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Research News
Outsourcing May Be Slowing Down Apparel Firms
Designing fashion products quickly to capture the latest consumer trends, and then spending extra money to get them to market quickly, can be well worth the extra expense and can increase profits exponentially, says Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Robert Swinney, coauthor of a recent study.
Posting Calorie Counts in Restaurants Lowers Customers’ Calorie Counts Per Visit
Starbucks’ customers purchased 6% fewer calories per visit at chain outlets that posted calorie counts without substantially affecting revenue say Stanford Graduate School of Business researchers Bryan Bollinger, Phillip Leslie, and Alan Sorensen.
Why Trust Can Get You Into Trouble
"Why do people trust, why can trust get us into trouble, and what we can do to protect ourselves?" asks Professor Rod Kramer. After looking at the financial industry he was surprised by "the level of abuse of trust throughout the financial industries: its magnitude, its pervasiveness, and its duration."
People in the Minority May Know Themselves Better
One benefit of knowing you're in the minority is a clearer sense of self, says marketing Professor S. Christian Wheeler. Business organizations, which have been shown to improve their decision making when diverse ideas are present, may therefore want to think about more structured ways for encouraging naysayers to speak up.
Social Pressures Affect Corporate Strategy and Performance
Social pressure plays a major role in determining corporate strategy and performance according to an award-winning paper coauthored by Professor David Baron. The researchers find that social pressure and social performance reinforce each other, greater social pressure is associated with lower financial performance, and financial and social performance are largely unrelated.
People Like to Play the Blame Game
Pointing fingers can ruin a company’s morale, according to a new study co-authored by organizational behavior Professor Larissa Tiedens.
Prejudice Fuels Opposition to Obama’s Plans
Individuals’ who demonstrated implicit racial prejudices were reluctant to vote for President Barack Obama in the 2008 election and demonstrate opposition to his health care reform plan, according to a study coauthored by s Professor Brian Lowery. They were more likely to support a health care reform proposal attributed to former President Bill Clinton than the same proposal from Obama.
Don’t Tax Efficiency in Health Care
Practically all taxes distort economic incentives to some extent, opines healthcare expert Alain Enthoven. But taxes on healthcare currently under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee are particularly perverse. Instead of promoting prepayment and integrated care with the right incentives—the best long term strategy for keeping coverage affordable—this policy moves us in the wrong direction.
Eliminating Sales Quotas May Stimulate Profits
Eliminating sales quotas boosts company profits says Professor Harikesh Nair. In one case, the new sales compensation plan without quotas resulted in a 9% improvement in overall revenues, which translates to about $1 million of incremental revenues per month.
Is "Thinking" or "Feeling" More Persuasive?
Identical messages can have different impacts depending on whether they are couched as "I think" or "I feel," says Stanford Graduate School of Business Marketing Professor Zakary Tormala.
Believe Me, I Have No Idea What I’m Talking About
Experts can be more persuasive by expressing uncertainty, argues Stanford Graduate School of Business marketing professor Zakary Tormala.
Cost of Reducing CO2 Emissions Could Plunge
The financial impact of regulating coal-fired power plants that produce carbon dioxide emissions under a cap-and-trade system will be much less than previously projected according to research by Professor Stefan Reichelstein and doctoral student Ozge Islegen.
Peers Influence Decision to Become an Entrepreneur
Why do some geographic areas — such as California’s Silicon Valley — produce so many entrepreneurial companies? The answer may be workplace peers. Working with former entrepreneurs makes individuals more likely to start their own businesses, says Professor Jesper Sørensen of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Slowing Introductions of New Electronic Products Reduces E-Waste
Some types of regulations governing disposal of electronic waste can reduce the world’s mountains of devices waiting to be recycled, while they also slow the rate of new product introductions says Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Erica Plambeck.
Courting So-So Customers Can Be Good for Business
Marketers often lavish attention on their best customers, but Stanford Graduate School of Business researchers James M. Lattin and V. Srinivasan suggest it may be more cost effective to increase their spending on clients who only occasionally use their products or services.
Services Market Is Key to Open Source Software
Open source software has become a major and fast-growing presence in the computer industry in recent years. Professor Tunay Tunca and his co-authors argue that the key factor in whether to create open source software is the strength of the market for support, integration, and related services for such programs.
Customers Can't Buy It If They Don't Know It Exists
Rock groups can lose as much as 40% of their potential sales because consumers don’t know enough about them, says the Stanford Business School’s Alan Sorensen. There are lots of crowded markets out there where lack of information skews sales.
Being Jilted Can Make You Yearn More—or So You Think
Being rejected increases many people’s motivation to pursue that elusive objective. But there’s a catch, say Stanford researchers. Being rebuffed, in fact, makes people less fond of what it is they think they want more. Once they obtain the desired goal, many are quicker to lose interest in it.
India’s Slums Represent Complex Political and Social Issues
India's slums, like those depicted in the popular film "Slumdog Millionaire," are complex communities with residents of different income levels, sometimes complex relations between ethnic groups, and systems of political patronage, that interest Saumitra Jha, an assistant professor of political economy
Ice Cream and The Econometric Model for Mergers
Michaela Draganska, associate professor of marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and three co-authors studied the super premium ice cream market after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission cautioned that merger of Dreyers and Nestle could reduce competition and hurt customer choices. The result is the beginnings of a new econometric model that would allow the FTC to forecast changes and their impact on consumers.
Foster a More “Giving” Identity to Rouse Donors and Volunteers
How nonprofits ask for support can make their potential donors more generous with both their time or money, says Prof. Jennifer Aaker. The trick is to help the donor develop a more giving identity -- for instance helping them see themselves as the kind of people who support a specific cause.
Social Networks Can Cloud Your Judgment
People who are closely connected to their peers through social networks tend to overestimate how much other people agree with them, according to research by Business School Professor Frank Flynn,
and doctoral student Scott Wiltermutht. (requires registration)
Stanford Business School Research Underpins SEC Scrutiny of Scheduled Insider Trades
In the wake of alleged misconduct by executives at Countrywide Savings, Novatel, and Qwest, research by Stanford accounting professor Alan Jagolinzer may be prompting the Securities and Exchange Commission to rethink rules that permit scheduled trading by insiders.
Specializing Can Mean Bigger Sales
Customers like to feel they’re buying goods and services from businesses that are leaders in a specific category or two. Being a jack of all trades in too many categories may reduce profits say researchers.
Seeking Common Ground in Conversations Can Stifle Innovation and Reward the Wrong People
The best baseball players don't always get elected All-Stars. Researchers say people try to find a common ground when talking to others, which can mean the wrong people become famous or the most innovative ideas don't get discussed.
How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy
When cutbacks are necessary, can a good boss do right by the company's finances and by its staff? Some pain is probably unavoidable, but Stanford Professor Bob Sutton says that psychological and organization theory research suggests clear ways to handle such situations with a minimum of harm to the people and company involved.
Time to Detox the Work Environment
Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer wants companies to pay attention to policies and working conditions he argues create a toxic workplace environment that can raise rates of disease and mortality among workers.
Self-Identified Multiracial Individuals Realize Real Benefits
Individuals who identified with multiple ethnic or racial groups reported either equal or higher psychological well-being and social engagement than those who identified primarily with a single group, say researchers trying to understand multiracial psychology.
A Central Clearing House Doesn’t Reduce CDS Risk
A plan by global financial regulators to fix the mess created by the misuse of credit default swaps is flawed, says Darrell Duffie, professor of finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Small Islands, Big Economic Lessons
Barbados and Jamaica are living proof that government protectionist policies hurt the economy in the long run, say Stanford researchers. Once sporting nearly identical economies, today Barbados outstrips Jamaica’s GDP by more than $5,000 per capita.
Are Wall Street Careers Just the Luck of the Draw?
The proportion of graduating MBAs hired into lucrative investment banking positions shrinks or expands depending on how well the stock market is performing, yet this bit of happenstance can have a dramatic effect on lifetime earnings, says Business School professor Paul Oyer.
U.S. Dependence on Oil in 2008: Facts, Figures and Context
Key facts and figures describing global and United States’ energy and oil consumption, the history and evolution of the oil industry, and the relationship between U.S. oil consumption and national security are compiled in this research paper. Authors Andrew Grove, Robert Burgelman, and Debra Schifrin argue that these factors are needed to help shape policy before the next market upheaval.
Does Consumer Happiness=Time or Money Spent?
Focusing on the time customers invest in products typically leads to better outcomes than focusing on cost. Mentioning time rather than money can trigger very different reactions say Stanford Business School researchers Cassie Mogilner and Jennifer Aaker.
Space Junk, What Goes Up Must Come Down
Enforcing existing rules requiring space programs to clean up their own space junk could stem the growing threat to millions of dollars worth of orbiting satellites say Stanford researchers. The rules are already on the books, they are merely being ignored says Prof. Lawrence Wein.
Marketing Obama's Stimulus Package: It Depends
Obama’s political strategists might have gotten an even bigger stimulus package if they had relied less on Democratic Party lawmakers to sell it. Or, taking another tack, they could have gotten more Republican support by not blaming that party for the financial crisis and by being more alarmist about the consequences, say researchers Neil Malhotra and Yotam Margalit.
The Vote is Not Tallied on Katrina Blame
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, voters can look beyond political loyalties and carry the blame for the disaster into their next voting booth say researchers Neil Malhotra and Alexander Kuo.
Most Gamblers Are Just Out for Fun
Is gambling an addiction or a form of entertainment? Mostly the latter, according to a new academic study that found evidence that most people have strict "loss thresholds" they will not cross when gambling.
It Really IS The Thought That Counts
When it comes to putting out money for gifts, less may well be more. Researchers say that although most gift givers assume that a more expensive present will be more appreciated, receivers don’t appreciate expensive gifts that much more.
Spence Paints Optimistic Picture for Developing Countries
"There is, perhaps for the first time in history, a reasonable chance of transforming the quality of life and the creative opportunities for the vast majority of humanity," says Dean Emeritus Michael Spence, describing the report of the Independent Commission on Growth in Developing Countries, which he chaired.
Depression Babies: How Our Economic Experiences
Affect Investment Behavior
Finance professor Stefan Nagel and his co-author have demonstrated that personally experiencing something like the Great Depression has a significant impact on how we invest our money.
The Thought of Acquiring Power Motivates People to Act
In the wake of Barack Obama’s “yes we can” victory, a timely study has emerged from the Stanford Graduate School of Business about what motivates people to take action. The prime mover, say researchers, is acquiring a position of power.
Financial Restoration for the United States
During the past 200 years, there have been 16 credit crises in the United States, all marked by speculative excesses in the years immediately preceding. As the ultimate safeguard to stem a financial panic, the government should have in place the apparatus that will allow it to curtail such excesses in advance of their triggering a financial panic says Finance Professor James C. VanHorne.