All Insights Articles

Any financial institution that is going to last for decades will have to survive a crisis or two—most likely by adapting and innovating, perhaps by leaving behind chunks of its old identity. Yale Insights spoke with James Gorman, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, one of two major investment banks to survive the 2008 financial crisis, about how the firm has managed to refashion itself and prepare for the future.

Problems like climate change, resource depletion, and pollution can seem so large as to be beyond the capacity of any individual person, or even corporation, to address. Peter Bakker, president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, argues that business leaders can take a first step by incorporating sustainability concerns into how they think about risk management.

Organizations that don’t conform to the norms of their market category are penalized with higher prices, according to new research co-authored by Professor Amandine Ody-Brasier.

Research by Professor Nathan Novemsky and Yale SOM doctoral student Ernest Baskin helps to explain why we give bad gifts.

As patents on the blockbuster drugs of the 1990s expire, the pharmaceutical industry is facing—not for the first time—questions about the sustainability of its economic model. Clive Meanwell, CEO of The Medicines Company, says that the industry can help patients and make money by changing the nature of its relationship to the healthcare system.

Hedge funds are risky. But getting beyond that bromide and evaluating the prospects of a particular fund means understanding everything from internal operations to investors’ incentives to counterparty and market conditions. David Belmont ’92, chief risk officer of Commonfund, gives a tour of the inner workings of hedge fund risk.

Social enterprises, ventures that seek to address significant societal problems while also achieving financial sustainability, have become a bigger part of the business world. Chuck Slaughter ’90, founder of Living Goods, discusses what it will take for the field to produce a breakout star.

The degree of physical contact that a celebrity has with a piece of memorabilia affects how much collectors are willing to pay for it at auction, according to a study co-authored by Professor George Newman.

Sky-high valuations of tech companies and the return of the IPO has an old debate raging again. Is a bubble brewing? Or is this time really different? Sasson Darwish ’94, managing partner at DS Advisory Group, talks with Yale Insights about IPOs, innovation, and the business models for today’s tech companies.

The alluring promise of big data is to make sense of the innumerable messy and complex decisions made by the world's consumers and provide clear guidance for improved operations, marketing, and performance. How close that promise is to reality varies greatly from industry to industry. A panel at the Yale School of Management considered the challenges and opportunities in using big data to improve healthcare.