Prof. Stuart Madnick speaks with WCBV-TV reporter David Bienick about concerns surrounding Russian cyberattacks. “Madnick suggests that in order to protect themselves from cyberattack, people should update their computer protection systems and be extra leery of suspicious emails and links,” says Bienick.
MSNBC reporter Selena Rezvani spotlights a study by Prof. Danielle Li and her colleagues, which found that women aren’t seen as having as much leadership potential as men despite having higher and more consistent performance ratings. Li and her colleagues found “women are 14 percent less likely to be promoted year after year, compared to men,” writes Rezvani.
STAT reporter Faye Flam spotlights research from Prof. David Rand, University of Regina Prof. Gordon Pennycook and their colleagues that shows people “really want to share accurate information but give into the temptation to share juicy bits of gossip they think will please their friends or that make them look good.”
Prof. David Autor, Harvard University Prof. Gordon Hanson, University of Zurich Prof. David Dorn, and Monsah University Prof. Kaveh Majlesi have described an “ideological realignment in trade-exposed local labor markets that commences prior to the divisive 2016 U.S. presidential election,” reports Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times.
Prof. David Rand and Prof. Gordon Pennycook of the University of Regina in Canada found that people improved the accuracy of their social media posts when asked to rate the accuracy of the headline first, reports Faye Flam for Bloomberg. “It’s not necessarily that [users] don’t care about accuracy. But instead, it’s that the social media context just distracts them, and they forget to think about whether it’s accurate or not before they decide to share it,” says Rand.
Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), a cryptographic method invented by three MIT researchers in 1985, enables authentication of private information without revealing information that could be compromised, reports Victor Shilo for Forbes. “ZKP has the potential to protect privacy in a wide range of cases,” writes Shilo. “By implementing ZKP, businesses and society can evolve to ‘open data 2.0’ where daily transactions are completed in today’s digital economy but without disclosing unnecessary sensitive information.”
A new study by Prof. David Autor examining the effectiveness of the Paycheck Protection Program found that the program ended up subsidizing business owners and shareholders more than workers, reports Stacy Cowley for The New York Times. “Jobs and businesses are two separate things,” says Autor. “We tried to figure out, ‘Where did the money go?’ — and it turns out it didn’t primarily go to workers who would have lost jobs. It went to business owners and their shareholders and their creditors.”
A report by researchers from MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals found that nearly half of supply chain professionals have remained committed to the same level of supply chain sustainability as before the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Laura Cooper for The Wall Street Journal. “The report, which surveyed some of 2,400 supply-chain industry professionals, also showed that 36% sought to increase their efforts to be more sustainable,” writes Cooper.
The driverless car industry lacks a clear business model in comparison to its competitors, reports Patrick McGee for Financial Times. “Driverless does not mean humanless,” says research scientist Ashley Nunes. “Robotaxis replace one set of human costs, the human driver, with another, inefficiency.”
Forbes reporter Abdo Riani spotlights an MIT and Northwestern study that uncovered why startup founders should be more cautious when listening to customer feedback. In a “study of six years’ worth of transactional data of 130 thousand customers in large retail chains…[researchers] made an interesting discovery – about 25% of customers consistently buy products that end up failing within 3 years,” writes Riani.
Writing for the Financial Times, Prof. Kristin Forbes emphasizes the importance of central banks reducing their balance sheets during economic recoveries. “Now is an opportune moment to use their balance sheets to fight inflation while supporting a balanced and sustainable recovery,” writes Forbes.
Fast Company reporter Clint Rainey writes that a new study co-authored by MIT economists finds that the bulk of the loan money handed out through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) helped business owners and shareholders. The researchers estimate that “somewhere between 23% and 34% of PPP dollars went to workers who would’ve otherwise lost their jobs,” writes Rainey. “The rest of the loan money—a full two-thirds to three-fourths—landed in the pockets of either the company’s owners or shareholders.”
Writing for Fast Company, Prof. Erin Kelly emphasizes the need for employers to implement management practices that support the health and wellness of employees. “Forward-thinking business leaders can adopt sound strategies to reduce the negative impact common management practices have on employee health and well-being,” writes Kelly.
Boston Globe reporter Angela Yang spotlights how the MIT Sloan School of Management has been offering a virtual speaker series focused on preparing students for a changing work and business landscape. Prof. Erin Kelly, who worked on a toolkit launched in July aimed at helping employers create more supportive work cultures, noted that it’s "an exciting moment, because we may be ready to look at how work can be more sane and sustainable across all kinds of occupations.”
Jin Stedge ’13 cofounded TrueNorth, a trucking company aimed at putting truckers in charge of their own companies, reports Igor Bosilkovski for Forbes. “We give truckers a single place to manage their whole business, and that’s everything from finding and booking loads, sending updates to customers, tracking applications, all in one place and charging one clean fee instead of ten different fees,” says Stedge.