Kellogg Insight

The Growth Factor Fueling Industry Behemoths Standardizing production has helped massive companies like IKEA, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola outscale their competitors.

How did companies like IKEA and Starbucks grow so much more quickly than their competitors?

Research from Prof. Sara Moreira suggests that one of the key factors behind extremely rapid scaling? Standardization. Read why at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/eae8ad

Podcast: In Workplace Negotiations, Put the Relationship First It’s not just about salary. On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” we hear how to approach some common work tensions by finding common ground.

We tend to associate the word “negotiate” with salary and home buying—but for Kellogg’s Leigh Thompson, the list should be much longer.

On an episode of “Ask Insight,” Thompson demonstrates how to negotiate solutions in tricky situations. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/10d8df

What Does It Mean to Be Rational? It’s more than just being logical and analytical, research shows. But misperceptions can affect how people are treated and how much they are paid.

Scientists. Investors. Artists. When you think of a rational person, what comes to mind?

Prof. Tessa Charlesworth suggest it’s more than being logical and analytical, but misperceptions can affect how people are treated—and paid. kell.gg/92853f

Sure, AI Can Automate. But How Can You Use It to Innovate? A Kellogg professor’s experience deploying AI in the classroom shows how domain knowledge and experimentation can lead to true breakthroughs.

Professor Sébastien Martin's experience deploying AI in his classroom shows how domain knowledge and experimentation can lead to true breakthroughs. Learn how at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/0adcd5

When Campaigns Backfire A leaflet campaign during the 2023 Argentine presidential election was expected to hurt an outsider candidate but had the opposite effect. What went wrong?

A leaflet campaign during the 2023 Argentine presidential election was expected to hurt an outsider candidate. It had the opposite effect.

What went wrong?

Research from Georgy Egorov looks at how campaigns backfire at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/37514f

Be sure to read @alexanderfurnas.com and @dashunwang.bsky.social's Atlantic article on federal science funding, "The Republicans Made Peace With Science," below.
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And for more on their Science study, read "Which Political Party Provides More Funding for Science?" at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader

Political News? Not in My Feed. A new study of smartphone habits reveals that, in the runup to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, political content was mostly an afterthought.

"People that are spending time on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube are occasionally running into [terms like] ‘Donald Trump’ and scrolling past it very fast." - Prof. Guy Aridor on Americans’ low consumption of political content on phones. kell.gg/12933c

What Happens When a Luxury Brand Loses Its Iconic Founder? Whoever inherits the role must strike a balance between remaining true to the founder’s vision and not getting stuck in the past.

After Giorgio Armani’s death, his fashion house faced a challenge that many luxury brands share: how to carry on without an iconic founder. Prof. Greg Carpenter considers what's next for Armani and why founders matter at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/a85da6

Beware AI’s Very Human Biases Two experts discuss what you need to know about the technology’s limitations and how to avoid unforeseen consequences.

Missed the webinar with DRRC affiliated faculty Tessa Charlesworth and William Brady on how AI mirrors human bias? Check out this Kellogg Insight Q&A for a quick breakdown: insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/bewa...

Why It’s So Hard to Battle Corporate Debt with Policy A 2017 tax bill reduced the amount of loan interest that companies could write off. It barely made a dent on borrowing.

A 2017 tax bill reduced the amount of loan interest that companies could write off. According to research from Prof. Matthew A. Phillips, it barely made a dent on borrowing. kell.gg/ad5d0f

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Say Hello to Your New AI Study Buddy As students continue to use generative AI for their homework, professors have found a way to enrich rather than combat the experience.

It’s perhaps the classroom’s worst-kept secret: students are using generative AI to do homework. But instead of fighting this trend, Kellogg’s Robert Bray and Sébastien Martin created an LLM that can tutor MBAs. Learn how at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/6f250b

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3 Signs It’s Time for Your Next Chapter To keep your career on track, it’s better to make a job change early than to overstay your welcome.

I know, many of us on here are in industries where this sounds like an impossible luxury right now, but: How do you know when it's time to look for your next job? I wrote about Kellogg professor Sanjay Khosla's advice, for @kellogginsight.bsky.social: insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/3-si...

When It Comes to Creativity, AI Doesn’t Always Have the Answer A classroom experiment shows why you shouldn’t short-circuit the brainstorming process.

"Don’t ask a bot what to think, ask a bot how to think.” – Kellogg's Brian Uzzi, on how to avoid short-circuiting the brainstorming process.

Learn more in Uzzi's full discussion on AI and creativity at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/0ae87c

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Should I Feel Guilty about Using AI? While AI queries have a modest carbon footprint, power-hungry data centers need more transparency and regulation.

The rapid spread of AI tools carries an environmental cost due to the energy needed to power them. But the burden of limiting that impact should fall on companies and regulators, suggests Prof. Matthew Roling. Read why at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/bd402d

When Supply-Chain Disruptions Strike, Preparation Is Everything “Disruptions expose the difference between firms that merely survive and those that gain strategic ground.”

With supply-chain disruptions on the rise, companies better prepared to face them have an opportunity to come out ahead of their competition.

Learn the value of being prepared with research from Prof. Seyed Iravani at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/c21ec7

Podcast: Focus on Your Story, Not Your Résumé As your career progresses, it can be easy to get stuck in a narrow professional lane. Learn how to break free on this episode of The Insightful Leader.

As your career progresses, it can be easy to get stuck in a narrow professional lane.

Learn how to break free on this episode of The Insightful Leader, with advice from Kellogg's Suzanne Muchin. kell.gg/517639

#KelloggLeader

Podcast: In Workplace Negotiations, Put the Relationship First It’s not just about salary. On this episode of The Insightful Leader’s “Ask Insight,” we hear how to approach some common work tensions by finding common ground.

We tend to associate the word “negotiate” with salary and home-buying, but for Prof Leigh Thompson the list should be much longer. On the Insightful Leader podcast, Thompson explains how managers can negotiate solutions in tricky situations. kell.gg/a8mc

#KelloggLeader

When It Comes to Giving, People Value Time over Money Monetary donations are generally more helpful for charities. So why do people prefer to donate their time instead?

It's an old question. Time? Or money?

For charitable causes, Prof. Rima Touré-Tillery and alum Samantha Kassirer found that people are generally more willing to give their time. Learn why, and what businesses could learn at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/42452a

Take 5: Ways to Kindle Workplace Creativity From brainstorming a little longer to incentivizing risk, these ideas can help your organization think differently.

"Creativity takes preparation, persistence, and vulnerability.

Luckily, Kellogg faculty have research and insights into ways to inspire creativity, collaboration, and innovation in yourself and your team. Read more at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/5e8436

Can Email Reminders Help Fix the Savings Crisis? A megastudy finds that a simple nudge can make a meaningful difference.

Saving enough for an unexpected expense can be challenge for many. In a megastudy of nearly two million bank customers, researchers including Prof. Dean Karlan, found that a simple nudge can make a difference. Learn why at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/7818fc

#KelloggLeader

3 Tips for Ethical Decision-Making As a leader, you often have to make morally complex choices. Here’s how to do so when there’s no single right answer.

As a leader, you often have to make morally complex choices.

At Kellogg Insight, Professor Brooke Vuckovic offers three tips on how you can make ethical decisions and communicate them effectively when there’s no single right answer. kell.gg/9ee471

#KelloggLeader

Houston, We Have a Solution Kellogg researchers reveal a set of best practices—based on simulated missions to Mars—to keep teams working together effectively.

For nearly a decade, Kellogg’s @noshir.bsky.social and Leslie DeChurch have conducted research on simulations of long-term NASA missions to Mars. Learn about their best practices to help keep crews from falling apart—in space, and on Earth. kell.gg/52229c

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3 Tips for Ethical Decision-Making As a leader, you often have to make morally complex choices. Here’s how to do so when there’s no single right answer.

How can leaders make ethical decisions in situations where both sides are "right"? Wrote about it for @kellogginsight.bsky.social, based on insights from Brooke Vuckovic insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/3-ti...

Glow up or blow up? ✨

When consumers feel deeply connected to a brand, even small changes can spark big reactions.

Don’t miss Tim Calkins’s #KelloggInsight interview for tips on how to protect your company from rebrand backlash.

Read more: kell.gg/979116

AI is booming. And so are the questions about it.

Don’t miss this #KelloggInisght roundup of research from some of our faculty experts on the past, present and future of artificial intelligence.

Read more: kell.gg/0aa4d8

Which Political Party Provides More Funding for Science? Though both Republicans and Democrats have historically supported federal funding of research, one party has spent more.

Which political party provides more funding for scientific research? Kellogg's @dashunwang.bsky.social and coauthors analyzed 40 years of data on federal funding for science research and found results that go against common assumptions. Learn more at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/4nq8

Take 5: Personal Finance Isn’t Just Personal Research and insights from Kellogg faculty show that our financial decisions can have ripple effects.

Managing personal finances may feel like a chore, but everyday spending decisions can make a big difference on your future wealth. Kellogg faculty explain how—and what you need to know about credit, inflation, and 401(k)s at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/78bc15

Ready to Buy a House? Beware the Online Calculators. Affordability and rent-vs-buy tools are easy to use but can be misleading. Here’s a holistic approach to making your decision.

Ready to buy a house? Prof. Craig Furfine suggests keeping healthy levels of skepticism for online resources like home-affordability calculators and rent-vs-buy tools. Read Furfine's more holistic approach to home-buying at Kellogg Insight. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/iung

Big Goals, Small Steps—Why Most Corporate Green Initiatives Fall Short Despite making commitments to cut emissions, many companies are acting in the short term and underfunding projects.

Many organizations have invested in reducing carbon emissions. But most of these efforts have been short-term with quick payoffs, according to research from Prof. Aaron Yoon. At Kellogg Insight, Yoon suggests a more-balanced approach. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/ixt0

When People Game the System, It Helps to Shake It Up Can introducing a lottery for organ transplants discourage line jumpers and give everyone a better chance?

When you think of gaming the system, it usually implies cheating with malicious intent. But when critical resources are scarce, even well-meaning people bend the rules. Research by Prof. James Schummer offers a strategy that can help. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/m4d2