Fisher Research and Insights

Forefront

Stories, strategies and science steer inaugural leadership conference

Building on Ohio State’s 85-year history of scientific leadership research, the Fisher Leadership Initiative hosted more than 200 professionals for a unique opportunity to assess their personal leadership styles and hear from storytellers, peers and behavior experts at the inaugural Conference on Principled Leadership.
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Attendees of the Conference on Principled Leadership watch a session with the conference's logo in the background.

Senior leaders are up to 12x more likely to be psychopaths — how to spot an abusive boss

Do you view your toxic boss as successful? This perspective makes you more likely to label their abuse as “tough love,” according to a study published by faculty from Fisher's Department of Management and Human Resources.
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A boss shouts at him employees using a bullhorn to denote an abusive manager.

National champion Mike Doss shares how Buckeyes prepared him for business success

National champion Buckeye Mike Doss (MBOE '19) returned to Fisher and the Center for Operational Excellence (COE), delivering a keynote at the 2025 COE Summit, where he shared lessons from his time on the football field ― and his journey back to Ohio State.
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Mike Doss on stage in a gray suit delivering a talk at the 2025 COE Summit.

A black and white photo of trench warfare in during World War I.
June 4, 2025
Barron's

The best way to respond to a geopolitical crisis

Working research from Fisher's Andrei Gonçalves, Alessandro Melone and Andrea Ricciardi is offering investors better insights on how to respond to geopolitical crises, such as war and military conflict.
A graphic of a hand dropping circles meant to signify coins.
June 1, 2025
Business Insider

One of the most attractive — and sometimes secretive — ways the wealthy donate money could soon get even more popular

A provision in President Trump's tax bill could make donor-advised funds (DAFs) an even more popular form of giving, but they're not without potential problems. Fisher Professor and Nonprofit Expert Brian Mittendorf and his colleague, Helen Flannery, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, found through a study that DAFs distribute grants to politically engaged organizations 1.7 times more than other funders.
A screengrab of Helen Flannery and Brian Mittendorf on a virtual call.
May 22, 2025
the Giving Review

Donor Advised Funds: A conversation with Helen Flannery and Brian Mittendorf

Nonprofit accounting expert Brian Mittendorf joins Helen Flannery, associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, to discuss the potential legal and regulatory reforms of donor-advised funds.
Bernadette Minton's headshot
May 21, 2025
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Climate boards: Do natural disaster experiences make directors more prosocial?

A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper co-authored by Department of Finance Chair Bernadette Minton and colleagues Sehoon Kim (PhD '17) and Rohan Williamson (MA '96, PhD '97) explores whether and how the actions of corporate leaders with past experiences dealing with abnormally devastating natural disasters are influenced by those disasters.
Headshot of Larry Inks
May 13, 2025
MoreSteam

Managing change with Dr. Larry Inks

Professor of Management and Human Resources Larry Inks discusses why one clear goal keeps a team focused. He also explores change management, including the emotional aspects of change, and the differences between management and leadership.
A sunny day on Harvard's campus with green lawns and brick buildings.
May 9, 2025
The Conversation

Can Trump strip Harvard of its charitable status? Nonprofit scholars describe the obstacles

The Conversation U.S. asked Philip Hackney, a nonprofit law professor who previously worked in the office of the chief counsel of the IRS, and Fisher's Brian Mittendorf, an expert on nonprofit accounting, to explain what it would take for the federal government to revoke a university’s tax-exempt status.
Headshot of Tracy Dumas
May 5, 2025
Harvard Business Review

What to share, What to hold back

Self-disclosure at work can build trust and connection, but it also carries risks — especially for women, leaders, and those whose values or identities set them apart. Tracy Dumas, professor of management and human resources, joins the conversation to talk about human connection in the workplace.
Mike Doss on stage in a gray suit delivering a talk at the 2025 COE Summit.
April 29, 2025
The Ohio State University

National champion Mike Doss shares how Buckeyes prepared him for business success

National champion Buckeye Mike Doss (MBOE '19) returned to Fisher and the Center for Operational Excellence (COE), delivering a keynote at the 2025 COE Summit, where he shared lessons from his time on the football field ― and his journey back to Ohio State.
A boss shouts at him employees using a bullhorn to denote an abusive manager.
April 26, 2025
Fortune

Senior leaders are up to 12x more likely to be psychopaths — how to spot an abusive boss

Do you view your toxic boss as successful? This perspective makes you more likely to label their abuse as “tough love,” according to a study published by faculty from Fisher's Department of Management and Human Resources.
Three Fisher faculty stand behind a table, wrapping gifts with silver wrapping paper.
April 9, 2025
Fisher College of Business

Is giving a late gift really that bad?

New research from Fisher says that we’re probably overestimating the importance of when we give a gift. Watch as marketing faculty Grant Donnelly, Rebecca Reczek and Cory Haltman explain their findings while also testing their gift-wrapping skills.
Andrea Contigiani poses with an Engaged Scholar Award.
April 8, 2025
The Ohio State University

Engaged Scholars: Andrea Contigiani

Andrea Contigiani, assistant professor of management and human resources, is committed to researching the power of entrepreneurship to help refugee communities. His research was recently named a Program of Excellence in Engaged Scholarship by Ohio State's Office of Outreach and Engagement.
‘Ugh, not that song!’ Background music impacts employees
April 7, 2025
The Ohio State University

‘Ugh, not that song!’ Background music impacts employees

New research from Kathleen Keeler, assistant professor of management and human resources, finds that performance suffers when workplace music is a misfit for workers' needs.
A graphic with headshots of Andrea Contigiani and Jing Tang.
April 3, 2025
Max M. Fisher College of Business

Researchers land funding from Strategic Management Society

Professor Andrea Contigiani and PhD student Jing Tang were selected to receive funding from the Strategic Management Society for a variety of research projects.
The hidden cost of predictable investment rebalancing
April 2, 2025
Financial Times

The hidden cost of predictable investment rebalancing

New research from Fisher's Alessandro Melone and his colleagues supports the long-held belief that portfolio rebalancing has become so predictable — and the resulting flows so gargantuan — that hedge funds and prop trading firms can profitably front-run these regular rebalancing flows.
BlackRock’s Larry Fink says to own alternative assets. But timing is everything.
April 1, 2025
MarketWatch

BlackRock’s Larry Fink says to own alternative assets. But timing is everything.

Research by Finance Professor Itzhak Ben-David details the ebbs and flows of the investor sentiment cycle is crucial to understanding when investment firms such as BlackRock launch narrowly focused and more expensive products.
Joggers run in tennis shoes.
March 24, 2025
Barron's

Front-running target-date funds for fun and profit

Many target date funds rebalance at regular calendar intervals, such as monthly or quarterly, or depending on weight deviation. This knowledge, though, allows Wall Street traders to front-run the rebalancing transactions of these funds, including many pension funds, according to research by Fisher's Alessandro Melone and his colleagues.
Professor Terry Esper poses for portrait in a warehouse.
March 24, 2025
Max M. Fisher College of Business

Esper named a co-editor of Journal of Business Logistics

Terry Esper, professor of logistics, was recently named an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Business Logistics. He follows other noted Fisher faculty who have held the post, including the journal’s founding editor.
Tariffs are a risk for midsize businesses, and their lenders
March 20, 2025
The Wall Street Journal

Tariffs are a risk for midsize businesses, and their lenders

Survey data from the National Center for the Middle Market's most recent Middle Market Indicator provides a snapshot of how many middle market companies source materials from Mexico and Canada.
An aerial view of students walking on Fisher's campus
March 18, 2025
The Ohio State University

Ohio State speaker series connects students with real estate professionals

The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate's ‘Brutus Luminaries Series’ is bringing industry leaders to campus for networking opportunities with students and organizations at Fisher and across the university.
How to win the high-momentum stock game
March 18, 2025
MarketWatch

How to win the high-momentum stock game

Momentum stocks have historically beaten the stock market by a large margin — until recently. A study by Finance Professor Itzhak Ben-David and his colleagues found that a driver of the decline is a change that Morningstar instituted in how it calculates mutual funds' star ratings.
Why it still takes days for banks to give you your money
March 5, 2025
Vox

Why it still takes days for banks to give you your money

It’s the 21st century — instant bank transfers should be the norm everywhere. For countries such as Brazil that have widely adopted instant banking, the result has been increased competition among traditional banks and significant benefits for average citizens, according to research by Fisher's Sergey Sarkisyan.
Generic drugs made in India found to be dangerous in some cases
February 25, 2025
WOSU

Generic drugs made in India found to be dangerous in some cases

A new study from Professor of Operations John Gray has found that manufacturing differences between the U.S. and other countries, mainly India, can lead to lower quality drugs.
Person pouring prescription drug into their hand
February 20, 2025
Max M. Fisher College of Business

Researchers working to improve pharmaceutical drug supply chain

As the principal investigator on a $1.5 million research grant, John Gray is leading a project that will explore the safety and availability of prescription drugs in the U.S.
All generic drugs are not equal, study finds
February 19, 2025
The Ohio State University

All generic drugs are not equal, study finds

In a first-of-its-kind study, Professor of Operations John Gray and co-authors Joon Noh (PhD '20) and current PhD student Zachary Wright demonstrate why all generic drugs are not equal, even though patients are often told they are.
Generic drugs from India linked to more severe adverse events
February 19, 2025
Becker's Hospital Review

Generic drugs from India linked to more severe adverse events

A new study by Fisher's John Gray has found that generic drugs manufactured in India are linked to significantly more severe adverse events — including hospitalization, disability and in some cases death — compared to equivalent drugs made in the U.S. 

Media contact & inquiry

Joe Arnold | Phone: 614-292-3380 | Email: arnold.974@osu.edu