Alumni Association

Personal Challenges and Opportunities in Slow Times

GSB Professor Paul Oyer discusses both opportunities and challenges to managers trying to build a talented, cost-effective workforce.

There are many qualified people available and current employees have strong incentives to do good work and keep their jobs. On the other hand, managers often have to decide who to let go and how to be sure they are not hiring people that will quickly leave when the economy perks up.

Personal Challenges Video (72:57 minutes)

"Targeted Advertising: Some Suggestions of How It Works, When It Works, and Why It Matters"
with GSB Professor Christian Wheeler

It is axiomatic in marketing that advertisements are more effective when they match aspects of the message recipient. For example, advertisements could be targeted to match a consumer's demographic characteristics, psychographic profile, cultural orientation, and so on.

In this seminar, we will examine some of these effects in detail and discuss the various types of message targeting that have been shown to be effective. (Video length 00:56:00 minutes) Targeted Advertising Details

"The Sub-Prime Crisis from an Economic Perspective"
with GSB Professor Yossi Feinberg

The financial meltdown in the US commonly referred to as the "sub-prime mortgage crisis" has been analyzed extensively and both media and regulators have focused on unscrupulous lending practices as the main source of the problem. This alone does not seem to explain the extent of the write-downs we have seen or the banks' initial inability to evaluate the actual extent of their losses, or risk exposure.

In this seminar, Professor Feinberg took a different approach to the crisis. Beginning with the products themselves, he looked for the market failure due to repackaging of collateralized obligations and what enabled the failure to grow unnoticeably to

monstrous proportions. The answers to these questions point us towards senior management's failure to organize appropriately for investment in instruments which have increased in complexity. (Video length 1:00:56 minutes) Sub-Prime Crisis Details

"Managing Product Variety"
with GSB Professor Michaela Draganska

Consumers have become so overwhelmed by the plethora of options available in nearly every product category that they are likely to put off purchases—sometimes indefinitely. 

Professor Draganska's research has shown that while product variety does have a positive impact on brand choice, some companies, especially those with well-known brands, are going overboard and would be better off offering consumers fewer choices. On the other hand, if consumers have to make a purchase, they tend to perceive brands that offer more variety as being of higher quality. In this seminar, Professor Draganska offered ideas for resolving this product marketing dilemma. (Video length 1:00:56 minutes) Managing Product Variety Details

"Cost Conscious Health Insurance Coverage: A Focus on Treatment Cost and Effectiveness"
with GSB Professor Alan Garber, MD, PhD

An individual's health care policy coverage determines which medical products and services are eligible for reimbursement by their health insurance. Most coverage policies for both commercial health plans and Medicare are determined by evidence of the products and services effectiveness.

Cost conscious health insurance coverage is based on the idea that health insurance should emphasize value, not only effectiveness. If successful, it would promote the use of care that offers a good combination of effectiveness and cost. In this seminar, Professor Garber discussed the rationale for cost conscious health insurance coverage and how it can be incorporated into insurance design. (Video length 1:00:56 minutes) Cost Conscious Health Insurance Coverage Details