W e model a firm's decisions about product innovation, focusing on the extent to which features should be improved or changed in the succession of models that comprise a life cycle. We show that the structure of the internal and external environment in which a firm operates suggests when to innovate to the technology frontier. The criterion is maximization of the expected present value of profits during the life cycle. Computational studies complement the theoretical results and lead to insights about when to bundle innovations across features. The formalization was influenced by extensive interviews with managers in a high-technology firm that dominates its industry.

This paper is motivated by the claim that promotion probabilities are lower for women than men. Using data from the 1984 and 1989 National Longitudinal Youth Surveys, this paper tests this claim and two related hypotheses concerning training and ability. It is found that females are less likely to be promoted than males, and females receive less training than males. The relationship between promotion and gender varies across occupations, however, suggesting that the alleged glass ceiling faced by women and other minorities in the workplace is not uniform across all labor markets. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simulations are often used in business courses to expose students to real-world decision making. This study examines the implications of specific subject matter intervention by faculty members in economics and marketing on the choices made by students and the consequences of those choices in an online finance simulation. The findings, although mixed, suggest that an interdisciplinary intervention in an online finance simulation has the potential to improve the quality of decisions made and, consequently, overall student performance, especially when intervention material is new to the students.

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