Topic: Productivity

Feature / Management

Unearthing the Negative Consequences of Managing to Quarterly Earnings

A 2017 study on workplace injuries spurs more research on perils of corporate short-termism

A variety of white clouds on a black background Research Brief / Management

Boom of Intangible Assets Felt Across Industries and Economy

Rethinking issues around productivity, income inequality and industry concentration

Two men sit on a bench in a scene from the TV show "Silicon Valley." Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

The Role of Chance Encounters in Silicon Valley Innovation

Cellphone signals and patent citations approximate a theory’s long-sought paper trail

An overhead view of shipping containers and semi trucks going through a gate Research Question / Supply Chain

Can Supply Chains — Global, Opaque, Ever-Changing — Be Made Fair?

Amid the pandemic, price gouging and stiffing of suppliers and workers surged

A lone red char in empty office. Research Brief / Investing

As Concentrated Shareholder Ownership Rises, Wages and Employment Suffer

Where big investors gather, corporate wealth is reallocated away from workers

A cube of hundred dollar bills wrapped in a blue bow Research Brief / Productivity

Trying Out Bonus-Pay Theory on Unsupervised, Low-Skill Tasks

Incentives boost output, but benefits level off at a fairly low point

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

Overhead view of a group of workers gathering around desks to confer Research Brief / Organizational Culture

American and Chinese Perceptions of Having a Say at Work

It’s generally a positive in both cultures, but buy-in is more tentative in China

Research Brief / International Trade

How Companies in Big Cities Out-Export Those in Smaller Ones

Measure of export intensity raises questions about trade policy and housing restrictions

Research Brief / Time Management

Too Much Free Time? Blame Solitude or Lack of Productive Activity

Even abundant free time, used in meaningful pursuits, brings happiness

Chinese women working at a garment factory Research Brief / Productivity

Giving Workers a Say Boosts Productivity

Output at a Chinese garment factory rose 10%

Illustration of doctors and nurses with outlines of missing people Feature / Health Care

Private Equity Boosts Nursing Home Staffing — When Compelled by Competition

But in uncompetitive markets, the financial owners cut staff

Employee checks on industrial equipment in a plant Feature / Management

A Model Could Help Food Processors Operate More Efficiently

Managing production with the declining potency of a catalyst

Industrial looms Research Brief / Productivity

Amid Technology Boom, Where Are Productivity Gains?

19th-century French cotton mills suggest halting, uneven progress

Workers in a garment factory sewing Research Brief / Supply Chain

How Brands Can Anticipate Unauthorized Subcontracting of Apparel Manufacturing

A model predicts with 80% accuracy which orders get handed off

An illustration of people with center character wearing a cape Feature / Workplace

Collaboration’s Downside: Individuals Take Too Much Credit

Not just the office jerk. Even good colleagues overclaim. Managing around this destructive dynamic isn’t straightforward