Watch the Video Introduction on YouTube

Why Research Matters

I am sometimes asked about the importance of research and the value it adds to business education. Often, I think this question stems from an assumption that research happens in a vacuum. But at the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Here, our faculty (and students!) tackle real-world challenges, from understanding consumer behavior to improving supply chains, guiding ethical leadership, and more. Businesses rely on insights from our research and data to make informed decisions that might otherwise rely on guesswork and outdated practices. And, research-backed education trains students to think critically, analyze data, and innovate—skills that every employer values and drives lasting success.

  
Fresh Insights, Real Impact

In every example I can think of, our faculty's research is rooted in real-world application, offering practical knowledge and solutions that businesses, organizations, and individuals can put to use. The following are just a few among many:

• Assistant professor of management Alex Murray and two of our master of accounting students collaborated on research to show a novel use of blockchain technology (the underpinnings of Bitcoin) to combat AI misinformation, including deepfake videos, images, and text.
   
• Professor of marketing T. Bettina Cornwell and a former PhD student conducted a deep dive into the underlying food marketing messages in cartoons, with implications for industry and policymakers seeking to promote children's health and address risk factors for psychological and physical conditions, such as depression and Type 2 diabetes.
   
• The U.S. Congress tapped associate professor of management Lauren Lanahan to determine the impacts of federal research funding on the innovation economy. She and her coauthor found that every patent produced by federal grant recipients resulted in three additional patents by others in their respective fields.
   
• Ralph Heidl, associate professor of management, explored what happens when organizations rely on technology—like AI—to help employees make decisions. Heidl demonstrates how technology can quietly assume a larger role in decision-making than intended, altering how work is done and potentially creating risks if one does not actively oversee and evaluate the choices made by the technology.
   
• Associate professor of management Chris Liu assessed the impacts of a hospital expansion on healthcare staff, determining that as departments grew and staff were spread across a larger area, disruptions to collaboration, communication, and patient care resulted. Such findings could have implications for other organizations seeking to expand, as well as for remote work.
   
• Associate professor of accounting Jaewoo Kim, honored with this year's Stewart Distinguished Faculty Award, analyzed how companies' earnings announcements help predict short-term market swings, offering valuable signals beyond major economic reports. Interestingly, he uncovered that the impact was greater when many firms report earnings on the same day or when the news is negative.
   
• Led by instructor of finance Roger Busse, a student team's research recommendation reached the floor of the U.S. Senate. The students' research advocated for a rule change in federal support for affordable housing initiatives in order to mitigate potential risk to commercial and community banks and the communities they serve.

Dozens more research projects with similar impacts and insights are underway at the college. Additionally, we maintain several research labs and hubs to foster collaboration with industry and other campus partners.

• Our Insights Research Lab draws businesses and researchers from the community and around the world who leverage the facility (and its affiliated marketing faculty) for consumer behavior studies, experimental survey research, focus groups, and more. Some of the lab's recent collaborations addressed brand awareness and donor engagement at the Eugene Science Center, along with projects for other local non-profits.
   
• Affiliated with our Department of Management, the Intelligent Futures Lab brings together innovators, creatives, and researchers to examine the impact of emerging technologies on the future of work. Recent projects have included an AI teaching assistant, an AI analysis of zoning and building codes for wildfire recovery, and a pilot peer-to-peer decentralized file storage platform.
   
• From May 12 to 18, the newly launched UO Olympic Studies Hub in our Warsaw Sports Business Center showcased the broad range of scholarship taking place across the campus related to human performance and sport within the context of the Olympic movement. The UO Olympics Studies Hub is the only official Olympic Studies and Research Centre located in the United States, as recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

  
Championing Research To Drive Progress

I hope all of these examples have illustrated the incredible impact of our faculty's research and how the pursuit of new knowledge deepens learning, fuels innovation, and sparks curiosity. Of course, much of this work would not be possible without the generosity of our donors. Thank you to all those who continue to invest in advancing high-impact research and thought leadership at the college. Philanthropic support like theirs allows our scholars to ask bold questions, pursue groundbreaking work, and involve students in meaningful research that prepares them to be thought leaders.

And, of course, if you are similarly inspired to give to support faculty excellence and research, please reach out. I would love to chat and share more about how knowledge takes flight at the Lundquist College, changes lives, changes business, and changes the world.

Thank you for your interest in this critically important topic, core to our mission at the college and the university.

  
Go Ducks!

Bruce Blonigen
Edward Maletis Dean, Lundquist College of Business
Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Science
University of Oregon