Kellogg Insight
Skip to content

April 2018

Data Analytics

What Might Be Missing from Your Analytics Strategy

Quantitative data is not enough to solve your trickiest problems.

Social Impact

What Makes Deceit Such a Hard Habit to Break?

New research gets at the psychology behind serial misconduct.

March 2018

Social Impact

How the NRA Boycotts Force Companies to Walk a Precarious Tightrope

Two Kellogg professors discuss the changing landscape for companies trying to stay neutral in our polarized political climate.

Careers

Podcast: Attract Rockstar Employees—or Develop Your Own

Finding and nurturing high performers isn’t easy, but it pays off.

Policy

Does Lowering the Corporate Tax Rate Spur Economic Growth?

Results of a new study have implications for the recent U.S. tax overhaul.

Organizations

Video: Why You Shouldn’t Hesitate to Be the Bearer of Bad News

Organizations that practice transparency have more leeway to learn and evolve.

Marketing

How to Design a Stellar Customer Experience

The Zappos of the world are redefining expectations. Whatever your industry, you need to keep up.

Healthcare

Privatizing Medicaid Drug Benefits Reduces Spending

The savings come without any decrease in quality of care, new research shows.

Social Impact

When Do People Label Attackers as Terrorists versus Mentally Ill?

New research shows that people’s assumptions go beyond stereotypes.

Social Impact

Take 5: How Companies Benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR is in vogue. And it can help a firm’s bottom line.

Marketing

Trying to Be Persuasive? Here’s What You Are Likely Doing.

A study of product reviews shows how our word choices change when we’re trying to sway others.

Careers

Five Ways Women Can Negotiate More Effectively

How to advocate for yourself at critical points in your career.

February 2018

Marketing

Podcast: How Music Can Change Our Mood

A Broadway songwriter and a marketing professor discuss the connection between our favorite tunes and how they make us feel.

Leadership

What It Takes to Transform Your Firm

IBM’s story provides a roadmap for using ambitious goals and constant communication to reinvent a company.

Finance & Accounting

Take 5: How Do Households Manage Fluctuating Finances?

Plus, how policymakers can help them manage better.

Social Impact

Rewarding CEOs for Corporate Social Responsibility Pays Off for Society—and for Firms

CSR contracting encourages executives to sacrifice short-term payoffs for long-term gains.

Economics

Localized Natural Disasters Can Hurt an Entire Country’s Economy

A new study helps explain the economic ripple effects on supply chains.

Marketing

How Businesses Can Best Use Content Marketing to Generate Leads

New research on B2B companies highlights an effective way to bridge the gap between sales and marketing.

Strategy

New Cryptocurrencies, Same Old Problems

Why we won’t see a Bitcoin takeover any time soon.

Healthcare

When Healthcare Providers Consolidate, Medical Bills Rise

Can anything be done to rein in this expensive trend?

Audit Regulations Meant to Curb Accounting Scandals Are Working, Mostly

A post-Enron oversight board is a useful example for the regulation of other industries.

January 2018

Strategy

What’s Behind the Current Wave of Vertical Integration?

From Amazon–Whole Foods to CVS–Aetna, companies are reconfiguring for an uncertain future. Four strategy professors discuss.

Data Analytics

How a Good Analytics Strategy Can Become the Victim of Its Own Success

The best firms “purposely mess stuff up” to get the data they need to grow.

Organizations

The Downside of Transparent Decision Making

Why you’ll get a better recommendation from a committee that deliberates behind closed doors.

Traders Are Surprisingly Slow to Respond to Off-hours Earnings Announcements

It can take days for investors to react, creating a potentially lucrative strategy for some.

Healthcare

Will People Price Shop for Healthcare?

A new study says yes, but only if the prices are easy to understand.

Finance & Accounting

Private Equity Helped Firms Weather the Great Recession

A new study shows that debt isn’t always a liability during a financial crisis.

Innovation

Take 5: Make Your Big Idea a Success

Kellogg faculty share what it takes to find, foster, and sell innovation.

Policy

The Complicated Logic Behind Donating to a Food Pantry Rather than Giving a Hungry Person Cash

If we were in need, we’d likely want money. So what accounts for that difference?

Finance & Accounting

How Blockchain Could Radically Alter Global Finance

The technology underlying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is already starting to make its mark.

Marketing

Podcast: How Amazon's Alexa Learns

Plus, an algorithm that can identify new social-media hashtags as they emerge.

December 2017

Organizations

How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?

Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans may perceive biracial people differently—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.

Marketing

Take 5: Holiday Shopping

Our faculty explain the reasoning behind some common shopping scenarios.

Marketing

Why Banning E-cigarette Ads on TV Could Backfire

A new study finds that an increase in e-cigarette ads leads to a decrease in traditional cigarette sales.

A robot fills out a tax form.
Policy

How a “Robot Tax” Could Reduce Income Inequality

This tax can also be part of a plan to improve the economy as a whole.

Organizations

Video: Exploring the Psychology of Trust

“People are making judgements about trustworthiness within 100 milliseconds.”

Policy

Measuring the Impact of Dodd–Frank on Household Leverage

The regulation’s attempt to prevent people from taking on mortgages they can’t repay may not work as intended.

Healthcare

Four Ways to Improve the Efficiency of U.S. Healthcare Markets

An economist discusses how to ensure the right mix of access, affordability, and quality.

Strategy

How the Wrong Team Can End Up with Too Much Power in an Organization

Employee incentives that made sense at the time can lead to problematic power dynamics.

November 2017

Innovation

Take 5: How to Adapt to Changes in Your Industry

In many businesses, change is the only constant. Are you prepared?

Careers

Podcast: Give Better Feedback

An expert on marriage and a former executive offer advice on giving and receiving constructive criticism.

Innovation

Tips for Established Companies to Keep Innovating

Intrapreneurship requires you to “think like a disruptor.”

Organizations

Making Employees Compete for Rewards Can Motivate Them—or It Can Backfire

When employees care about each other, rewarding group performance may be the better strategy.

Scientific research leads to patents more often that expected.
Innovation

The Surprisingly Short Journey from Ivory Tower to Patent Office

Scientific research leads to marketplace innovations more frequently and quickly than expected.

Economics

How Do People Respond to Sales Tax Increases?

New research shows we aren’t as blasé as economists thought.

Marketing

The Science Behind Word-of-Mouth Recommendations

In the age of Yelp, two new studies explore why we offer advice and how it spreads.

Leadership

Video: Two Leaders Explain How They Overcame Trust Deficits in Their Organizations

“A high trust culture is absolutely essential to deliver high performance.”

October 2017

Policy

Analyzing the Trump Tax Plan

A former acting director of the Congressional Budget Office explains the impact on the deficit, corporate taxes, and pass-through income.

Careers

Podcast: How to Maintain Your Social and Professional Connections

Plus, sending a regular “letter to the boss” can help you when you need it most.

Marketing

When Are Consumers Most Likely to Feel Overwhelmed by Their Options?

Research points to four predictors of “choice overload.”

Leadership

Take 5: How to Tell a Great Story

Storytelling is a key business skill. Here’s how to make your narratives more persuasive.

Healthcare

Prescription Drug Coupons Actually Increase Healthcare Spending by Billions

Consumers may love them, but coupons steer people away from inexpensive generics.

Organizations

Is It Too Hot to Help Out?

Why the thermostat may be the key to better customer service.

Policy

Robots Are Taking Americans’ Jobs. What Can Be Done?

Four concrete policy proposals to get people back to work.

Leadership

When Should Leaders Own a Decision and When Should They Delegate?

Here are four questions to consider to become a more efficient decision-maker.

September 2017

Strategy

When Picking the Wrong Person for the Job Is the Right Move

Sometimes building credible relationships with your employees and suppliers is more important than finding the “perfect” fit.

Organizations

Take 5: How Power Dynamics Shape Our Behavior

Power—or the lack of it—impacts everything from snack choices to economic growth.

The Science Behind the Growing Importance of Collaboration

Plus, ideas for designing spaces that encourage employees to team up in unique ways.

Politics & Elections

When Corporations Donate to Candidates, Are They Buying Influence?

The surprising result suggests the need to rethink the role of money in politics.

Marketing

Are You Offering Your Children Too Many Choices?

Deciding between an abundance of options leads to less engagement with the final choice.

Investors Prefer It When Corporations Are Specific about the Risk They Face

The market values detailed risk disclosures. But executives should be cautious about oversharing.

Data Analytics

To Get the Most from Data Analytics, Reward Intellectual Curiosity Across Your Company

Don’t relegate big data to sales and marketing. Let it permeate the culture.

August 2017

Podcast: Why Do So Many People Distrust the News?

Plus, how to avoid being duped by fake news yourself.

Marketing

What Is a Brand Really Worth?

A global standard can help executives understand how powerful an asset they have.

Careers

Video: How Trust Takes Us Out of Our Comfort Zone

The more trusting the relationship, the more you have to gain—or lose.

Healthcare

What Happens to Healthcare Costs When Nonprofit Hospitals Take a Financial Hit?

The answer has implications for the debate over the Affordable Care Act.

The pay gap between CEOs and workers is due partly to technology
Finance & Accounting

Why Has CEO Pay Grown So Much Faster Than the Average Worker’s?

A key component in growing pay disparity is how well executives harness new technologies.

Entrepreneurship

Waiting to Protect Intellectual Property Could Doom Your Startup

Patent attorneys offer four tips for entrepreneurs on safeguarding ideas from the get-go.

Workplace entitlement demonstrated by an opera diva.
Innovation

Take 5: How to Empower Employees to Be More Creative

Creativity is a potent engine for business. Nurture it without letting office divas run the show.

Careers

How Innovators Choose Their Next Career Move

There is an overarching pattern in how innovators, like Elon Musk, shift their focus over time.

Strategy

What Happens to Quality When One Company Builds the Tracks and Another Runs the Trains?

Governments looking to improve their infrastructure will want to know the answer.

July 2017

Operations

How Much Does It Cost to Manufacture Overseas Versus at Home?

A new tool helps companies calculate whether to offshore, manufacture locally, or dual source.

Marketing

Podcast: Why Are Rankings and Listicles So Popular?

From “Top 10 Beaches” to “Five Ways to Negotiate a Raise,” the psychology behind effective lists.

Because oil prices are so volatile, oil price forecasts are both useful and necessary.
Finance & Accounting

What Makes Oil Prices So Volatile?

There’s more to the story than OPEC. Plus, how fracking stands to change the market.

Leadership

Video: How Leaders Build Trust

“Values-based leaders” know that lip service is not enough.

Innovation

STEM Degrees Are Good for Careers. But Do They Lead to More Innovation?

Science, technology, engineering, and math education helps job prospects, but hurts the likelihood of becoming an inventor.

Executive with restricted choices
Finance & Accounting

Why Do Companies Turn Down Profitable Investments?

Limited organizational bandwidth can restrict managers’ options.

An employee is motivated by a performance incentive.
Leadership

Take 5: How to Motivate Employees

Research sheds light on which employee incentives work best.

Leadership

Four Strategies for Cultivating Strong Leaders Internally

A retired brigadier general explains how companies can prioritize talent development.

June 2017

Like chess, national security strategy can also benefit from game theory.
Policy

Is an Unpredictable Leader Good for National Security?

Think the goal is to keep your enemies guessing? Game theory suggests otherwise.

Innovation

Take 5: How Humans Benefit as Machines Get Smarter

Kellogg faculty explain how human–machine partnerships can improve everything from your commute to your self-esteem.

Marketing

A New Way for Companies to Measure Consumer Engagement

Brands see value in connecting with customers through meaningful experiences. Research backs this strategy.

Careers

How to Maintain Strong Friendships as You Move Through Your Career

What the science of regret says about work–life balance and prioritizing close relationships.

Careers

Podcast: How to Avoid Five Common Career Pitfalls

Plus, a study shows an upside for companies that hire ex-offenders.

Operations

What Makes an Online Flash Sale Successful?

When ratings and reviews aren’t enough, showing that a deal is popular can convince others to buy.

Marketing

To Improve Fundraising, Give Donors a Local Connection

Research offers concrete strategies for appealing to donors who want to make an impact.

The syndicated loans market follows a seasonal cycle.
Finance & Accounting

The Puzzling Case of Why Syndicated Loans Are Cheaper in June than January

Research shows that interest rates are lower for borrowers who can plan ahead.

The economic effects of immigration include the spread of prosperity across America.
Economics

Does Immigration Help or Hurt Local Economies?

Historically, where immigrants cluster in the U.S., prosperity follows.

May 2017

Entrepreneurship

Take 5: How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

Advice from Kellogg faculty experts on starting and running your own business.

Organizations

Sitting Near a High-Performer Can Make You Better at Your Job

“Spillover” from certain coworkers can boost our productivity—or jeopardize our employment.

Social Impact

“If You’re Inconsistent, You’re Toast.”

Companies serious about social impact are taking a deliberate stand on issues in line with their core business.

Careers

Want to Network Like a Pro? Get Your Story Straight

You will meet hundreds of people this year. Are you ready?

Leadership

How the U.S. Army Recruits and Retains Millennials

Lessons from the military on making the most of your ambitious millennial workforce.

Wealthier Alaskans use annual dividend payments as fun money?
Finance & Accounting

Alaskans Get an Annual Check from the State. How Do They Spend It?

The answer depends on a family’s income, but not in the way many economists expected.

April 2017

Data Analytics

Using Cell Phone Data to Predict the Next Epidemic

Whom you call is linked to where you travel, which dictates how viruses spread.

How Tight-knit and Individualistic Communities Adopt New Technologies Differently

Innovations from fax machines to WhatsApp spread faster in some societies than others.

© Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern
University. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.
close-thin