Technology
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- 12 Nov 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Product Quality and Entering Through Tying: Experimental Evidence
This study empirically explores Google’s decision to tie its new reviews product to the top of its search results, excluding competitors. Results suggest that such "tying" can facilitate dominant platforms’ entry into adjacent markets, even when the tied product is of worse quality compared to existing options.
- 29 Oct 2018
- Research & Ideas
Hunting for a Hot Job in High Tech? Try 'Digitization Economist'
Amazon has more economists on staff than any university economics department, and technology firms are snapping them up the minute they graduate, says Michael Luca. Why? Call it the economics of digitization. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 09 Jul 2018
- Research & Ideas
Overcoming the Challenges of Selling Brand New Technology (Hey, Need a 3-D Printer?)
Selling technology that is new to the market involves tricky tradeoffs around prospect targeting, channels, and tactics. Frank Cespedes makes the point with 3-D printers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 03 Jul 2018
- What Do You Think?
Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?
SUMMING UP Respondents to this month’s James Heskett column provided a resounding “no” to the question of whether Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella should accede to the wishes of a vocal minority of employees and cancel ICE contracts. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jun 2018
- Research & Ideas
In America, Immigrants Really Do Get the Job Done
Far from being a drain on the US economy, William Kerr’s research finds immigrants are a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 30 May 2018
- What Do You Think?
Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?
SUMMING UP To do business in China, American firms often lose some of their intellectual property. James Heskett's readers think that price is too high. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 24 May 2018
- Research & Ideas
Distance Still Matters in Business, Despite the Internet
The internet makes distance less a problem for conducting business, but geography still matters in the digital age. Shane Greenstein explains why. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 24 Apr 2018
- Op-Ed
Op-Ed: What Mark Zuckerberg Can Learn About Crisis Leadership from Starbucks
Starbucks and Facebook present a contrast in crisis leadership, says Bill George. While Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson stepped up to take responsibility and met with victims, Mark Zuckerberg delayed action and side-stepped responsibility. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 12 Apr 2018
- Op-Ed
Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs
The world's economies are interconnected by globalization, which makes threats of tariff wars doubly dangerous, says Willy Shih. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 21 Mar 2018
- Research & Ideas
Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity
As companies adopt artificial intelligence to increase efficiency, are their employees skilled enough to use those technologies effectively? Prithwiraj Choudhury looks to the US Patent and Trademark Office for a case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 06 Dec 2017
- What Do You Think?
Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?
SUMMING UP Would breaking up tech giants like Facebook and Google be good antitrust policy or bad for capitalism? James Heskett's readers join the conversation. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Sep 2017
- Research & Ideas
'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing
A decade-and-a-half after the dawn of social media marketing, brands are still learning what works and what doesn't with consumers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 29 Aug 2017
- Book
Using Language to Build a Global Company
In her new book The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley describes Japanese tech giant Rakuten's five-year effort to adopt English as its lingua franca of business. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 05 Jul 2017
- What Do You Think?
Can Innovation Save Us From Ourselves?
SUMMING UP Can technology save the world from its most pressing problems? James Heskett's readers aren't overly optimistic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 22 Jun 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
ShotSpotter: A Gunfire Detection Business Looks for a New Market
ShotSpotter sells its gunfire detection services to cities, but is thinking of branching out to private institutions like shopping malls and schools. This podcast with Mitch Weiss discusses his case study around ShotSpotter's options. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 19 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning to Manage: A Field Experiment in the Indian Startup Ecosystem
This study of 100 high-growth startups in India finds that founder-executives can learn how to improve their management style from their peers at other firms. These interfirm network connections between founders may help explain why some companies are well managed and others less so. Despite the apparent value of this peer learning, founders don’t appear to naturally connect with peers who could help them improve their management style.
- 18 Nov 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Innovation Network
Despite recent advances that measure how the technological development processes in innovative fields link with each other, our understanding of how progress in one technological area links to prior advances in upstream technological fields has been limited. The authors’ analysis and mapping of 1.8 million U.S. patents and their citation properties shows that a stable innovation network acts as a conduit for a cumulative process of technological and scientific progress. Upstream technological developments play an important role in the future pace and direction of patenting in downstream fields. This finding implies that if R&D slackens in one period the effects will still be felt years later in downstream fields.
- 01 Sep 2016
- Cold Call Podcast
Behind Apple's Tax Situation, an Unprecedented Financial Policy
The European Union recently hit Apple with a $14.5 billion tax bill, but that’s hardly the first or worst financial challenge the technology giant has faced. Mihir Desai explains the financial wiring behind the inventors of the iPhone. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 15 Aug 2016
- Research & Ideas
Black Swans and Big Trends Can Ruin Anyone's Internet Prediction
Coming off the dot-com bust, Thomas R. Eisenmann was confident enough in his internet vision that he wrote a book about what would happen next. For the most part, he was wrong. He offers lessons learned for navigating the boom-bust cycle. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
SUMMING UP: Do We Need an Artificial Intelligence Czar?
Having government oversee artificial intelligence development is either a sure way to kill a promising technology or the only way to keep our robot overlords at bay. James Heskett's readers debate. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.