In description
The linear “take-make-waste” business model is a recipe for killing the planet. With global circularity at 7.2 %, supply chains create enormous amounts of waste, a vital driver of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Recent research by Daniel Halbheer (HEC Paris) and his colleagues Stefan Buehler (University of St. Gallen) and Rachel Chen (UC Davis) shows how going circular by recycling end-of-life products can improve profit and reduce the corporate waste footprint.
By Daniel Halbheer
How long does it take to form a new habit, whether starting a yoga routine or flossing after brushing teeth? A wide-ranging study by Anastasia Buyalskaya from HEC Paris, Hung Ho of the University of Chicago, Xiaomin Li and Colin Camerer of California Institute of Technology, and Katherine L. Milkman and Angela L. Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania, applies machine learning to answer that question. Three key facts: Machine learning: The study uses large datasets and machine learning to uncover the diverse contextual variables influencing habit formation. Debunking the 21-days myth: There is actually not a fixed timeframe to establish new habits. Context matters: Certain variables had very little effect on the formation of a habit, whereas other factors turned out to matter a lot.
By Anastasia Buyalskaya
These days, workers at management consulting, investment banking, accounting, and law firms tend to be as interested in their career paths as they are in their salaries—which often means jumping from one firm to another in pursuit of better opportunities. But their career paths and motivation can be powerfully influenced by what sort of tasks an employer assigns to them. A study by Raphaël Lévy, Associate Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences at HEC Paris, and his colleague Heski Bar-Isaac, Professor in the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, explores how these firms’ task allocation strikes a balance between producing value for the business and offering workers opportunities to prove their talent. Three key findings: • “Lose it to use it”: To attract and motivate employees, employers sometimes sell their jobs as springboards to a great career even outside the firm. • Employees are motivated to perform when granted exposure on the labor market and when assigned to tasks allowing them to showcase their skills. • Different human resources policies coexist: some firms consent to high exposure to their employees to boost their professional advancement, others, more concerned with employee retention, offer flatter career paths.
By Raphaël Levy
Companies are increasingly encouraged, or obliged, to report on their sustainability efforts. However, there is little harmonization across the many sustainability standard-setting organizations. In their latest study, Accounting Professors Hervé Stolowy and Luc Paugam of HEC Paris set out to create a picture of the status of sustainability reporting standards today, and what they really mean. Three key findings: Lack of standards harmonization: A significant lack of harmonization in sustainability reporting standards pose challenges for consistent communication of companies' sustainability efforts. Diverse objectives: Standard-setting organizations have diverse objectives, complicating efforts to establish a globally standardized approach to sustainability reporting. Carbon emissions disclosure: One exception may be carbon emissions disclosure, with convergence in the greenhouse gas emission protocol being adopted by most organizations.
By Hervé Stolowy , Luc Paugam
As many as 83% of clinical trial results do not reach the public domain within one year of their trial end date (Anderson et al, 2015). Many never even make it at all. Why do so many pharmaceutical companies hesitate to disclose their (valuable) results? Could the behavior of their peers and competitors have something to do with it? To address these questions, a study on firms sponsoring clinical trials was carried out by Professor Vedran Capkun of HEC Paris, and his co-authors Yun Lou, Clemens A. Otto, and Yin Wang, all from Singapore Management University.
By Vedran Capkun , Yin Wang
Most companies value the benefits of branding: customer loyalty, easier sales, premium pricing. But what does brand equity mean for the employee experience? How can businesses balance the advantages and possible drawbacks of strong brands? Dominique Rouziès, Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, and colleagues Myriam Ertz of LaboNFC, at UQAC (Canada), and Emine Sarigöllu¨ of LaboNFC, at McGill University (Canada), set out to answer these questions by understanding the social mechanics driving employee attitudes towards their employer’s brands.
By Dominique Rouziès
The world of employment is undergoing a period of rapid change, with major technological developments, economic turbulence, and shareholder activism all contributing to a fast-moving and unpredictable context. To adapt to this new employment landscape, what kind of career strategies do (and should) professionals adopt, specialization or generalization? Professor Roxana Barbulescu of HEC Paris and Rocio Bonet of IE Business School offer insights for jobseekers and employers.
By Roxana Barbulescu
Sales is an occupation known for its high turnover rates. How do employers value a salesperson’s experience, and does it matter whether they have hopped between industries and firms? Dominique Rouziès, Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, and her co-authors Bertrand Quélin and Michael Segalla (HEC Paris), Ali Reza Keshavarz (School of Business, Maynooth University) and Francis Kramarz (CREST-ENSAE), dug deeper to find out what experience means for a sales professional’s compensation levels and career prospects.
By Dominique Rouziès , Bertrand Quélin , Michael Segalla
A recent study by economists Antonin Bergeaud (HEC Paris), Arthur Guillouzouic (IPP), Emeric Henry (SciencePo and CEPR), and Clément Malgouyres (CNRS and CREST) shows how government spending on academic research spurs private companies with connections to academia to spend more on their own R&D efforts as well. By studying reports produced by academic researchers and with data on labor mobility and public-private R&D partnerships, Bergeaud and his colleagues developed a new way to measure the proximity between academics and business, making us understand its benefits for innovation.
After obtaining their diploma, graduates with a Ph.D. can choose between becoming academics, joining a large company, or founding or joining a start-up. The fraction of Ph.D.s in science and engineering who have started or joined a new firm has declined by approximately 38% in the U.S. since 1997. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Professor Thomas Astebro of HEC Paris, explains this phenomenon, summarizing his article published this summer in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal with Serguey Brgauinsky and Yuheng Ding of the University of Maryland.
By Thomas Åstebro