Research Roundup - Fall 2026

INTEGRITY INSPIRES ADVOCACY

“By identifying integrity as a key supervisor competency, organizations can ensure their supervisors are well-suited to empower employees through productive development practices.”

Management & Organization Professor Cindy Muir (Zapata) finds that supervisors with high integrity inspire employees to step up as advocates especially in challenging workplace cultures. Using three studies, Muir validated a new scale showing ethical leadership makes the biggest impact where change is needed most, empowering voices in negative climates.

PRICING PITFALLS

Gregory Robson, associate research professor in the Business Ethics and Society Program, challenges the defense of AI-driven price personalization. In Business Ethics Quarterly, he argues that tailoring costs to consumers’ “willingness-to-pay” fails to boost social welfare and often proves strategically disadvantageous for firms, complicating the ethical and business case for algorithmic pricing.

MORTGAGE WORKLOAD

When interest rates hike monthly floating rate mortgage bills, homeowners tighten their belts and clock more hours. Finance Assistant Professor Michal Zator’s research finds that households offset 35% of payment increases through extra labor, though they are far less likely to reduce work when rates drop.

FALSE CONSENSUS?

Accountancy professors Stephannie Larocque and Jessica Watkins reveal surprising discrepancies among five major earnings forecast providers. These data gaps significantly impact stock prices and market liquidity. While savvy investors favor high quality sources like I/B/E/S, market frictions remain, proving that financial consensus is rarely unanimous.

OPEN INNOVATION

Nicholas Berente, James H. Sweeny III and Alicia Sweeny Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations, explored how open-source communities guide software evolution without traditional hierarchy. By analyzing web development frameworks, his study introduces “discursive modulation,” a theory explaining how collective dialogue strategically balances novelty and complexity to shape innovation trajectories through democratic, decentralized coordination.

OPTIMIZING PLATFORM VALUE

Professors Shawn Qu, assistant professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations and Yixing Chen assistant professor of Marketing, analyzed when platform firms should invest in value-added services. Using game-theoretic modeling, they find that optimal strategies hinge on costs and network effects. These services do not always benefit consumers, providing vital insights for platform pricing and investment.

TRUE AD ROI 

Marketing Professor Shijie Lu analyzed second-by-second viewership and food delivery data to create a causal model for television advertising ROI. By leveraging randomized ad slots, he isolates the direct impact of commercials on purchases, providing marketers a scientific framework to optimize spending in the linear TV landscape. By isolating random ad timing within shows, he finds that traditional metrics overstate ad effectiveness by 55%, enabling more accurate investment strategies.

2026 Magazine Issue