April 2015
Innovation
What Does Not Kill Your Business Makes It Stronger
New ventures—and established companies—need a “killer experiment” to test their viability.
March 2015
Finance & Accounting
Maximize the Returns, Lower the Risk
Using the right tools to grow savings and improve investment outcomes.
Entrepreneurship
How to Exploit Your Startup’s Constraints
Good entrepreneurs use their lack of resources to their advantage.
Finance & Accounting
Using the Lure of a Lottery to Spur Savings
Now legal in the US, prize-linked savings accounts use the excitement of a jackpot drawing to encourage people to grow savings.
Leadership
How to Keep Employees Motivated in the Absence of Promotions
Other incentives can keep employees happy in flat organizations.
Leadership
A Board’s Eye View of Reputation Management
When bad news surfaces, what is your plan?
Economics
To Bluff or Not to Bluff
Game theory says it’s pure mathematics. But human psychology matters, too.
Marketing
Offering Points and Prizes Can Draw Customers
We overestimate how likely we are to win, making us willing to take a gamble on low-cost purchases.
February 2015
Leadership
See How the Right Diversity of Skills Can Help Your Team
Mix and match NBA lineups with this infographic.
Strategy
Using Data to Call the Shots
Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey talks leadership, decision making, and crunching numbers in the NBA.
Entrepreneurship
Turning Problems into Profit
A transportation entrepreneur shows how to launch and grow a B2B start-up.
Leadership
Podcast: Mining NBA Data for Leadership Lessons
Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Kellogg School faculty talk data analytics and team composition.
Leadership
How Diverse Should Your Team Be?
NBA data point to a sweet spot in balancing diversity and similarity of skills.
January 2015
Finance & Accounting
When Uncertainty Lingers, Growth Lags
Companies’ reluctance to act in the wake of a country’s economic shock can inhibit growth as much as the original shock itself.
Finance & Accounting
What Will It Take to Regulate the Stock Markets?
Better data and better cooperation are needed.
How Citibank’s Culture Allowed Corruption to Thrive
Leaders can learn from a whistle-blower’s case against CitiMortgage.
Leadership
Social Class Affects Why We Lie
The powerful are more likely to lie for their own benefit, and the powerless to help others.
Leadership
Why Bad Bosses Sabotage Their Teams
Bosses who crave power but fear they might lose it can undermine their teams’ productivity.
Transforming Mining into a Development Industry
Can the industry become a responsible, reliable partner for local communities and the environment?
December 2014
Nonprofit Collaborations Can Be Beneficial but Tricky
The complicated business of growing organizational mission.
Finance & Accounting
Understanding How Stock Traders Forage for Profit
Day traders behave like bees when deciding what to buy and sell.
Finance & Accounting
Is Your Household Liquid Enough?
Ample cash reserves aid households when faced with the unexpected.
Marketing
What Donors Need to Hear to Open the Checkbook
Insights from marketing on how charities can grow by appealing to different kinds of donors.
November 2014
Marketing
Marketing Gets Personal
Leading executives explain how technology is changing the field—and who will lead the charge
Leadership
Where the Employees Are the Leaders
Prioritizing employee leadership helps Barry-Wehmiller differentiate in manufacturing
Marketing
It’s Not About You. It’s About Me.
Scarcity can drive us to altruism—when it serves our own interests
Policy
Keeping in Justice’s Good Graces
A discussion with Aviv Nevo on his tenure at the Department of Justice
October 2014
Finance & Accounting
How Malls Die—and How Your Business Could Be Next
When retail-store locations go under, they drag nearby stores down too.
Leadership
For Better or for Work
Insights from intimate relationships could soon find their way into the office
Build a Better Brainstorm
How to capture all the ideas in the room.
Networking Is a Dirty Business
Seeking out professional connections leaves people feeling morally, and physically, dirty.
September 2014
Too Much Good Press?
A Saudi homeware company’s great reputation might just be hampering its growth.
Economics
Is Economic Growth a Question of Culture?
A decade of research shows how culture seeps into economic decisions.
Leadership
When Marketers Step into the C-Suite
Four top executives on building credibility with company leadership
Strategy
Getting the Growth Strategy Right
In industries ripe for supercompetitors, adopting the right growth strategy is key.
August 2014
Leadership
Book Excerpt from Invent, Reinvent, Thrive
Larry Levy reinvented his real estate business as a restaurant business, but his biggest success came when he reinvented again
Leadership
Is Constant Reinvention the Key to Success?
An interview with Lloyd Shefsky about Invent, Reinvent, Thrive.
Economics
Online Brands Show Their Stuff Offline
Building brick-and-mortar showrooms can have big payoffs for online retailers.
Leadership
Pump Up the Jams and Feel Powerful
The right background music can affect how you construe information and your willingness to take initiative.
Policy
The Hidden Benefits of Unemployment Insurance
A pioneering study reveals that the benefits of unemployment insurance include reductions in mortgage defaults and improved access to credit.
July 2014
Leadership
Are Bean Counters More Selfish?
Emphasizing a “calculative mindset” encourages people to act more selfishly and less ethically when making decisions.
Strategy
Finding the Right Justifiers
In B2B sales, suppliers and purchasers can work together to streamline nonstrategic purchasing for the good of both parties.
Marketing
How to Achieve Focused Growth
An interview with Sanjay Khosla and Mohan Sawhney about their new book, Fewer, Bigger, Bolder.
June 2014
Marketing
Parents, Listen Up! (Kids, Never Mind!)
Marketers should tout the health benefits of their food products to parents—but shouldn’t let children get wind of them.
Strategy
Bonus Chapter from Roadside MBA: Profitable Growth in the Heartland
What happens when three economists hit the road in search of strategy insights from small- and medium-sized businesses?
Strategy
An Interview with Mike Mazzeo about Roadside MBA
Backyard lessons for entrepreneurs, executives, and small business owners.
May 2014
Marketing
Excessive Expectations
How trumpeting your product as the absolute best might set you up for a fall.
Politics & Elections
Happy Voters or Happy Outcomes?
In corporations, academia, and the papal conclave, transparent voting and voter privacy interact in surprisingly complex ways.
Total Compensation
An interview about trends in CEO pay.
Marketing
Cookies, Cocktails, and Charitable Giving
Remind potential donors of the luxuries they could purchase instead—and watch donations rise.
Marketing
The Customers You Do Not Want
If these “harbingers of failure” love what you do, you are in trouble
April 2014
Leadership
The All-Star Pitcher’s Advantage
An infographic illustrating the connection between pitcher status and umpire bias.
Innovation
The First Eighteen Months
An interview with Rob Wolcott about surviving as a corporate innovator
Economics
The Sluggish Multitasker
Cognitive demands aside, multitasking can be inefficient and demoralizing
Policy
Red Ink, Red-Eyed Judges, and the High Costs of Crowded Bankruptcy Courts
The timing of a bankruptcy filing shapes the verdict and has consequences for all of us
Leadership
Calling a Strike a Strike
In Major League Baseball, a pitcher’s star status leads to favorable calls
March 2014
Social Impact
Corporate Activism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
An interview about how social movements continue to shape corporate behavior.
How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot That Drives You to Work
Discomfort about “botsourcing” can be reduced by manipulating the human-like attributes of machines.
Careers
Status and the Social Network
Social status determines how individuals approach opportunity under job threat.
February 2014
Social Impact
The Rise of Private Regulation in Global Commerce
Here’s how business leaders can address the resulting risks
The Economic Case for Soaring CEO Pay
A new study suggests a method in the madness
Leadership
Do Former Soldiers Make Better CEOs?
Chief executives with military experience perform better under pressure and are much less likely to commit corporate fraud
January 2014
Policy
Making the Grade
Some students are disadvantaged in the culture of higher education—but there may be a simple remedy
Finance & Accounting
To Beat Debt, Consider Starting Small
Paying down smaller balances first may motivate you to become debt free
December 2013
Organizations
Rich and Unhappy—and Fine with Unethical Behavior?
Ethics, income, and feelings of well-being influence each other in unpredictable ways
Policy
Plenty of Costs, Plenty of Benefits
A Q&A with Craig Garthwaite about the new insurance exchanges
Leadership
Leaders Do Matter—But When Does Their Gender Matter, Too?
Countries with high levels of ethnic diversity often suffer from slow economic growth—unless there is a woman in charge
November 2013
A Virtuous Mix Allows Innovation to Thrive
The right mixture balances conventionality, novelty, and collaboration
Marketing
The Second-Mover Advantage
A primer on how late-entering companies can compete with pioneers.
Corporate Culture—Not Lip Service—Counts
Establishing a bona fide “culture of integrity” can be costly for a corporation, but the economic returns are real
October 2013
September 2013
What Big Pharma Wants in a Partner
For pharmaceutical companies looking to partner with biotech start-ups, scientist reputation and status play an important role
Finance & Accounting
A Crystal Ball for the Courtroom
A new model predicts the outcome of securities fraud class action lawsuits
Organizations
Doing Business in the Middle East
Americans and Middle Easterners approach negotiations differently