Decision Making
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- 12 Sep 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
The Better is the Enemy of the Good
Previous research has shown that individuals’ self-serving responses to information may arise when payoff information is subjective or uncertain. This study, in the context of charitable giving, shows that individuals’ ability to respond to payoff information in a self-serving way even includes situations when information is complete and certain.
- 11 Sep 2017
- Research & Ideas
Why Employers Favor Men
Why are women discriminated against in hiring decisions? Research by Katherine Coffman, Christine Exley, and Muriel Niederle finds the answer is more subtle than expected. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 24 Jul 2017
- Research & Ideas
People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things
People are irrationally motivated to complete arbitrary sets of tasks, donations, or purchases—and organizations can take advantage of that, according to new research by Kate Barasz, Leslie John, Elizabeth Keenan, and Michael Norton. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 12 Jul 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Task Selection and Workload: A Focus on Completing Easy Tasks Hurts Long-Term Performance
Employees facing increased workloads usually tackle easier tasks first. This study tests the performance implications of such prioritization. Findings show that it happens because people feel positive emotions after task completion, yet it could hurt long-term performance. Workloads could be structured to help employee development as well as organizational performance.
- 05 Jul 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance
This study deepens our understanding of how firms can better design software portfolio architectures to improve their agility. The authors examined data from over 1,000 different software applications and 3,000 dependencies between them. They found that indirect measures of coupling and dependency have more power in predicting IT agility than direct measures.
- 14 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Expressive Voting and Its Cost: Evidence from Runoffs with Two or Three Candidates
This paper highlights the motivations and consequences of citizens voting for lower-ranked candidates in elections held under plurality rule. Findings show that a large fraction of voters are what the authors call expressive. Expressive voters vote for their favorite candidate even if it causes the defeat of their second-best choice.
- 14 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Minimizing Justified Envy in School Choice: The Design of New Orleans' OneApp
TCC (Top Trading Cycles) and DA (deferred acceptance) are the two main algorithms for priority-based resource allocation. In 2012, the New Orleans school system tried to use TCC for school assignments, but dropped it after one year. The authors of this paper compared data from New Orleans and Boston in order to review designs and algorithms for better school assignment systems.
- 15 May 2017
- Sharpening Your Skills
The Promises and Limitations of Big Data
Recent stories chart the rise of big data, its impact on business, and how it affects our lives every day. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 12 Apr 2017
- Research & Ideas
Why Productivity Suffers When Employees Are Allowed to Schedule Their Own Tasks
Deviating from an organization’s prescribed task schedule tends to erode productivity, even among the most experienced workers, according to new research from MarĂa R. Ibáñez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman, and Bradley R. Staats. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 20 Mar 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Bubbles for Fama
Nobel laureate Eugene F. Fama has famously claimed that there is no such thing as a bubble, which he defines as a large price run-up that predictably crashes. Analyzing industry data for the US and internationally, the authors find that Fama is mostly right that a sharp price increase of an industry portfolio does not, on average, predict unusually low returns going forward. Yet the authors show that there is much more to a bubble than merely increases in prices; they show a number of characteristics that predict an end to the bubble.
- 11 Jan 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Populism and the Return of the 'Paranoid Style': Some Evidence and a Simple Model of Demand for Incompetence as Insurance Against Elite Betrayal
Two themes emerging from studies of populist discourse have been “betrayal” and disdain for scientific or technical competence as traditionally embraced by elites. This paper connects betrayal and competence to examine why voters sometimes choose the less competent candidate.
- 30 Nov 2016
- What Do You Think?
How Do Leaders Manage the Tension Between Pride and Arrogance?
SUMMING UP: James Heskett's readers agree that leaders can and should influence whether an organization crosses the line from pride to arrogance, and that it's possible to lead close to the line without crossing it. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 03 Nov 2016
- Cold Call Podcast
You're Fired: Managing Gray-Area Decisions
Joseph Badaracco discusses how managers can sort through difficult gray-area decisions, such as firing an employee. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 24 Oct 2016
- Research & Ideas
Bernie Madoff Explains Himself
A few years ago, professor Eugene Soltes phoned convicted felon Bernie Madoff and asked him an important question: How would you explain your actions and misconduct to students? The recorded answer offers sobering lessons for anyone with business ambitions. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 14 Oct 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
A Welfarist Role for Nonwelfarist Rules: An Example with Envy
The author proposes an argument for why policymakers should, as research has repeatedly shown most people do, consider multiple, often mutually contradictory principles when judging economic policy: we cannot fully understand a policy’s effects, so we use principles based on human experience to help avoid unforeseeable mistakes. This argument is a specific version of a more general point made over the centuries, but if accepted it would have broad implications for the modern approach to economic policy analysis. He provides an example of this argument in action, focusing on the controversial topic of the tax policy response to the existence of envy.
- 10 Oct 2016
- Book
Why White-Collar Criminals Commit Their Crimes
Curious about the motives behind white-collar crime, Eugene Soltes spent seven years interviewing nearly 50 convicted corporate felons, including Bernard Madoff, Allen Stanford, and Dennis Kozlowski. Soltes shares what he learned in his new book, Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Sep 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Decision-Making by Precedent and the Founding of American Honda (1948–1974)
While the production and distribution of goods in a firm is commonly overseen by a hierarchy of management, decision-making within these organizations is often frenetic. This paper demonstrates empirically that the president of American Honda made important strategic decisions by following the precedent set by his boss and former mentor, Honda’s chief strategist, Takeo Fujisawa—by making careful, educated guesses about how Fujisawa would have addressed similar issues. This study identifies the guiding influence of historical precedent and hypothesized intentions and emphasizes the social character of strategic decision-making.
- 06 Sep 2016
- Book
Resolve Your Toughest Work Problems with 5 Questions
In Managing in the Gray, Joseph Badaracco offers managers a five-question framework for facing murky situations and solving tough problems. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jul 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Bias in Official Fiscal Forecasts: Can Private Forecasts Help?
Why do countries find it so hard to get their deficits under control? The authors bring together data on private sector forecasts with official government forecasts of 26 countries, and identify systematic patterns in errors that official budget agencies make in their forecasts—particularly over-optimistic forecasts of GDP growth and budget balances. Incorporating private sector forecasts into the budget process could reduce violations of limits set by fiscal rules by identifying errors ahead of time rather than just afterwards.
Nowcasting the Local Economy: Using Yelp Data to Measure Economic Activity at Scale
Data from online platforms ranging from Yelp to Zillow offer the potential for improved measurement of the local economy. This paper finds that Yelp data can predict business growth, as measured by the Census Bureau, before official statistics are released. Predictive power increases with population density, income, and education level.