Fisher College of Business Research Report 2022-2023

Leaders in Research

We believe that powerful collaboration can spark innovative solutions to complex problems.

Anil

K. Makhija Dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business

The Max M. Fisher College of Business

The Ohio State University

On behalf of the Max M. Fisher College of Business community, I am delighted to share Fisher’s inaugural Research Report, a collection of insights and expertise that embodies the essence of our commitment to innovation, thought leadership and excellence.

At Fisher, research lies at the very heart of our mission. We firmly believe that groundbreaking research not only expands our understanding of various disciplines but also

has the power to transform industries and shape the future of business. The report before you showcases our unwavering dedication to pioneering research endeavors that push the boundaries of knowledge and contribute to thought leadership in the business world. This report has come to fruition through our faculty’s relentless pursuit of intellectual inquiry and their drive for discovery. Within its pages is a wealth of research findings that

encompasses a wide range of disciplines and expertise from our centers of excellence and our five academic departments: Accounting and Management Information Systems, Finance, Management and Human Resources, Marketing and Logistics and Operations and Business Analytics. Each piece of research represents a significant achievement in its own right, built upon investigation, innovative methodologies and rigorous analysis.

Beyond the demonstrated breadth of our research, we are also committed to fostering a vibrant community of thought leaders who promote collaboration and nurture diverse perspectives. This report demonstrates our dedication to cultivating an environment in which intellectual discourse and fruitful partnerships among researchers, industry leaders and practitioners is

encouraged. By harnessing the collective potential of the best and brightest minds, we believe that powerful collaboration can spark innovative solutions to complex problems.

As you explore the depth of the research offerings we provide to the academic and practitioner communities, I encourage you to embrace the spirit of curiosity, openmindedness and critical thinking that has defined Fisher for generations.

I hope you’ll learn even more about the incredible impact that’s being created when our academic research and outreach missions intersect.

Thank you for taking an interest in our commitment to advancing and elevating every aspect of business through the dedication, curiosity and hard work of our thought leaders.

WE ARE FISHER.

For more than 100 years, The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business has served as a recognized leader in business education, research and innovative partnerships. Its purpose to create ideas, encourage scholars and develop leaders who positively impact their communities and the world — is influenced by the tenets of Max M. Fisher, a business leader, entrepreneur, statesman and philanthropist.

At Fisher, we create principled leaders who are entrepreneurial in spirit, globally aware and socially responsible.

With consistently top-ranked programs, world-renowned faculty thought leaders and abundant engagement opportunities to enhance leadership competencies and professional development, ours is a community dedicated to advancing the practice of business.

What distinguishes Fisher from the rest?

It is our rigorous, action-based curriculum and real-world experience that prepare students to discover passions and launch careers. With a focus on leadership development, global awareness, entrepreneurial curiosity and commitment to community, Fisher equips students to make an immediate impact all over the world.

25 TOP

UT DALLAS RESEARCH RANKINGS

Publishing in disciplinary journals, 2018-2022:

ACCOUNTING

5th

AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Publishing in major journals: Accounting Review

Journal of Accounting and Economics

Journal of Accounting Research

2nd AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

MANAGEMENT

18th

FINANCE AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Publishing in major journals: Journal of Finance

Review of Financial Studies

Journal of Financial Economics

Publishing in major journals: Academy of Management Journal

Academy of Management Review

Administrative Science Quarterly

Organization Science

Journal of International

Business Studies

Strategic Management Journal

9th

AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

UT DALLAS RESEARCH RANKINGS

MARKETING

8th

AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Publishing in major journals: Marketing Science

Journal of Consumer Research

Journal of Marketing

Journal of Marketing Research

OPERATIONS

6th AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Publishing in major journals: Operations Research

Manufacturing and Service Operations Management

Journal of Operations Management

Production and Operations Management

FACULTY RECOGNITION AND DISTINCTION

Fisher’s researchers and thought leaders are regarded among the best by some of the world’s leading organizations.

ACCOUNTING AND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

ANIL ARYA

John J. Gerlach Chair in Accounting

• Honorary doctorate, University of Southern Denmark

• Ranked No. 1 in BYU Accounting Analytical Research Rankings (1990 – 2023)

ANNETTE BEATTY

Deloitte & Touche Chair in Accounting

• Recipient, Financial Accounting Reporting Section (FARS) Distinguished PhD Mentoring Award

• Editorial positions in premier accounting research journals, including Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Management Science, and Review of Accounting Studies

BRIAN MITTENDORF

H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting

• Ranked No. 1 in BYU Accounting Analytical Research Rankings (last 12 years)

• Named among the Nonprofit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50

DARREN ROULSTONE

John W. Berry Sr. Fund for Faculty Excellence Professor in Accounting

• Recipient, Financial Accounting Reporting Section (FARS) Best Paper Award (2019)

• Editorial positions at Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Management Science, and Review of Accounting Studies

ANDREW VAN BUSKIRK

Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Management Information Systems

• Recipient, Outstanding Reviewer Award, The Accounting Review

• Editorial positions in the Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, and The Accounting Review

FINANCE

ITZHAK BEN-DAVID

Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate; Academic Director of The Ohio State Center for Real Estate

• Selected to the Academic Research Council at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Named a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Corporate Finance Group

ISIL EREL

David A. Rismiller Chair in Finance; Academic Director, Risk Institute

• Named a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Corporate Finance Group and a Research Member of the European Governance Institute

MICHAEL WEISBACH

Ralph Kurtz Chair in Finance

• Selected as a Research Member of the European Governance Institute and Keynote Speaker for conferences at Florida State University, The Korean Securities Association, and The French Finance Association

FINANCE

INGRID WERNER

Martin and Andrew Murrer Professorship in Finance

• Selected as a Foreign Fellow by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences (2022)

• Selected as a Center for Economic and Policy Research Fellow (2019)

LU ZHANG

John W. Galbreath Chair in Finance

• Winner of the Spangler IQAM Best Paper Prize and Keynote Speaker for the Brazilian Meeting of Finance, University of Connecticut Finance Conference, China International Forum on Finance and Policy, and the Swedish House of Finance Conference

MARKETING AND LOGISTICS

GREG ALLENBY

Helen C. Kurtz Chair in Marketing

• Tied for 14th in DocSig’s listing of total publications in top-tier marketing journals from 2014 to 2023

KEELY CROXTON

Professor of Logistics and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs

Most cited paper of the decade: Pettit, T., J. Fiksel and K. Croxton, “Ensuring Supply Chain Resilience: Development of a Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Business Logistics. Vol. 31 (1), 2010, pp. 1-21

TERRY ESPER

Professor of Logistics

Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), a global organization for supply chain executives and scholars

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Research Award to Finland

MARKETING AND LOGISTICS

ALICE LI

Associate Professor of Marketing and Logistics

• Selected as a Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute (2021)

SELIN MALKOC

Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Logistics

• Member, Editorial Board of Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology

• American Marketing Association Distinguished Faculty Fellow

REBECCA RECZEK

Berry Chair of New Technologies in Marketing

• Tied for 17th in DocSig’s listing of total publications in top-tier marketing journals from 2014 to 2023.

• Winner, American Marketing Association’s TechSIG Lazaridis Prize (2022)

René M. Stulz

Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics

A member of the Fisher community who received Ohio State’s Distinguished Scholar Award

Serves as the director of Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics at Fisher

Ranked No. 7 in the world in the first ranking of best economists and finance scientists from Research.com

MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES

JAIDEEP ANAND

William H. Davis Chair in the American Free Enterprise System

• Senior Editor for Organization Science, member of the Editorial Board of Strategic Management Journal

• Consulting Editor for Journal of International Business Studies

TIMOTHY A. JUDGE

Joseph A. Alutto Chair in Leadership Effectiveness

• Winner, Academy of Management HR Division’s Herbert Heneman Jr. Career Achievement Award

• Winner, Academy of Management’s Thomas A. Mahoney Mentoring Award

• Hagler Fellow, Texas A&M University

HUN LEE

Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources

• Selected as one of Ohio State’s inaugural Provost’s Early Career Scholars (2022)

ODED SHENKAR

Ford Motor Company Chair in Global Business Management

• Recipient, JIBS Gold Medal for Scholarly Contribution

• Recipient, Distinguished Scholarly Contribution Award, International Association of Chinese Management Researchers

OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS

ELLIOT BENDOLY

Distinguished Professor of Operations and Business Analytics

• Top 50 Operations Management Authors, Decision Sciences Institute (2021)

W.C. BENTON

Edwin D. Dodd Professorship in Management

• Authored “Vendor Selection Criteria and Method,” which was rated as one of the European Journal of Operational Research’s 7th-most influential operations management research articles during the past 30 years

KEN BOYER

Fisher Designated Professorship of Operations and Business Analytics

• Top 50 Operations Management Authors, Decision Sciences Institute (2021)

JOHN GRAY

Professor of Operations and Business Analytics

• Appointed to a part-time consultancy position in the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President in Washington, D.C. (2022)

NICHOLAS HALL

Berry Designated Professorship of Operations and Business Analytics

• Elected Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (2021)

We are Leaders in Research

Faculty at Fisher College of Business are creators of research tools, founders of academic journals and originators of programs that have — for more than a century — advanced and elevated students, businesses and industries around the world.

These thought leaders serve as a strong foundation for business education at The Ohio State University, creating ideas, encouraging scholars and developing leaders who positively impact their communities and the world.

450+ MENTIONS OF FISHER RESEARCH OR FACULTY INSIGHT in national and international media outlets since 2020

WHAT IS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP AT FISHER?

It’s the insights, tools, programs and partnerships — driven by science and research — that are connecting academic theory with business.

520+

PIECES OF RESEARCHAND EXPERTISEFOCUSED CONTENT housed in Forefront, Fisher’s research newsroom, since its creation

INSPIRING THEORY. LEADING PRACTICE.

Faculty across Fisher’s five departments are creators of research tools, founders of academic journals and originators of programs that have—for more than a century—advanced and elevated students, businesses and industries around the world. Take a deeper dive into our featured research.

Health insurers are over-reporting the cost of benefits — why it matters

When it was signed into legislation 11 years ago, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was designed to reduce health care costs, increase the availability of health insurance and provide consumers with a minimum level of insurance benefits.

Accounting research from Professor Andrew Van Buskirk and his colleagues is shedding new light on one aspect of the ACA: how much policy premium revenue is actually spent on policyholder benefits — specifically, how insurers report the amount they spend on required benefits and whether that selfreported amount is accurate.

They found that insurers’ reported claims estimates — used by the federal government to assess whether those insurers were meeting the ACA’s spending requirements — were consistently overstated in situations where more accurate reported estimates would have triggered rebate payments to customers. In short, insurance companies overestimated the reported cost of policyholder benefits, which reduced how much the companies would have had to pay back to individuals.

This popular type of investment fund nearly always loses money

Investors hoping for big returns by putting their money into trendy topics like work-from-home and the metaverse through exchange traded funds (ETFs) will instead likely face gross underperformance, according to research from Itzhak Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate, and Ohio State doctoral student Byungwook Kim.

ETFs based on these and similar hot topics earn an average return about 30% lower than more diversified funds five years after launch.

“When people chase these popular investment themes, they are going to be disappointed,” Ben-David says. “These hot-topic funds are based mostly on hype and tend to lose value relative to the general market almost as soon as they are launched.”

Examples of these specialized ETFs include those that have received a lot of recent media attention, like Bitcoin, cannabis, and even firms associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Diversity and the delivery driver

From big-ticket items to our weekly groceries, consumers are becoming more reliant on online shopping and delivery. Research by Professor of Logistics Terry Esper is helping companies reexamine and improve driver safety and their delivery processes in a number of ways, including highlighting the role that the disclosure of delivery information can have on our online shopping satisfaction, to examining the biases that we, as consumers, may not know we hold.

An expert in last-mile logistics, Esper shares insights into qualitative research and trends corresponding to one group of delivery drivers: Black males. His research found that:

• Black male drivers were more likely to be viewed as a threat in some neighborhoods in which they were delivering ― despite being identifiable by company uniforms and vehicles.

• Black male drivers were more likely to voice concerns about feeling threatened in these neighborhoods.

The research can provide actionable strategies for delivery companies that are working to keep their drivers safe.

Cause-related marketing’s dark side

Cause-related marketing should be good for everyone: a business aligns itself with a good cause, sells its products as it normally would, and the resulting proceeds are donated to the cause.

It’s a win-win, right?

From the outside looking in, that may be the case. But for the company selling, say the can of soup or box of cereal in the new pink packaging for cancer awareness, it’s not that simple.

Research from Annibal Sodero, assistant professor of marketing and logistics at Fisher, reveals that C-RM campaigns may not always be best for businesses. In what is among the first empirical assessments of C-RM effects on sales and operations performance across the retail supply chain, Sodero found that:

• C-RM is often no different from a traditional sales promotional strategy, inasmuch as it boosts sales in the short term, but sales wane once the campaign is completed.

• Unlike traditional sales promotions, C-RM campaigns present firms with unique and significant challenges in how they’re able to manage variability in demand, which greatly impacts the accuracy of their product inventory forecasts.

Is ‘me time’ a waste of time?

Ever want to curl up with a book or join the kids to solve that 500-piece puzzle — but instead of indulging, you feel obligated to knock out more work for the office or home? Does that way of thinking keep you from enjoying leisure time?

You are not alone. Many people see relaxation as unproductive. But that’s not so, say Selin Malkoc and Rebecca Walker Reczek, marketing professors at Fisher. The pair specialize in consumer behavior and wellbeing, and they recently examined the effects of viewing leisure activities as wasteful. That mindset hurts our mental health, their study found.

“We often feel guilty about taking personal time because we feel like it takes away from more productive (and possibly easier to justify) activities,” they say. “Put differently, we feel like ‘me time’ is wasteful. Our research finds it is exactly this belief that robs leisure of its mental health benefits.”

Learning to Lead

Timothy A. Judge, a renowned leadership expert, Alutto Chairholder and executive director of the Fisher Leadership Initiative, says we’re looking in all the wrong places for leadership knowledge.

To fully understand and harness leadership knowledge, we must understand the science behind the topic. And science tells us that leadership isn’t a skill that is entirely behavior- or traits- based. It’s a combination of the two, which can be evaluated, measured and taught in the right setting.

Good for business and the environment

What can we learn from companies’ climate change disclosures? A lot, actually. Research from Assistant Professor of Operations Christian Blanco examines how information gathered by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) over the past 20 years has influenced firms’ action in the face of climate change.

Driven by investor curiosity and demand, companies affiliated with the CDP voluntary submit annual disclosures about their carbon emissions and environmental footprint. Blanco’s research, which analyzed the text from 10,925 CDP reports filed by 2,003 firms during the years 2007-2016, uncovered an incremental shift in the quality and impact of these disclosures. Simply put, the reports became more comprehensive and detailed.

“What we’re seeing in these disclosures are companies that are more willing to invest the time and resources to measure the environmental impact of assets like their warehouses, delivery trucks, air cargo planes and data facilities,” Blanco said. “It’s a much wider — and accurate — view of their total carbon output. It’s also much more difficult.”

RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Fisher’s research centers of excellence deliver on the college’s commitment to the modern land grant mission of The Ohio State University. Through impactful thought leadership, innovation of programs, technology and curriculum, and ongoing partnership with businesses, organizations and industries, Fisher serves as a leader in the creation of research and insights that will benefit our world.

Take a deeper dive into our featured research.

Charles A. Dice Center for Financial Economics

LEADING WORLD-CLASS FINANCE RESEARCH

The Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics is dedicated to promoting high-quality research in financial economics at The Ohio State University. The center is especially interested in sponsoring research which is of importance to the financial community of Ohio and the United States.

Center for International Business Education and Research

GLOBAL TRADE PROGRAMMING EARNS NATIONAL AWARD

Fisher’s ever-expanding Global Trade Network has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce with a President’s E-Star Award. Check out all the ways the Global Trade Network is creating real exporting impact for students and businesses in Ohio.

Center for Innovation Strategies

PROVIDING PARTNERS AND STUDENTS AN ONRAMP TO INNOVATION

The Center for Innovation Strategies’ OnRamp student innovation program is a multiprogram platform designed to assist companies with all stages of the innovation process, from ideation to hand-off. This platform allows corporate sponsors to engage with the CIS team and undergraduate students through a variety of valuegenerating processes. Students have an opportunity to directly influence real-world innovations from concept to implementation. Innovation ideas or exploratory areas are posed from within the company, and company representatives oversee and help with the direction of the idea, with ongoing guidance and consultation from the CIS team.

Center for Operational Excellence

ADVANCING UNDERSTANDING OF AI

The Center for Operational Excellence collaborated with industry leaders Nationwide, JPMorgan Chase and Quantum Health on an exploration of the emerging impact of artificial intelligence in business. The event connected academics and practitioners for a holistic look at the AI technology that continues to emerge and evolve across all lines of business.

Fisher Leadership Initiative

BUILD ing LEADERS

Created by the Fisher Leadership Initiative, the BUILD Leadership Assessment is a behavioralbased, self-other instrument that is grounded in the science of leadership. It includes 18 core leadership competencies to lead oneself, to lead groups and teams, and to lead organizations and communities.

To date, more than 10,000 undergraduate students at Fisher and more than 2,000 business professionals have completed a BUILD Leadership Assessment.

Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship

SCALING STARTUPS AT OHIO STATE

In fiscal year 2023, the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship helped launch eight university-licensed startups designed to deliver significant impact by leveraging faculty and staff research and innovation. To date, the Ohio State counts over 100 active startups leveraging university-licensed IP.

National Center for the Middle Market

HOW MIDSIZE COMPANIES CAN DRIVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

While the scale of technology investment can vary greatly across middle market companies, common challenges exist for mid-market leaders considering making a move toward an increasingly digital future, including capital, people and time. Doug Farren, managing director of the National Center for the Middle Market shares five keys for mid-market companies to achieve a successful digital transformation.

Nationwide Center for Advanced Customer Insights

RESEARCH DRIVING BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR

The Nationwide Center for Advanced Customer Insights (NCACI) continues to scale its reach across Ohio State’s campus. Since 2020, the number of graduate and PhD students that are engaging in NCACI research has increased by 20%.

Ohio State Center for Real Estate

NEW LEADERSHIP IS DRIVING A RENEWED REAL ESTATE FOCUS

Meet Donald Sheets, the new executive director of The Ohio State Center for Real Estate, and learn about his vision for the center’s engagement with industry, academics and students.

The Risk Institute

RISK EXPERTISE EXPLAINS THE FAILURE OF TWO BANKS — AND HOW OTHERS CAN AVOID THE SAME FATE

How did risk factor in the recent failure of two national banks? Isil Erel, the academic director of the Risk Institute, and Noah Jellison, the institute’s executive director, share their insights and what other organizations can learn from these failures.

Research and Business Partnership Centers, housed at both Fisher and Ohio State, create the intellectual innovations that fuel business growth around the world.

Many of the nation’s most forward thinking companies turn to Fisher faculty for new ideas and business solutions. Our research centers support teaching, research and development and provide a professional forum for exchange between faculty, students and the corporate community.

OUR INNOVATIVE PATH AHEAD

MAX M. FISHER

As we look to the future of thought leadership at the Max M. Fisher College of Business, we are committed to continuous innovation and further advancing the college’s long legacy of cuttingedge research and service to business.

Because technology is advancing and markets are evolving at an unprecedented pace, successful companies and organizations recognize the critical need to adapt and stay ahead of the competitive curve. Fisher is dedicated to meeting these needs by partnering with practice to identify and solve emerging issues, capitalizing on new opportunities and blazing new trails across industries and marketplaces.

Learn more about all of our research and thought leadership at fisher.osu.edu/forefront.