Management Science

How to Find the Right Influencers

When Kim Kardashian West posts about using a new product on Instagram, even if only a small percentage of her more than 190 million followers buy it, it’s worth it for the product’s marketers who struck the deal with one of the internet’s top influencers. This kind of influence is happening at all levels across social networks online – from Instagram and Facebook to video gaming platforms – and marketers are scrambling to figure out the best people to target to spread their messages. Research from Maryland Smith has a better way to find them.

How Noncompete Agreements Stifle Workers

In recent years, debate has been intensifying over whether the noncompete agreements some companies use to bind employees help or hurt workers. It’s an issue Maryland Smith management professor Evan Starr has studied extensively – with four new research papers on the topic forthcoming in top journals this year alone. All of his results point to the same conclusion: Noncompetes stifle workers.

Want People To Use Bike Shares? Don’t Make Them Walk.

In cities around the globe, bicycle and electric scooter rentals seem to be everywhere. And in a way, they almost have to be. If the bicycle or scooter isn’t right where users need it, right when they need it, they won’t go out of their way to find one, says new research from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

How To Make More Money in Online Auctions

To get more participants in online auctions and drive up the winning bid prices, two things matter: how long an auction is active and the day of the week it closes, finds new research from Maryland Smith’s Wedad Elmaghraby.

Elmaghraby’s research, forthcoming in Management Science, focuses on online business-to-business (B2B) auction platforms, which retailers use to sell their unsold or returned inventory to discount stores and wholesale liquidators.

A New Approach to the Supply Chain Cash Flow

Competition produces winners and losers. But game theory analysis shows how everyone comes out ahead when retailers and bankers cooperate to reduce finance costs for suppliers in China and other emerging markets. Consumers ultimately score when the savings get passed down the line.

The Cross Section of Commodity Returns

Explaining the Cross Section of Commodity Returns

What’s the most useful way to look at commodity prices?

How Noncompete Clauses Can Backfire

Enforceability of Agreements Creates Screening Effect

U.S. companies worried about knowledge leakage should be careful what they wish for when they lobby state lawmakers to strengthen the enforceability of noncompete clauses. New research from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business shows unintended consequences when the contract addendums are given teeth.

Understanding the Risks of Privatization

How Ownership Structure Affects the Cost of Debt

While privatization comes with benefits — like not being beholden to market speculation or a chorus of diverse shareholders — it also carries risks. Privately held companies, for instance, have limited access to public equity markets, which complicates their ability to keep operations afloat when cash is tight.

Thinking Like a Savvy Online Bidder

How to Beat Power Players at Their Own Game

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Management Science