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…
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…
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’…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword – it has become critical for life on our planet. It will also be a key actor in shaping corporate strategy and success. The shift towards sustainability has been increasingly embraced, and the common way companies do this is through the ESG (environmental, social and governance) framework. But even though corporate impact on…
Leadership happens in groups, as does most work. Without followers, who and what are we leading? As such, leaders must understand what groups need if they want to maximise performance. While most leaders should be familiar with the idea of executive coaching on an individual basis, they may know less…
Be it making deals for multimillion-dollar penthouses, corporate office suites or cosy suburban homes, negotiations often involve multiple stakeholders, long-term engagements and high stakes. This requires professionals to navigate incompatible interests in a conflict-prone environment.In the first part of our practice briefing published in the Journal of Property Investment & Finance,…
Nicolas, a busy senior executive, really enjoyed working in the construction industry. He knew his company had a mandatory retirement age, but he didn’t give it much thought. He figured that retirement would give him more time to perfect his golf game and travel with his wife.On the day he…
The world is knee-deep in a housing crisis. According to the United Nations, 1.6 billion people – one in every five – lack adequate housing, and the number could rise to 3 billion by 2030. It is a problem that plagues rich and poor countries alike, from Burundi to the…
In the digital age, social movements increasingly transcend national and cultural borders. #MeToo, for one, remains a global phenomenon seven years since it burst into the public consciousness. It has increased awareness of sexual offences and challenged traditional gender roles and stereotypes around the world. It may also have had an…
Wealth inequality, long a pressing issue that was exacerbated by Covid-19, remains a significant problem to governments and policymakers around the world. Many nations including the United States, Japan and France have recorded skyrocketing income disparities in the past few years, while South Africa has claimed the unenviable title of…
The past two decades, have seen many industries shaken to the core by a series of digital disruptions. This started with the advent of the internet, followed by the rise of social media, smartphones and now the shockwave of generative AI (GenAI). Industries such as media, advertising, mobility, tourism and…
Shifting influences Perhaps more importantly, our analysis found that the strength of these stakeholder influences is actually dynamic and can be negatively impacted by external economic crises. For a start, an economic slowdown or recession reduces the bargaining power of the labour force. This is because a tough economic environment…
Back in the early 1980s, plenty was written about the decline of American business on the global stage. One of the main criticisms levelled at US firms was their over-reliance on administrator CEOs. As a famous 1980 HBR article pointed out, these experts in finance and operations were too focused on short…
In the competitive world of business, entrepreneurs have long sought novel formulas such as the Business Model Canvas and the Lean Start-Up Method in their quest for success. The most potent tool, however, might be one that's centuries old: the scientific approach.From a series of experiments involving 759 start-ups across…
The biggest sustainability challenge today is not a lack of enthusiasm. We observe many more business leaders every day who are eager to engage in sustainability efforts, driven by factors such as government regulations, societal expectations, stakeholder demands or their own aspirations.The real challenge lies in effectively harnessing this enthusiasm…
Consider this: Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom currently uses more energy than the entire west African country of Sierra Leone. Despite Africa accounting for less than 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, many of its countries face significant threats from climate change, including increased droughts, floods, heat waves and potential crop…
Lately when I give lectures on leadership to various audiences, the topic of AI hardly ever fails to come up in the question-and-answer period. From what I hear, many people see AI as an ever-present and very worrisome development.It’s a paradox: On the one hand, plenty of observers are scared by how AI is…
People often ask us how to better understand others to be a more effective leader. Can we decipher a frown or someone’s folded arms to better understand them? Of course, some knowledge on reading people can be helpful. However, the challenge is that humans are, well, human, and that reactions don’t…
This month’s selection of new research by INSEAD faculty investigates how AI (artificial intelligence) can both enhance and constrain the human experience; size penalties in bond-market trading; and whether new inventions benefit younger and older workers to the same degree. Other recently released studies look at how multitasking can have…
In the pursuit of breakthrough innovation, it is easy to be dazzled by star performers, from successful CEOs and prominent lawyers to award-winning scientists. Mention electric vehicles, and Elon Musk springs to mind; radioactivity research, and Marie Curie comes to the fore. However, this fixation can overshadow the crucial role played by…
One of the realities of today’s financial markets is the outsized shareholder voting power held by the leading mutual funds. In 2021, the top three asset management companies (BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard) owned around 23 percent of S&P 500 firms. This made them the largest shareholders in 88 percent…
When conflicts in a team – no matter how minor – are left unresolved, it can eventually breed resentment. If unaddressed, this could lead to cynicism and distrust, as well as harm individual and team performance. How should leaders deal with this? The intuitive answer might involve orchestrating frank, albeit difficult,…
Though business and politics might seem like different worlds, there are increasing commonalities between leadership in these realms. As I explain in the second edition of Los Presidentes Españoles, which explores the success and failures of Spanish leaders since the return of democracy in 1978, executives can learn a lot from…
Medical criticality refers to the clinical value of a drug. Life-saving drugs should always be considered high criticality (e.g. insulin, blood thinners, antibiotics for the treatment of sepsis, etc.), while drugs that improve lifestyle tend to be low in medical criticality. Other criticality factors include the number of people dependent on…
In the real estate world, permeated with high-stakes and complex transactions, negotiation is a crucial skill to achieve and sustain success. Tried and tested adversarial negotiation tactics are falling into obsolescence and giving way to a new approach. In our practice briefing* for real estate professionals, recently published in the Journal…
In the complex, uncertain and fast-changing world we live in, success and even survival require intensive collaboration among individuals, organisations and countries. The outcomes of such collaboration can be breathtaking – consider the growth of Netflix and Amazon, the rebirth of Microsoft and General Motors, the successful launch of the…
This month’s selection of new research by INSEAD faculty offers some counterintuitive insights, from how misunderstandings can be productive to the possible negative effects of corporate social responsibility under certain conditions. Other studies reveal the significance of understanding the actions and interactions of human actors to achieve ideal outcomes. They include…
The United States narrowly escaped yet another government shutdown at the start of this year, which would have been the fourth US government partial shutdown in the last decade. But as the world’s largest economy heaved a huge sigh of relief, the 35-day shutdown from late 2018 into early 2019 – the…
Designed for sustainability One of the unintended legacies of Olympics and tournaments of similar scale are the purpose-built structures left conspicuously obsolete after the curtains fall. That said, Paris 2024 is designed for sustainability from the start. Apart from the purpose-built athletes’ village and Aquatic Centre, 95 percent of the infrastructure is…
Traditional productivity metrics are used by many companies to assess the value that employees bring to the organisation. These tangible, quantifiable and results-based measurements include work quality and output, efficiency and the number of projects completed on time and on budget. Some managers rely solely on these metrics to determine…
The wave of layoffs in Silicon Valley in the past two years is far from over. After a brutal 2023 that saw over 100,000 tech workers laid off in the United States, 2024 shows no signs of letting up.While the headlines are shocking, the human stories behind the numbers are just as…
Today’s uncertain and disrupted world has had a major impact on how firms do business. It has led to a gradual strategic shift from the era of “bigger is better” and a narrow fixation on increased sales growth to a more nuanced, broader vision of corporate value growth. In this podcast, Jean-Claude…
The US presidential election debate has delivered its verdict, produced new insights and raised new questions. The question we focus on here is why the richest country on earth has presented its voters with such poor options, and how the race to the White House has exposed the country’s democratic…
According to the African Development Bank, 11 African countries currently feature in the top 20 fastest-growing global economies. The organisation’s latest Outlook Report estimates that real GDP (gross domestic product) growth for the continent is expected to average 3.8 and 4.2 percent in 2024 and 2025 respectively. That compares favourably to…
