Ideas by Year 2012

Professor Brian Connelly

Want better employees? Get somebody else to rate their personalities, suggests new study
Businesses will get more accurate assessments of potential and current employees if they do away with self-rated personality tests and ask those being assessed to find someone else to rate them, suggest results from a new study.

Professor Ole-Kristian Hope

Multinational corporations that choose not to disclose geographic earnings are more likely to engage in income-shifting activities, says a study from UofT’s Rotman School
Policy makers, lobby groups and citizens should take note—those who understand corporate tax avoidance behavior will be in a better position to deter it.

Professor Joshua Gans

Information Wants to Be Shared. New ebook from Harvard Business Review Press
A new ebook from Harvard Business Review Press takes a fresh examination of the economics of information selling in the digital age. What information really wants—what makes it more valuable, useful, and immediate, argues Joshua Gans, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, is to be shared.

Professor Nina Mažar

Honestly? Just sign here – first. Joint study by Rotman researcher shows signature placement curbs cheating
Tax collectors and insurance agencies trying to boost honest reporting could improve compliance simply by asking people to sign their forms at the beginning instead of at the end.

Professor Roger Martin

Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy
Here’s How to Reconcile Empirical Rigor and Creative Thinking in Harvard Business Review. Many managers feel doomed to trade off the futile rigor of ordinary strategic planning for the hit-or-miss insights from more creative processes. In fact, the two can be reconciled to produce novel but realistic strategies.

Professor Pankaj Aggarwal

Not all brand-consumer relationships are created equal
The type of relationship that consumers have with a brand makes all the difference to brand evaluation in the face of perceived unfairness says University of Toronto study

Professor Jacob Hirsh

Marketing Is More Effective When Targeted to Personality Profiles, says new Rotman Study
Advertisers spend enormous amounts of time and money attempting to tailor their advertising campaigns to the needs of different demographic groups. After all, the concerns of first-year college students are going to be different from those of retired professionals.

Professor Nicola Lacetera

Blood drives do better with incentives, says University of Toronto study
It’s called the gift of life. But more people will roll up their sleeves to donate blood if a gift card comes with it. That’s according to a new study from the University of Toronto. It shows a 15 to 20 percent rise in blood drive donations when incentives such as T-shirts, jackets, coupons or gift cards are thrown into the mix.

Professor Sonia Kang

Young Children Learn About Prejudice by Instruction, Older Children by Experience, Says Research from the University of Toronto
For a 6-year old, one of the most powerful educational tools may be direct instruction, according to new research on how children learn about prejudice. Scientists found that as children get closer to age 10, they begin to rely more on their own experiences rather than what people tell them.

Professor Walid Hejazi

How do you say global business success? In English, says new Rotman research
English continues to reign supreme in international business, and it’s not just because some of the biggest economies speak it. A new study from the Rotman School shows countries that have English as at least one of their official languages, or whose main languages are linguistically close to English have higher rates of investment in other countries.

Professor Soo Min Toh

Cultural “tightness” holds back female leadership – but not always, says University of Toronto study
Countries that more strictly uphold their cultural norms are less likely to promote women as leaders – unless those norms support equal opportunity for both sexes, shows a new paper from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Professor Stéphane Côté

Upper class more likely to be scofflaws says new research from UC Berkeley and UofT's Rotman School
The upper class has a higher propensity for unethical behavior, being more likely to believe – as did Gordon Gekko in the movie "Wall Street" – that "greed is good," according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Professor Ming Hu

Is the deal on? Rotman study shows why herd mentality best mode for group buying sites
We might like to think we're not influenced by other people. But a new study into group buying mechanisms -- like those used on popular internet websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial -- reveals that telling buyers who come later to the offer how many have already signed up increases the number of purchasers.

Pro athletes bolster star status through team selection, teammates and career evolution: Study

Pro athletes bolster star status through team selection, teammates and career evolution: Study
Basketball fans in Cleveland may disagree, but two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Lebron James’ decision to play with a higher-profile Miami Heat team and all-star teammates shows sound marketing and career-management acumen...

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