Numerous Tuck Faculty Win Research Awards in 2020
Tuck faculty members from a variety of research areas were recognized by top journals for their contributions to their respective fields.
By Tuck Communications
Oct 22, 2020
Tuck has long been a place where a particular type of professor thrives: the scholar-teacher who puts as much thought and energy into their research papers as they do into their classroom teaching and student mentoring. While Tuck students and alumni often speak highly of their teachers, the recognition for rigorous and important research comes from the many top-level peer-reviewed journals in which faculty often publish their work. This past year, some of those journals have chosen five Tuck faculty members to honor with special research awards. Details about those awards appear below, in alphabetical order of the professors’ last name.
The Dan and Mary Lou Schendel Best Paper Prize, given by the Strategic Management Society to honor substantial work published in the Strategic Management Journal. According to the SMS, “The award is for a paper published five or more years prior to the citation itself. This delay allows time for the impact of papers to be assessed in terms of citations and influence of the paper on teaching, research, and/or practice.” Adner’s paper was this year’s pick as the most influential strategy article published in SMJ since 1991, out of a candidate pool of about 5000 articles.
“Value Creation in Innovation Ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations.” Ron Adner and Rahul Kapoor, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 31, Issue 3, March 2010.
This paper introduced a theory of innovation environments as ecosystems, as well as a new empirical approach to the study of such ecosystems. It showed how the structure of interdependence and the location of the focal innovation within an ecosystem, relative to co-innovation requirements in upstream components and downstream complements, determined the extent to which the innovator will have a first-mover advantage.
The 2020 Thomas C. Kinnear Award, given by the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, honors articles that make the most significant contribution to the understanding of marketing and public policy issues within a three-year time period.
“The Squander Sequence: Understanding Food Waste at Each Stage of the Consumer Decision-Making Process.” Punam Anand Keller, et. al. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 35, No. 2, September 2016.
“In this research, the authors focus on [food] waste that occurs across what is termed the ‘squander sequence,’ which describes waste that occurs from consumer behaviors at the pre-acquisition, acquisition, consumption, and disposition stages. The authors set forth a behavioral theory–based agenda to explain food waste in the squander sequence with the ultimate goals of encouraging future research to uncover the psychological underpinnings of consumer-level food waste and of deriving transformative consumer solutions to this substantive issue.”
The Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award, given by the Journal of Portfolio Management, honors outstanding articles in the theory and practice of portfolio management.
“Alice’s Adventures in Factorland: Three Blunders That Plague Factor Investing.” Juhani Linnainmaa et. al. The Journal of Portfolio Management, Vol. 45, No. 4, April 2019.
“Factor investing has failed to live up to its many promises. Its success is compromised by three problems that are often underappreciated by investors. First, many investors develop exaggerated expectations about factor performance as a result of data mining, crowding, unrealistic trading cost expectations, and other concerns. Second, for investors using naive risk management tools, factor returns can experience downside shocks far larger than would be expected. Finally, investors are often led to believe their factor portfolio is diversified. Diversification can vanish, however, in certain economic conditions when factor returns become much more correlated. Factor investing is a powerful tool, but understanding the risks involved is essential before adopting this investment framework.”
The 2020 Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp Award for Long-Term Impact recognizes work published in the IJRM that has made significant long-term contribution to marketing knowledge.
“Multichannel Customer Management: Understanding the Research-Shopper Phenomenon.” Peter C. Verhoef, Scott A. Neslin, and Björn Vroomen. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 24, Issue 2, 2007.
This paper documents “research shopping”— the tendency for customers to obtain product information in Channel A but purchase the product in Channel B. When A is the physical store and B is the internet, this now is called “showrooming.” When A is the physical store and B is the internet, this now is called “web-rooming.”
Research shopping presents a conundrum for multichannel retailers. It provides them an opportunity to focus the information and purchase capabilities of specific channels. However, when customers switch channels, they may migrate to a different retailer. Today retailers try to address this by creating a “seamless” way for customers to switch between their channels.
The 2019 IJRM Best Paper Award, given by the European Marketing Academy and the International Journal of Research in Marketing for the best paper published in the IJRM in 2019.
“Engaging the Unengaged Customer: the value of a retailer mobile app.” Harald J. van Heerde, Isaac M. Dinner, Scott A. Neslin. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 36, Issue 3, 2019.
The article explains that two particular customer segments are most responsive to retailer apps: offline-only customers, and customers who live far from the store. For the customers who live far from the store, apps provide a handy way to engage with the retailer and learn about its products. For the offline-only customers, apps are another way for the retailer to envelop the customer in its marketing messages, keeping the retailer top-of-mind for these people.
The 2020 STR Division Distinguished Scholarship Award, given by the Strategic Management division of the Academy of Management, is awarded biannually for a discovery of major importance in strategic management. Peteraf and co-winner Jay Barney are the first recipients of this award.
“The Cornerstones of Competitive Advantage: A Resource-Based View.” Margaret A. Peteraf. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3. March 1993.
The STR Award committee recognized Margaret Peteraf and Jay Barney for research pertaining to the criterion for how and when resources contribute to competitive advantage. As one member of the committee observed, “Jay and Margie are well known strategy scholars who put the [resource-based view] RBV on the map with their 1990 and 1993 papers respectively. As Jay noted in his paper, strategy, since SWOT, has been conceptualized in the literature as the fit between internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities. If Porter fleshed out the threats and opportunities side via his use of IO economics, Barney and Peteraf’s papers set down the core foundation for thinking about the strengths and weaknesses side of the fit equation.”
A clinical professor at Tuck and former governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Business & Industry Association (BIA)—New Hampshire’s Statewide Chamber of Commerce.
A new virtual series of research talks connects students with some of the rigorous and relevant knowledge created by Tuck faculty.