July 2017
Finance & Accounting
What Makes Oil Prices So Volatile?
There’s more to the story than OPEC. Plus, how fracking stands to change the market.
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.
Finance & Accounting
Why Do Companies Turn Down Profitable Investments?
Limited organizational bandwidth can restrict managers’ options.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Marketing
How to Make Ads That Even Savvy Customers Trust
People are more skeptical than ever about marketing—but that doesn’t mean they distrust all of it.
Policy
We Are Influenced by Racial Information Even When We Are Not Aware of Its Presence
Many of us acknowledge that implicit racial bias exists, but the problem goes deeper than we think.
Leadership
Why Warmth Is the Underappreciated Skill Leaders Need
The case for demonstrating more than just competence.
Innovation
Take 5: How to Encourage Innovative Thinking
Kellogg faculty on what it takes to ensure your new product or great idea takes off.
Organizations
The Surprising Speed with Which We Become Polarized Online
Users isolate themselves in social media echo chambers, even when they start out looking at a variety of posts.
Policy
How Uber Took Manhattan
A Q&A on how startups can anticipate and navigate regulatory challenges.
Finance & Accounting
How the 2013 Government Shutdown Affected Workers’ Household Spending
Even temporary income dips lead to a surprising degree of belt-tightening.
Healthcare
What Happens to Patient Care When There Are Not Enough Nurses?
The impact can be significant, especially in nursing homes.
March 2017
Healthcare
A Healthcare Policy Expert on Four Key Differences Between the ACA and the AHCA
Craig Garthwaite explains how the GOP proposal could impact patients, insurers, and hospitals.
Operations
How to Predict Demand for Your New Product
Relying on manager expertise and market research may not be enough.
Leadership
Getting More Women into the C-Suite Means Keeping Them in the Talent Pipeline
How to support women through three “pivot points” in their careers.
Strategy
How Bell’s Became So Many People’s Local Beer
A Q&A with CEO Laura Bell on preserving company culture while growing aggressively.
Finance & Accounting
How Risk Aversion Motivates Executives
Incentivizing leaders with too much stock promotes caution—and encourages underperformance.
Social Impact
To Stop ISIS Recruitment in Western Countries, Promote Assimilation
An outsized number of radicalized recruits come from prosperous, egalitarian nations where Muslims feel isolated.
Even YouTube Stars Need the Traditional Media Spotlight
Sure Netflix and e-readers have upended distribution, but creative industries still rely on legacy media.
Leadership
Take 5: How Leaders Can Stamp Out Bad Behavior and Create a Culture of Integrity
Practical tips to reign in an unethical boss and encourage employees to do the right thing.
Marketing
The Secret to Ulta Beauty’s Success: Joy
A Q&A with Ulta’s marketing head on how consumer insights helped a brick-and-mortar chain thrive in the age of Amazon.
Economics
School Shootings Rise and Fall with the Unemployment Rate
Researchers set out to quantify gun violence at U.S. schools and made a surprising discovery.
Organizations
The Psychology Behind Fake News
Cognitive biases help explain our polarized media climate.
February 2017
Marketing
Podcast: How to Steer Your Company Through a Twitter Firestorm
Plus, engage your customers by establishing your company’s audio brand.
Take 5: How to Nurture Your Work Relationships
Ways to improve negotiations and better manage conflict at the office.
Policy
Companies Want to Hire the Best Employees. Can Changes to the H-1B Visa Program Help?
The current lottery is not optimal for top foreign applicants or the companies that want to hire them.
Finance & Accounting
Why Are We So Quick to Borrow When the Value of Our Home Rises?
The reason isn’t as simple as just feeling wealthier.
Leadership
Are Your Employees Putting the Company's Interests First?
A new tool measures a firm’s “stewardship climate.”
Organizations
Should You Hire Someone with a Criminal Record?
Companies that give ex-offenders a fresh start may be rewarded with employees who stick around.
Entrepreneurship
Finding the Right Partner Can Make or Break Your Startup
A Q&A on why you should “date before you marry” with an entrepreneur who took the plunge.
Innovation
Four Tips to Persuade Others Your Idea Is a Winner
Want to shake up the status quo? Use psychology to your advantage.
Policy
What Volkswagen's Emissions Scandal Can Teach Us about Why Companies Cheat
Tighter standards may backfire in industries with fierce competition.
January 2017
Policy
Why Are We So Quick to Excuse Drunken Behavior?
From criminal sentencing to corporate indiscretions, we hold people less accountable when alcohol is involved.
Careers
Take 5: Lead Better Teams, Engage More Customers, and Find Your Next Market
Kellogg professors offer tips to grow your career and your organization.
Marketing
How to Ensure Your Great New Product Reaches the Right Customers
Don’t neglect distribution-channel strategy: “disaster lurks around the corner if you don’t pay attention.”
When Companies Tweet, Investors Listen
Posting negative news on corporate social media might make investors uneasy and lead to bad press.
Organizations
Businesses Born in a Recession Tend to Start Smaller and Stay Smaller
Yet there are ways business owners can counter these long-term effects.
Innovation
Need to Vent? Try Talking to a Robot.
Social robots can boost our self-esteem and offer a shoulder to cry on.
Healthcare
Under the ACA, the Cost of Caring for the Uninsured Decreased for Hospitals
The benefit has come only in states that expanded Medicaid.
Leadership
Podcast: Start the New Year Motivated for Success
Tips for achieving your personal and business goals.
Innovation
Four Ways Innovators Can Use Time to Their Advantage
For creative success, here’s when to hustle and when to reflect.
December 2016
Leadership
How Self-Reflection Can Make You a Better Leader
Setting aside 15 minutes a day can help you prioritize, prepare, and build a stronger team
Marketing
Take 5: Tips for Maintaining Your Self-Control During the Holidays
There’s a tendency to overdo it, but Kellogg researchers offer ways to stay disciplined.
How Transparent Accounting Leads to Smarter Decisions
For companies and governments alike, massaging the numbers is a losing long-term strategy.
Operations
From Long Checkout Lines to Departure Gate Chaos, Can Companies Reduce Holiday Hassles?
An operations professor explores better ways to form queues, ride escalators, and deliver packages.
Podcast: Will Machines Ever Truly Understand Us?
The relationship between humans and computers is deepening. What does the future hold?
Policy
How Drinking Beer Is Saving Russian Lives
Decades later, a Soviet public health initiative is still increasing male life expectancy.
Operations
Is There a Better Way to Allocate Organs to Transplant Patients?
Two ideas for changing a system where people linger on waitlists while kidneys spoil.
Marketing
People Are Tweeting about Your Products. Will It Boost Sales?
Soliciting user-generated content can be a powerful way to engage customers.
Healthcare
The Hidden Benefits of TV Drug Ads
Patients and taxpayers benefit from controversial direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising.
Social Impact
What Is the Future of Impact Investing?
“People are revisiting the relationship they want their capital to have with the world.”
November 2016
Innovation
Podcast: You Had Me at “Bleep Blorp”
How humans and robots are learning to trust each other.
Careers
Why a Scientist’s Big Break May Be Just Around the Corner
Researchers, have hope: your most successful paper can occur at any point in your career.
Marketing
Reviving a Brand That’s Lost Its Luster
Return to your roots, rally your team, and emerge a stronger brand.
Leadership
Three Ways Leaders Can Solve the “People Problems” That Hold Teams Back
Sometimes the conference room should be a boxing ring, other times a campfire.
Finance & Accounting
What Good Is a Financial Advisor?
They may have your best interests in mind, but that doesn’t mean their advice is sound.
Marketing
How Millennials Are Discovering Music
To woo listeners, music platforms should get personal.
Why Sending Your Kid to the Best Possible School May Backfire
Being surrounded by smarter peers can hurt test scores and incite disruptive behavior.
Policy
Higher Taxes Can Make Altruistic Jobs More Attractive
But subsidizing these careers may ultimately do more good.
Careers
Do Performance Incentives Make Us Greedy?
How we are rewarded shifts our values in surprising ways.
October 2016
Strategy
Finding the Right Performance Incentives to Motivate Employees
Some incentive schemes encourage hard work—others reward those who game the system.
Policy
Christine Lagarde on Income Inequality, Brexit, and the Power of M&Ms
A Q&A with the IMF managing director and Kellogg’s Sergio Rebelo.
Social Impact
When Companies Praise Good Behavior, They May Encourage the Exact Opposite
Why giving customers credit for altruistic purchases can backfire.
Marketing
Concerns about Scarcity Make Us Want to Be Better People
When we think we have too little, we will spend more on self-improvement.
Data Analytics
How to Use Data Visualization to Improve Your Business
Understanding how our minds read visualizations can help answer your organization’s most important questions.
Careers
How to Nurture Your Superstar Employees
Focus on these three traits to help your top performers flourish—and stick around.
Finance & Accounting
Beefing Up Collateral Laws Could Encourage Banks to Lend
In many emerging economies, businesses without real estate struggle to access credit.
Data Analytics
Podcast: Think You Understand Why Ideas Go Viral? Big Data May Change Your Mind
From tweets to scientific discoveries, human behavior is surprisingly predictable.
September 2016
Marketing
Remaking Marketing Organizations for a Data-Driven World
A Q&A with United Airlines’ CMO on how to avoid becoming “an artifact of a prior era.”
Operations
How Offering a Ship-to-Store Option Comes at a Cost
It delights customers, but managing inventory becomes more complicated.
Leadership
Six Tools for Communicating Complex Ideas
Business leaders need to know how to make their information stick.
Policy
Does the H-1B Visa Program Hurt American Workers?
At least in one industry, these applicants appear to take jobs others do not want.
Leadership
How to Help Prevent the Powerful from Abusing Their Privilege
High expectations for ethical behavior can keep powerful people in line.
Leadership
How to Be a Good Boss: Start by Understanding Why You Want to Lead
Research explores the pros and cons of two distinct leadership styles.
August 2016
Economics
Disposable Income Is Rising in Africa. What Happens Next?
A Q&A about growth trends in African markets.
What Does It Take to Foster a “Culture of Responsibility” like the U.S. Army’s?
An inside look at why soldiers line up to take the blame.
Careers
4 Tips to Gain Influence in Your Organization
You have more power than you think—here’s how to harness it.
Marketing
Understanding Power Dynamics Will Make You More Persuasive
How powerful you feel affects the messages you convey—and the ones you want to hear.
Strategy
A Clever Strategy to Combat Free Riding
In any collaboration, the temptation to slack off is strong.
Innovation
Companies Brag about Being Innovative. Should They?
Certain circumstances make customers wary of innovative brands.
We Remember Our Coworkers’ Misdeeds, but What about Our Own?
“Unethical amnesia” helps preserve our positive self-image.
