Research

Gift cards – that one-size-fits-all present for any occasion – can be an excellent choice for both giver and receiver. But how do companies account for them when the card is never redeemed?

Boards of directors have two jobs: oversight and advising. But can too much oversight lead to worse advice?

“Once upon a time, serving as a corporate board director was a prestigious thing. Today, thanks to the intense burdens of monitoring and governance we’ve piled onto boards generally and independent directors specifically, board service is more like a pain in the backside. And now some clever academics have tried to quantify precisely how much that pain costs corporate operations” (Compliance Week, November 15, 2010).

Recommendations for how and when tablet computers can add value to organizations.

Networks – those all-important relationships developed in business settings – have long been a subject of study. But recently, interest has developed in the different ways men and women set about networking.

Business ethicists are quick to comment on sensational cases of compensation involving very high pay for CEOs and very low pay for workers in overseas factories and sweatshops. But why do they rarely discuss the ethics of compensation in general, including for “ordinary” workers?

Corporate capitalism has been debased by “misguided faith. Until it is redeemed by a “strong” or “good faith,” it will continue to be riddled by impropriety and scandal.

A growing proportion of all B-to-B transactions are facilitated by interorganizational coordination hubs (ICHs). How well do the participants in these hubs make key decisions about the way they work with each other through the hub — and interact with the organization that runs the hub?

In the face of time constraints imposed by managed care, the best physicians recognize the merit of listening carefully to their patients.

Listening is at the heart of good medicine. Indeed, patients want their stories heard. It is a simple premise, but a challenge to put into place in medicine, where the average doctor’s appointment face-time lasts only about six minutes.

New genetic “multiplex” testing reveals the risks for multiple health conditions, but little is understood about the psychological factors that affect whether healthy young adults will undergo the test. Research by Professor Samuel Woodford and colleagues assessed the multiplex genetic testing model (MGTM) — which delineates worry, perceived severity, perceived risk, response efficacy and attitudes toward testing — as a predictor of interest and ultimately actual participation in multiplex genetic testing.

Jonathan White calls hunger in the United States an invisible epidemic. His research on the subject includes interviews with 54 Americans who battle under-nutrition as a result of poverty; a survey of over 200 college students to assess their awareness of the issue and their beliefs about those who are hungry; and an intensive literature review of national and regional data. White tackles the issue in his forthcoming book, Hungry to Be Heard: Voices From a Malnourished America.