News Releases

 CATONSVILLE, MD, March 7, 2018 – New research has developed an automated approach for narrowing down and ranking the field of Division 1 college basketball teams from 351 to the 68 that would play in the annual “March Madness” basketball tournaments, watched by more than 80 million people each year.

CATONSVILLE, MD, March 5, 2018 – Companies invest billions each year in expensive customer service programs, sales forces, and sophisticated discounting programs such as Groupon to lure and retain customers only to find that churn remains one of their biggest and most expensive challenges. According to a new study, customers have a tendency to send clear signals before they “break up” with a company, but you have to know what to be monitoring, and the key to any relationship remains effective communication.

CATONSVILLE, MD, February 13, 2018 – Where do great strategies come from? How can opportunities be maximized? How can the most successful strategies be identified? These questions and more are explored in a one of a kind collection of essays by prominent thought leaders in strategy science. This one-of-a-kind collection began with a collaborative workshop hosted by Apple and was ultimately published by INFORMS, the largest international association of operations research (O.R.) and analytics professionals.

CATONSVILLE, MD, January 25, 2018 – In the nearly 60 years between the 1939 release of Hollywood’s first animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and modern hits like Toy Story, Shrek and more, advances in animation technology have revolutionized not only animation techniques, but moviemaking as a whole. However, a new study in the INFORMS journal Organization Science found that employing the latest technology doesn’t always ensure creative success for a film.

CATONSVILLE, MD, January 5, 2018 – The 2018 Super Bowl arrives in a few weeks and over 40 percent of U.S. households will watch the game on TV. With a 30-second TV commercial priced at over $4 million, some advertisers may debate whether these ads are worth the cost. A new study finds that the benefits from the Super Bowl ads actually persist well into the year with increased sales during sporting events like the NCAA’s “March Madness,” NBA playoffs and MLB games. According to this new research a Budweiser ad increased sales during these later sporting events. Further, the research finds that the gains in sales are much more substantial when the advertiser is the sole advertiser from its market category or niche in a particular event. 

CATONSVILLE, MD, December 15, 2017 - As American consumers turn to online search engines for cheaper prescription drugs from foreign pharmacies, safety and quality concerns arise. In 2010, under compulsion from the Department of Justice, Google agreed to forfeit $500 million and ban sponsored search advertising by pharmacies that are not certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). The ban covered all foreign pharmacies and a few domestics. Within the year, other major search engines followed. But a forthcoming study in the INFORMS journal, Marketing Science, a leading scholarly marketing publication, finds that the ad ban had limited success in reducing access; motivated consumers still gained access to foreign pharmacies through organic search links. 

CATONSVILLE, MD, December 14, 2017 – While free or low cost music streaming sources like Spotify decrease the use of paid music platforms, such as iTunes, a new study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, shows they significantly increase exposure for and access to lesser known or indie artists that fall outside the top 100 or even top 500 listings.

CATONSVILLE, MD, December 12, 2017 – With revenue from college football at an unprecedented $3.4 billion annually, universities across the country invest tens of millions each year in recruitment efforts to attract high school athletes to play for their football teams. But with talented players typically receiving scholarship offers from multiple universities, team rosters are in limbo until student athletes commit to a university. However, a new study in the INFORMS journal Decision Analysis shares how social media can provide universities with valuable insight into the decision-making process of their recruits.

CATONSVILLE, MD, December 4, 2017 – The term ‘tortured artists’ has been used to describe some of history’s greatest painters, from Vincent Van Gogh and Henri de Tolousse-Lautrec to Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. They are credited with creating some of the world’s most recognized works of art despite lives that were often characterized by great emotional unrest and personal unhappiness. But does misery really beget valuable works of art?  According to a new study in the INFORMS journal Management Science, personal unhappiness, particularly that experienced in times of mourning or bereavement, can actually cause a significant decrease in the value of an artist’s work. 

CATONSVILLE, MD, November 13, 2017 – “Mobile money,” a checking account attached to a mobile phone number, has revolutionized the financial lives of millions of people in many developing countries without access to a banking infrastructure. Using text messages or apps on consumer phones and in partnership with mom-and-pop retailers, who serve as cash-in and cash-out points, telecom companies have created an accessible and cost-effective virtual banking infrastructure in many developing countries.