Avoid ML Failures by Asking the Right Questions

Magazine Summer 2024 Issue Machine learning solutions can miss the mark when data scientists don’t check their assumptions. Adopting a beginner’s mindset in any domain can help. Dusan Popovic, Shreyas Lakhtakia, Will Landecker, and Melissa Valentine June 11, 2024 Reading Time: 14 min  Paul Garland In our collective decades of…

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Organizations Face Challenges in Timely Compliance With the EU AI Act

Topics Responsible AI The Responsible AI initiative looks at how organizations define and approach responsible AI practices, policies, and standards. Drawing on global executive surveys and smaller, curated expert panels, the program gathers perspectives from diverse sectors and geographies with the aim of delivering actionable insights on this nascent yet…

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How Generative AI Can Support Advanced Analytics Practice

Magazine Summer 2024 Issue Large language models can enhance data and analytics work by helping humans prepare data, improve models, and understand results. Pedro Amorim and João Alves June 11, 2024 Reading Time: 15 min  Topics Data, AI, & Machine Learning AI & Machine Learning Paul Garland The glare of…

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Managing Data Privacy Risk in Advanced Analytics

“How can we protect the privacy of our customers’ personal data while leveraging that data via AI and analytics?” This question reflects a growing internal dilemma as companies pursue advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.The troves of data that customers’ ever-more-digitalized lives produce can be a rich source of insight for…

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Our Guide to the Summer 2024 Issue

subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Auditing Algorithmic Risk Cathy O’Neil, Jake Appel, and Sam Tyner-Monroe Key Insight: A set of frameworks can help organizations identify potential harms posed by algorithms, AI tools, or large language models (LLMs). Top Takeaways: As business uses of artificial intelligence, LLMs, and other algorithmic applications expand, so,…

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Know Your Own Strength

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Paul Garland We all love a good “what went wrong” story. Analyses of corporate failures are a staple of the management genre, alerting leaders to hidden…

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Keeping Innovation Alive at a Legacy Organization

Topics Radar Brief insights on emerging trends in management from the opening pages of MIT Sloan Management Review’s quarterly print magazine. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Courtesy of GE Appliances Kevin Nolan, an engineer by training and a 28-year veteran of GE, is the president and CEO of…

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The Long Tail of Social Media Influence

Radar Paid influencers with the biggest follower counts may not give companies the most bang for their buck, research finds. The MIT SMR Editors June 10, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min  Topics Radar Brief insights on emerging trends in management from the opening pages of MIT Sloan Management Review’s quarterly…

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Ask Sanyin: What’s the Right Way to Carry Out Layoffs?

Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Sanyin Siang June 06, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min  Topics Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Leadership roles come with new personal and professional challenges — and Sanyin Siang, board and CEO coach, adviser, and author, is here to help with an advice column for top…

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Engineer Your Own Luck

Companies that modularize and externalize their best capabilities are in a strong position to seize unexpected opportunities. Mark J. Greeven, Howard Yu, and Jialu Shan June 05, 2024 Reading Time: 13 min  Neil Webb/theispot.com Prediction is hard. The longer the time range — six months, three years, a decade —…

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Leading With Compassion When a Teammate Has a Terminal Illness

When an employee is experiencing a health crisis, it impacts their colleagues as well. Leaders must support everyone affected, with sensitivity and professionalism. Benjamin Laker, Vijay Pereira, Jack Tillotson, and Sammy Toyoki June 04, 2024 Reading Time: 11 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images When an employee is diagnosed…

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Find a Circular Strategy to Fit Your Business Model

Topics Social Responsibility Sustainability Dan Page/theispot.com The Research This research was based on qualitative case analyses of organizations that have implemented circular economy models. Data collection involved a mix of structured interviews with company managers, review of company documents, and review of in-depth case studies. The analysis identified key patterns…

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The GenAI Blind Spot Leaders Have Now

In this short video, MIT Sloan CIO Symposium speakers and CIO leadership award finalists share advice on generative AI issues to prioritize. MIT Sloan Management Review May 30, 2024 Reading Time: 1 minute Topics Data, AI, & Machine Learning AI & Machine Learning subscribe-icon Subscribe Share [embedded content] Given the…

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Nudge Users to Catch Generative AI Errors

Frontiers Research Highlight Using large language models to generate text can save time but often results in unpredictable errors. Prompting users to review outputs can improve their quality. Renée Richardson Gosline, Yunhao Zhang, Haiwen Li, Paul Daugherty, Arnab D. Chakraborty, Philippe Roussiere, and Patrick Connolly May 29, 2024 Reading Time:…

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One CISO Can’t Fill Your Board’s Cybersecurity Gaps

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The chairman of a large European enterprise approached me over drinks at an event for board members and CEOs on…

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Acing Value-Based Sales

Mark Airs/Ikon Images Imagine that burst of enthusiasm when a senior executive unveils a plan that promises a significant and lasting impact on the organization’s financial performance. “Our new product creates more value for our customers than anything else on the market, and we should get paid accordingly,” they proudly…

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How to Come Back Stronger From Organizational Trauma

1. R.M. Vogel and M.C. Bolino, “Recurring Nightmares and Silver Linings: Understanding How Past Abusive Supervision May Lead to Post-Traumatic Stress and Post-Traumatic Growth,” Academy of Management Review 45, no. 3 (July 2020): 549-569. 2. R. Janoff-Bulman, “Assumptive Worlds and the Stress of Traumatic Events: Applications of the Schema Construct,”…

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To Navigate Conflict, Prioritize Dignity

Frontiers Four interrelated practices can bolster dignity, leading to more constructive problem-solving and collaboration. Merrick Hoben May 20, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Rafael Lopez/theispot.com Conflicts between businesses pursuing commercial objectives…

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AI Hype and Skepticism: Economist Paul Romer

The Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy initiative explores the growing use of artificial intelligence in the business landscape. The exploration looks specifically at how AI is affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations. Paul Romer once considered himself the most optimistic economist. He rightfully predicted that technology would…

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Tap Employee-Creators to Transform Your Social Media Strategy

Frontiers Businesses that help employees become social media stars have a cost-effective way to generate enormous brand visibility. Aaron Dinin May 15, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series James Yang/theispot.com On Jan.…

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Building a Data-Driven Culture: Three Mistakes to Avoid

Topics Data, AI, & Machine Learning Data & Data Culture Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images When one of the largest global telecom companies grappled with high…

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How AI Skews Our Sense of Responsibility

Frontiers Research shows how using an AI-augmented system may affect humans’ perception of their own agency and responsibility. Ryad Titah May 13, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Matt Chinworth/theispot.com As artificial…

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The Hazards of Putting Ethics on Autopilot

Frontiers Research Highlight Research shows that employees who are steered by digital nudges may lose some ethical competency. That has implications for how we use the new generation of AI assistants. Julian Friedland, David B. Balkin, and Kristian Ove R. Myrseth May 08, 2024 Reading Time: 6 min  Topics Frontiers…

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How the Smartest CEOs Start

Find the right balance between listening and learning versus acting in this excerpt from The New CEO. Ty Wiggins May 07, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min  subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR The hardest part of a CEO transition is finding the right balance between listening and learning versus acting.…

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Hard Truths About the Meeting After the Meeting

Leaders must encourage respectful debate during meetings and use related strategies to avoid toxic post-meeting dynamics. Phillip G. Clampitt May 06, 2024 Reading Time: 13 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images A leader attempting to quash the meeting after the meeting would be like a coach trying to stop…

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Why Territorial Managers Stifle Innovation — and What to Do About It

Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Gary Waters/Ikon Images Dilip has been working hard on a game-changing idea for a new product. But when he excitedly approaches his boss to share it and get approval for further…

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What Successful Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Get Right

From virtual snowstorms to golden locker boxes, today’s thriving stores feature experiences shoppers can’t get online. Consider five successful tactics. Rob Angell May 02, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Neil Webb/Ikon Images Many retailers with physical stores have felt as if they have been fighting for their lives during the…

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The CEO’s Cyber Resilience Playbook

Research Feature What do CEOs who led through a serious cyberattack regret? Use this guide to learn from their experiences and take smarter actions before, during, and after an attack. Manuel Hepfer, Rashmy Chatterjee, and Michael Smets May 01, 2024 Reading Time: 13 min  Michael Glenwood Gibbs/theispot.com On May 7,…

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Lights, AI, Action: Wonder Dynamics’s Tye Sheridan

Topics Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy The Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy initiative explores the growing use of artificial intelligence in the business landscape. The exploration looks specifically at how AI is affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations. In collaboration with More in this series Get updates…

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The Anomalies of Disruption

Topics Innovation Disruption Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Paolo Beghini/Ikon Images On his office door, Clayton Christensen — who at one point I called my teacher, mentor, boss, colleague, coauthor, and, most…

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Effective Leaders Articulate Values — and Live by Them

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Values lie at the heart of effective leadership, serving as the foundation for decisions and organizational cultures. Yet in the…

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Why You Should Let Your Favorite Employee Move to Another Team

Neil Webb/Ikon Images The Research The authors analyzed 96,712 internal applications submitted to 9,896 open jobs posted by 3,431 hiring managers in the U.S. operations of a Fortune 50 company over a four-year period. This data allowed them to calculate the rate at which a manager’s subordinates were promoted, which…

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Why Companies Need to Lobby for Climate Policy

Frontiers Organizations that want to make real progress on sustainability need to build a business case for climate lobbying. Richard Roberts April 22, 2024 Reading Time: 10 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series MIT SMR/Joshua Sukoff/Unsplash…

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The Unexpected Upsides of Letting Employees Define Their Jobs

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Brian Stauffer/theispot.com In today’s corporate landscape, the pursuit of heightened employee engagement and job satisfaction is imperative. Traditional job structures, often rigid and narrowly scoped, can…

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AI-Related Risks Test the Limits of Organizational Risk Management

Topics Responsible AI The Responsible AI initiative looks at how organizations define and approach responsible AI practices, policies, and standards. Drawing on global executive surveys and smaller, curated expert panels, the program gathers perspectives from diverse sectors and geographies with the aim of delivering actionable insights on this nascent yet…

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The Politics of Place and What It Means for Talent Strategy

Politics increasingly drives where your team wants to live. Here’s how leaders can navigate the red and blue tensions inherent in place. Kimberly Merriman April 17, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The influence of politics on where workers want to live now has key…

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AI and Statistics: Perfect Together

Many companies develop AI models without a solid foundation on which to base predictions — leading to mistrust and failures. Here’s how statistics can help improve results. Thomas C. Redman and Roger W. Hoerl April 16, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images People are often…

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Serve More Customers With Inclusive Product Design

Sjoerd van Leeuwen/theispot.com Imagine a product that millions of people find frustrating to use because of a design choice that could have easily been avoided. If it were your product, wouldn’t you want to know who was frustrated by it and why, how to fix the problem, and how your…

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When AI Investments Pay Off in Marketing

Research Highlight Marketing leaders are realizing gains from AI in three key areas, new research shows: increasing sales productivity, increasing customer satisfaction, and reducing marketing overhead costs. Christine Moorman and Colleen Hickey April 09, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Patrick George / Ikon Images From content creation to software coding…

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A Tale of Two Hot Sauces: Spicing Up Diversification

The contrasting paths of two hot sauce manufacturers show that managing exposure on multiple fronts is essential. Achal Bassamboo and James G. Conley April 08, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The divergent…

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