy
The Goldilocks Approach to Searching for Something New
Whether it’s the right dosage to a new drug or the right style of tennis racket for a novice player, it’s important to get your strategy right.
Organizations
Why Firms Should Lean into Sustainability
“If companies don’t change, then they won’t exist in the future.”
Finance & Accounting
Wage Inequality Decreased Dramatically in the 1940s. But Was This “Great Compression” a Mirage?
New research offers a stress test to a seminal economic finding.
Leadership
Podcast: How Huy Fong’s Sriracha Went from Hot to Not
When missteps knocked the famous “rooster sauce” off its pedestal, a competitor seized the moment. On this episode of The Insightful Leader: why one brand sizzled and the other fizzled.
Careers
Forget Retirement. Think “Rewirement.”
A former CEO of AT&T Business offers tips for jumpstarting your next career phase.
Organizations
Why We Struggle to Hold Colleagues Accountable
Physician-led medical boards rarely took strict disciplinary action against doctors who overprescribed opioids. A new study explores why.
Marketing
It Literally Pays to Love Your Work
When products or services are also a labor of love, customers perceive them as more valuable—and are willing to pay more.
Strategy
What’s the Best Way for Large, Disparate Teams to Communicate?
Modular production has revolutionized manufacturing. But it’s critical to ensure the right information reaches the right people—without information overload.
October 2024
Social Impact
Take 5: Doing Business in a Warming Climate
What should leaders understand about sustainability? A collection of the latest research and ideas from Kellogg faculty.
Leadership
Podcast: How to Grow as a Leader without Burning Yourself Out
In this episode of The Insightful Leader, a former president at Kraft Foods explains why “sometimes just working harder is a complete waste of time.”
Organizations
What Romantic Comedies Can Teach Us about Communication
From forgiving verbal gaffes to making risky overtures, these movies offer lessons that translate to the workplace.
Finance & Accounting
Why Lower Real-Estate Commissions Mean Higher Home Prices
And why that’s a good thing for most buyers and sellers.
Marketing
Podcast: Third-Party Cookies Are Crumbling. What’s a Marketer to Do?
New rules are making it harder to track customers’ online behaviors. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we look at what this means for companies large and small.
Innovation
AI Is Revolutionizing Science. Are Scientists Ready?
AI’s influence has already spread to nearly every discipline. But fully harnessing its impact will require better training for researchers.
Leadership
The Perfect Purpose Statement Is Inspiring … and Credible
In an excerpt from her new book, Lead Bigger, former AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow explains the power of defining your company’s “why.”
Finance & Accounting
Guilty as Charged—Unless the Judge Went to Your School
For firms facing securities litigation, their executives’ alma mater could mean the difference between innocence and guilt.
Operations
For Home Deliveries, Faster Isn’t Always Better
Retail customers often prioritize convenience over speed for deliveries that require them to be at home.
Strategy
Schools, Jobs, Relationships … It’s Hard to Find a Good “Fit”
A study of medical-school applicants shows how transparency can improve decision-making.
September 2024
Politics & Elections
Take 5: How to Talk Politics (Constructively)
Research-backed advice for your next conversation.
Policy
When the Minimum Wage Rises, Do Men and Women Benefit Equally?
The policy is gender-neutral. The impact, less so.
Policy
Perspective: America Needs Political Age Limits
If there is a mandatory retirement age for the top officers in the U.S. military, why isn’t there one for the commander in chief?
Policy
The Plan to Pay College Athletes
A proposed settlement granting NCAA athletes a cut of broadcast revenues stands to shake up major college sports.
Organizations
The Unlikely Partners Growing the Market for Green Energy
The relationship between environmental activists and “dirty” energy companies can be contentious, but it can also benefit both sides.
Organizations
5 Telltale Signs That a Photo Is AI-generated
For one, scour for details that defy the laws of physics.
Organizations
Why We Shouldn’t Romanticize Failure
We expect people will learn from their setbacks. New research suggests the truth is more complicated.
Economics
Why Do Prices Rise Like Rockets … but Fall Like Feathers?
Behavioral psychology sheds light on a longstanding economic puzzle.
Marketing
How the Right Price Promotion Can Nudge Kids to Choose Healthier Foods
“It shows that kids are sensitive to prices.”
August 2024
Marketing
How a Growing South Asian Diaspora Is Changing Retail
From Whole Foods to Patel Brothers, U.S. retailers are adapting to the group’s unique spending power.
Policy
People Want to Know Sustainable Policies Can Work. So Show Them.
Success stories about policies from other countries make people more likely to support similar policies in the U.S., new research finds.
Finance & Accounting
For Corporations, Secured Debt Is Out
The last century has seen a dramatic shift toward unsecured debt thanks to improved accounting practices and a desire for financial flexibility.
Economics
Would Trump Escalate the U.S.–China Trade War?
If former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House, he would likely impose sweeping tariffs against China. His policy agenda would harm lower-income households the most.
Economics
5 Trends in a Volatile Global Economy
“We live in an interesting world, one with much upside as well as significant downside.”
Marketing
A Troubling Trend in Nonprofit Branding
When nonprofit organizations rebrand themselves, inspiration may not be the answer.
Organizations
How Algorithms Keep Workers Under Their Control
More than ever, even highly skilled workers find themselves being evaluated, rewarded, and punished by opaque algorithms. A new book, Inside the Invisible Cage, investigates.
Organizations
Employees See Bias in the Workplace. Their Bosses Don’t.
People in positions of power are often unable to see inequities in their own organizations—even if they see it elsewhere.
Marketing
Beware the “Bad-Influencer Effect”
Content creators’ self-indulgent posts may get “likes” on social media, but research shows they might not lead to more enduring connections.
Operations
America Is Rediscovering the Drive-Through
Since the pandemic, fast-food customers are more likely to order at the drive-through, fueling the recovery of restaurants that can accommodate them.
July 2024
Organizations
Take 5: Work Is Changing. What Does the Future Hold?
Remote work, technology, and climate change are all set to transform the labor market. Here’s how.
Data Analytics
4 Leadership Lessons from the NFL’s Chief Data Officer
Here’s how the league is going deep on AI, from addressing player safety to fine-tuning fan marketing.
Strategy
Is Your Team Playing It Too Safe?
Fear of failure can stifle innovation. A new study shows how to incentivize people to tackle those high-risk, high-reward projects.
Healthcare
Podcast: American Healthcare—Is This the Best We Can Do?
In the final episode of our 5-episode series, “Insight Unpacked: American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives,” we travel overseas, and through our own backyard, in search of a way forward.
Healthcare
Podcast: The Bargain That Fuels Big Pharma
What will we pay for the next groundbreaking drug? In episode 4 of our 5-episode series, “Insight Unpacked: American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives,” we explore the trade-off at the heart of pharmaceutical innovation.
Healthcare
Podcast: The Misadventures of Insuring America
In episode 3 of our 5-episode series, “Insight Unpacked: American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives,” we explain how insurance companies became everybody’s favorite villain.
Innovation
Innovation Requires an Environment of Creative Risk
If you really want to change paradigms, you must be willing to accept that there is no such thing as true innovation without risk.
Marketing
Want Your Kids to Choose Healthy Foods? Here Are Some Research-Backed Tips.
First, stop demanding that they choose healthy foods!
Healthcare
Podcast: The Power of the Physician's Pen
We rely on doctors to keep us healthy. In episode 2 of our 5-episode series, “Insight Unpacked: American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives,” we learn at what cost.
Marketing
Gen AI Can Tailor Ads to Our Personalities—and They’re Pretty Persuasive
“The effects are probably only likely to get stronger as time persists.”
Operations
There’s a Smarter Way to A/B Test
A new model can help you reduce the length or size of your experiments by as much as 50 percent, for significant cost savings.
Entrepreneurship
After Prison, Opportunities Are Hard to Come By. Enter Entrepreneurship.
Labor-market discrimination is driving many formerly incarcerated people, particularly Black individuals, toward entrepreneurship.
Organizations
How to Spot Political Deepfakes
AI literacy—and a healthy dose of human intuition—can take us pretty far.
June 2024
Healthcare
Podcast: The Problem with Megaproviders
In episode 1 of our 5-episode series, “Insight Unpacked: American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives,” we investigate how hospital systems got so big—and what that means for our health and our pocketbooks.
Healthcare
Podcast: Introducing Insight Unpacked, Season 2
American Healthcare and Its Web of Misaligned Incentives
Marketing
3 Ways AI Can Support Your Marketing Team
From providing insight into your customers to amplifying human creativity, generative AI is here to help.
Podcast: Why Italy’s Economy Offers a Cautionary Tale for the U.S.
Since the 1990s, taxes, debt, and regulations have hamstrung the Italian economy. On this episode of The Insightful Leader: Could America be next?
Economics
Will America’s Economy Soon Look Like … Italy’s?
Why one Kellogg economist is worried that the U.S. is headed toward a low-growth future.
Innovation
Unique. Revolutionary. Fundamental. A Little Hype Can Help Scientists Win Grants.
“Promotional language is important not just for securing funding but for actually conveying the merits of good ideas.”
Policy
Why Did Early Governments Emerge?
Was it about cooperation—or exploitation? A new study turns to archeology for answers.
Marketing
How to Talk About What You Do (without Being Boring)
The key is not to say too much—or too little. Here are some exercises to get you started.
Social Impact
The Stereotypes Lurking in Our Language
A new tool can shed light on intersectional biases—and how they may change over time.
Operations
Everyone Wants to Ditch the Middleman. Or Do They?
Not always, according to surprising new evidence from an app connecting housekeepers to clients.
Marketing
It’s Painful to Spend Money—Unless It’s a Refund
New research shows why it feels different to spend the money we get back after returning a product.
Organizations
Can Your Company Do Hybrid Better?
There is no single “best” policy, but it is critical to recognize the benefits of both in-person and remote work.
May 2024
Policy
Could This Be the End of Noncompetes?
The FTC’s proposed rule is hardly a done deal—but here’s what it could mean for companies and workers.
Careers
Podcast: Why You Need a Killer Answer to “So, What Do You Do?”
A great response to this question can open doors. On this episode of The Insightful Leader: we’ve got tips for fine-tuning your answer.
Marketing
Video-Game Companies Are Spending Big on Sponsored Streams. Are They Getting Their Money’s Worth?
Probably not—with a few notable exceptions.
Leadership
An Illustrated Guide to Succeeding Where So Many Leaders Fail
Failure happens. What can we learn from it?
Social Impact
How the Inequality Around Us Shapes Our Perceptions of Morality
Lie, cheat, steal … no big deal? When we feel like we’re not in control of our lives, it’s easier to accept unethical behavior.
Finance & Accounting
Who Takes a Risk on New Technology?
In Hollywood, new directors were more likely than veterans to embrace digital cameras—a finding that showcases how individuals’ career concerns shape tech adoption.
Strategy
The Gender Pay Gap Remains Stubbornly in Place. Why?
A partial explanation comes from a seemingly separate phenomenon: the plight of younger workers.
Marketing
The Clues to Creditworthiness Hiding in Your Grocery Cart
Grocery habits—like buying mortadella beef or scheduling regular shopping trips—can be as useful as credit scores at predicting who will reliably repay loans.
Leadership
Are Your Individual Contributors Feeling Isolated?
A lot of employees could benefit from a structured “lab” setting to inspire meaningful collaboration.
April 2024
Leadership
Podcast: When AI Becomes a TA
Curious about using AI at work? On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we hear from one professor who found a fascinating, low-stakes way to bring AI into his workplace: the classroom.
Marketing
How Much Evidence Do You Need to Make a Decision? Depends on Your Mindset.
When a choice is framed as a responsibility, we’ll go the extra mile to be accurate—even when it costs us.
Leadership
Leaders, Do You Have a “Climate Capable” Mindset?
“We are going to have to be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution, but we have thirty years to do it rather than 150.”
Entrepreneurship
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Is Going Mainstream. How Will the Industry Grow Around It?
While significant barriers remain—including regulatory uncertainty and the difficulty of scaling a labor-intensive treatment method—industry leaders see a path forward.
Marketing
The Future of Targeted Advertising in a Cookie-less World
Apple’s and Google’s responses to regulatory shifts may end up squeezing out small online retailers.
Careers
The Path to the Boardroom Can Be Opaque. Here’s a Roadmap.
An expert offers 6 tips for becoming board-ready.
Leadership
Podcast: What’s It Take to Get on a Board, Anyway?
It’s not like applying for a job. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, an expert demystifies the process.
Economics
Humanizing the U.S.–China Relationship
Escalating tensions between U.S. and Chinese governments make preserving in-person interactions between ordinary Chinese and Americans even more important.
Leadership
Podcast: AI Is a Tool. How Do We Want to Use It?
Generative AI is like “a hammer looking for a nail.” On this episode of The Insightful Leader: we have to decide what the nail should be.
Policy
AI Has Entered the Court. Is This Changing Umpires’ Calls?
The Hawk-Eye review system in professional tennis has made umpires more accurate in many cases—but not all.
Organizations
Why Artists Are Punished More Harshly Than Scientists for the Same Misconduct
It’s tough to separate the artist from the art, a new study finds—but easier to separate the scientist from the science.
Finance & Accounting
Do Green Bonds Actually Lead to Rosy Returns?
And are the companies that issue them truly addressing climate issues? New research investigates.
Finance & Accounting
The Hedge Fund in Your Pantry
Many households utilize excess cash to support shopping habits that generate high financial returns.
March 2024
Policy
The Truth about U.S. Immigration
It is possible both to maximize the benefits of immigration and still maintain border security and support workers in sectors that immigrants may enter.
Strategy
What Game Theory Can Teach Us about RICO Prosecutions
“If you’re on trial with 17 other people, the fear that somebody else will confess becomes much more realistic.”
Leadership
Podcast: Need to Make a Point? Tell a Good Story.
Plus: more leadership advice in this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight” series.
Finance & Accounting
What Would a Capital One–Discover Deal Really Mean?
A financial expert considers the acquisition’s potential impact on credit-card networks, merchants, and consumers.
Marketing
When Persuading a Group, Beware the Allure of Consensus
We tend to favor strategies that win broad-but-weak support over narrow-but-strong support—and this preference can lead us astray.