March 2021
Finance
How Useful Are ESG Ratings for Sustainable Investors?
These ratings are proliferating. Now there may be a better way to assess them.
Innovation
The Pandemic Could Accelerate Job Automation—and Inequality
Consequences for workers and cities could be bleak.
Policy
With More Stimulus Relief on the Way, Here’s a Look at America’s Covid Economy
A former Treasury official discusses where things stand now—and what the future might bring.
Innovation
Podcast: How Can We Ramp Up Innovation?
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: what the data say about successful entrepreneurs and the types of policies that best support them.
Careers
Conservatives and Liberals Differ in How Aggressively They Recruit Women for Leadership Roles
But companies take note: a new study offers a simple intervention to curb gender bias early in the hiring process.
Social Impact
There’s an Education Gap Between Rural and Urban Communities. Can Technology Bridge It?
Researchers identified a program that helps rural students learn—and improves their incomes later in life.
Operations
2 Ways to Improve Rideshares for Drivers and Customers
Research suggests there are ways to reduce costs and emissions, as well as help customers get picked up more quickly.
Marketing
TV Advertising Is Usually Not Worth It
Companies spend vast sums on commercials, but it’s been difficult to gauge their effectiveness. A new study offers a more reliable method—and some bad news for many brands.
Policy
Contact Tracing Is Failing in the U.S. Here’s How to Fix It.
For starters, turn responsibility over to local organizations and communities, where trust is higher.
February 2021
Leadership
Executive Presence Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All. Here’s How to Develop Yours.
A professor and executive coach unpacks this seemingly elusive trait.
Marketing
How Has Digital Film Changed the Moviegoing Experience?
In a world where movie theaters went digital … consumers got more options.
Finance
Understanding the Rapidly Evolving World of Sustainable Finance
It’s no longer a niche investment strategy—and it has the potential to deliver strong returns.
Leadership
Podcast: How to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence
Strong leadership is about more than being the smartest person in the room. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we offer tips to become more aware of yourself and those around you.
Marketing
When Do People Take Huge Risks?
As a species, we’re cautious … except when the stakes are life-altering.
Social Impact
Big-Time College Athletes Don’t Get Paid. Here’s How This Amplifies Racial Inequities.
A new study finds that much of the revenue from football and basketball, which have a high proportion of Black athletes, gets funneled to predominantly white teams.
Innovation
In 2021, Consumers Are Craving Products That Deliver Novelty and Fun
After a year of buying boring staples in bulk, everything is about to change—and brands need to be ready to innovate.
Finance
Rules to Limit Short-Term Trading Can Have Unintended Consequences
New research suggests that regulators should instead focus on broader investor access to information.
Politics & Elections
Do Powerful Politicians Play Favorites with Their Corporate Friends?
A new study examines the power of public scrutiny to keep high-ranking officials in check.
Economics
Why Do COVID-19 Death Rates Differ Wildly from Place to Place?
Researchers were surprised by the variable that best predicted fatalities.
January 2021
Finance
Does GameStop Signal the End of Short Selling as We Know It?
A conversation with a prominent short seller about the possible consequences of a wild week on Wall Street.
Marketing
COVID Has Forever Changed the Customer Experience
Here’s how companies can continue to adapt.
Innovation
How to Ramp Up Innovation in the U.S.
From venture capital to immigration law, “we’re leaving an enormous amount on the table.”
Marketing
How to Convince People the Virus Is Scary, and Other Lessons from Consumer Research
Researchers are rushing to make sense of the current moment. We spoke with the editor of a leading journal about what her colleagues are up to.
Policy
How Well Does COVID Public Policy Align with Science?
In an era of misinformation, policy based on “dubious science” could mean a greater loss of life and economic hardship.
Finance
Employment Plunged to Great Depression Levels in 2020. What’s Ahead in 2021?
Even with vaccine rollouts and a new stimulus bill, the U.S. economy faces a daunting challenge.
Innovation
5 Ways Established Companies Can Overcome Internal Hurdles to Innovation
Narrow the scope of your brainstorming sessions. And find the right champion for your project.
Social Impact
A Surprising Benefit of Feeling Ownership over Your Possessions
Owning things can boost our self-esteem. And that, in turn, can make us want to help others.
Operations
Are “Menu Costs” Messing Up Your Supply Chain?
When it’s cheaper to change product prices, companies benefit—and so do their suppliers, new research shows.
Organizations
5 Ways to Improve Diversity Training, According to a New Study
All too often, these programs are ineffective and short-lived. But they don’t have to be.
Marketing
“Stay Healthy” or “Keep Safe”: Which Social-Distancing Messages Are the Most Persuasive?
The answer depends on whether people are thinking about protecting themselves or their community.
December 2020
Leadership
Podcast: To Lead Through a Crisis, You Need the “Straight, Unvarnished Truth”
On this episode of The Insightful Leader: Carbon’s Ellen Kullman, former CEO of DuPont, on having the right people around to hold up a mirror.
Leadership
“Know What People Say About You in the Company.”
Former DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman shares her advice on establishing credibility—in a crisis, and throughout your career.
Marketing
Podcast: A 3-Step Process for Selling (Anything) Virtually
Tip: It’s not over when the Zoom call ends. Learn more on this episode of The Insightful Leader.
Leadership
Emotional Intelligence Is Key to Strong Leadership. Here’s How to Sharpen Yours.
A professor and executive coach offers tips for developing different components of EQ.
Finance
How an Advice Hotline Is Making Farmers in India More Productive
Previous efforts to provide farmers with guidance fell short. But this venture went further.
Marketing
4 Keys to Effective—and Honest—Data Visualizations
Here’s how to make sure you are conveying your argument faithfully when designing charts and graphs.
Innovation
Why Do Some People Succeed after Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?
A new study dispels some of the mystery behind success after failure.
Marketing
Personalized Marketing Can Be Ineffective—and Creepy. Here Are 3 Research-Backed Tips for Getting It Right.
Simply having a compelling message isn’t enough.
Organizations
Don’t Let Your Company Culture Falter During the Pandemic
Changes to work routines offer opportunities to rethink and shore up your organization’s ethos.
Finance
Should Local Governments Be Offering Tax Credits to Angel Investors?
New research casts doubt on whether these incentives actually spur innovation and economic growth.
Social Impact
How Racism Discouraged Volunteer Enlistment Immediately after Pearl Harbor
New research examines what happened when Black and Japanese men, who were battling discrimination at home, were asked to fight injustice abroad.
November 2020
Healthcare
Is Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine the Next Blockbuster Drug?
Investors are keeping a close eye on the drug firm’s vaccine advances. But the company’s longer-term fortunes may lie elsewhere.
Innovation
Meet Adam, the “Scientist” Who Never Sleeps
An excerpt from the book The Science of Science shows how robots may soon be able to run their own experiments—from start to finish.
Leadership
Podcast: Feeling Stuck? Here’s How to Move Your Career Forward
On this episode of The Insightful Leader, get practical advice for detecting your blind spots—and pushing past them.
Economics
How Auctions Help Solve Some of the World’s Most Complicated Problems
Whenever you turn your lights on, query Google, or stream a video on your phone, it’s likely an auction happened in the background. Our faculty discuss the decades of research that helped make auctions so ubiquitous.
Organizations
One Way to Create Better Workplace Incentives and Protocols: Codesign Them with Your Employees
New practices are more likely to be embraced if they aren’t dictated from the top.
Marketing
Feeling Down? Simply Daydreaming about Something Fun Won’t Help.
But taking action could lift your spirits.
Policy
One Key Trait That Predicts How Much People Will Socially Distance
This new research could help policymakers deliver more effective COVID-safety messaging.
Artificial Intelligence
Video: How Bias Creeps into AI when Businesses Aren’t Looking
A quick explainer on what happens if you aren’t thoughtful about the data you use.
Economics
Meet the (Surprisingly Rational) COVID Consumer
Research on initial consumer spending shows that those at higher risk were making safer choices.
Marketing
How the Specter of Contagious Disease Changes What We Want to Eat
Consumers turn to old standbys like Campbell’s Soup and Oreos. Here’s why.
October 2020
Finance
Airlines and COVID-19: The Turbulence Ahead
With demand still down and debts mounting, the industry looks ahead.
Leadership
How to Develop a Leadership Mindset for Uncertain Times
For one, take a page from the hero’s journey to find transformation in adversity.
Politics & Elections
The Political Divide in America Goes Beyond Polarization and Tribalism
These days, political identity functions a lot like religious identity.
Economics
What Is “Auction Theory,” and What Kinds of Questions Can It Answer?
The recent Nobel put the field of auction theory in the spotlight. An economist explains how it works, using his own research as a guide.
Healthcare
Choosing the Right Health-Insurance Plan Could Add Years to Your Life
New evidence suggests that certain Medicare Advantage plans increase life spans more than others. Here’s what the best plans have in common.
Policy
Unpacking the Federal Reserve’s Aggressive Response to COVID-19
A Kellogg professor spent the past year at the Fed. He explains the bank’s “guns-blazing” response—and the limits to these interventions.
Organizations
What Companies Can Do to Encourage Compliance with COVID Safety Measures
Tips for thinking through “friction points” and making new habits stick.
Finance
What’s Next for Real Estate Markets?
As the pandemic continues to upend how we live, work, and play, the future of residential and commercial markets remains very much in flux.
Family Business
How Family Business Owners Can Step Up During a Crisis
In uncertain times, businesses need to adapt. Their owners may have to as well.
Entrepreneurship
Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take
A new study finds that immigrants are far more likely to found companies—both large and small—than native-born Americans.
Politics & Elections
When Executives Donate to Politicians, How Much Are They Keeping Their Companies’ Interests in Mind?
A new study looks at the motivation behind these donations, which make up nearly a fifth of all political giving.
Careers
There Are 168 Hours in the Week. Are You Spending Them on What Matters?
A former CEO on how to budget time for what you value most.
Economics
Does Requiring Food-Stamp Recipients to Work Actually Increase Economic Self-Sufficiency?
The answer is increasingly urgent as politicians debate whether to reinstate the requirement, which was paused during the COVID-19 recession.
Social Impact
Researchers Designed an Algorithm to Save Schools Money and Improve Equity. The District Loved it. Then Things Got Messy.
A tale of bus routes in Boston shows the promises and pitfalls of using new technology to change entrenched systems.
September 2020
Careers
How to Sell in a Virtual World
From a “pre-flight checklist” to handwritten thank-you notes, here’s how to sell both your products and your ideas via video.
Family Business
Family Businesses Are Experiencing the COVID-19 Crisis in Unique Ways
Lower debt, diversified portfolios, and longer-term horizons may be shielding family firms from the existential threats facing many other businesses.
Innovation
Could a Small City Become the Next Silicon Valley? It’s Unlikely.
New research suggests that there’s a population tipping point for supporting a booming tech industry.
Healthcare
Pharma Companies Argue That Lower Drug Prices Would Mean Fewer Breakthrough Drugs. Is That True?
Probably not, a new study suggests—as long as the price decreases are modest.
Finance
How Credit Ratings Are Shaping Governments’ Responses to Covid-19
To fund pandemic-related spending, governments around the world will need to take on more debt. If they can.
Economics
White Americans Overestimate Racial Progress. But Certain Attempts to Remedy That Could Backfire.
Researchers hoped that having white participants read about racism would help them grasp the true extent of racial gaps in wealth and income. They were wrong.
Policy
How Did School Desegregation Shape the Political Ideology of White Students Later in Life?
A new study suggests that, more than four decades later, the impact of these policies on political leanings is apparent.
Marketing
How Anticipation Warps Our Sense of Time
Here’s why that trip to Disneyland—or to the dentist—seems to take ages, but the return trip feels much faster.
August 2020
Economics
We’re Several Months into the COVID Economy. What Have We Learned?
From household spending to the strength of the dollar, an economist sees some clear trends—and signs of what’s to come.
Careers
3 Tips for Conquering Self-Doubt at Work
High achievers often worry they aren’t qualified to weigh in. Here’s how to get past those self-sabotaging thoughts.
Leadership
Podcast: Thinking about Adopting a Contact-Tracing App for Your Company? Here’s What to Keep in Mind.
The technology can help reopen workplaces—but only if your employees trust it. On this special episode of The Insightful Leader, three experts discuss how to earn that trust.
Social Impact
Why Well-Meaning NGOs Sometimes Do More Harm than Good
Studies of aid groups in Ghana and Uganda show why it’s so important to coordinate with local governments and institutions.
Operations
From PPE to Denim and Beer, Here’s What the Pandemic Is Teaching Us about Supply Chains
Five lessons from Kellogg Professor Marty Lariviere.
Innovation
3 Steps for Reimagining Your Business for a Post-COVID World
The crisis presents an opportunity to dream up new ideas, learn from others, and take bold action.
Careers
Stop Hiring for “Cultural Fit”
When you prioritize candidates you “click with,” you run the risk of discriminating against candidates from different backgrounds. Here’s how to change course.
Strategy
To Find the Best Incentives for Employees, Start with a Simple A/B Test
Keeping people motivated can be tough. New research shows that a simple experiment can lead to big productivity gains.
Artificial Intelligence
How AI Can Help Weed Out Faulty Scientific Research
Solid science is more important than ever, yet experts often struggle to predict which studies will replicate. Artificial intelligence could do the job better.
Innovation
Recessions Can Stifle Product Innovation for Years
To keep companies innovating through a recession, they will need greater access to credit.
Organizations
Here’s the Best Way to Rotate Workers (or Students) into Buildings to Curb the Spread of Covid-19
Should groups be staggered daily? Weekly? Monthly? A new model helps organizations decide.
Organizations
Why Are Social Media Platforms Still So Bad at Combating Misinformation?
Facebook, Twitter, and users themselves have few incentives to distinguish fact from fiction.
July 2020
Leadership
Podcast: How a Century-Old Family Business Is Adapting to the Pandemic
On this special episode of The Insightful Leader: a conversation with the chairman and the CEO of Griffith Foods about leading with purpose during the crisis.
Organizations
What Astronauts Can Teach Us about Working Remotely
Space: the final frontier—for learning how to keep your team motivated during extended periods of isolation and confinement.
Policy
A Look Inside Chicago’s Economic Recovery Plan
Attracting HQ2s. Expanding mental-health care. A member of the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force explains how the city can emerge both stronger and more equitable.
Social Impact
Black-Owned Businesses Often Struggle to Access Capital. Here’s How Financial Institutions Can Change That.
Banks and investors need to redefine creditworthiness, diversify their boards, and think more about social returns.
Leadership
Looking for “5 Quick Tips” to Build an Inclusive Organization? You’re on the Wrong Track.
Two experts discuss why corporate diversity initiatives so often fall short, and what it will take to produce real change.
Innovation
The Pandemic Has Slashed Scientists’ Productivity
The extent varies a good deal by field, but the single biggest factor is whether a scientist is caring for young children.
Strategy
How to Negotiate via Email
This excerpt from Negotiating the Sweet Spot: The Art of Leaving Nothing on the Table offers three tips for writing emails that engage and persuade.
Social Impact
Does Social-Media Use Increase Xenophobia?
A recent study investigates, using data from a popular Russian social-media platform and information on regional hate crimes.
Politics & Elections
Why We Know So Little about Disparities within the Federal Court System—and How That’s Finally Changing
Millions of hard-to-obtain public court records shed new light on the fairness of the U.S. judiciary.
Careers
What’s the Secret Ingredient to Great Mentorship?
It’s not just subject-matter expertise, according to a new study.
Leadership
How to Build Resilient Habits into Your Daily Life
Life today is complicated. Here are some simple ways to stay energized and motivated.
Leadership
You’ve Worked Hard to Earn Your Team’s Trust. What Happens If Layoffs Are Necessary?
Layoffs are brutal. But the news is easier to accept from leaders who consistently display honesty, competency, and concern for their employees.
Marketing
Is Now the Time to Transition to Personalized Marketing?
Budgets are strapped. There are a million other things to do. But the risk of ignoring AI-powered modern marketing is dire.
