Area: Management and Organizations

A close-up of a single opioid pill resting on top of a prescription pill bottle. Research Brief / Health Care

A Supportive Letter to Doctors on Best Practices Reduces Opioid Prescriptions 

In LA, doctors who lose a patient to opioid overdose get a letter from the coroner; tweaking that letter had a substantial impact

Three female workers planting rice. Research Brief / Cultural History

Why Offspring of Rice Farmers Are Better at Detecting Emotions

Raising the crop is a communal project, more so than the work of wheat farmers, who’re less attuned to feelings of others

Organization and team structure symbolized with cubes on wooden background. Research Brief / Management

Complexity Begets Management Layers: How Some Small Firms Avoid That

Overlapping tasks among workers well acquainted with each other reduce the need for managers

Black pencil with white eraser removing a written mistake on a piece of paper. Research Brief / Gender

Removing Words With Gender Bias in Job Ads: More Diverse Applicants

Women — and some men — more inclined to apply for positions

A classroom of middle school students taking a test at their desks. Research Brief / Education

Why So Few Women in STEM Fields: The Role of Middle-School Peer Influence

Notion that boys are innately better at math undermines girls’ self-belief

A side view of feet on a scale Research Brief / Health

Modest Financial Incentives Help with Weight Loss

Tying payments to weight, rather than behaviors, marginally more effective

Workers in a warehouse putting together packages Research Brief / Productivity

Startling Productivity Leap: an Algorithm, Not a Manager, Assigns Work

Warehouse pickers perceive process to be fairer

An illustration of the outlines of a group of men and women, multicolored Research Brief / Gender

The Art of Selling Corporate Gender Equity Initiatives

Workforce doesn’t identify as feminist? Maybe don’t use that word

A firefighter in gear carries a fire hose as they walk past a fire truck Research Brief / Management

A Bottom-Up, Instead of Top-Down, Path Away from Sexist Bosses

Encouraging the rank-and-file to value feminine traits reduces the implicit endorsement of a biased supervisor

AN illustration of matches in various stages of burning until it reaches then end and what looks like a man made out of matches is entirely burned Research Brief / Health Care

Doctors, Subjected to Peer Comparison, Felt Increased Burnout

Nudge to improve preventive medicine performance didn’t work – and yielded discontent

A refugee carrying a basket on their head walks through a tent encampment. Research Brief / Sustainability

Can Humanitarian Aid Turn Wastefulness to Sustainability?

Seeing global crises as ongoing, rather than episodic, and applying modern supply-chain management

A color illustration of various faces Research Brief / Diversity

Inviting White Workers to Join Diversity Initiatives May Increase Buy-In

Absent such a call, white workers may doubt they have a role

Two staffers wearing face masks hand dishes to women in the senior living center Research Brief / COVID-19

More Staffers: More COVID-19 Exposures and More Nursing Home Deaths

Reliance on part-timers raises headcounts and dangers to patients

A photo of a merge sign Research Brief / Mergers and Acquisitions

Unvarnished Merger Talk: Will This Deal Help Us Raise Prices?

Customer loyalty, barriers to entry and other factors at play

A close-up of a white woman's face Research Brief / Bias

Accused of Prejudice, Some Claim They’re the Victims

Claiming victimhood of a different sort — say, concerning free speech — seen as more effective in silencing criticism

Workers in a factory Research Brief / Management

Cause and Effect in the Complex World of Corporate Decision Making

As with scientific research, it’s hard to distinguish correlation from causation