How to Inject Fun into the Workplace

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Xavier couldn’t remember the last time he had fun. His marriage was strained, his children distant and work had become a drag. He had spent so much of his time and energy being serious that he’d forgotten what it was like to feel joy.But a conversation with an old friend…

Lessons From Luxury on Creating More With Less

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

When we think of creativity, we imagine artists staring at a blank canvas, or businesses with unlimited budgets, dreaming up the next big thing. But sometimes the most innovative ideas arise when we’re pushed to work within limits. In fact, many art forms, from monochromatic art to Japanese haiku, build…

When Psychological Safety Has a Seat on the Board

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:4 mins read

In a conference room at its leafy campus in Seattle, Microsoft's board members engage in what might appear to onlookers as intellectual combat. Directors challenge assumptions, disagree openly with the CEO and occasionally upend conventional wisdom. Beneath this seeming friction lies something revolutionary: carefully cultivated psychological safety that transformed Microsoft from a…

The Boardroom Mindset Blocking Climate Action

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

As the world's sustainability concerns increasingly become corporate concerns, boards are often left wondering where their responsibility begins and how far it should extend. While we may not be personally responsible for the climate crisis, we are all part of the system that created it. Anyone advising boards and sitting…

Corporate Culture Is Built on Actions, Not Words

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

These days, companies pour significant resources into crafting culture statements, viewing a strong corporate culture as critical to business success. Yet what truly matters is often overlooked: human behaviour. At its heart, human behaviour is about people, that is, how they act, interact and make decisions. While a well-crafted culture statement…

How the Most Resilient Companies Adapt to Disruption

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:10 mins read

Global risks are rising, and many companies are struggling with how to adapt. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Risks Report makes it clear that challenges like escalating global tensions and conflicts, climate change, economic instability and supply chain disruptions are interconnected and build on one another. And they’re here to stay.Meanwhile,…

How AI Can Improve Hiring

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

Anyone who’s had a hand in hiring and recruiting knows that finding the right person for the job is often difficult and expensive. Typically, organisations assess candidates using a combination of interviews and static tests, such as those that evaluate logical and verbal reasoning or behavioural traits. This process takes…

Turbulent Times Ahead: Call for a Governance Update

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:5 mins read

The report highlights four steps directors can take to ensure that their governance approach meets these challenges. Enhance horizon scanning and risk management Our report reveals that only a minority of board members fully understand how sustainability (35 percent), GenAI (12 percent) and trade and geopolitics (22 percent) can affect a company’s value,…

Can Carbon Removal Save the World?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:9 mins read

To quote an analogy developed by Professor John Sterman at MIT, we are adding too much water to a bathtub that is already nearly full. The tub is in danger of overflowing if we don’t find a way to remove at least as much water as we add. According to estimates, even…

Europe Without America

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

Once again, US President Donald Trump has caught Europe with its pants down. On 13 February, he announced that the United States would negotiate directly with Russia to end the Ukraine War, without European or Ukrainian participation. A day later, his Vice-President told the world’s security elite that a lack…

INSEAD Insights: February 2025 Research Picks

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

This month, we feature four papers that challenge assumptions with real-world evidence. Regulatory restrictions can either stifle or spark innovation depending on specific circumstances; seeking customer feedback creates dramatic spillover benefits that boost profits; and activist pressure can decrease corporate compliance with sustainability regulations. Finally, our professors found that the conventional…

Organisations in the Age of Algorithms

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:5 mins read

My answer: Homo sapiens’s most impressive accomplishments, from building the pyramids to developing Covid-19 vaccines, are not individual achievements. They were possible only because many people worked together effectively. “How to organise groups to attain goals” is our oldest general-purpose technology (GPT!). But there is more. To humans, organisations don't just…

The Hidden Game: Uncovering The Business of Sports

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:10 mins read

A nail-biting penalty shootout. A sprint title decided by mere milliseconds. A championship that comes down to the wire. From baseball to badminton, sport has a remarkable ability to unite millions of people around the world and leave them on the edge of their seats, whether they’re watching the action…

Is Your Board Stuck in the Wrong Gear?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Companies like WeWork have experienced this shift. During periods of rapid growth and expansion, the board likely took a more passive approach, trusting former CEO Adam Neumann’s vision and strategies. However, as the company faced challenges and scrutiny, the board became more active, intervening in decision-making and even replacing the CEO.Likewise, during…

Can We Stop Giants From Failing Us?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

In early 2024, the door panel blowout from a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in mid-air shocked the world, less than five years since that model was grounded worldwide following two crashes that claimed 346 lives. The urgent question then was: How did that happen? But the more important question really…

Managing Supply Chain Risks in the Age of Trump

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:9 mins read

The global political landscape has transformed dramatically over the past year. Donald Trump’s reelection as US President aside, in Japan, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba leads a fragile minority government after an electoral setback; South Korea faces an unprecedented crisis with the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol; tensions between Taiwan and…

Heritage Meets Innovation: Staying Relevant in Luxury

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Your customer of tomorrow may be rather unlike your customer today. And if you are not connecting with them, there is a lot of catching up to do. Wedged between heritage and changing customer behaviours, the world of luxury perhaps feels the need to remain relevant most acutely. In a recent…

INSEAD Insights: January 2025 Research Picks

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

In this month’s research picks, INSEAD faculty offer insights on improving asset pricing models and sales forecasting models, as well as how the extent of differences among banks affects financial stability. On the organisational front, they examine how artificial intelligence (AI) could impact strategic decision-making processes in firms and ways…

Crypto’s Compliance Conundrum

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

A fundamental shift is occurring in digital asset markets, evident in the relentless rise of bitcoin and crypto ETFs as well as the proliferation of meme coins, most recently $TRUMP, backed by the new US President himself. The appointment of Paul Atkins, known for favouring market-driven solutions over heavy-handed enforcement,…

Buy then Build: Be an Entrepreneur Without the Start-Up

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Start-ups: innovation-driven venturesThe traditional start-up model typically emphasises disruptive innovation and rapid scaling, often requiring significant technological advantage and financial capital in its initial phases. It appeals to founders driven by a mission to revolutionise industries and solve problems in the market. To succeed, founders must not only develop a compelling solution…

What’s in the Price?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

“Am I too late?” This is the question that plagues traders trying to make gains from “novel” information. After all, there is always a chance that the signal that they are about to trade on has already been priced in by the market. When speculators contemplate trading based on a particular…

The Art of Delegation

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

Consider this man. He takes daily post-lunch naps and frequently dozes off in a lounge chair after dinner. He spends his afternoons at home rather than at the office, tending to his garden and golfing. He spends months away from work on vacation. He prides himself on avoiding “hustling”. “I’m…

Finding Your Fit: How to Uncover a Company’s True Culture

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:12 mins read

We are relatively cautious about what we buy when the stakes are high. But do we apply the same level of scrutiny to the most important investments of our lives – choosing a partner or a career path? Divorce and turnover rates suggest not. While we won’t weigh in on the…

Is India the Next Global Luxury Hub?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

India’s luxury landscape is at a crucial juncture. With a booming economy, the world’s largest population and a dynamic, youthful demographic, the country has been dubbed the next luxury hub, especially at a time when luxury consumption in China is declining as spending softens. Is the centre of the world’s luxury market shifting from…

Hope Is a Skill We All Need to Practise

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

We're often warned against opening Pandora's box, a metaphor for unleashing a torrent of evils on the world. Yet, we forget an essential detail: Elpis – the spirit of hope – remained within the box. Even when the world seems consumed by chaos, hope endures.Throughout history, philosophers and leaders have…

2025 Lessons in Sustainability – Forging a Better Future

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:9 mins read

The year 2023 was named the hottest on record, and 2024 is on track to be even warmer. We are already feeling the impact of the climate emergency, but the problem runs deeper. Climate change is just one symptom of our planet’s health crisis. From resource depletion to social inequality, the…

INSEAD Insights: December 2024 Research Picks

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

Why do we resist trusting AI recommendations? How can we improve the pricing and approval process for new health technologies? In what ways does board risk oversight impact environmental and social performance? What effect do career transitions and frictions have on performance? And how do past negative experiences with creativity…

In Layoffs, Focus on the Human Element

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch once said: “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” To remain competitive, companies must adapt quickly to an ever-evolving business landscape. In times of growth, they may expand rapidly and hire aggressively.…

How Businesses Can Survive the AI ‘Black Hole’

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:9 mins read

It’s the conversation that’s dominating board rooms and strategy meetings. How are firms preparing for, or already harnessing, the potential of AI for their organisation? A KPMG survey found that 65 percent of executives anticipate a significant impact from generative AI (GenAI) within the next few years, even as many firms…

How NGO Activism Can Move the Dial for Sustainability

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

In terms of the E&S issues they “wash”, the most frequently identified claims related to firms’ impacts on climate change (30 percent of all allegations), consumer health benefits (22 percent), and waste handling (11 percent). Other allegations related to biodiversity, animal welfare, as well as employee rights and safety. Further, we…

Your Money or Your Points

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Imagine having two wallets – one filled with cash, the other with airline miles or hotel points. Which would you reach for when it’s time to pay? The answer, according to our new paper, coauthored with Freddy Lim from the National University of Singapore, says a lot about you as a…

Make Them Laugh, Sell Them Stuff

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:3 mins read

Then there’s "Hump Day", in which a talking camel excitedly asks office workers what day it is. No prizes for guessing what the correct answer is. The 2013 campaign, by auto insurance firm GEICO, did not just increase brand awareness and engagement. It became a cultural phenomenon. The clincher? The simplicity…

Is Working Yourself “To The Bone” Ever Worth It?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:9 mins read

In some sectors, workers are constantly pushed to extremes, not unlike stunt performers whose bodies are treated as tools – stretched and sacrificed to meet professional demands. Notably, similar patterns are observed in soul-sucking, albeit prized, careers such as consulting, investment banking and other financial services. The recent deaths of…

Why Indian Climate Tech Is the Sector to Watch

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:8 mins read

Already the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India is on track to become the third largest by 2030. However, this development comes with a significant challenge − sustainability. India ranks seventh globally for climate vulnerability, and both its consumers and companies are generally unwilling or unable to pay a ‘green premium’…

Unlocking Opportunities in the Age of Digital Finance

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Emerging technologies like big data, AI and blockchain are reshaping finance. New products, such as platform finance, peer-to-peer lending and robo-advisory services, are examples of this transformation. These developments raise important questions: How concerned should traditional financial institutions be? What strategies can fintech and “techfin” (technology companies that move into…

INSEAD Insights: November 2024 Research Picks

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:7 mins read

Diverse research findings by INSEAD faculty this month include a new strategy that could help improve tax collection and a way of improving the safety and reliability of AI in healthcare. Other research looks at how taking part in standard-setting organisations (SSOs) can help technology companies get better at forecasting.Another study…

Could More Human-Like AI Undermine Trust?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

From virtual assistants to self-driving cars to medical imaging analysis, the use of modern AI technologies based on deep-learning architectures has increased dramatically in recent years. But what makes us put our faith in such technologies to, say, get us safely to our destination without running off the road? And…

Mega Companies: Superstars or Super Villains?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

It is perhaps no coincidence that the South Korean economy is also dominated by sprawling firms or chaebols. As we found in our study, now published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, these large firms played a pivotal part in the growth miracle of the country…

The Life of Giants: A Life-Cycle View of Wind Turbines

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:5 mins read

What our model showsAs energy companies continue to install bigger wind turbines further offshore in the name of maximising energy output, our results counter the conventional wisdom that associates larger turbines with higher efficiency and profitability. The findings shed light on the inherent trade-offs in turbine size and wind farm…

Can Chinese EV Brands Grow Globally?

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:13 mins read

Responding to the rise in sales and popularity of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), the United States and European Union have imposed hefty import taxes to curb the market penetration of Chinese EVs and protect local automotive manufacturers. Scholars have cautioned that such industrial policies should be temporary, as they can have unintended lasting…