Leveraging What Small Business Knows
- Why the “ownership mentality” of small business is so powerful.
- The 3 best ways to solve incentive issues with your employees.
While big companies have many advantages—lower production costs, greater bargaining power, access to financial markets—a clear disadvantage is the separation between management and ownership. Small businesses, on the other hand, often have the distinct advantage of operating with an ownership mentality that allows them to move more quickly with a more motivated workforce. So how can big businesses retain their advantages while creating a workforce that has the incentives of a small business? And where do unique opportunities lie for small businesses? Paul Oyer provides answers based on his research, traveling to small businesses across 27 states. He tells the stories of successes and failures he found on the road.
Paul Oyer - Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics, Stanford University
Paul Oyer is the Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economics and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Labor Economics.
Paul does research in the field of personnel economics. He has published papers about the use of broad-based stock option plans, how incentive structures lead salespeople to “game” the system, and how graduating when the economy is doing well can have long-term positive benefits for employees.
In addition, he is the author of two books published in 2014. Roadside MBA (with Michael Mazzeo and Scott Schaefer) is a non-technical Strategy guide for small businesses based on the authors’ extensive travel around the US interviewing small business owners. Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating is an entertaining and non-technical explanation of numerous key ideas in microeconomics using examples from online dating, as well as labor markets and many product markets.
Before moving to the GSB in 2000, Paul was on the faculty of the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. In his pre-academic life, he worked for the management consulting firm of Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, as well as for the high technology firms 3Com Corporation and ASK Computer Systems. He does not think he should be held responsible for the fact that none of these companies exist anymore.
Paul holds a BA in math and computer science from Middlebury College, an MBA from Yale University, and an MA and PhD in economics from Princeton University. When not teaching or doing research, Paul runs, swims, skis, hangs out with his two college-age children, and walks his flat-coated retriever.
Each month the Office of Public Affairs brings thought leaders to share their experiences and expertise in a business forum.
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