If/Then: Research findings to help us navigate complex issues in business, leadership, and society

Why I Research: Findings Fueled by the Head and the Heart

Sep 25, 2024

Baba Shiv, a marketing professor, dives into the interplay of reason and emotion in decision-making, revealing his own 'irrational' journey in understanding choices. Meanwhile, Mohammad Akbarpour, an economics professor, shares his transition from engineering to exploring market design, motivated by a blend of mathematics and human behavior. Both guests challenge traditional assumptions in their fields, highlighting how personal experiences fuel their research and insights into complex issues like authority and economic disparity.

09:22

Episode guests

Mohammad Akbarpour

Baba Shiv

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Personal experiences significantly influence scholarly research, as seen in Baba Shiv's exploration of emotional versus rational decision-making informed by his own life choices.

Challenging established economic assumptions, Mohammad Akbarpour's research highlights the complex interplay between individual perceptions of value and welfare economics in addressing disparities.

Deep dives

The Emotional Basis of Decision Making

The exploration of decision-making reveals that emotions play a critical role in the process, as highlighted by the experiences of researcher Baba Shiv. He reflects on his own impulsive decisions, such as choosing a career path in academia over a corporate route, which he made within a short timeframe. This personal journey led him to question whether good decisions are truly rational or driven by emotional factors. His work aims to challenge common assumptions about human behavior, asking whether we should reconsider what constitutes a sound decision.

Intro

3min

Challenging Economic Assumptions: A Personal Journey

3min

Exploring Power Dynamics: Personal Insights and Anecdotes

4min

This special episode of If/Then: Business, Leadership, Society explores the personal stories behind Stanford GSB faculty's groundbreaking research. Discover how individual experiences shape scholarly inquiry.

Baba Shiv, professor of marketing, examines decision-making and the brain's liking and wanting systems. His self-proclaimed "irrational" nature led him to question whether good decisions are based on reason or emotion.
Mohammad Akbarpour, professor of economics, found his passion in market design, seeing economics as "the right mix of thinking about humans and mathematics." His research on welfare economics stems from observing economic disparities in his native Iran.
Deborah Gruenfeld, professor of organizational behavior, studies power dynamics inspired by her early career and family history. Her work reveals how even arbitrary positions of authority can dramatically alter behavior.

These faculty remind us that behind every groundbreaking theory are real people driven by curiosity to make sense of the world around them. Join us to hear how personal journeys fuel impactful business research.

Key Takeaways:

Personal experiences shape research: Leading scholars draw inspiration from their own lives and observations, leading to innovative research questions and approaches.
Challenging assumptions drives discovery: Researchers like Baba Shiv, Mohammad Akbarpour, and Deborah Gruenfeld push boundaries by questioning fundamental assumptions in their fields and themselves, leading to new insights.
Human stories behind data: This episode reveals that even in data-driven fields like economics and organizational behavior, personal narratives and curiosity play a crucial role in shaping impactful research.

More Resources:

Baba Shiv, faculty profile
Mohammad Akbarpour, faculty profile
Deborah Gruenfeld, faculty profile

If/Then is a podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society. For a full transcript of this episode, visit our podcast’s website: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-i-research-findings-fueled-head-heart

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