Skip to Content

Stanford GSB News

 
  • Email
  • Print
  • Share
Knowledgebase


March 2008

Marketing

Price of Medication May Affect How Well It Works
A marketing pitch or the price of a drug may do more than simply affect what the consumer thinks about the product. It also can have a real effect the benefit the user gets from the drug, says researcher Baba Shiv.

Customer Behavior: Be Careful to Segment
Verbal, visual, or cognitive cues can have very opposite effects when used on different groups of potential customers, say researchers Christian Wheeler and Jonah Berger.

Economics

American Symphonies Often Spend More Than They Earn
Most major symphony orchestras in the United States regularly spend more money than they take in, and some dip so far into endowments that they risk their long-term survival, according to a new report commissioned by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Teamwork Can Boost Manufacturing Productivity
Those who work in the most complex manufacturing environments have the most to gain from using problem-solving teams, according to research coauthored by Business School Professor Kathryn Shaw. Teams had the most effect when they worked on very high-quality products with complex manufacturing steps.

Finance

How Dividends Encourage Consumer Spending
Consumers are likely to run out and spend stock dividends while income from capital gains is more likely to be reinvested or saved, says the Business School’s Stefan Nagel and his coauthors. The finding could be considered in setting economic policy.

First Person

Fasten Your Financial Seatbelt, Barrack Says; The Volatility Will Continue
The financial churning of the past several months will continue unabated predicts Thomas Barrack Jr., the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the private equity firm Colony Capital. He was a keynote speaker at the 2008 Principal Investment Conference at the Graduate School of Business.

Former Mexican President Fox Optimistic About the Future
Mexico, the United States’ largest trading partner with Latin America’s highest per capita income, is expected to become the world’s fifth largest economy by the year 2040 former Mexican President Vicente Fox told a Business School audience.

San Francisco Mayor: Politics Needs More Risk Taking
Charismatic Mayor Gavin Newsom, who four years ago ordered San Francisco to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples, described the need for politicians to take risks, and the personal and professional price he has paid for his stands.

Something to Read

The Role of Housing Wealth in College Enrollment
Obtaining an education today is shaped by the lengthening of time it takes students to obtain an undergraduate degree, the role of housing wealth in the college enrollment decision, and the effect of teachers’ unions on K-12 educational resources, according to work by Michael Lovenheim, a post-doctoral fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Jackson Blog
Digital Primetime, The Netflix Challenge-The 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.