Research

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).

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?

Most published research in the IS field is quantitative, analyzing measurable, verifiable quantitative data and evidence. How can the alternative — qualitative research — be promoted for IS?

During the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the banking industry suffered a huge decline in liquidity on their own balance sheets, decreasing the amount of money they could lend. Did banks’ efforts to absorb the liquidity shock spike a decline in overall credit supply?

Banks were hit hard during the 2007-2009 financial crisis: in a short span, interbank lending markets froze, markets for asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities collapsed, and borrowers utilized previously approved loan commitments.

Of all the provisions found in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, perhaps none is as controversial as Section 404(b). This section requires public company management and external auditors to independently test effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting. The auditor issues an opinion on control effectiveness, identifying the most severe weaknesses detected.

During the biotech IPO boom in 2000, a lot of people made money; but very few products ever made it into the hands of consumers. Bentley’s Laura McNamee, PhD, and Fred Ledley, MD, trace the problem to business models with a glaring gap between science and commerce.

Scientists and investors, they point out, have very different value systems.

When faculty, students and corporate partners come together, great things can happen on campus — and off. A case in point is a $250,000 grant to the Honors Program from United Technologies Corporation. Through a UTC-supported honors fellowship, research is underway to help local communities save the environment and developing countries create economic stability.

The funding takes Honors Program capstone projects to a new level, according to inaugural UTC Fellows Olivia Locke ’14 and Gerard Fischetti ’14 (above).