IDEA #19

The negative impact of the superstar

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The presence of a superstar performer on a team may have a negative impact on the performance of others.

What you need to know

Between 1999 and 2010, Tiger Woods was the undisputed king of the golfing world; consistently the world number one and uniformly considered to be the superior of his competitors. A common sports and business shibboleth is that the presence of a superstar performer such as Woods encourages his competitors to ‘raise their game’. Jennifer Brown, an economist at Northwestern University, tested this claim and surprisingly found the contrary to be true. In fact, analysing ...

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