SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- In Tokyo this week, Toyota put journalists in a modified Lexus GS equipped with self-driving technology. On its own, the car entered a highway, drove for a bit and navigated an off-ramp.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Is the influential theory of "disruptive innovation" bunk? Or to put it in a less specific and blunt way: Are businesses — and business professors — too quick to accept as fact theories that aren't supported by rigorous data?

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- A decision by the California Labor Commission has opened the debate on whether Uber drivers should be considered employees or independent contractors.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The California Labor Commission sided this month with an Uber driver who argued that she should be classified as an employee of the company, not an independent contractor.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Crowdfunding makes sense for a neighborhood hairstylist or dry cleaner, but not so much for a tech startup aspiring to be the next Facebook, experts said May7-9, 2015, during the Smith Entrepreneurship Research Conference at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

How much confidence should you have in the findings published in the top strategic management journals? Less than you might think, according to new research. In this issue of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, host Jeff Salkin sits down with Brent Goldfarb to talk about his new research, that estimates that 24 to 40 percent of the findings in five top strategic management journals are likely the result of chance.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Traditional taxi operators have claimed victory with legislation that would legalize Uber, Lyft and other ride-share companies in Maryland, but a University of Maryland professor at the Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- As a small business owner, clearly you cannot compete with the big box stores on price. Instead, customers come to you for personalized and knowledgeable customer service.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The way songwriters and performers get paid in the United States is a mess, shaped to a surprising degree by government regulation. Some of the basic rules, in fact, are so old they were originally crafted to prevent a monopoly in the player-piano industry. This month the U.S.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- How much confidence should you have in the findings published in the top strategic management journals? Less than you might think, according to new research from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Smith Professor Brent Goldfarb and coauthor Andrew King of Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business estimate that 24 to 40 percent of the findings in five top journals are likely the result of chance.