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- June 29, 2022
- Other Article
Strategic Complexity? Using Experiments to Understand and Overcome Obfuscation
By: Michael Luca, Ginger Zhe Jin and Daniel Martin
Credit card companies must decide what product features to disclose to consumers, such as payment schedules, penalties, and fees--and also whether to present them clearly or bury them in the fine print. Firms face similar choices in settings ranging from privacy...
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Keywords:
Obfuscation;
Credit Cards;
Strategic Incentives;
Complexity;
Agreements and Arrangements;
Customers;
Consumer Behavior;
Financial Services Industry
Luca, Michael, Ginger Zhe Jin, and Daniel Martin. "Strategic Complexity? Using Experiments to Understand and Overcome Obfuscation." Management Science Review (June 29, 2022). (Summary of "Complex Disclosure," Management Science, May 2022.)
- Article
The Deception Spiral: Corporate Obfuscation Leads to Perceptions of Immorality and Cheating Behavior
By: D.M. Markowitz, M. Kouchaki, J.T. Hancock and F. Gino
In four studies, we evaluated how corporate misconduct relates to language patterns, perceptions of immorality, and unethical behavior. First, we analyzed nearly 190 codes of conduct from S&P 500 manufacturing companies and observed that corporations with ethics...
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Keywords:
Obfuscation;
Corporate Unethicality;
Deception;
Deception Spiral;
Organizations;
Values and Beliefs;
Ethics;
Perception;
Behavior
Markowitz, D.M., M. Kouchaki, J.T. Hancock, and F. Gino. "The Deception Spiral: Corporate Obfuscation Leads to Perceptions of Immorality and Cheating Behavior." Journal of Language and Social Psychology 40, no. 2 (March 2021): 277–296.
- May 31, 2016
- Article
Memories of Unethical Actions Become Obfuscated over Time
By: Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino
Despite our optimistic belief that we would behave honestly when facing the temptation to act unethically, we often cross ethical boundaries. This paper explores one possibility for why people engage in unethical behavior over time by suggesting that memory for their...
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Kouchaki, Maryam, and Francesca Gino. "Memories of Unethical Actions Become Obfuscated over Time." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113, no. 22 (May 31, 2016).
- 2014
- Working Paper
Linguistic Complexity in Firm Disclosures: Obfuscation or Information?
By: Brian J. Bushee, Ian D. Gow and Daniel Taylor
Prior research argues that the linguistic complexity of a firm’s disclosures reflects managerial obfuscation. However, complex language can be used either to obfuscate or to convey information, with the effect likely depending on the incentives of the source. We...
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- May 2022
- Article
Complex Disclosure
By: Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Daniel Martin
We present evidence that unnecessarily complex disclosure can result from strategic incentives to shroud information. In our lab experiment, senders are required to report their private information truthfully, but can choose how complex to make their reports. We find...
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Keywords:
Disclosure;
Experiments;
Naiveté;
Overconfidence;
Corporate Disclosure;
Policy;
Information;
Complexity;
Strategy;
Consumer Behavior
Jin, Ginger Zhe, Michael Luca, and Daniel Martin. "Complex Disclosure." Management Science 68, no. 5 (May 2022): 3236–3261.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Should Workplace Programs Be Voluntary or Mandatory? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Mentorship
By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton
In a field experiment, we find large differences in productivity treatment effects between voluntary and mandatory workplace mentorship programs. A significant portion of this difference is due to the best employees opting into the program when it is voluntary and...
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Keywords:
Mentoring;
Mentorship Programs;
Randomized Controlled Trial;
Employees;
Relationships;
Programs;
Performance
Sandvik, Jason, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert, and Christopher Stanton. "Should Workplace Programs Be Voluntary or Mandatory? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Mentorship." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29148, August 2021. (Revised October 2023.)
- Spring 2018
- Article
The ‘Moral Effect’ of Legalized Lawlessness:: Violence in Britain’s Twentieth Century Empire
From 1930s Palestine to Kenya in the years following World War II, systematized violence shaped and defined much of Britain’s twentieth-century empire. Liberal authoritarianism, and with it the “moral effect” that coercion had upon colonial subjects, gave rise to the...
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Elkins, Caroline M. "The ‘Moral Effect’ of Legalized Lawlessness: Violence in Britain’s Twentieth Century Empire." Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 44, no. 1 (Spring 2018): 78–90.
- 2010
- Book
Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down
By: John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead
You've got a good idea. You know it could make a crucial difference for you, your organization, your community. You present it to the group but get confounding questions, inane comments, and verbal bullets in return. Before you know what's happened, your idea is dead,...
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Keywords:
Communication Intention and Meaning;
Cost vs Benefits;
Problems and Challenges;
Interests;
Value
Kotter, John P., and Lorne A. Whitehead. Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down. Harvard Business Review Press, 2010.
- 18 Sep 2019
- Op-Ed
WeWork—The IPO That Shouldn’t?
made a better case for the company by not obfuscating their financials are highlighted below. In short, WeWork took advantage of the JOBS Act to present their financials in such a way that, in aggregate, could be considered misleading. In...
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- 01 Aug 2008
- What Do You Think?
Has the Time Come for “Stretch” in Management?
when he said, "Stretch ... allows those with the biggest vision to express it in a tangible way However, in my experience, it is also used in the same way the rack was used." Carl Binder pointed out that "... stretch goals have led mostly to intentional...
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Keywords:
by Jim Heskett
- 03 May 2016
- First Look
First Look, May 3, 2016
memory for their past unethical actions is impaired. We propose that after engaging in unethical behavior, individuals’ memory of their actions becomes more obfuscated over time due to the psychological distress and discomfort such...
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Keywords:
Sean Silverthorne
- 24 Sep 2019
- Research & Ideas
Do National Security Secrets Hold Back National Innovation?
research is unlikely to influence managers’ day-to-day decisions about whether to apply for patents. Indeed, many companies already attempt to have it both ways, as patent attorneys can use obfuscating language in patent applications in...
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Keywords:
by Kristen Senz
- 18 Jul 2005
- Research & Ideas
Time to Rethink the Corporate Tax System?
tax avoidance is good for shareholders is the fact that tax avoidance opportunities require obfuscation and, consequently, open the door to managerial opportunism. Indeed, several high-profile cases of managerial opportunism including...
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by Ann Cullen
- 13 Oct 2010
- First Look
First Look: October 13, 2010
this way, maintain John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead. In Buy-In, they reveal how to win the support your idea needs to deliver valuable results. The key? Understand the generic attack strategies that naysayers and obfuscators deploy time...
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Sean Silverthorne
- 27 Sep 2004
- Research & Ideas
How Leaders Build Winning Streaks
obfuscation or cover-ups, enables facts to be squarely faced and promises to be based on reality. "Humiliation-free zones" support objective discussion of strengths and weaknesses without fear of embarrassment. Winning teams are...
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by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
- 30 Oct 2018
- First Look
New Research and Ideas, October 30, 2018
information. We implement an experiment where senders are required to report their private information truthfully but can choose how complex to make their reports. We find that senders use complex disclosure more than half the time. Most of this View Details
Keywords:
Dina Gerdeman
- 06 Jul 2009
- Research & Ideas
Conducting Layoffs: ’Necessary Evils’ at Work
Novices sometimes veer to one extreme or the other, delivering the hard news without the compassion, perhaps to demonstrate their toughness or ability to handle the task, or succumbing to a burst of sympathy that causes them to cushion and View Details
Keywords:
by Martha Lagace
- 05 Jun 2018
- First Look
New Research and Ideas, June 5, 2018
disclosure where senders are required to report their private information truthfully but can choose how complex to make their reports. We find that senders use complex disclosure over half the time, and most of this obfuscation is...
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Keywords:
Dina Gerdeman