July 2024
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Operations
Everyone Wants to Ditch the Middleman. Or Do They?
Not always, according to surprising new evidence from an app connecting housekeepers to clients.
Social Impact
The Stereotypes Lurking in Our Language
A new tool can shed light on intersectional biases—and how they may change over time.
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?
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.
Strategy
The Gender Pay Gap Remains Stubbornly in Place. Why?
A partial explanation comes from a seemingly separate phenomenon: the plight of younger workers.
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.
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.
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.
Finance & Accounting
The Hedge Fund in Your Pantry
Many households utilize excess cash to support shopping habits that generate high financial returns.
Finance & Accounting
Do Green Bonds Actually Lead to Rosy Returns?
And are the companies that issue them truly addressing climate issues? New research investigates.
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.
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.
Marketing
How to Grow in a Multichannel World
As e-commerce continues to expand, companies need to adapt their channel strategies to stay relevant. A marketing expert offers guidance for reaching customers.
Marketing
Podcast: Need Product Inspiration? Meet Your Customer in the Wild.
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: a consumer anthropologist takes us behind the scenes as she interviews a “pet parent.”
Economics
When New Technology Arrives, Who Wins and Who Loses?
For tools that assist but don’t replace workers, novices benefit, while experienced employees take a hit.
Politics & Elections
How Trolls Poison Political Discussions for Everyone Else
Online political debate isn’t inherently toxic, a new study of Reddit commenters finds. Instead, it becomes toxic because of the kind of commenters who opt in.
Economics
How to Award Contracts When You’re Concerned about Quality
You want a good price, but you don’t want lousy workmanship. What’s a buyer to do?
Healthcare
Video: Understanding America’s Prescription Drug Market
A healthcare economist answers questions about pharmaceutical innovation, costs, and more.
February 2024
Finance & Accounting
The Dos and Don’ts of Regulating AI
How can governments capitalize on AI’s benefits while minimizing its dangers? New research examines several policies—and identifies a promising approach.
Policy
What’s at Stake in the UFC Antitrust Case?
The outcome of the mixed-martial-arts saga could have wide-ranging implications for the future of global sports entertainment.
Data Analytics
Podcast: Can Complexity Science Help Us Understand Organizations?
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: From climate change to neuroscience, this new approach is reshaping how we study complicated systems.
Organizations
Organizations Are Complex. Complexity Science Can Help Us Understand Them.
You can’t study the behavior of a flock by looking at individual birds. It’s time to bring that holistic approach to the social sciences, too.
Healthcare
What Happens When We Give Doctors an AI Assistant?
Machine-learning systems can improve physicians’ accuracy at diagnosing dermatological diseases. But even with AI assistance, physicians struggle to close the accuracy gap between light- and dark-skinned patients.
Podcast: The Complicated Promise of ESG
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: Are companies as socially responsible as they claim? And how much should investors care?
Organizations
Could Remote Work Hurt On-the-Job Learning?
We are more likely to learn from our collaborators when we are in close proximity to them, a new study finds.
Organizations
Are Whistleblowers Seen as Heroes or Snitches? It Depends.
Reporting workplace misconduct often requires choosing between morality and loyalty. New research explores how that trade-off is viewed by others.
Economics
How the Railroad Laid the Tracks for Modern Government
Technologies that allowed federal officials to monitor workers from afar played a key role in the emergence of the bureaucratic state.
Leadership
Want to Connect with Your Audience? Stop Trying to Impress Them
Good ideas and technical expertise alone won’t cut it. An expert offers four tips on giving a great presentation.
January 2024
Social Impact
What’s Behind the Rush to Join an Internet Pile-on?
A new study investigates the reputational rewards of publicly condemning others before getting the whole story.
Finance & Accounting
ESG Risks Can Lurk in Supply Chains, Too
Most companies know little of their suppliers’ ESG practices. But negative incidents can sway stock prices—and investors should take note.
Organizations
How Will AI Reshape Our World? It’s Really Up to Us.
We need to be proactive to ensure AI supports—rather than supplants—human priorities.
Podcast: How Should You Present Yourself at Work?
Be yourself! No, not like that. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we help you navigate the competing advice about how much to share and hold back.
Organizations
4 Tips for Managing the Succession Challenge
Generational transitions can be bumpy for family firms. They can also be an opportunity to grow.
Economics
Why Are So Many Young Chinese Depressed?
It’s not just the economic slowdown. The country’s education system and social policies have created a disillusioned generation.
Social Impact
Community Revitalization Is Hard to Get Right. Here’s How It Can Succeed.
“The basic amenities people want are pretty universal, but every community has its own priorities and ideals.”
Marketing
Here’s a Cost-Effective Way to Tell If Your Digital Ads Are Working
Running even a small number of experiments can reveal a lot, a new study finds.
Finance & Accounting
Who Pays for All Those Generous Credit-Card Rewards?
A new study investigates where this “free” money is coming from—and why credit-card companies are so keen to dole it out.
Finance & Accounting
How Should Global Cities Manage an Influx of Wealthy Foreign Residents?
In an age of remote work, the trend will only continue. So how can governments take advantage of the benefits while mitigating the harms?
December 2023
Organizations
Take 5: What Does It Take to Make a Small Business Work?
The challenges are big. So are the opportunities.
Podcast: Get Inside Your Customer’s Mind
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: how understanding consumer mindsets can help you make the sale.
Innovation
Not Sure Where to Start with Your AI Strategy? Here Are 3 Steps
Companies across the economy are harnessing AI for a variety of functions in their businesses, with some further along in their strategies than others.
Strategy
Investing Over-the-Counter—and Under the Radar
In most markets, buyers and sellers benefit from soliciting many offers. New research shows why the opposite is true for OTC traders.
Entrepreneurship
Preparing for an Investor Meeting? Here’s How to Position Your Startup
An entrepreneurship expert—and longtime investor—offers advice for making your company attractive, whether the market is hot or cold.
Marketing
5 Mindsets That Drive Consumer Behavior
“Fixed” and “growth” aren’t the only mindsets out there. A Kellogg marketing professor explains the surprising ways that our mental states can influence what we buy.
Finance & Accounting
How Much Do Job Vacancies Hurt a Company’s Bottom Line?
Quite a bit, a new study shows—and large organizations aren’t immune to the toll on both sales and profits.
Organizations
Yoga Classes? On-Site Childcare? Firms Just Outside the Fortune 500 Work Hard to Attract Talent.
To compete with their prestigious peers, these organizations invest more in employees, research shows.
Marketing
A Better Way to Measure Customers’ Willingness to Pay
Determining what customers will spend on your product is one of marketing’s oldest challenges. But “current methods don’t consider context and competition the way they should.”
November 2023
Economics
The Long Tail of China’s Zero-Covid Policy
As the costs of China’s pandemic experience are tallied, younger generations are confronting a disconcerting new reality.
Social Impact
Take 5: The Psychology of Charitable Giving
What makes us give? Research reveals the surprising factors that shape our generosity.
Podcast: Using AI Comes with a Trade-off. Now Multiply That by 8 Billion.
On this episode of The Insightful Leader podcast: what happens when everyone uses the same generative AI tools?
Marketing
The Surprising Role of … Surprise … in Hypocrisy
What makes a choice seem hypocritical? New research finds that unexpectedness is an important factor.
Marketing
3 Priorities for Today’s Marketing Leaders
A roundtable of experts weighs in on trends and challenges in a time of radical industry shifts.
Podcast: Avoiding the Likability Trap at Work
Plus: insecure employees and a flagging culture. On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” more from our conversation with Professor Harry Kraemer.
Finance & Accounting
Crypto Had a Brutal Year. What Comes Next?
“There’s definitely more caution now, which might not be a bad thing.”
Social Impact
The Big Trade-off at the Heart of Generative AI
Tools like ChatGPT can improve efficiency at the individual level—but could lead to large societal problems.
Finance & Accounting
When Your Savings Account Is Also a Lottery Ticket
Prize-linked savings accounts can be more enticing to customers than interest rates—and banks like them, too.
Finance & Accounting
In a Warming U.S., Smaller Manufacturers Are Feeling the Heat
Smaller firms struggle in the face of temperature shocks, while larger ones are less affected—a trend that is driving industry consolidation.
October 2023
Organizations
How Have Social Stereotypes Changed over the Last Century?
The words people associate with different social groups have shifted, but the underlying beliefs may be more stubborn.
Podcast: You're the Boss! Now What?
On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” Professor Harry Kraemer discusses how to lead your former peers and build trust with your team.
Strategy
Why Younger Workers Just Can’t Get Ahead
In wealthy countries, the wage gap between older and younger workers is growing. A crowded promotion pathway could be to blame.
Leadership
5 Steps to a Complete Meeting Overhaul
Sick of PowerPoints and rehashing the past? Here’s how to make meetings future-focused and engaging.