There’s only so long that you can keep a customer waiting. Whether it’s for a food order or a doctor’s appointment, “as customers wait in a queue, there comes a point when they eventually get so bored or frustrated that they leave,” says Achal Bassamboo, a Kellogg professor of operations. This problem of customers leaving…
As 2026 dawns, headwinds are multiplying for many of the world’s economies, and even China hasn’t been able to shake off the uncertainty. The world’s second-largest economy has been one of the great success stories of the last 50 years, growing at the astonishing pace of 10 percent per year and becoming a dominant player…
Bargaining is a fundamental part of doing business, whether it’s for an everyday interaction like buying used furniture on Facebook Marketplace or a high-stakes negotiation involving wages or trade agreements. “Bargaining is everywhere,” says Caio Waisman, an economist and an associate professor of marketing at the Kellogg School. It’s been a focal point for businesses…
For more than a century, the effect of technology on jobs followed a clear trend: as machines took over manual tasks, blue-collar professions suffered, while white-collar occupations enjoyed gains. But AI seems poised to follow the opposite trend. The ability of AI to handle office tasks, such as copywriting and data analysis, seems more likely…
Matt Harrison Clough/Ikon Images How can recent advances in generative AI tools be applied to transform pricing decisions? By lowering technical and financial barriers, such tools democratize access to sophisticated pricing capabilities, empowering even small businesses to benefit from artificial intelligence without the need for costly, bespoke solutions. There are fundamental differences between GenAI-driven approaches…
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images AI platforms have already upended online search in the first few years they’ve been available, and businesses were woefully unprepared for them. Depending on your company’s strategy, AI-driven search can bring significant opportunity or grave risk to its online visibility. Big brands can gain even more market share if…
Koivo/Ikon Images The Research The authors conducted a survey of 259 global companies from 2022 to 2023 and interviewed CxOs at four large enterprises. A second survey of 152 companies was conducted in 2025. Respondents assessed their company’s capability for “real-time-ness” overall in 2022 and 2023 and on 13 different aspects in 2025. The authors…
The Super Bowl isn’t just the crowning game of the NFL season; it’s also the biggest night of the year for the advertising industry. For a mere $266,666 per second, companies can reach the 125 million expected viewers of Super Bowl LX6 with their new flashy commercial. And as Kellogg’s Derek Rucker wrote in 2022,…
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Crisis leadership is often cast in terms of people displaying extraordinary power, influence, charisma, and superhuman qualities.1 It is thus not surprising that we often assume that strong leaders have complete agency and control over making and executing decisions, especially during crises. Consider this definition of the term leaderism…
Unilever drew attention when it announced that half of its media budget would go toward social channels—a move that’s part of its “influencer-first” strategy. For Kellogg’s Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing, it’s a sign of the times. Brands need to consider how they might engage with the personalities on these platforms. “If you…