Business Insight - Wall Street Journal / MIT Sloan

An interview with Alex "Sandy" Pentland

It’s hard to cut through the clutter.

Even as customers are constantly bombarded with advertising messages, they are getting progressively better at tuning out the endless stream of come-ons. Companies then typically up the ante and try to out-shout their competitors to draw attention. All of which just leads to more shouting, and everybody is drowned [...]

Manufacturers and their dealerships all too often become victims of their own success.

The manufacturers add new outlets to fuel growth, which can lead to too many dealers competing for the same customers. The weak dealers see their sales and profits drop, and the strong see growth stall. In rocky times, this is bad news for [...]

It destroys morale, kills teamwork and hurts the bottom line. And that's just for starters.

For multinational companies, understanding the needs of poorer consumers can be profitable and socially responsible.

Reconstructed products offer a promising market for many companies. But turning used products into new ones isn't a sure thing.

Health care has managed to avoid the information-technology revolution. But it won't for much longer.

Seven pieces of conventional wisdom -- and why they are wrong.