It is hard to spend any time at a business school without hearing the phrase best practice. We teach students best practice. Junior professors seek hints from senior folk on best practice. Even schools regularly go through bouts of benchmarking to see if they are adopting best practice. Best practice essentially is something that gets the most…
Category: Evolution
Are Free Markets Discovered Or Created?
A key social science question is: Are Free Markets Discovered Or Created? This has surprisingly large political consequences. For example, what is the role of government? How much does it create the conditions for prosperity, or should it just get out of the way? Market Design Market Design is the study of what makes for…
Experimenters And Economists
Advocates for more behavioural approaches to understanding economics often use experiments. These typically show people acting in strange ways. Or at least that violate the principles of traditional economics. (Maybe the people are normal and the principles weird). A key thing is that experimenters and economists can be the same people. There is much potential uniting these…
What Use Is An Evolutionary Definition of Rationality?
Eyal Winter’s book, Feeling Smart, is interesting but frustrating. There is much good content. Indeed, some of the stories are great. My biggest problem was the casual use of concepts. This was exemplified by the central idea of his book. He said that feelings/emotions can help you make smart decisions. I totally agree but the big problem was…
The Gauntlet Of Attacks On Behavioral Economics
Richard Thaler‘s Misbehaving may be one of my favorite academic books. The author packed the book with interesting thoughts, covers numerous important ideas, and even is amusingly candid about his colleagues. Over the coming months, I’ll occasionally cover his key points (see here and here). In this post I’ll discuss “the gauntlet”; a list of predictable…
Confusion About Individual Rationality and Market Outcomes
Amongst marketing scholars there is a lot of confusion regarding individual rationality and market outcomes. There is also plenty of blame to go around for the confusion. Marketing’s Two Groups Who Politely Ignore One Another In marketing we have bifurcated into two groups. Psychologically trained scholars often suggest that economically trained scholars all believe in…
Evolutionary Psychology And Sustainability
Academic research isn’t always immediately applicable. This is not a bad thing, part of the aim of academic research is to wander into new territory. It is not surprising if often this isn’t directly applicable today. It is interesting, however, when academics try and bring their perspectives to more practical problems. Vladas Griskevicius, Stephanie M….
Evolutionary Metaphors
In his 2003 HBR article Tihamer von Ghyczy discussed the use of metaphors in strategic planning. (Full disclosure in 2003 I took his course at Darden.) Specifically, he is most interested in the use of evolutionary metaphors. How we might describe business ideas in biological terms. Evolutionary Metaphors Aren’t ‘Correct’ One overarching point he makes…
Selfishness And Business
Selfishness, and the absence of selfishness, is a fascinating issue. Simple models typically start with the idea that selfishness is a universal quality. This is termed unbounded selfishness. The evolutionary logic of this is superficially appealing. Sacrificing for others without a payback seems doomed. (Assuming selection pressure is strong). Thus, selfishness and business are assumed…
Competitor Orientation And The Evolution of Business Markets
My first major article was on Competitor Orientation And The Evolution of Business Markets. I think it is a fun one. Even though it took years and years to publish. Some may have agreed. it was fun That said, it is a bit mathy at times. Aiming To, Is Not Maximizing Profits When people envisage…
