The three dilemmas of data gathering

Businessam StaffDecember 21, 2017

STRATEGY  Annet Aris, INSEAD Adjunct Professor of Strategy What companies do with customer data needs to be considered more closely. “Alexa, order more tissues.” “Siri, set a reminder to phone the doctor.” “OK Google, turn on the light in the hallway upstairs.” After an initial phase of euphoria about how the digital world improves our […]

Designing results-oriented leadership development programmes

Businessam StaffDecember 20, 2017

LEADERSHIP & ORGANISATIONS Camelia Ilie, Dean of Executive Education at INCAE Business School, and Guillermo Cardoza, Professor, INCAE Business School Two often-overlooked elements have a significant impact on both individual leaders and organisations. Normally, in business, one wouldn’t make a large investment without an idea of how to gauge its results. Not so with leadership development […]

Why employers need to help workers deal with income volatility

December 19, 2017

Everyone talks about New Year’s resolutions for themselves. But, as employers whose biggest asset is our team, we should all think about a New Year’s resolution to improve the financial health of our employees. Like it or not, we increasingly live in a gig economy where flexibility outranks financial security and just-in-time work is the […]

Choose your leadership style

Businessam StaffDecember 18, 2017

LEADERSHIP & ORGANISATIONS Guillaume Roels, INSEAD Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management Team leadership style doesn’t have to be a personality trait; it can be chosen. Working with an amazing leader is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – not everyone can work with Nelson Mandela or Gandhi or even a rock star boss like Bruce Springsteen. Leaders […]

What really matters for your business is forwardship

Businessam StaffDecember 14, 2017

LEADERSHIP & ORGANISATIONS Vip Vyas, CEO of Distinctive Performance; Diego Nannicini (INSEAD MBA ‘14J), Associate Consultant at Distinctive Performance; and David Sherman, Executive Consultant at Distinctive Performance Leadership failures are often characterised by a lack of action or a knee-jerk reaction to disruptions. In an era of volcanic Twitter accounts, devastating disruptions, seismic shifts towards de-globalisation and widespread […]

Why many women social entrepreneurs avoid commercial models

Businessam StaffDecember 11, 2017

ENTREPRENEURSHIP Matthew Lee, INSEAD Assistant Professor of Strategy; Stefan Dimitriadis, Ph.D. student, Harvard Business School; Lakshmi Ramarajan, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School; Julie Battilana, Professor, Harvard Business School   The presence of women business owners in a community encourages female social entrepreneurs to pursue hybrid ventures. While Natalia Oberti Noguera was building up the New […]

The four questions to ask when serving on a nonprofit board

Businessam StaffDecember 7, 2017

Sooner or later, you may follow in the footsteps of countless business leaders onto the board of one or more nonprofit organizations. Maybe it’s the board of a local institution you care about personally, such as a small-scale theater, public radio station, or your child’s school. It also could be a national or even global organization—an […]

How the digital revolution is transforming the IT hierarchy

Businessam StaffDecember 6, 2017

STRATEGY Felipe Monteiro, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy The ability to adapt and learn quickly helps smaller IT companies compete against industry heavyweights. How will the digital revolution transform the IT sector? As firms focus on the need for business-driven technology solutions for their own transformation, little thought is given to how the digital revolution […]

Surviving the generational clash

Businessam StaffDecember 5, 2017

ECONOMICS & FINANCE – BLOG Eduardo Rodriguez-Montemayor, INSEAD Senior Research Fellow of Economics How society can avoid fragmentation as generations blame one another for these precarious times. The demographic change of ageing populations brings challenges on several fronts. Some of the questions raised are about how to finance retirement systems or how to best develop […]

How attention from top managers impacts innovation

Businessam StaffNovember 29, 2017

STRATEGY Felipe Monteiro, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy When companies acquire external knowledge, they need to make sure management attention doesn’t wane. It seems strange to buy something without using it, but people do it all the time. Some buy gym memberships, planning on changing their lives, but never get around to using them. Companies too […]