This technical note explains what blockchain is, what it allows, as well as discusses its advantages and potential issues to consider further. It also provides an example of an application in which blockchain technology is used and describes regulatory and governance considerations. It can be used in a financial institutions or fintech course along with a case on digital currencies.
The mathematical relationships predicting average waiting time as a function of arrival patterns, service time distributions, number and types of servers, and various queue disciplines are well known. In this note, we address the problem of managing queues by managing perceptions of waiting. Basic operations-management principles can easily address issues of fairness: form one line instead of many
The benefits or harms achieved by a business is determined in part by the choices that business leaders make. One important driver of these choices is a leader's view of the purpose of business. This note: (1) outlines the history of debates about corporate purpose, (2) calls out some myths that persist in the way that people think about corporate purpose, and (3) introduces a view of business cal
In this note, a chef perceives that a website reviewer is responsible for his slowing business because the reviewer allowed fake reviews about his restaurant to be posted; it follows that the chef would like this behavior to stop.
This technical note provides hands-on instructions for searching, classifying, and obtaining documents from the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) official document repository, EDGAR. It helps students become familiar with the different types and classifications of SEC filings available for public companies registered with the SEC.
Developing new products and services is an iterative process that involves (1) identifying a problem or opportunity that needs to be addressed, (2) generating concepts or solutions that address the problem, and (3) conducting experiments and tests to learn about the success or failure of those concepts. This note describes the first of these activities.
Coolness is a quality that is widely desired but not widely understood. While many brands seek to establish themselves as "cool," few have a clear idea of how to get there. In this technical note, we present a general framework for coolness that can be used by consumers and managers alike to better understand how to create an air of cool around themselves, their brand, or their products.
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This technical note outlines the process of proper experimentation in the world of business. This reading begins by describing why organizational experimentation is important and then defines a true experiment, highlighting the differences between testing and management by intuition. It then goes on to explain when it is appropriate to use experiments, outlines several different types of experimen
This note introduces students to the basics of bonds and the time value of money through the simplest of financial contracts?the zero-coupon risk-free bond contract. The note covers the concepts of present value, yield to maturity, and bond pricing conventions.
The note is appropriate as a companion for the Bond Trader simulation. A demo for this simulation is available at https://forio.com/simu
This note contains some tips and best practices that drive effective nonprofit boards. The note will also examine the key responsibilities of nonprofit boards, and identify gaps in the effectiveness of these boards.
This technical notes answers the questions: What does the competitive landscape look like to a given competitor? Which firms does the competitor regard as its chief rivals? Critically, what actions is the competitor likely to take?
MBA students are taught to use the expected monetary value (EV) to evaluate risky opportunities. The reaction of individuals to risk, however, is far more complex. In fact, individuals are rarely found to be consistently risk neutral, risk averse, or risk seeking. They can be all these things, depending on whether the probabilities are small or large or the outcomes are gains or losses. The purpos
