Duke Fuqua Insights

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

Exploring faculty research and the actionable takeaways for business leaders at every level.

  1. Oct 19

    "Why Do Institutions Lose Our Trust?" w/ Prof Sim Sitkin

    Professor Sim Sitkin explains why leaders need to explain difficult decisions and acknowledge conflicting expectations to build trust You expect a company to deliver consistent service, but you also want it to adapt when your needs change. You want a company to listen to your opinions, but you also expect it to rely on experts when making decisions. These competing expectations can erode trust even when an institution has done nothing intentionally wrong. In this episode, Professor Sim Sitkin of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business discusses why institutions lose trust and how leaders can address the contradictions behind that erosion. A professor of management and faculty director of Fuqua’s Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, Sitkin explains how trust makes everyday life more functional and enables collaboration. Trust is “a willingness to be vulnerable under conditions of uncertainty,” he said. When people trust an institution, they can rely on it without constantly questioning whether their interests will be protected. Sitkin identifies five inherent contradictions institutions face: stability versus adaptability, inclusion versus exclusivity, standardization versus customization, expertise and authority versus participation, and protection of sensitive information versus transparency. Meeting one expectation can violate another. For example, customers may expect quick, standardized service while also wanting special treatment for their individual needs. To address these tensions, Sitkin outlines four actions: explore people’s concerns, explain the contradictions and the institution’s responses, experiment with different approaches, and execute decisions well. Leaders should understand what makes people feel vulnerable and explain why difficult choices are necessary. His leadership research shows that leaders do not explain enough, and those with more power explain less. “I need to explain if I want to get trust,” he said. When a department must absorb budget cuts for the organization to survive, leaders should explain the alternatives considered and provide support to those affected. For business leaders, building trust requires ongoing interaction, acknowledging mistakes and being willing to adjust as circumstances change. Sitkin points to distrust in science and universities as examples of why explaining experimentation matters: new findings can improve today’s best answer. For MBA students, he recommends learning from classmates who disagree with them and choosing courses and projects that stretch their abilities. Trying unfamiliar approaches, including those that fail, can create opportunities to learn. Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  2. Oct 5

    "Does More Corporate Disclosure Always Help Investors?" w/ Prof Xu Jiang

    Professor Xu Jiang explains how disclosure rules shape companies’ decisions, competition and the way investors process information. Corporate disclosures include more than financial statements. Companies also share information about environmental, social and governance activities, product development and other issues that matter to investors, employees, customers and suppliers. But deciding how much to disclose can be difficult: information that excites investors may also help competitors piece together a company’s strategy. In this episode, Professor Xu Jiang of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business discusses how mandatory and voluntary disclosure affect companies and their stakeholders. Regulators establish minimum requirements, but companies retain discretion over what they consider “material” and how much detail to provide. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, may use press releases to share progress on a drug before they can recognize related revenue in their financial statements. The frequency of disclosure can also influence managerial decisions. If companies report earnings every quarter, managers may face pressure to meet analysts’ forecasts by cutting promising research and development projects. Reporting less frequently may reduce that pressure, but more frequent reporting can also help investors monitor managers and discourage them from using company resources for projects that do not benefit shareholders. “The important trade-offs are how would the disclosure affect the firm's real investment decisions, and how would that affect competitors' investments — which may in turn further affect the firms’ decisions,” Jiang said. The way information is presented matters, too. Detailed disclosures may benefit institutional investors with the resources to analyze them, while making it harder for individual investors to find important information. In some cases, less detailed disclosures such as summaries may reduce this gap. For MBA students and business leaders, Jiang emphasizes the importance of considering managers’ incentives and the long-term effects of disclosure rules. “Do not get easily fooled by the manager,” he said. Sometimes, improved earnings may reflect cost-cutting “that sacrifices the firm’s long-term future.” Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  3. Sep 14

    "Which Environmental Choices Make the Biggest Difference?" w/ Prof Rick Larrick

    Professor Rick Larrick explains how to focus on high-impact climate decisions and communicate them effectively. Climate change can leave people feeling that they must do everything or that nothing they do matters. The scale of the problem, other people’s inaction, and alarming media coverage can all make people feel overwhelmed and lead them to avoid thinking about climate altogether. In this episode, Professor Rick Larrick discusses a more practical approach: focusing on environmental decisions that have the greatest impact. Larrick, whose research examines judgment, decision making, social psychology, organizational behavior, and environmental decisions, also describes his forthcoming course in Duke’s Master in Business, Climate and Sustainability. Larrick identifies transportation, food, and home heating as three large categories of personal carbon emissions. For transportation, he points to driving less when possible and considering the next car purchase; for food, he highlights eating less beef and moving toward more plant-based protein. For homes, he describes opportunities such as heat pumps, insulation, and smaller homes that require less heating. The goal is not an all-or-nothing approach. “The perfect can be the enemy of the good,” Larrick says. He contrasts high-impact choices with actions with little impact on carbon emissions, such as recycling and turning off lights. He cites “single-action bias”: when people choose one visible environmental action, they may feel they have done enough while in fact they are leaving more substantive sources of emissions untouched. Larrick’s research on the “miles-per-gallon illusion” shows why the metric can lead consumers to overlook the largest fuel savings. Replacing a 10-mpg vehicle with a 20-mpg one saves five gallons per 100 miles, while replacing a 20-mpg vehicle with a 50-mpg only saves three. The biggest gains, he says, come from moving vehicles out of the teens and into the 20-to-30-mpg range. To make those savings clearer, updated vehicle labels show five-year fuel use, cost, and how a vehicle compares with the average. In Duke’s Master in Business, Climate and Sustainability program, Larrick will focus on how people with environmental knowledge can influence organizations, even when they are not the ones making the final decisions. The course will examine how to communicate environmental issues so that others understand their value and why they should care, helping students shape better decisions with good information. Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  4. Aug 24

    "What Happens When Too Many Ideas Compete for Too Little Attention?" w/ Prof David McAdams

    Professor David McAdams explores how information overload changes what we know, with lower-quality ideas receiving less scrutiny before spreading Every day, people decide which headlines to read, which social media posts to believe, and which recommendations deserve attention. As information becomes faster and cheaper to produce, the challenge is deciding what is worth trusting. In this episode of Fuqua Insights Podcast, Professor David McAdams of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business discusses his research on how information spreads through social interactions and what happens when the volume of information overwhelms people's limited attention. Drawing on game theory and what he describes as economic epidemiology, McAdams centers the conversation on his recent paper examining how changes in the information environment shape collective knowledge. The paper's central finding is that increasing the volume of information can reduce the reliability of what people collectively know. McAdams argues that information spreads through "social transmission chains," where people decide whether to remember, share, or ignore what they encounter. As more information floods the system, people have less capacity to process each idea, causing those transmission chains to become shorter. The result is a trade-off in which "people know more, but they're dumber," he said. McAdams explains that limited attention is the mechanism driving this outcome. Because people cannot fully process an endless stream of information, they rely less on careful social filtering. "When there's an abundance of information, there's a scarcity of attention," he explains. With fewer opportunities for information to be evaluated and passed through multiple people, ideas receive less scrutiny before spreading. He also notes that AI may further change this dynamic by making information easier to produce, access, and summarize, while also reshaping how people interact with information networks. McAdams emphasizes that organizations should intentionally design how information is shared rather than relying on informal conversations alone. He points to approaches that encourage independent judgment, structured evaluation, and thoughtful dissemination of information before decisions are made. At the same time, he notes that social interactions remain valuable because they help refine and improve ideas over time. As organizations increasingly adopt AI tools and navigate growing information flows, designing effective information environments becomes an increasingly important leadership challenge. Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  5. Aug 11

    "Why America Needs Both Startups and Big Firms to Innovate" w/ Prof Sharon Belenzon

    Professor Sharon Belenzon examines how the U.S. innovation ecosystem became fragmented and why large firms still have a role to help solve today's technological challenges How should the United States organize its innovation ecosystem to solve the biggest scientific and technological challenges? According to Professor Sharon Belenzon, the answer depends not only on funding research, but also on how different organizations—from universities to startups to large corporations—work together to translate science into products. In this episode of Duke Fuqua Insights Podcast, Belenzon, a strategy professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, discusses the mechanics of government procurement alongside ideas from his forthcoming book, Inventing Prosperity, on the past 150 years of American innovation. He argues that understanding today's innovation challenges requires understanding how the U.S. innovation system has changed, from one in which large firms carried out many stages of innovation to one in which specialized organizations perform different tasks.  Belenzon explains that this more specialized model has produced important successes in some sectors, particularly the life sciences, where different organizations can efficiently contribute their expertise. But he argues that other fields—including materials science, battery technology, and clean energy—may require a greater degree of vertical integration, with large firms serving as anchors of the innovation ecosystem. His research on government procurement offers a complementary example of how organizational structure influences innovation, showing that under specific conditions, government procurement contracts can create incentives for firms to pursue ambitious technological challenges. A central takeaway is that firms with both research and manufacturing capabilities can, in certain circumstances, organize innovation more efficiently than separating those activities across different organizations. As Belenzon puts it, "Some problems cannot be solved by startups alone," and policymakers should avoid treating all large firms the same. Instead, they should identify those that serve as anchors for scientific and technological progress.  For business leaders, the conversation offers a framework for thinking about innovation beyond R&D spending alone. Organizational design, incentives, and the relationships among firms, universities, investors, and government all shape whether scientific discoveries become technologies with broad economic impact.  Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  6. May 4

    "Does Thinking About Legacy Make Work Feel More Meaningful?" w/ Prof Kimberly Wade-Benzoni

    Professor Kimberly Wade-Benzoni explains how reflecting on long-term impact shapes motivation, behavior, and decision-making Many people ask themselves, “does my work actually matter?” Concerns about engagement, burnout, and job satisfaction are common, and they relate to a basic need to feel that work has an impact not only today, but also in the future.  In this episode of Fuqua Insights Podcast, Professor Kimberly Wade-Benzoni of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business discusses her research on the psychology of legacy. She defines legacy as “an enduring impact attached to one’s identity that persists after one has left the context in which the lasting effect was created.” Her research examines how thinking about legacy influences decisions, especially those involving tradeoffs between present and future outcomes.  One of the main findings of Wade-Benzoni’s research is that when people reflect on the legacy they want to leave, their work feels more meaningful. They are also more satisfied in their jobs and more likely to help others. These results come from studies showing that activating legacy motivation can produce positive outcomes in workplace settings.  Legacy reflection changes how people think about their work. As Wade-Benzoni explains, “it’s a way that our actions can have impact that outlasts our individual lives.” This process allows people to think about how part of their identity can continue through others, which helps create meaning and shifts attention from immediate tasks to longer-term goals.  The research also identifies practical applications. A structured reflection exercise—for example, asking individuals to write about how they want to be remembered and the impact they want to have—can activate legacy thinking. This approach can be used in leadership development, career planning, and other organizational contexts. It also encourages people to behave in a more future-oriented and other-oriented way, helping counter short-term, self-focused decision-making, and supporting more meaningful and lasting impact. Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  7. Apr 27

    Special Episode: "Is AI Replacing—or Reshaping—Jobs?" w/ Prof John Graham

    Professor John Graham explores how AI is affecting productivity, hiring, and firm strategy based on new CFO survey data Artificial intelligence is everywhere—from automating routine tasks to generating insights in seconds. Yet despite the hype and anxiety, especially around job loss, the real impact of AI on companies may be more nuanced than headlines suggest. In this episode of Duke Fuqua Insights, Professor John Graham of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business draws on data from The CFO Survey, which included responses from nearly 750 financial executives across industries. The survey, conducted in late 2025, asked how firms are currently using AI and what they expect in 2026. By focusing on CFOs—"leaders who know what the spending is on AI,” Graham said—the research offers a grounded perspective on how AI is affecting productivity, workforce composition, and investment decisions.  The central finding: AI is expected to boost productivity without causing widespread job losses—at least in the near term. CFOs forecast productivity gains of up to 3% in 2026, “a significant increase,” Graham said, while overall employment remains largely stable. Instead of mass layoffs, firms anticipate modest declines in routine clerical roles, partially offset by hiring in technical positions. Interestingly, the AI-driven productivity gains aren’t fully reflected in increased revenue forecasts. Graham points to a modern “productivity paradox.” As he explains, “we’re hearing more about productivity than we’re seeing it in the revenue numbers,” suggesting a lag between implementation and financial results. Companies may improve output per worker first, but it takes time for those gains to translate into sales due to production cycles and human-driven sales processes. For business leaders and MBA students, the implications are that AI’s value today lies less in cost-cutting and more in enhancing quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. To students, Graham suggests focusing on core strengths: “Do what you do really well, and improve it through AI.” Technical skills are increasingly valuable, but equally important are critical thinking, communication, and the ability to interpret AI-generated outputs. In a world where “anybody can produce numbers,” the real advantage lies in understanding and explaining them.   Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

  8. Apr 13

    "Are You Building Your To-Do List Backwards?" w/ Prof Jordan Etkin

    Professor Jordan Etkin explains how “time-first budgeting” can help people improve performance and set smarter goals It’s a familiar pattern: You begin your morning with a lengthy to-do list and a plan to complete it, and somehow the day ends with unfinished tasks and a sense that time slipped away. Is there a better way? Professor Jordan Etkin, a consumer behavior scholar at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, explores why people consistently misjudge how much they can accomplish. Drawing on her research on motivation and performance, she proposes a simple shift: “time-first budgeting.” Instead of starting with goals and assuming the time will follow, she suggests beginning with a realistic assessment of how much time you have, then allocating it across tasks.  Etkin finds that people routinely overestimate how much they can do because they ignore real time constraints. In experiments, participants’ estimates of how long tasks would take exceeded their available time by as much as 50%. When people instead budget their time first, they set more realistic goals and report greater progress.  Etkin explains that people often fail to account for everything a task involves, from transitions to competing priorities. “If I'm thinking about a workout, I might not account for the getting to the gym piece, the washing my hands afterwards piece, needing a few minutes to clean up and move on with my day,” she said. Time-first budgeting works because it flips that process: “What if we start by thinking about what time I have available, and given that available time, how much time am I willing to spend on those different types of goals?” The approach applies broadly, from managing personal workloads to professional settings where colleagues depend on what you deliver. As Etkin puts it, “we can’t do things we don’t have time for,” making it critical to treat time as a finite resource when setting expectations. Duke Fuqua Insights features digestible conversations with our faculty about the most impactful research from their careers, including studies they teach in Fuqua classes. New episodes every other week in season. For more from Duke Fuqua, visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and the Duke Fuqua Insights newsletter.

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5
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About

Exploring faculty research and the actionable takeaways for business leaders at every level.

Information

  • Creator
    Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
  • Show Website
    Duke Fuqua Insights

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