In making decisions, people are susceptible to the influence of those in their ‘in-group’, who commonly include others of the same age, sex, ethnicity or religion, as well as friends, family members, colleagues and classmates. This is a long-observed and commonly acknowledged phenomenon, often explained in terms of evolutionary biology. (By conforming to the common […]
Read More… from Social Influences on Decision-Making: Neuroscience Insights
Over the past 25 years, use of celebrity endorsement by big-budget advertisers has grown significantly. Despite this, it’s unclear why famous faces should be more effective in advertising than (equally attractive) non-famous ones. Studies in 2005 and 2008 suggested that the pairing of a positively valenced stimulus (a celebrity) with an initially neutral stimulus (a […]
Read More… from Celebrities in Advertising: Neuroscience Insights
There is a hotel in Japan — Houshi Ryokan — that has been run by the same family for approximately 1,300 years. Forty generations have managed to maintain control of the business, epitomizing what IESE Business School’s Josep Tàpies and Lucía Ceja refer to as “psychological ownership.” In their article published in IESE Insight, Tàpies […]
Read More… from Family Business Ownership and the Next Generation
The term “tribalism” was coined by sociologist Michel Maffesoli in the 1980s to explain a shift in Western society from one built around the individual to a world populated by “affective communities” where individuals, driven by the emotional bonds of these communities, seek to belong and feel useful. They identify with a group – or […]
Read More… from Modern Tribes – Managing Diversity and Identity
The story of Nelson Mandela is a remarkable illustration of forgiveness. In the face of fierce opposition from most members of the ANC, Mandela reached out to his former enemies to try to build a unified nation. “Forgiveness,” he told party members, “liberates the soul, it removes fear. That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon.” […]
Read More… from Learn to Forgive: Mandela’s Leadership Legacy
For many strategic decisions such as product development or market expansion, retailers have access to sophisticated information on which to base these decisions. When it comes to customer service, however, the information is less complete. Retailers may have extensive data on customer purchases, for example, but no data on how long those customers stood in […]
Read More… from How Checkout Lines Affect Consumer Purchases
Developing deeper awareness of our own prejudices is often cited as the solution to racism. Recent research, however, suggests it’s just the first step. In a pilot study conducted at an American university, 75 per cent of white respondents acknowledged and were consciously aware of their own racial prejudices — and in a follow-up study, […]
Read More… from Conquering Racism by Taking Personal Responsibility
The greying of the post-war baby boom generation and increasing life expectancy are threatening the financial sustainability of pensions systems in many industrialized countries. European governments are responding by raising the mandatory retirement age. But this could be a short-sighted strategy. Recent research suggests that working for longer can have a negative effect on cognitive […]
Read More… from Delaying Retirement Can Be Bad for the Brain
‘Employee happiness’ has been getting a lot of attention in recent years. The evidence is there to show that it is directly-related to business performance; your happy employees are almost certainly going to be more productive than the unhappy ones. Similarly, there has been a lot of research highlighting the factors that can lead to […]
Read More… from How Prosocial Goals Promote Employee Happiness
The idea of character has been lost sight of. One reason could be that the educational system and organizations are completely competency focused, or perhaps because character seems an old-fashioned word. However, character is a vital part of leadership and it cannot be ignored. Character fundamentally shapes how we engage with the world around us, […]
Read More… from Character – The Unspoken Essence of Leadership
