IESE Insight - Research Papers

Experiential marketing: a way to get people talking

Gallo, Iñigo; Townsend, Claudia; Alegre, Inés Take a motorcycle: Is it a product, or is it an experience? If it's the latter, something lived on the open road, word of mouth is more likely to spread the message. This marketing trick now has research to back it, with a caveat.

Soft power: how a colleague's promotion weighs on the rest of the team

Brion, Sebastien; Mo, Ruo; Lount Jr., Robert B. Trust is crucial for working relationships. And yet changes in status and power destabilize trust, putting team performances at risk. Research by Sebastien Brion highlights the dynamics in play.

How Alibaba is improving welfare in parts of China

Fan, Jingting; Tang, L.; Zhu, Weiming; Zou, Ben E-commerce is booming in China. And nowhere is it more obvious than in smaller and more remote cities, where the prevalence of online shopping is lowering barriers to entry and boosting economic output for those who need it most.

Boosting firm performance with the business model effect

Sohl, Timo; Vroom, Govert; Fitza, Markus Does a company's business model affect its performance? Govert Vroom's research says yes -- it's just as important as the choice of industry in determining a firm's success.

What is holding back tech licensing?

Moreira, Solon; Cabaleiro, Goretti; Reichstein, Toke New technologies could be commercialized to a greater extent than they currently are. But when competition is fierce and sunk costs run high, technology owners are reluctant to out-license. How might this reluctance be overcome?

How to get peak performance out of an innovation tournament

Camacho, Nuno; Nam, Hyoryung; Kannan, P. K.; Stremersch, Stefan Innovation tournaments have become a popular way to crowdsource new ideas from outside a firm. A study by IESE's Stefan Stremersch and colleagues reveals a surprising metric for tournament success, and why moderators may need to be cruel to be kind.

What's the best asset allocation for retirees?

Estrada, Javier; Kritzman, Mark You save for retirement, and then you retire. Yet the questions keep coming: How much should be invested in stocks vs. bonds? How long will your portfolio last? A new analytic tool could help investors optimize their asset allocation to better fund those golden years.

Better access to basic research could lend firms a competitive edge

Cassiman, Bruno; Veugelers, Reinhilde; Arts, Sam Companies serious about innovation need to think about where, and how, they access the building blocks to developing new ideas. Partnerships with educational institutions may provide the right context.

Is your personality affecting your workplace assessment?

McKee, Rob A.; Lee, Yih-Teen; Atwater, Leanne; Antonakis, John In 360-degree assessments, good leaders should get high marks from themselves and from colleagues, too. But what else might influence these appraisals? Research by IESE's Yih-Teen Lee finds some personality traits and gender are significant factors.

Stealth takeovers: are hidden shareholders buying your company?

Bonetti, Pietro; Duro, Miguel; Ormazábal, Gaizka The M&A market plays a key role in ensuring that the optimal management is in place for publicly traded companies. In light of this, there's much debate about takeover regulations, particularly when it comes to disclosure and transparency.