Forefront

It used to be good for stocks to be added to indexes, but that is changed in the past decade or so, according to new research from Rene Stulz, the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics, and his colleagues. 

COVID-19 has produced conditions never before seen in the eight-year history of the Middle Market Indicator (MMI). Fewer companies than ever say their past-year performance has improved compared to the historical MMI average. Both revenue and employment growth rates are negative and many companies have put investment plans on hold. Despite the data, middle market leaders see better times ahead.

What makes for a good apology? You have to mean it, sure. But there’s a narrative structure that a good apology should follow. Roy Lewicki, professor emeritus of management and human resources, is an expert in the art of negotiation as well as rebuilding trust. He’s spent years researching the ideal apology, and he’s broken it down the perfect apology into six components.

International coverage of research by Itzhak Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate, reveals that because fund managers invest in a scattered portfolio of hedge funds and because of the jumps from fund to fund, investment profits are greatly diminished.

A new study from Rene Stulz, the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics, and a colleague shows how profits are distributed — and it has some surprising conclusions. Total payouts to shareholders rose from 19 percent of operating profits from 1971-1999 period to 32 percent in 2000-2017; and buybacks alone accounted for 55 percent of the distribution in the 2000-2017 period, up from 22 percent in the 1971-1999 period. To emphasize: Stock repurchases soared.

The peer-to-peer business model of firms like Uber or Airbnb is changing how consumers view some service providers, says John Costello, lead author of a new study and a doctoral candidate in marketing at Fisher.

A new study from Assistant Marketing Professor Grant Donnelly has a piece of gift-giving advice. Whatever you do, don’t tell the recipient your gift will save them money. According to the research, people often feel ashamed and even disrespected after receiving a “money-saving” gift from someone else.

Here’s a good way to make sure a friend hates a gift from you: Say it will save him money. In a series of studies, researchers found that people reacted negatively to gifts that they were told – or that they inferred – were given to help them save money. Receiving this kind of present makes a person feel inferior to the gift-giver, according to research from said Grant Donnelly, assistant professor of marketing at Fisher.

Amid falling revenue and employment, capital spending cuts, growth initiatives put on hold, tight cash and disrupted operations brought on by COVID-19, middle market companies are maintaining and even slightly accelerating their digital transformation, writes Tom Stewart, executive director of the National Center for the Middle Market.

Dennis Hirsch, director of the Program on Data and Governance at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, and a fellow at The Risk Institute, researches data analytics, how it can pose ethical risks, and how leading companies are responding.

Research from Itzhak Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate, and Justin Birru, assistant professor in finance, shows that investors end up paying high fees for poor returns while managers accumulate personal fortunes.

On average, executives expect it to take about 6.4 months for businesses to get back to full capacity. That's one of the findings of a new report from the National Center for the Middle Market.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) brands face many important decisions about their marketing communications, which represent a company’s “voice” to consumers and offer a key way to shift consumers’ purchase perceptions and behaviors. A new Journal of Marketing study, authored by Rebecca Walker Reczek, the Dr. H. Lee “Buck” Mathews Professor of Marketing, and graduate research associate John Costello explores whether platform- or provider-focused communications are more effective and why. 

Business executives are feeling more confident in the long-term prospects of the economy, but the Covid-19 pandemic continues to take a toll in the short term.

There’s a two-out-of-three chance U.S. stocks will climb over the next six months — which is right about average. Research by Kewei Hou, the Ric Dillon Endowed Professor in Investments, and Lu Zhang, the John W. Galbreath Chair in Finance, illustrates just how difficult it is to replicate market conditions or effectively time the market. 

Research from the National Center for the Middle Market details COVID-19’s impact during the first three months of the pandemic.

Research by Itzhak Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate at Fisher, and Associate Professor of Finance Justin Birru, effectively shows that investors subsidize underperforming fund managers to the tune of $7 billion a year.

Research by finance professors Itzhak Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate, and Justin Birru provide insights into how the "performance" fees that hedge-fund managers charge can walk off with most of your return.

Professor Terry Esper continues the conversation of racism affecting delivery drivers and offers some suggestions for addressing the problem.

As part of the There's a Better Way podcast series, Dr. Cynthia Turner, chief diversity officer and assistant dean at Fisher, discusses the history of the black community in America, the difference between equality and equity, and the need for action from both the individual and the institution in fighting against systemic racism.

According to a recent study by The National Center for the Middle Market, middle market companies with a strategic approach to their digital transformation grow faster than their peers. And while more than half of the executives surveyed said digital transformation was important, less than 10 percent said it was critical to their company’s strategy. This disconnect represents a failure to tie digital transformation to value creation.

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting some differences into stark relief, writes Management and Human Resources Professor Tanya Menon. Among them is how varying socioeconomic status impacts individuals' professional networks. For those facing job losses, these networks are more critical than ever. 

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Dennis Hirsch, professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, about the implications of poor corporate data ethics management for both the consumer and companies.

Research from Rene Stulz, the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics, and his colleagues is cited as being helpful in determining if there is a way of forecasting which Chinese companies would most likely be hurt the most by any eventual delisting from the U.S. Stock Exchange.

As our reliance on delivery services increases amid a backdrop of unrest, Associate Professor of Logistics Terry Esper, a recognized expert in "last-mile" logistics, shares his thoughts and professional insights about the tough conversations and safety considerations necessary to protect black delivery drivers.