Topic: Strategy

Illustration of a man cooking books in a pot Research Brief / Corporate Finance

Upside Earnings Surprise Issued Late: Signal of Possible Manipulation

Companies that take longer than expected to announce results may be buying time for accounting tricks

Politicians looking at a report Feature / Government

Might More Lobbying Groups, Rather than Fewer, Be Good for Industry and the Public?

Make the influence industry more competitive, a theoretical study suggests

Illustration of vultures sitting on a sign in a city Research Brief / Debt

Less Leveraged Than the Competition: Ready to Snag Distressed Assets in a Recession

When bad times hit, highly indebted companies often have to sell operations and equipment at fire-sale prices

Illustration of a tower taller than city buildings Research Brief / Corporate Finance

Forgoing a Tax Refund to Signal Brightening Financial Prospects

Companies that use loss carry-forwards to offset future tax liability, instead of claiming a refund, enjoy favorable lending terms

Person looking at a computer screen Research Brief / E-commerce

That Online Hotel Review You Wrote? It Matters

Consumers’ comments on TripAdvisor are substitutes for traditional ad spending

A couple watching TV Research Brief / Consumer Behavior

Monetizing TV Content: What Binge Watchers Will and Won’t Do

Fandom doesn’t mean blindly following a franchise wherever it ventures or being a vocal cheerleader

Aerial shot of a city Research Brief / Education

How Universities Can Behave Like Entrepreneurial Organizations

Tradition bound, colleges face pressures to be nimbler, more opportunistic

Illustration of two heads with the word THINK Research Brief / Gender

News from Venus and Mars: Genders Communicate Similarly atop Organizations

Analysis of 15 years of Wikipedia editors’ chatter reveals women of rank don’t shrink from controversial topics

Illustration of a man pushing a shopping cart Research Brief / Corporate Investment

How to Spur Capital Spending: Plan for Failure

Companies might invest more in new ventures if they could see in advance how to redeploy the assets if things don’t pan out

Chalk illustration of a graph Research Brief / Data Analytics

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics — and Data Visualization

How we interpret time-series data is dependent on the designer’s chosen format

Illustration of a face Feature / Behavioral Decision Making

People Don’t Mind Government Nudges, but Prefer Them Free of Politics

When an unloved cause or political adversary is attached to a nudge, the method itself becomes suspect

TV News anchor Research Brief / Politics

Municipal Pension Crisis Made Worse by Democrats in Close Elections

Sixty years of data suggest retirement obligations rise after Democrats scrape into office

A person looking a computer screen with stock ticker Research Brief / Stock Returns

A Tool for Finding Mispriced Stocks

Less sophisticated investors reveal their sentiment in certain trades, and a 20-year study measures it company by company

Illustration of a consumer shopping for a car Research Brief / Consumer Behavior

Consumers Habitually Seek the Middle Ground

Unpublished research shows avoiding the extremes is a common approach marketers need to address

Laptop computer with Transparent Pricing presentation Research Brief / Strategy

Should a Company Reveal Its Cost Structure to Customers?

In certain competitive situations, cost transparency can provide an edge

Marijuana dispensary Feature / Taxes

Setting the Tax Rate on Legal Marijuana: Consumption, State Revenue and the Black Market

Taxes not high enough? An examination of Washington’s experience even suggests state ownership of pot stores might boost the public coffers