Competition

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.

Can laws created to rein in the monopolies of the industrial age still work in the information age? After spending a year as the top antitrust economist at the U.S. Department of Justice, Professor Fiona Scott Morton describes the state of antitrust regulation today.

Long-term thinking often gets lost in solving short-term problems, but the most successful companies make corporate strategy a top priority.

How can business leaders cultivate the broad understanding and strategic agility they need to build successful organizations? Charles Hill, an accomplished diplomat and co-founder of the Studies in Grand Strategy course at Yale, talks about how ideas from great thinkers—from Herodotus to Clausewitz—can improve business decision making.

The days of U.S. boycotts of South Africa are long gone. The country is an economic powerhouse in Africa and a key economic partner for the U.S. In four years as U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Donald Gips ’89 worked to increase investment and trade flows between the countries.

The Federal Reserve’s policy of open-ended quantitative easing emphasizes short-term tactics over longer-term strategy, writes Stephen Roach. “The focus, instead, should be on accelerating the process of balance-sheet repair, while at the same time returning monetary and fiscal policy levers to more normal settings.”

A recent online discussion with three experienced private equity professionals provided a survey of the industry’s development over the last decade, as well as advice for those interested in moving into the field. The participants were Peter M. Schulte ’83, Dan O’Connell ’80, and Sally Rocker ’81. The discussion was moderated by Andrew Metrick, Yale SOM Deputy Dean for Faculty Development & Michael H. Jordan Professor of Finance and Management.

Businesses need to try to peer 30 or more years into the future as they make investment decisions. How can they separate long-term trends and opportunities from the rush of the present? Strategist George Friedman, author of The Next 100 Years, says to look at constraints, not possibilities.

More than 160 million Americans receive their healthcare coverage through an employer-sponsored program. In recent years, as the costs of healthcare have risen, so have premiums for workers and costs for companies. Is the system sustainable? Does it affect the competitiveness of American companies? Does it prompt innovations in healthcare delivery?

The airwaves are a precious commodity. More than 200 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S. alone chat and bat text messages across the wireless spectrum. When Reed Hundt was chairman of the FCC, he implemented the first auctions of this resource, opening the way for industry development and raising revenue for the government. Hundt recently talked with Professor Barry Nalebuff, describing what he learned about auction markets and how he might use an auction to save the environment. Of course, they spoke via cell phone.