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Mani is an authority in retail operations, supply chain risk management and sustainable operations, and illicit flows and counterfeit goods. Her research investigates and establishes the impact of operational decisions on performance under changing marketplace conditions.

Traditional retail remains in a period of widespread transformation. Many suburban malls have shuttered, or limp along with few tenants. The rapid transformation even has its own doom-and-gloom shorthand: the Retail Apocalypse. Amid the turmoil, there is also transformation and growth. Darden Professor Vidya Mani shares what's next.

Raising venture capital isn’t for the faint of heart, but the challenges are magnified for female founders. Professors Saras Sarasvathy and Elena Loutskina share insights on barriers women face to raising risk capital and how to overcome them.

Everything really is better in moderation: Research shows that once a person hits the satiation point, consuming more of something means enjoying it less. A new study by Professor Manel Baucells offers a model charting where that point is and what to do about it — with implications for business as well as optimizing your own personal experiences.

Lessons in philanthropy, investment and innovation: Rikers Island needed $10 million for a program to reduce the rate of teenage inmates returning to prison. With the innovative financing structure of the U.S.’ first social impact bond, New York, Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies leveraged private capital toward social solutions.

How did CEOs of Fortune 100 companies come to helm the world’s largest businesses? And is there anything we can learn from their stories that might suggest lessons about how they made it to the top? Professor Kimberly Whitler looked into the education and career choices of every Fortune 100 CEO and made some surprising discoveries.

Years of inequality have led to lasting challenges faced by minorities in opportunities for advancement. Efforts to “manage diversity” could benefit from education about historical context, as well as contemporary experience, that lead to low inclusion. Courtney McCluney discusses challenges of diversity practices and potential solutions.

Disruption is essential to economic growth and societal advancement. But a backlash is brewing, and some worry that the pace of new technologies leads to unintended consequences that are too great. Professor Mike Lenox discusses the pros and cons of disruption and the reason the right kind of aggressive innovation is critical to saving the world.

MIT Professor Cynthia Breazeal, a keynote speaker at a recent Psychology of Technology Conference led by Darden Professor Roshni Raveendhran, shares insights about a new generation of social robots and their impact on human flourishing.

When it comes to the most popular pieces of the year, in 2019 Darden Ideas to Action readers cared about teamwork, self-awareness, strategy, leadership and navigating innovation in evolving industries. Here’s a rundown of what Ideas to Action readers read the most in 2019 and what it was all about.