SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The daily deal industry — Groupon and like companies working with small retailers to give big discounts, irregularly — had its heyday in the wake of the Great Recession. Groupon in 2010 was called the “fastest growing company in history,” while smaller, D.C.-based Living Social’s value peaked at around $4.5 billion in 2011, then plunged in the low tens of millions before the company was acquired by Groupon in late 2016.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Can U.S. companies simultaneously encourage that employees get enough sleep (seven-plus hours nightly) and maintain a competitive edge? Sleep deprivation costs U.S.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — With Google gripped by a spiraling ad boycott as companies protest having their content posted alongside extremist YouTube videos, the search giant's competitors might be spotting an opportunity. Already a fresh focus has turned to the "upfronts," the annual New York City ritual in which TV networks make pitches for long-term contracts with major brands and advertising agencies based on expected audiences. And experts at the University of Maryland's Robert H.

In October 2016, C-BERC’s Associate Director Gideon Mark, associate professor of logistics, business and public policy at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Have you ever filled your virtual cart while shopping online only to leave it without completing the purchase? Consumers often leave behind their virtual carts and retailers have long considered this a huge problem, figuring trillions of dollars are lost due to abandoned online shopping carts. Now new research shows that these numbers are substantially overblown.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Something inequitable happens when men and women with similar jobs get laid off at the same time from the same companies, and then move to the same new employer. The gender wage gap — whatever it was before — widens during the transition. Only one factor helps to soften the outcome. A study co-authored by professor Liu Yang at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Market makers have significant influence in financial markets, and they take on significant risk. In new research, Yajun Wang, assistant professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, helps build a market-making model that enables market participants to better understand those risks.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — High-priced luxury handbags are sometimes referred to as “statement pieces,” and for at least some women, the statement they’re making is: “Don’t even try to take my man.” For such women, luxury accessories, such as high-priced designer shoes and handbags, function as “a signaling system directed to other women who pose threats to their romantic relationships,” according to research from Yajin Wang, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Let’s say your company has had a very profitable year, and has decided to reward you, one of its top contributors, with a handsome, 8 percent pay increase. Well done. Now, let’s say it’s just before the holidays. Should your friends and relatives expect an 8 percent raise in your gift-giving budget?

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Sharing creative ideas at work can be risky. What if a suggestion appears foolish? What if it upsets a comfortable routine? What if it fails? When in doubt, many employees keep their mouths shut. One way to counteract these instincts and foster creativity is to develop a seemingly unrelated skill: Networking. Professor Vijaya Venkataramani at the University of Maryland's Robert H.