About Ross Thought in Action

Ross Thought in Action provides content for business leaders, thought leaders, and the media. Our editorial team focuses on research that is clearly applicable to organizations and presents text, video, and audio features about faculty and ideas. We update this page frequently, and we send an email newsletter to subscribers every other month.

RESEARCH FOCUS

Public Sneezes, Private Fears
NOVEMBER 3, 2009

A new study by marketing and psychology professor Norbert Schwarz finds exposure to public sneezing and coughing influences Americans' views about the healthcare system and government spending on flu research.
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RESEARCH FOCUS

Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction: Tightwads and Spendthrifts Tend to Marry :: Video
OCTOBER 16, 2009

When it comes to love and money, opposites really do attract, according to new research by marketing professor Scott Rick. People who are tight with their cash often end up marrying those who spend it more freely — much to the detriment of marital bliss, Rick says.
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ANALYSIS

Innovate Now
OCTOBER 16, 2009

To compensate for the sour economy, most companies are cutting costs. But in many cases, management may be going too far and pulling back on investments that actually could lead to growth. Jeff DeGraff, professor of business administration, explains why now is the time to ramp up innovation and pursue growth opportunities, not retreat from them.
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ANALYSIS

C.K. Prahalad's Vision for India
OCTOBER 21, 2009

Professor C.K. Prahalad, who was just named the most influential business thinker in the world for the second year in a row by Thinkers 50, set forth his vision for “India at 75” during the Ross School’s premier India Business Conference. Radical innovation is required to transform one billion people into the largest opportunity the world has ever seen, he says.
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RESEARCH FOCUS

Washington Post Online Brings Blogosphere to Ross Classroom
SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

Professors Scott DeRue and Maxim Sytch have partnered with The Washington Post’s On Leadership section to deliver “The Leadership Seminar,” an online discussion group that links the MBA classroom to the global business community. Ross students enrolled in the course “Leading People and Organizations” will be encouraged to participate in the group by connecting research-driven insights from class and their own personal experience to current leadership issues, successes and failures, and the big challenges facing society.
Read Article // The Leadership Seminar

RESEARCH FOCUS

Should Managers Provide Forecasts of Earnings?
OCTOBER 5, 2009

Management forecasts of earnings (MFEs) in investor communications are an important source of information for market participants. But they also are open to abuse by opportunistic managers seeking to manipulate the market. New research by accounting professor Gregory Miller offers recommendations to more effectively deploy MFEs and optimize their value to investors and analysts.
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RESEARCH FOCUS

Blogs Can Help Predict Product Sales
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

While traditional advertising is still the main driver of product sales, blogging and other new media are fast becoming predictors of market outcomes — and managers would do well to include them in sales forecasting models. In the study “Marketing Activity, Blogging, and Sales,” marketing professor Puneet Manchanda finds that while advertisers have no direct control over the content of blogs, they can produce an indirect effect on the bottom line by providing new content for these outlets.
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CONVERSATION

The Tire Tariff: A New Trade Dispute? :: Audio
OCTOBER 16, 2009

Strategy professor Linda Lim ponders the rationale behind the Obama administration’s tariff on Chinese tires. While the dollar amount involved is small, the move could have much wider implications than anticipated, Lim says.
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RESEARCH FOCUS

Business Evolution in China
OCTOBER 21, 2009

China’s dramatic economic expansion requires some tweaking of long-held industry evolution models that predict winners and losers. Strategy professor Brian Wu’s latest research examines why younger companies in China may report better productivity — but also face higher failure rates — than more established firms.
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RESEARCH FOCUS

Privatization Laboratory
OCTOBER 16, 2009

Eastern Europe’s fast transition from communism to a free-market economy provides ample data for economists to test some long-held theories. New research by Jan Svejnar examines the performance of former state-owned companies in the free market and shatters some widely held assumptions on foreign ownership. Svejnar is a professor of economics and public policy.
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CASE STUDIES

Building Israel’s Brand
OCTOBER 16, 2009

The nation of Israel is often in the news, and not always for reasons its government appreciates. Foreign ministry officials, worried that media coverage of ongoing conflict creates a false perception of the country as militaristic and austere, recently embarked on a campaign to recast Israel’s brand. Marketing professor Rajeev Batra’s case studies “Branding Israel” (Case A and Case B) examine how the nation is attempting to change its image.
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Branding Israel (Free Two-part Case Study: Click Inspection Copy to Download)

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YOUR TURN

If you have a question or topic you’d like to see addressed in the next issue of Ross Thought in Action, email us at rossthought@umich.edu. We’ll choose one reader-generated topic to be addressed by one or more of our faculty and publish it in the next issue.