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Research THE RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT CUSTOMERS WHO KNEW ABOUT THE SURVEY IN ADVANCE OFFERED MORE NEGATIVE COMMENTS THAN THOSE WHO WERE SURPRISED WITH THE SURVEY UPON EXITING. Their latest paper, "Customer Compliance with Presumed Market Research Goals," was written with co-researcher Song-Oh Yoon of Singapore Management University. It comprises interviews with hun- dreds of customers in Israel and the United States. In this study and STUDY BRIEFS n THE VALUE OF STUDY ABROAD In May, the Council on Interna- tional Education Exchange (CIEE) presented research on how much employers value a job applicant's study abroad experience. In a survey of 352 U.S.-based CEOs, senior managers, on-campus recruiters, and human resource professionals, CIEE found that while a majority of these employers valued international experience, different people valued different types of programs. Human resource professionals favored longer, yearlong programs to develop the skills they wanted; senior manag- ers, however, favored shorter, 14- to 18-week internships. Employers who had studied abroad themselves placed a higher value on all study abroad experiences. In addition, in interviews, recruiters often fail to ask about students' study abroad experi- ence at all, suggesting that career services staff need to prepare students to emphasize that experience in the interview process, say researchers. n FLEX TIME NOT YET IN FAVOR Most professionals will exit the work- force, or reduce their working hours, for personal reasons at some point in their careers, according to a recent survey conducted by Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth in Hanover, 60 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2007 the other studies, the researchers found that most customers want to be helpful in a survey—so much so that many feel compelled to offer constructive criticism more often than they state their true, often positive, opinions about a product or service. New Hampshire; Fortune 500 con- sultant Cali Yost; and global market- ing firm Aquent. The survey of hiring managers and employees found that only 36 percent of companies cur- rently recruit those who've stepped out of the workforce, while only 34 percent recruit individuals who seek flexible work options. "There's an expanded talent pool ready to be tapped," says Yost. "But first the workplace must evolve from fixed to flexible career paths, and learn to understand that it's not about where, when, or why we work, but instead about what we get done." n GENDER GAP Research from the American Asso- ciation of University Women Edu- cational Foundation (AAUW) finds that one year out of college, women in full-time positions already earn less than men, even when they grad- uated with the same major and work in the same field. In ten years, that gap widens. According to the report, "Behind the Pay Gap," women earn only 80 percent of what their male coun- terparts earn. Even after controlling for hours, occu- pation, parent- hood, and other influences on For "Consumer Compliance," they surveyed customers of a super- market in the U.S. and a pharmacy in Israel that had reputations for poor service. Customers in one group were told as they went into the store that they would be sur- veyed about their experience as salary, the research indicates that 25 percent of the pay gap remains unexplained. "The persistence of the pay gap among young, college- educated, full-time workers suggests that educational achievement alone will not close the pay gap," says Catherine Hill, AAUW's director of research. n A $5 TRILLION MARKET A new report finds that the four bil- lion people in the world who live at poverty level still have purchasing power equivalent to US$5 trillion. The report, "The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid," mea- sures the size of markets at the base of the economic pyramid using income and expenditure data from household surveys. Released by the International Finance Corporation, a private sector of the World Bank Group, and World Resources Insti- tute, the report highlights the need for governments to reform their regulatory environments to facilitate business, says Michael Klein, vice president for financial and private sector development for the World Bank and IFC. "The report backs up the calls for broader business engagement with the base of the pyramid, stressing the need for the private sector to play a great- er role in development," he says.