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Sunil KumarNetflix Broke the Rules and Won

The video rental service broke new ground with a patented consumer model that had no deadlines or penalties and charged a set monthly fee. “Netflix got it right,” said Professor Sunil Kumar.

WheelerCustomer 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.

FlanaganAmerican 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.

Baba ShivThe Price of a 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 an actual effect on how effective the user finds the drug, says researcher Baba Shiv.

Kathryn ShawTeamwork Can Boost Manufacturing Productivity
Those who work in the most complex manufacturing environments have the most to gain from the use of 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.

stefan Nagel 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.

Wesley Hartmann Why Does Movie Popcorn Cost So Much?
The high price of popcorn at most movie theater concession stands actually benefits moviegoers, say researchers, including the Business School’s Wesley Hartmann. It helps hold down the price of the movie ticket.

Baba ShivMeasuring Wine by Its Pricetag
Wine drinkers asked to compare wines told reseachers the one they believed was more expensive tasted better. Although their brains did react with more pleasure to the higher pricetag, the researchers including Professor Baba Shiv, say the subjects were tasting the same wine under two pricetags.

Kenneth Shotts Elections May Make Candidates Ideologically Rigid
Politicians want to assure the electorate that they share the political leanings of voters. This attention to the electoral process, says Kenneth Shotts, means that politicians are more rigid and less likely to change their positions based on new information, particularly when voters may not share that insight.

Heath photo Too Much Popularity Can Make Items Uncool
Products may go from cool to completely out of favor in a blink. The reason, says Chip Heath, is that consumers associate their own identity with some products and will shy away from something they once liked if they perceive it is associated with the wrong kinds of groups or individuals.

Ernesto DalBoCorruption Hurts Business as Well as a Nation’s Reputation
Corruption, whether in government or in private industry, serves as a serious drag on a nation’s wealth and creates a less favorable climate for business, say researchers including Ernesto Dal Bó. For one thing, corruption swells the number of employees needed, driving up costs and sidetracking workers from jobs that could help grow an economy.

Rajan PhotoAuctions May Simplify Internal Resource Allocation
Creating auctions within a corporation to let managers compete to buy necessary resources can be a boon to industry. But researchers, includingMadhav Rajan, warn that in some cases these internal markets may not benefit the bottom line.

Narayajan photoInformation Can Help You Get the Right Cell Phone Plan
Given enough information, most users can choose the best payment plan for their needs in a cell phone contract. But, caution researchers including Sridhar Narayanan of the Graduate School of Business, there isn’t always an obvious way to get the information.

Peter DeMarzo Investors Fear Missing a Sure Thing More Than They Fear Risk
What investors fear the most is not the risk of a loss per se, but the risk that they may do poorly relative to their peers say researchers Peter DeMarzo and Ilan Kremer of the Business School and Ron Kaniel of Duke University.

KhanBuyer Beware: Shopping Can Lead to More … Well … Shopping
Which items consumers purchase can actually create momentum to make them shop more, say researchers including the Business School’s Uzma Khan. That bag full of items you really didn’t intend to buy may not be completely your fault.

PfefferFinancial Incentives Can Create Bad Employee Behavior
Financial incentives, including commissions, should be used only to recognize good employee performance. They can backfire if used to try to influence behavior, says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer.

MullenMimicking Produces Better Negotiated Outcomes
Subtly imitating mannerisms, gestures, etc. of the other partner during a negotiation can lead to greater success for both parties in a negotiation according to recent research co-authored by Elizabeth Mullen.  

JossIt’s Not About You
Leadership is not about you. It’s about the people who work for you Business School Dean Robert L. Joss says in a recent essay.

Haim MendelsonStrategic Spot Trading Benefits Supply Chains
Supply chains can create greater profits for themselves and lower costs to consumers by developing a strategy to purchase needed materials with fixed-priced contracts negotiated in advance plus buying in real time on the open market, report researchers Haim Mendelson and Tunay Tunca.

BeyerYour Auditor's Other Clients Can Effect Your Stock Price
The stock price of a given firm varies based on the quality of audits of other firms in the client portfolio of its auditor, according to research co authored by the Business School's Anne Beyer.

HannanSpecializing 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. The research is co-authored by Business School Professor Michael Hannan.

kesslerWho Is Paying for Uninsured Medical Patients?
Underfunding programs like Medicare – not the cost of paying for uninsured medical patients – is driving up private health care costs, argues economist Daniel Kessler. (June 2007)

BurgelmanCompaq and HP: Ultimately, the Urge to Merge Was Right
The controversial merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq ultimately was a good idea, but failure to focus on long-term corporate strategy actions meant it wasn’t smooth sailing to the finish line. (June 2007)

JagolinzerDo SEC Rules on Insider Trading Really Protect?
Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b5-1, designed to keep permitted insider trades from hurting others in the market, may not be achieving its goal, says Alan Jagolinzer. (June 2007)

Time Pressures Color Consumer Decisions Say Researchers
As any woman who has ever shopped for shoes for a big event can tell you, a looming deadline affects consumer decisions. A month before the big event the shopper is looking for the perfect shoes. The day before, she just wants something that won’t be awful. Marketing researchers who have studied this phenomenon caution that time is one factor that makes framing a marketing campaign something that should not be taken lightly. (June 2007)

Not Coordinating Price and Quantity Can Mean Lost Competitive Advantage
In most manufacturing operations, price is determined by the marketing department while operations decides how much to manufacture. When these two don’t coordinate well the result can mean the company loses competitive advantage say researchers who have created a new mathematical model for finding the optimal price and quantity to fit with real world consumer behavior. (June 2007)

Investor Intuition Is Right: Corporate Leadership and Management Turnover Directly Affect Startup Success
Start-up companies with founding and senior management teams sporting greater diversity in experience and functions are more successful more quickly say researchers. It may be consistent with common wisdom, but the authors argue their study helps companies and investors understand just why this is the case. (May 2007)

Mutual Funds Vote Strategically in Board of Director Elections
By analyzing more than 3 million votes by 3,600 mutual funds, Michael Ostrovsky has come to the conclusion that funds vote to protect themselves from negative reprisals. Some consistently approve slates of directors proposed by corporate management while the majority typically won’t say “no” unless they sense that a critical mass of other funds will do the same. (May 2007)

Blueprint Proposed for Wiping Out Disease-bearing Mosquitoes
Releasing genetically modified male mosquitoes could eliminate the danger of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases within a year in communities of up to a million people, according to new research. The authors, including Professor Lawrence Wein, created a mathematical model to help scientists understand the order of magnitude they would have to deal with to wipe out dangerous native mosquito populations. (May 2007)

Even Costly Mergers Can Be Good
Although a firm’s stock value generally drops after it announces it has acquired a new company, few of its shareholders generally oppose the merger. Michael Ostrovsky argues this is because shareholders in acquiring companies often simultaneously own a near equal number of shares in target firms. (April 2007)

Be Careful What You Ask Your Customers
Understanding the needs and wants of customers in an ever-more competitive economic environment is critical. But Professor Itamar Simonson warns that information gleaned from some widely used types of customer surveys can be misleading and even counterproductive. (April 2007)

The Best Way to Construct Unenforceable Contracts
Strong relationships rather than iron clad legal agreements can be the most practical way for firms to outsource key operational activities, says associate professor Erica Plambeck. The threat of loss of future business is a stronger incentive in many cases than a legal document. (April 2007)