Latest Rotman School of Management Stories

The best investment portfolios are selected from the widest array of choices, right? Not so, says a new study authored by researchers at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and the Bank of Canada. It says that a shorter "menu" of options is often better than a longer one. That's because "menu-setters" who develop shorter lists have superior selection skills, on average. The conclusion goes against findings in other research suggesting that more choices lead to better...

Key finding: Enterprises that say "no" to new technologies in an effort to reduce risk are in fact less secure than enterprises that say "yes" and adopt responsibly TORONTO, March 7, 2013 /CNW/ - TELUS and the Rotman School of Management at The University of Toronto today released the fifth annual study on Canadian IT Security. Taking a qualitative approach for the first time, the research team interviewed security leaders from across the country in a variety of industries to...

TORONTO, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last September the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management quietly launched their new initiative for technology entrepreneurship, The Creative Destruction Lab. Today, one of the ventures in the first cohort of this new initiative not so quietly has launched its first product, receiving attention from media including TechCrunch and Wired. The MYO is the first product from Thalmic Labs. The device is an armband for...

NBA player stats used to study on-the-job adaptability If an employee's performance drops in one area, does that mean they're slacking off? It could mean that they've simply shifted and refocused their efforts on a different set of tasks -- a positive sign of adaptability that should be considered in performance evaluations,  says a study lead by a researcher at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. The study, published in Human Performance, draws on statistics...

TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Thinkers50 and the Rotman School of Management in partnership with The Tapscott Group announce The Don Tapscott iPad App -- New Solutions for a Connected Planet.  Rather than a book, best-selling author and new media theorist Tapscott has developed an interactive and evolving tool appropriate for the digital age. The app introduces Tapscott's latest thinking on how we can rebuild 10 institutions including the corporation, government, science,...

They have been stereotyped as a “model minority.” But when they don’t conform to common racial stereotypes, such as being non-dominant, even people of East Asian descent are “unwelcome and unwanted by their co-workers,” says a new paper from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The study shows there is a difference between “descriptive” racial stereotypes – what people believe to be true about members of a particular group – and “prescriptive”...

It’s called the gift of life. But more people will roll up their sleeves to donate blood if a gift card comes with it. That’s according to a new study from the University of Toronto. It shows a 15 to 20 percent rise in blood drive donations when incentives such as T-shirts, jackets, coupons or gift cards are thrown into the mix. “It’s a pretty remarkable increase,” says Nicola Lacetera, an assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman...

English continues to reign supreme in international business, and it’s not just because some of the biggest economies speak it. A new study from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management shows countries that have English as at least one of their official languages, or whose main languages are linguistically close to English have higher rates of investment in other countries. Countries with high rates of English proficiency also do well. “The vast majority of the...

Countries that more strictly uphold their cultural norms are less likely to promote women as leaders – unless those norms support equal opportunity for both sexes, shows a new paper from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. "Cultural tightness can prevent the emergence of women leaders because tighter cultures may make a society's people more resistant to changing the traditionally-held practice that placed men in leadership roles," says Prof. Soo Min Toh, who is...

If one savings goal is a good thing, two or more should be great, right? Not really. Those who want to save are more apt to keep socking money away and more of it too, if they have just one goal in mind, shows work done in multiple countries by two researchers at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “If you have only one goal it puts you in a more action-oriented mindset and helps you save more,” says Min Zhao, an assistant professor of marketing who...