Idea posted: July 2014

Institutions: INSEAD   

When envy pervades a company — when employees and managers for one reason or another focus more on competing against each other instead of the company’s marketplace competitors — the…

Idea posted: July 2014

Institutions: New York University School of Engineering   

Why are some people more open to change and others instinctively resistant to anything that significantly alters the status quo? The key is often in an individual’s basic attitude toward…

Idea posted: July 2014

Institutions: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania    George Mason University   

Love is not a word often found in management literature, although the consensus now recognizes the power of emotions in motivating (or demotivating) people. Daniel Goleman and others have popularized…

Idea posted: June 2014

Institutions: Arizona State University W. P. Carey School of Business    INSEAD   

The decisions of C-suites and boards are influenced by the previous experiences of their members. In uncertain situations, organizations gain legitimacy — and reduce the costs of experimentation — by copying others.…

Idea posted: June 2014

Institutions: Kellogg School of Management    University of Chicago Booth School of Business   

Motivation can be divided into two dimensions: outcome-focused and process-focused. With outcome-focused motivation, people are driven by the desire of an achievement. They want to finish the task so that…

Idea posted: June 2014

Institutions: University of Southern California Marshall School of Business    University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business    University of Chicago Booth School of Business   

The use of reference points — for example, a monthly sales quota of 20 sales — is at the heart of reference-dependent behavioural economic theories, the most influential being “prospect…

Idea posted: June 2014

Institutions: University of Washington    University of Arizona Eller College of Management    University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School   

Recent years have seen a surge in ‘unethical’ behaviours in the workplace, whether in the form of corporate scandals, fraud, or just disrespecting company values. As management research has focused…

Idea posted: May 2014

Institutions: INSEAD   

Everybody dreams. Phantasmagoric ‘night journeys’ are part of life. It’s estimated that by the age of 60 most of us will have dreamed 197,100 dreams over 87,000 hours. The reasons…

Idea posted: April 2014

Institutions: INSEAD   

Fear of death is a core part of the human condition. It’s been associated with everything from the enduring appeal of religion and spiritual beliefs to the desire to reproduce…