MIT has been named the top university in the world in the latest QS World University Rankings, reports Nick Morrison for Forbes. This is the fifth consecutive year that MIT has earned the number one spot in the QS rankings.
Jason Margolis of PRI’s The World chronicles how MIT alumnus Sorin Grama’s first attempt at a startup paved the way for him to found Promethean Power Systems, which produces milk chillers for regions of India with unreliable power. Margolis notes that this fall Grama will serve as an entrepreneur-in-residence at MIT with a focus on the developing world.
Fortune reporter Jeremy Quittner writes about a new study by MIT researchers that examines why women are less likely to get VC funding than men. The researchers found that “women-owned companies do a certain amount of self-sorting into industries that are probably less risky, and so also lack high-growth potential that VCs find most attractive.”
In an article for The New York Times, Prof. Simon Johnson questions the ability of U.S. banks to weather another recession. Johnson writes that he thinks the U.S. should require our largest banks “to have a great deal more equity so they could absorb more of their own losses, and not dump them…on the public.”
Jarrod Goentzel and Fredrik Eng Larsson of the Center for Transportation and Logistics write for The Wall Street Journal that companies seeking greater supply chain visibility must quantify the benefits of such information. They write that “to make a clear case for investment in visibility systems, companies must focus on the tools that transform data into structural improvements.”
A study co-authored by Prof. Karen Zheng examines how fear that items will go out of stock can motivate shoppers to pay full price, increasing stores’ profits, reports CNBC reporter Susie Poppick. “It turns out people tend to believe certain products will be sold faster or sooner than they actually are,” explains Zheng.
Prof. Richard Schmalensee speaks with Forbes’ David Slocum about his book “Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms.” Schmalensee explains that the fundamentals of new businesses “are similar to those of old, familiar ones — from how they price, to how they solve the…problem of getting both groups of customers on board. New startups can then learn from old successful ones.”
Prof. Thomas Kochan speaks with WBUR reporter Deborah Becker about the contract dispute between Verizon and the company’s employees. Kochan says that in order to avoid these situations in the future, “we need to fundamentally change our labor policy to provide more workers access to a variety of different ways to have a voice at work.”
The Economist highlights an MIT study that shows Massachusetts is outperforming Silicon Valley in creating life sciences startups, and credits MIT for its role in driving innovation in Kendall Square. “The Boston metropolitan area...seems to be holding its own as the world’s pre-eminent biotech hub.”
Deepa Seetharaman writes for The Wall Street Journal about Prof. Sinan Aral’s research on the popularity of social media messaging applications. Aral found that people are three times more likely to try an app if invited by private message and 17 percent more likely to repeatedly use the application.
Senior Lecturer Bill Aulet writes for The Boston Globe about whether Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker can “pull off something rarely seen in business and even less often in politics — to be both a great manager and a great leader.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Brenda Cronin writes that MIT researchers have identified a group of consumers that routinely buy products that fail. “You’ve got to think about who’s buying” the product, explains Prof. Duncan Simester. “If it’s these harbingers buying them….and if they keep buying them…then you’ve got a problem.”
CNBC’s John Schoen writes that MIT researchers have identified a group of consumers that repeatedly buy unpopular products. "You might have thought this was a category-specific effect — someone who buys the wrong makeup," explains Prof. Catherine Tucker. "But the strongest effects were going across category.”
MIT researchers have found that certain consumers are more prone to buying products that end up failing, reports Peter Coy for Bloomberg Business. “It's not just that certain people try out new products that turn out to be unsuccessful,” writes Coy. “It's that they keep going back for more of them.”
Senior lecturer Sharmilia Chatterjee writes for Fortune about the growth in box-delivery subscription services and how large retailors may end up edging them out of the market. “Before entrepreneurs rush into the subscription box space, they should take heed of a number of factors including…the entry of big players,” Chatterjee writes.