This month’s MIT SMR Strategy Forum poll looks at whether recent stock market volatility is here for the long-term and what global factors organizations should be thinking about.

Most mainstream investors are unconvinced that sustainability leadership translates into profits and marketplace success. Despite rising importance on the corporate agenda, sustainability —as currently understood and measured — interests only a small niche of investors. The authors argue that a “back to basics” approach for measuring sustainability’s direct impact on revenue growth, productivity and risk would provide mainstream investors with the data that’s critical to their decisions.

Why are investors so bullish on companies like Apple and Disney? Is it metrics, management, industry prowess, good investor relations or good timing? Probably all of these. But something else may be at work, too. According to research conducted at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the stock market consistently values certain types of business models more highly than others. In recent years, investors have favored models focused on intellectual property and highly innovative manufacturing.

Traditional marketing practices are increasingly viewed with skepticism. In many organizations, marketers struggle to document the return on investment for expenditures; as a result, marketing has less influence in the boardroom — and marketing is viewed as a questionable cost rather than a worthy investment. This article is based on a study that found that certain marketing techniques can influence a company’s stock market valuation — if the techniques increase customer lifetime value.

Joe Fox’s strategic ideas look big — he’s disrupted both the securities and real estate industries. But he claims his best innovations are the smallest ones.

Many deals will fail to generate real value for shareholders of the acquiring company, and a good number will ultimately become wealth-destroying propositions. The fundamental problem lies in two inherent features of many M&As: the acquiring company’s struggle to value the target’s resources and the need for the parties involved to agree on a price. Research identifies three ways to help: selecting an alternative ownership structure, crafting a contractual agreement and utilizing information generated by other markets.

Executives who carefully cultivate financial market and business cycle literacy are likely to manage their companies better than those who do not.

A review of research that explores the link between valuation, activity and performance. Christa H.S. Bouwman, Kathleen Fuller and Amrita S. Nain

Managers of pension funds exert different pressures on a company from those who oversee investment funds.

Loose-lipped strangers can be a legal source for hot stock tips, but not if they expect to get something in return.

Whether companies are launching an IPO or investing in one, insights from three recent studies can improve the chances of success.

A NEW KIND OF INFORMATION SYSTEM IS EMERGING THAT WILL REDUCE THE TIME TO MARKET, HELP TAILOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO customers’ needs, and make processes more responsive to unexpected events. Expressive systems allow users to adapt quickly and easily to exceptions from standard operating procedure. The authors describe how expressive systems work and suggest ways of modifying the roles and structure of IS departments to implement the new technology.