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February 2008

Behavior

Measuring Wine by Its Price Tag

Wine drinkers told researchers the more expensive of two wines tasted better. Although the subjects' brains did react with more pleasure to the higher price tag, Professor Baba Shiv says the wine in both glasses was exactly the same.

Finding Love Online

Goodbye singles bars and classified ads, hello online search algorithms and business plans. Dating is becoming an online business.

Finance

Doing the "Wall Street Walk" As a Kind of Shareholder Activism

Major shareholders register their dissatisfaction with corporate management through the "Wall Street Walk", selling their shares. Business School researchers Anat Admati and Paul Pfleiderer find that this threat—with its potential to cause a stock price fall—can significantly impact the behavior of top management.

Marketing

Expensive Movie Popcorn Is Good for Us

The high price of popcorn at most movie theater concessions actually benefits moviegoers say researchers, including the Business School’s Wesley Hartmann. It helps hold down the price of the movie ticket.

Environment

Despite the Evidence, Climate Change
Still Isn't Making Headlines
Salon.com recently reported that of all the 2,975 questions major media outlets have asked the U.S. presidential candidates this election season, only six contained the words “global warming” or “climate change.” That’s pretty insignificant, considering that there were at least three questions about UFOs. Some of the country’s top journalists came to Stanford to discuss why this environmental crisis was still not making more headlines.

About Forty Years Until the Oil Runs Out

Current oil supplies in all nations combined would last the world for only about 41 years at today's rate of use says Gilbert Masters, Stanford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Emeritus. He painted the sobering picture of the world’s looming energy dilemma during a January conference on environmental sustainability.

First Person

Lessig Turns from Copyright to Government Corruption

Consumers can wield great influence over the working conditions, particularly for employees of garment manufacturers working outside of the United States, says Professor Huggy Rao. The biggest success comes, he said, when consumers are convinced that by paying more they will improve worker’s lives.

Something to Read

Executing Your Strategy: How to Get It Done
Mark Morgan, Raymond E. Levitt, William Malek
Harvard Business School Press
The authors present six imperatives that enable business leaders to successfully plan and execute strategic projects.

The United States Votes on the Economy
With the Iraqi war dragging on and rising national debt, soaring healthcare costs, and millions of Baby Boomers retiring, what impact will U.S. elections have on the economy? The Business School's Jackson Library presents a collection of recent articles focused on the economic issues and the November election.

Jackson Blog
Jackson Library maintains a blog spotting interesting articles, news items, and comments about current events of interest to business audiences. Drop in or sign up for regular updates.