Brain for Business

We have all been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic… perhaps we have had COVID ourselves, perhaps friends, family and loved ones have suffered. Yet how has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on wellness and well -being in the workplace? And what does this mean for individuals and organisations?For this, our 50th episode, we speak to Professor Thomas Roulet of the University of Cambridge to explore the trends in workplace wellness and wellbeing, and consider what the future might hold.Thomas Roulet is Associate Professor in Organisation Theory at the University of Cambridge and Deputy Director of the MBA Programme at Judge Business School. He is a Fellow in Sociology and Director of Studies in Management at Girton College, Cambridge, and Bye-Fellow and Co-Director of the King’s Entrepreneurship Lab at King’s CollegePrior to starting an academic career, Thomas worked in Debt Capital Markets on a trading floor in London, and for the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) in Paris.His work has appeared in a variety of scientific outlets in management, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Management Studies, British Journal of Management), ethics (Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society), and more broadly in social sciences and sociology His book The Power of Being Divisive: Understanding Negative Social Evaluations was the runner-up for the George Terry book award of the Academy of Management in 2021, an award recognising the book having made the most important contribution to the field of management. The Financial Times described the book as “a fascinating study of the social-media fuelled and fast-changing landscape of public opinion, and the possible ways in which that might be beneficial”.Thomas’ personal website is www.thomasroulet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While we might assume that all psychopaths are serial killers, the reality is that they are just as likely to be “snakes in suits”, haunting the corridors of any workplace. But what are the key traits of psychopaths? What careers do they tend to pursue? And what should you do if you are afraid that your boss is a psychopath – or worse, that you might be one? To explore these and other questions further we are joined by leading expert in the science of psychopaths, Professor Cristina Crego, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Longwood University in Virginia. Dr. Cristina Crego earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Kentucky. Her research investigates both empirically and conceptually the importance of shifting the classification of personality disorders from the traditional categorical model to a dimensional approach. Dr. Crego also publishes on various diagnostic and assessment issues related to conceptualizing personality disorders, with a strong emphasis on utilizing the five factor model (FFM) of general personality structure. Some of Dr. Crego’s most recent work focuses on assessment and diagnostic issues related to the personality syndrome of Psychopathy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While once we might have been reluctant to have hybrid meetings, the COVID-19 pandemic and varying return-to-work protocols means that they are almost inevitable. But how can we hybrid meetings work more effectively and be more engaging and productive?Joseph A. Allen is a Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Utah. Before he completed his doctorate (Ph. D.) in Organizational Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) in 2010, he received his Master of Arts degree in I/O Psychology at the UNCC in 2008 and his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the Brigham Young University in 2005. Professor Allen’s research focuses on three major areas of inquiry including the study of workplace meetings, organizational community engagement, and occupational safety and health, and he directs the Center for Meeting Effectiveness housed in the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. Professor Allen’s latest book – Suddenly Hybrid: managing the modern meeting – authored with Karin M Reed, was published in 2022 by Wiley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The question of why we forget history has never been more relevant – only a few short years ago almost nobody had heard of the so-called “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918-1919. Yet with advent of COVID-19 we all became familiar with the history of that and other pandemics.But when we consider the forgetting of history, an even more important question emerges which has relevance for us all: why do we remember history? And what does this tell us about ourselves and how we view ourselves, our past and our present?Professor Guy Beiner is the Sullivan Chair in Irish Studies at Boston College where he specializes in the historical study of remembering and forgetting. Other interests include oral history, folklore, public history and heritage, historiography, terrorism and the so called ‘Spanish’ Influenza pandemic. His books on history, memory and forgetting in Ireland have won multiple international awards.Professor Beiner was previously professor of modern history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and has held research fellowships at Trinity College Dublin, University of Notre Dame, Central European University, University of Oxford, as well being a former Burns Scholar at Boston College. Professor Beiner's most recent book – Pandemic Re-Awakenings: The Forgotten and Unforgotten ‘Spanish’ Flu of 1918-1919 – was published by Oxford University Press in 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regardless of whether we think of carrots or sticks, incentives influence and shape our behaviours. But what are incentives? Why are some incentives more important than others? And how can leaders and organisations make better use of incentives in their day-to-day work?Jason Murphy is an economist who has worked at the Australian Treasury, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Nauru, and has written for the Australian Financial Review. He writes regularly for News.com.au and Crikey, blogs and has a passion for bringing economics into the everyday world. Jason’s 2019 book Incentivology explored the mechanisms behind many spectacular failures and successes in our history, culture and everyday lives, and shows us how to use (or lose) incentives in our world at large. Mathew Dunckley, writing in Australia’s premier newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, asserted that 'Jason Murphy possesses that rare gift of originality of thought and, rarer still, the ability to write about it with clarity, wit and insight.' Jason blogs regularly at https://thomasthethinkengine.com/And can be followed on Twitter @jasemurphy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a recent paper published in the journal Research Policy, Professor Louise Mors of Copenhagen Business School, together with Professor David Waguespack of the University of Maryland explore the collaboration process undertaken by research teams. In particular they consider situations where teams are geographically dispersed and the challenges of coordination they face. A key, intriguing finding: dispersed teams tend to succeed fast, but fail slow!Louise Mors is a Professor of Strategic and International Management at the Copenhagen Business School and has also been on the faculty at the London Business School. She has a PhD from INSEAD in France and was a post-doc at the Sloan School at MIT. With a focus on large, global firms, Professor Mors' research examines the relationship between senior managers’ informal networks, organization design and performance. Recently her work has also examined the role of female directors on corporate boards. Professor Mors’ work has been published in the top strategy and management journals, such as the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science and the Academy of Management Journal. You can find out more about Louise’s research into teams here: https://hbr.org/2021/05/research-dispersed-teams-succeed-fast-fail-slowAnd on her CBS page: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-strategy-and-innovation/staff/lmsi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While organisations can in some circumstances benefit from “strong leaders”, their longer lasting impact is not always so beneficial. By considering politics and political parties, Eoin O’Malley and his colleague Despina Alexiadou of Strathclyde University examine how they strong leaders can ultimately end up undermining the very parties they lead.Eoin O'Malley is an Associate Professor in political science at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. There he teaches politics and public policy and is the Director of the BA in Economics, Politics and Law.Eoin’s research specialism is Irish politics and particularly the position of the Taoiseach or Prime Minister and cabinet government in Ireland, though he also does work on the Irish party system, media coverage of Irish elections and public policy. His most recent research is on the office of Taoiseach (prime minister).Eoin has authored over forty articles in peer-reviewed journals, a textbook, Contemporary Ireland, published by Palgrave Macmillan, and co-edited four other books on Irish politics. His most recent book is Resilient Reporting: Media Coverage of Irish Elections since 1969. He is a former co-editor of Irish Political Studies and regular newspaper columnist and a frequent contributor to national debates.The article with Despina Alexiadou is available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3933864 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boredom. Something we all experience, yet so rarely think about. In reality, boredom is a normal aspect of the human experience so it is vital to ask: What is boredom, why do we experience it, and what happens when we do? Dr. Erin Westgate is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Florida, where she studies boredom, interest, and why some thoughts are more engaging than others. She received her PhD in social psychology from the University of Virginia in 2018, with intriguingly titled doctoral dissertation: “Why boredom is interesting”.Much of Erin’s research has been on the conditions under which people enjoy or do not enjoy their own thoughts. She has extended that work to the larger question of why people become bored, developing a new model of boredom that explains what boredom is, why we experience it, and what happens when we do. More information on Erin’s research is available on her website: https://www.erinwestgate.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

These days every organisation wants its teams to be more entrepreneurial and innovative. From holacracy to skunk-works and MBO to self-managing teams, a wide range of approaches have been tested over time. Yet what are the key variables that drive greater performance in entrepreneurial teams?In a recent paper published in the journal Organization Science, Professor Linus Dahlander and colleagues explored the way that entrepreneurial teams are organised and structured. By looking at two key variables – autonomy over who to work with or what to work on – Dahlander and colleagues identified some key approaches that leaders and organisations can use to help their teams be more creative and innovative.Linus Dahlander is a professor at the European School of Management and Technology - ESMT Berlin, Director of Research, and the holder of the Lufthansa Group Chair in Innovation. He received his PhD in from Chalmers University of Technology and undertook post doctoral studies at Stanford University. He was previously an assistant professor and an Advanced Institute of Management Research Fellow with the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at Imperial College Business School.Linus teaches in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, and networks, and is also a consultant and advisor to startups, large multinationals as well as government organizations on issues around innovation and networks. In 2017, Linus was recognized as one of the Best 40 Under 40 Professors by Poets & Quants.In his ongoing research Linus investigates how new ideas and innovations are developed in networks and communities. The ongoing projects use large-scale analysis of networks, which he integrates with a deeper appreciation for what content flows through networks. Linus seeks to study novel questions which can advance the academic literature, and which at the same time focus on issues that can affect how managers think about their business to help them make better decisions.Linus’ research has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Research Policy, and Strategic Management Journal among others. He served as an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Journal in the 2013-2016 editorial team. The articles discussed in the interview can be accessed here:https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/full/10.1287/orsc.2021.1520(Boss, V., Dahlander, L., Ihl, C., & Jayaraman, R. (2021). Organizing Entrepreneurial Teams: A Field Experiment on Autonomy over Choosing Teams and Ideas. Organization Science.)https://hbr.org/2021/12/when-autonomy-helps-team-performance-and-when-it-doesnt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the “Great Resignation” apparently upon us, more and more people are considering ways of re-calibrating and finding a new path. Yet how do we really know what it will be like to work for a potential employer? And when employers insist on strict non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements, what information can you really trust? In this episode of Brain for Business, Brain for Life we speak to Jason Sockin of the University of Pennsylvania to learn more about his research into the way that employers seek to manage the information flow, and how potential employees can try to gain a clear and genuine picture of life on the inside. Along the way we find out about the challenges of ratings websites and about the curious role played by “sock puppets”!Jason Sockin is a doctoral candidate in economics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on how the internet and technology have fundamentally altered how firms and workers interact in today's labor market. He has worked as a researcher at Penn Wharton Budget Model, Glassdoor, The Congressional Budget Office, The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama Administration, and The Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His research has been covered in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, and most recently in an Op-Ed for the Washington Post.To find out more visit Jason's website: https://sites.google.com/view/jasonsockin/home Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.