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- 07 Sep 2016
- What Do You Think?
How Can the Threat of Networks Be Reduced?
SUMMING UP Are ever-expanding technology networks a threat to business leadership? Jim Heskett's readers are largely doubtful. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Aug 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Shareholder Activism on Sustainability Issues
Shareholder proposals on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics have more than doubled in the last two decades. Testing the effect that ESG proposals have on firms’ subsequent ESG performance and market valuation, the authors find a considerable portion (42 percent) of ESG proposals to be financially beneficial and associated with subsequent increases in environmental and social performance, too. Managers need to identify significant sustainability issues, based on their industry, wisely because errors could be value-destroying as the authors show declines in financial value for the rest of the sample (58 percent).
- 29 Jul 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Can Paying Firms Quicker Affect Aggregate Employment?
In 2011, the United States federal government accelerated payments by 15 days to a subset of small-business government contractors. This study shows that, on average, each accelerated dollar of sales led to an almost 10 cent increase in payroll, with two-thirds of the increase coming from new hires and the remainder from increased earnings per worker. These findings highlight a new channel through which financial frictions affect firm-level employment.
- 18 Jul 2016
- Research & Ideas
Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?
In a first-ever look at the internal economics driving private equity partnerships, Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner find that founding partners who take an unequal share of the pie can ruin their firms. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Jul 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Entrepreneurs and the Co-Creation of Ecotourism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has grown as a mecca for ecotourism from the late twentieth century. Although biologists and other students of ecosystems and biodiversity were vital at the start of the process, as were conservation NGOs and the national government, this paper argues that entrepreneurs were also pivotal. While showing the benefits of ecotourism, it is also shown that as the industry scaled, there were increasing challenges of greenwashing.
- 20 Jun 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
What Else Do Shareholders Want? Shareholder Proposals Contested by Firm Management
Shareholder proposals are an important way for investors to communicate their demands to a firm’s management and board of directors. Here the authors gain insight into how such proposals can be excluded from a shareholder vote by management appealing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Among the findings, firm managements seek to exclude almost half the proposals suggested by shareholders with nearly a quarter ultimately excluded with permission of the SEC.
- 25 May 2016
- Research & Ideas
How Consumers and Businesses are Reshaping Public Health
Through a collection of case studies, John A. Quelch and co-authors explore the intersection of health care and business in the new book, Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health. Read an excerpt. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 May 2016
- Book
‘Big Teaming,’ Audacious Innovation, and the Uncompleted Dream of a Smart City
How do you organize a project that spans professions, industries, and even nations? A new book by Amy Edmondson and Susan Salter Reynolds describes the approach of 'big teaming' with a case study of a high-profile smart city. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 May 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership
Partnerships are essential to the professional service and investment sectors. Yet the partnership structure raises issues including intergenerational continuity. This study of more than 700 private equity partnerships finds 1) the allocation of fund economics is typically weighted toward the founders of the firms, 2) the distributions of carried interest and ownership substantially affect the stability of the partnership, and 3) partners’ departures have a negative effect on private equity groups’ ability to raise additional funds.
- 04 Apr 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Preparing the Self for Team Entry: How Relational Affirmation Improves Team Performance
Despite their potential to perform at high levels and make decisions that are better than those of individual members, teams are often unable to capitalize on this potential. Two studies show the importance of affirming team members’ self-concept prior to team formation. This can help offset new members’ concerns for social acceptance as they negotiate their identity and expose their unique perspectives to other team members.
- 28 Mar 2016
- Research & Ideas
What's a Boss Worth?
Quite a lot, it turns out. Good bosses can have a multiplier effect that ups everyone’s game, according to new research by Christopher Stanton. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Mar 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Voluntary, Self-Regulatory, and Mandatory Disclosure of Oil and Gas Company Payments to Foreign Governments
Throughout its history the oil and gas industry has been vulnerable to expropriation and corruption. To this day, oil and gas firms provide very limited voluntary disclosure on payments to host governments, and that pattern has not changed materially over time. This paper shows that industry-level self-regulation may be effective in enhancing transparency when individual firms are reluctant to voluntarily disclose payments.
- 04 Mar 2016
- Research & Ideas
Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?
Apple invests heavily in making its products secure, but now is being commanded by the FBI to make more investments to undo that work. Sunil Gupta discusses the fallout when business and government collide. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization
A key question in organizations is whether there is an optimal balance between diversity and sameness within teams of workers. Findings from a field experiment within a nonprofit research organization based in Kenya suggest much of the tradeoff between diversity and sameness may come from the different effects diversity has along different dimensions of organizational structure. Diversity along the organization’s hierarchy improves both effort and performance.
- 08 Feb 2016
- Research & Ideas
The Civic Benefits of Google Street View and Yelp
Cities are increasingly rich in citizen-created data, which can be used to improve programs and services, says Michael Luca and his research colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
The Problem with Productivity of Multi-Ethnic Teams
Ethnically diverse teams can be less productive than more homogenous teams, according to research in Kenya by Vincent Pons. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Nov 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket
Research explores the downsides of self-interest on businesses, government, and the economy as a whole.
- 19 Oct 2015
- Research & Ideas
Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy
Just as researchers in the life sciences often target their work to tackle the most dangerous diseases, business scholars are using their research to make a difference in government policy. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Sep 2015
- Op-Ed
The Real Duty of the Board of Directors
Robert G. Eccles and Tim Youmans argue that a board's primary duty is not to the shareholders, but to the corporation itself. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
Why Business Should Invest in Community Health
Many companies invest heavily to keep their employees healthy, but don't take the next step—invest in keeping their community healthy. John Quelch, Howard Koh, and Pamela Yatsko make the case. Open for comment; 0 Comments.