Leadership lessons from Gail Goodman T'87, a small business advocate, one of which is to "keep innovating." Goodman explains, "It actually starts with making sure everyone knows they're paid to think and to innovate. It all starts with an attitude: what else cool can we do?"
Cites comments by Kenneth French made during a recent Freakonomics podcast about Main Street investors losing money by purchasing actively managed funds. "The notion that we can all get rich by trading actively just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever," says French.
Quotes Paul Argenti in an article about Monsanto’s efforts to marshal scientists in defense of its product and combat research at odds with its own. “The unfortunate reality is that if you are sponsoring research, you are immediately creating credibility problems,” Argenti says.
Eesha Sharma discusses FOMO and borrowing to fund experiences, a focus of her recent research. "What’s really interesting is what kind of psychological process is contributing to this effect," says Sharma. "As you begin to think about an experience more and more, you think about the time, the place. The experience gets conceptualized by these contextual factors that make it really challenging to say, 'I can let go. I can pass this up.”
John Fyfe Marshall T’92 argues for business leaders to remain curious. "To thrive in a time of change, the curiosity trait is moving from anomaly to necessity. Leaders will need to shift their perspective and understand that the fundamental — in fact, the only — role of every business is not as a process to be managed or a product to be produced, but rather as a ceaseless problem-solving machine. For leaders with relentless curiosity, the opportunities are boundless," writes Marshall.
Kenneth French discusses stock picking and the revolution in low-cost index investing. “The notion that we can all get rich by trading actively just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Every time somebody wins, somebody loses even more,” French says. He agrees that the growing appetite for index funds does seem to have picked up speed.
Mentions Tuck in article about recruiter rankings of business schools, based on U.S. News & World Report’s annual survey. Recruiters rank schools on a simple 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding) scale. Tuck is among the top schools with a 2018 recruiter assessment score of 4.2.
The "Fama-French Three-Factor Model" created by Kenneth French is referenced in an article about a new computer program that predicts which “Game of Thrones” characters will die. “Naturally, as all stock-market investors know, computer models are limited in their ability to understand an irrational world. Indeed the most widely followed ‘model’ for predicting stock-market returns, built by Eugene Fama and Kenneth French, is constantly being revised,” writes MarketWatch.
Dean Matthew Slaughter reflects on his experience during “Producer and Consumer Theory” a class he took during his first year of graduate school at MIT. “My struggles that year helped build a lot of humility that (cue inspiring Tuck-mission music), over time, became confident humility and gave me a solid foundation for my future research and teaching.
Recent research by Eesha Sharma about discretionary spending for experiences is applied to the Comic-Con International Festival. “It's really difficult to substitute this year's comic con with next year's comic con,” quips Sharma.
Santiago Gallino is quoted in an article about Wal-Mart’s “On-Time, In-Full’’ program which tightens the deadline for vendor deliveries through fines. “You end up in a situation of, ‘Who is to blame?” says Gallino. “It’s a tough discussion.”
Highlights new research by Eesha Sharma which finds that when consumers are deciding among optional purchases, they’re more likely to use credit to buy experiences. “We challenge the idea that people are more willing to go into debt for a longer lasting thing,” Sharma says.
Sydney Finkelstein discusses how leaders can benefit from holding two or more opposing views at once. "It's how all of us think at times and recognizing this duality is a critical leadership skill," he says.
Peter Fisher talks about over-interpretations by investors and misconstrued statements by policy makers. “Given the influence they have it’s hard to ignore them, but think hard about whether they’re talking to us [investors] or to each other," suggests Fisher.
Sydney Finkelstein explains how General Magic, an Apple Inc. spin-off, stacked the deck against itself. “The lesson is that who you take money from is one of the most momentous decisions you’ll ever make.”
“Entrepreneurs who never give up any control, or fail to bring in professional managers, tend to blow up at some point,” Sydney Finkelstein opines. “Hubris never wins.”
Leslie Robinson discusses a new working paper which looks at the effects of large-scale public disclosure of corporate tax information. Neither consumer sentiment nor stock price were significantly impacted by the mass public disclosure, even when it revealed that the companies were paying very little in taxes.
Mentions Superbosses by Sydney Finkelstein in an article about tactics managers can use to help their employees grow. “Finkelstein found that the world’s most extraordinary bosses bring out untapped talents in their people,” writes Inc. “How do they this? By talking to their employees about their potential.”
Dean Matthew Slaughter reflects on important business lessons learned during his first job at a miniature golf course. Slaughter enjoyed a front row seat to how empathetic design thinking is practiced thanks to the example of the course’s owner. “He forced us all to put on our empathy glasses,” says Slaughter.
“This is going to be a classic business school case study, there’s no question,” says Sydney Finkelstein of Uber’s current leadership structure.
Dean Matthew Slaughter and Vijay Govindarajan discuss how the era of baronial chief executives is drawing to a close. “The C.E.O. with a big office, a tenure of 10 or 20 years, in a suit and tie, is becoming a thing of the past,” says Govindarajan.
“Having two people making joint leadership decisions is a big mistake for companies, but 14 is setting up a war for succession,” Finkelstein says, opinion on Uber’s leadership succession plans following the departure of CEO Travis Kalanick.
Dean Matthew Slaughter discusses how multinational hiring abroad doesn't come at the expense of U.S. workers. "Limit the ability of U.S. multinational companies to flourish abroad and you limit their ability to create high-paying jobs in America," says Slaughter.
Vijay Govindarajan offers five lessons for American CEOs based on GM’s sales failure in India. “Ceding what will soon be the most populous country on the planet to Asian and European competitors could have disastrous long-term consequences,” explains Govindarajan.
Mentions Vijay Govindarajan in an article about creating environments where innovation can flourish.
Paul Argenti opines, "If Kalanick really wants to save the company, he has to get himself out. It's a fantastic organization with a tremendous idea and bad leadership."
John Vogel discusses tension between the States and the Federal Government over recent foreign affairs policy—namely the Paris Climate Accord.
Quotes Sydney Finkelstein about the reputation of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and the company's attempt to prove it can be a mature business.
Anant Sundaram discusses how Nordstrom is considering going private following a decline in sales and a forecast of a sluggish year ahead.
Mentions an essay written by Emily Blanchard published in the e-book “Economics and Policy in the Age of Trump." Blanchard discusses NAFTA and how trying to leave NAFTA—rather than renegotiate it—could be harmful.
Cites data compiled by Kenneth French in an article about how the past decade hasn't been favorable to momentum-investing approaches.
Mentions the three-factor model of investment returns that was introduced by Kenneth French and his colleague Eugene Fama, in an article challenging efficient-market theory.
Quotes John Vogel in an article discussing the shortfalls of the Community Reinvestment Act, a roughly four-decade-old federal law designed to stop lending discrimination in low-income neighborhoods.
Quotes Sean Joyce T’87, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Financial Crimes Unit leader, in an article discussing how the global cyber attacks that started last Friday have highlighted the lack of technological expertise at U.S. corporate finance departments.
Highlights Merritt Patridge T’13 as an honoree at this year’s Vital Communities’ Annual Heroes and Leaders Celebration. The event recognizes community members who have made significant positive impacts in the region.
An opinion piece co-authored by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch argues the importance of driving down health care costs and making them more predictable to reduce the financial insecurity many Americans are facing.