Every day, we make many decisions that affect not just ourselves but also the people around us. A few examples: Navigating different opinions at a team meeting, tipping wait staff at a restaurant, picking a weekend activity with friends, or choosing between conventional and sustainable but more expensive products. Traditionally, researchers…

Lawrence Wong, a US-trained economist, was sworn in as Singapore’s fourth Prime Minister yesterday. He has big shoes to fill. Under long-time former PM Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore became a bona fide growth miracle and is now one of the richest countries in the world. But Wong is also taking over…

When it comes to performance reviews, managers have traditionally held the reins, assessing employee contributions based on their observations and insights. But this approach can be flawed, as managers may harbour biases or lack a complete picture of each team member’s efforts. To address these limitations, some companies have adopted peer evaluations,…

In his 1941 non-fiction work Brazil: Land of the Future, Austrian author Stefan Zweig waxes lyrical about the South American country’s lush and fertile landscapes, astute city planning and melting pot of cultures living in harmony. These, he believes, could help Brazil become a leader on the global stage.“Brazil’s importance for…

Sooner or later, every successful entrepreneur confronts the challenge of establishing a board of directors. Yet many founders approach this task too casually, relying on intuition rather than learning from empirical research or other entrepreneurs’ experience. Such founders tend to become disillusioned with the board they assembled, losing faith in…

Imagine that two brands are running contests where participants stand to win nearly identical fitness watches. Both companies will award the watches to randomly chosen winners, amounting to 1 percent of all participants. Brand A has capped the number of entries at 1,000, while Brand B allows up to 10,000…

In the tumultuous seas of the ever-evolving global economy, geopolitics and technology, board directors must become agile captains, navigating the relentless waves of change with strategic foresight and adaptability. This requires a clear view of the path ahead.At the recent INSEAD Directors Forum, Professor of Economics Pushan Dutt and Professor of…

Disasters can act as brutal audits of organisations to which even veritable institutions like Boeing are no exception. In the wake of two fatal crashes as well as a mid-flight door blowout, Boeing has shaken up its C-suite and pledged to prioritise safety over profit. Will these measures solve its…

New research by INSEAD faculty explores the potential downsides of anti-corruption efforts and the various ways incumbent firms successfully defend themselves against new technologies that could displace them. Another paper examines how job candidates self-censor when negotiating pay at firms that frame the work in terms of its social impact. Other…

The old assumption that the past informs the future no longer holds true in an era marked by unparalleled speed and deep-rooted uncertainty. Corporations today face an environment that require boards to recalibrate their governance approach. Indeed, our collaborative board research with BCG, Heidrick & Struggles and INSEAD has identified significant challenges…

Before the Yellow Vest protests roiled France in 2018, many believed a carbon tax was the best solution to climate change. Tax proponents argued that, through their wallets, people would be forced to reckon the cost of their actions on the planet and future generations. Yet, the protests, sparked by…

But what can we do if we feel our job lacks meaning? Jiang suggests taking a step back and reflecting on what's causing this disconnect from your work and why it no longer feels fulfilling. Is it some shift at work, like an organisational restructuring or a change in leadership that has…

According to research from the International Monetary Fund, the benefits of global decarbonisation would amount to US$85 trillion in net value. Carbon emissions represent a massive cost not just to the environment, but to the economy as well, and the data is clear that the potential gains associated with reducing emissions…

Despite a seemingly glamorous life as a fashion executive, Nadine felt a gnawing loneliness. Her life was filled with acquaintances but devoid of true connection. She desperately wished for someone who understood her. This struggle stemmed from a traumatic childhood marked by abandonment and isolation, leaving her with a deep-seated…

When Amazon went public in 1997, founder and then CEO Jeff Bezos’ message to shareholders was clear: His focus was on creating long-term value through bold operational investment. The following year, as promised, Amazon doubled its distribution capacity and more than tripled its inventory.And the rest, as we know it, is…

Giving and receiving help are essential aspects of organisational life, whether that’s providing career advice or soliciting a colleague’s input on a tricky technical problem that you just can’t solve on your own. Through help exchange, individuals gain access to ideas, resources and relationships that help them complete tasks more…

With its potential to transform life as we know it, generative AI (GenAI) has taken the world by storm. Beneath the hype, knowing how people are using the technology and their attitude towards it could help us anticipate its trajectory. A new INSEAD survey of managers and executives across industries…

Business leaders aren’t blind to the environmental scars etched by their industries, nor to the communities left behind in the pursuit of profit. They feel the unease, the gnawing guilt, but the harsh reality often seems easier to ignore. Executives are trapped in a cycle of reaction, their minds clouded by…

An image of a verdant forest glade or a tranquil pasture. Natural scenes typically conjure up positive emotions and a sense of wellbeing for most individuals, but could they also influence them to make healthier food choices? The answer, according to our new article, just published in Nature’s new journal…

It is well documented that a sustained therapeutic relationship between a patient and a doctor is valued by both patients and doctors alike. Surveys also highlight the health benefits and improved management of health conditions for patients who have an ongoing therapeutic relationship with the same primary care physician, known…

Amid seemingly never-ending layoffs and a laser focus on efficiency, companies are expecting their employees to make productive and focused use of their time on the clock. Yet, research has shown that employees often spend a significant amount of time cyberloafing – using the internet for personal purposes during work hours…

COP28 in Dubai was a key milestone in global climate talks, convening nearly 200 countries for the first assessment since the Paris Agreement. Highlighting the urgency for action – with 2023 as the hottest year on record – it emphasised the need for united efforts amid complex negotiation challenges. At…

Current global challenges are daunting. We’re not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In fact, the United Nations warns that we’ve entered an age of “polycrisis” in which increased conflicts, the climate emergency and widening economic and social disparities threaten our collective future. The public sector can’t address this…

On 19 January 2024, André Terrail, owner and CEO of the legendary restaurant La Tour d’Argent in Paris, was a happy man. The sale of part of the tableware and elements of the historic décor of his establishment raised over €720,000 in just a few hours. What motivated people to obtain…

1. SwitchVanessa was a partner in an audit firm in Paris. At the age of 51, she decided to cease her professional activity. “I was getting old and realising it,” she says. She gave herself two years to organise her succession and slowed down, changing her occupation day by day. “Things…

Throughout history, leaders have been seduced by success, leading them down a path of hubris. This ancient Greek term, literally translating to "excess", describes a state of exaggerated self-belief andarrogance.An extreme example is Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire. Feeling invincible from past triumphs, Xerxes sought to conquer Greece. However, when…

Changes in the graph (Figure 2) may result from changes in the relative share of global GDP of a country (even if the democracy scores are constant) or from changes in the individual democracy scores (even if GDP shares are constant). For example, from the late 1970s to 1989, the…

For decades, the mantra “follow your passion” has been one of the most popular pieces of career advice. Ever since Steve Jobs famously told Stanford graduates back in 2005 to “find what you love”, university students have been nudged to pursue careers that align perfectly with their personal interests. But…

If your company is working on a new technology that has yet to pass this inflection point, what must happen to get you there?The evolution of new technologies follows an S-curve. In the beginning, there is a long incubation period during which technological development and use are confined to basic…

It is broadly understood that bold, expansive postures and gestures convey power and credibility. But how often have executives entered a meeting confident in achieving their goal, only to leave blindsided – unsure of how the power dynamics shifted in favour of an opposing viewpoint? Most people assume that their actions…

A computer scientist by training, Rogers was involved in the creative industries from the early nineties, when he created the Beastie Boys’ website. He was later involved in Winamp and the launch of Apple Music, before working at luxury conglomerate LVMH as its Chief Digital Officer. He also sits on…

The last two years have been a period of history with a multiplicity of conflicts. While the world has of course experienced conflicts before, we have not witnessed this many clashes with such high complexity since the fall of communism. There are currently three sets of confrontations taking place in…

Just as there is no yin without yang, there is no leadership without followership. The two interdependent and complementary roles cannot exist without each other. Followership is the symbiotic interchange between a leader and those they seek to influence. However, the word has long carried connotations of subservience, implying that followers…

Business continues to play a critical role in society, according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer. The survey, which polled more than 32,000 citizens across 28 countries, finds that business is the most trusted institution to integrate innovation into society. Business is also seen as more competent and ethical than governments,…

Mergers have become the norm in the telco sector recently. Far EasTone and Asia Pacific Telecom in Taiwan in 2022, True and DTAC in Thailand, as well as Celcom and Digi in Malaysia both in 2023. These represent a global shift towards an era of two-three players in each market, especially…

When a firm’s performance falls short of aspirations, organisational changes can help stop the bleeding and get things back on track. Broadly speaking, firms have two strategic avenues to consider. The first is growth-related strategies to improve the firm’s position and performance, which could range from mergers and acquisitions to introducing…

There is often a gap between our good intentions and our actual behaviour – what we claim to do and how we act. Alarmingly, we're sometimes not even aware of the difference between what we think we're doing and what we're really doing. Aligning our actions with our intentions is…

The practice of asking candidates to disclose their last-drawn salary to prospective employers has long been one of the more contentious aspects of the hiring process. While this remains a common request across many countries, certain states in the United States – including California and New York – have made it…

Actions tend to be judged based on some set of expectations, standards or thresholds. For example, managers may set sales targets that employees must achieve before getting a bonus; parents may establish ground rules that children need to abide by before rewarding or punishing them; and content moderators may let…