3590 Posts Found

In the office or in a lecture hall, women are no less capable than men, biologically and intellectually. Yet gender disparity, equal pay, and other gender issues persist. Why? Even with programs that seek to create gender equality becoming increasingly common, men and women are working on an uneven playing field. Here are five ways the work environment is unfair, and what women — and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Deborah Khan, Lisa Unwin | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Women in Business

As companies grow, one of the biggest challenges is how to maintain cohesion. At the beginning, as companies get bigger, they get more effective through specialization of labor. But when they reach around 1,000 employees and above, you start to see reductions in productivity per person as communication breaks down. If you have a junior person in one department who needs to speak to another … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Elon Musk | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior

Just because information may be incomplete, based on conjecture, or notably biased does not mean that it should be treated as “garbage.” Soft information does have value. Sometimes, it may even be essential, especially when people try to “connect the dots” between more exact inputs or make a best guess for the emerging future.

To optimize available information in an intelligent, nuanced way, companies should strive … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Helen Mayhew, Simon Williams, Tamim Saleh | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Decision Making, IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management, Management

To gauge the impact of diversity and inclusion efforts, companies typically track metrics on the hiring, attrition, promotion, and composition of the current workforce. While such statistics are useful, they don’t provide a fully accurate picture. In reality, diversity and inclusion are not merely the number of nonwhite male employees you have. Rather, a truly inclusive organization contains a diverse cross-section of employees who actually … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Bogdan Yamkovenko | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Women in Business

Human beings’ temporal awareness includes a personal, subjective sense of continuity between past, present and anticipated future. If that internal flow of events is crudely interrupted and nothing promises to restore it, we tend to resist. Even the most obviously necessary improvements will meet forceful opposition.

Content: Quotation | Author: Quy Huy | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

Unfortunately, so often when people try to motivate others they take responsibility rather than helping the person find responsibility themselves.

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Ryan | Source: University of Rochester | Subjects: Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

There are 10 gender “impact zones” that need to be addressed in order to accelerate progress toward gender parity.

Content: Article | Authors: Anu Madgavkar, Kweilin Ellingrud, Mekala Krishnan | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Women in Business

Professor David Lewin says incentives make sense for all employees.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: David Lewin | Source: UCLA | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

I think a good way to think about agility is the ability of a company to strike a balance between their “explorative endeavors” (innovation, R&D, entering new markets) and their day-to-day focus on execution and meeting their margins—what we could call their “exploitative side.” These so-called “ambidextrous organizations” are able to exploit their current position while keeping their eyes focused on their external environment, reacting … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Ioannis Ioannou | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Most companies have leaders with the strong operational skills needed to maintain the status quo. But they face a critical deficit: They lack people in positions of power with the know-how, experience, and confidence required to tackle what management scientists call “wicked problems.” Such problems can’t be solved by a single command, they have causes that seem incomprehensible and solutions that seem uncertain, and they … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: David Lancefield, Jessica Leitch, Mark Dawson | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Strategy

Questions are a great management tool.

Asking questions elicits information, of course. Asking questions creates the space for people to raise issues they are worried about that a boss, or colleagues, may not know about. Asking questions lets people tell a different story than the one you’re expecting. Most important from my perspective, asking questions means people have to make their case for the way they … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Brian Grazer | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

The fear of being a fool is stronger than the hope of being a genius. So we tend to shy away from non-consensus moves, because we understand the world will look at our errors as if we’re a complete idiot.

Content: Quotation | Author: William P. Barnett | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

Many commentators suggest that gender diversity in the corporate boardroom improves company performance because of the different points of view and experience it offers. However, rigorous, peer-reviewed academic research paints a different picture. Despite the intuitive appeal of the argument that gender diversity on the board improves company performance, research suggests otherwise.

Results of numerous academic studies of the topic suggest that the presence of more … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Katherine Klein | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Women in Business

Leaders also have to understand that group decision making falls into two distinct steps, which require different approaches. In the first step — identifying solutions — divergence is necessary. The group has to be encouraged to explore boundaries, search broadly, and expand its thinking in order to find the best options for the problem at hand. But the second step, in which the group selects … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Cass R. Sunstein, Ken Favaro, Reid Hastie | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

If stepping into a new leadership role has you feeling a little nervous, multiply that feeling by ten to estimate the apprehension rippling through your new team. While you may be wondering whether you are up for the challenge, the people anticipating your arrival are wondering, “What’s going to happen to me?”

As you manage first impressions, existential anxiety can be paralyzing to the workforce. So … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Karen Cates | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

… what attracts human attention is change. […] if the temperature around you changes, if the phone rings — that gets your attention. The way in which a story begins is a starting event that creates a moment of change.

Content: Quotation | Author: Robert McKee | Source: Medium | Subjects: Attention, Marketing / Sales, Personality / Behavior

Professor Samuel Culbert says a good working relationship is a two-way street.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Samuel Culbert | Source: UCLA | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Narcissists can be disastrous for groups and organizations alike, because they typically want complete transformation even when the system is not broken. But when those narcissists are communal, it can temper much of the downside of narcissism. Instead of avoiding narcissists, organizations may be better served in selecting the right type of narcissist. Our research suggests that finding communal narcissists could bring the best of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Randall S. Peterson | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior, Teamwork

Narcissists can be valuable when change is necessary and systemic, but more trouble than they’re worth at almost any other time.

Content: Quotation | Author: Randall S. Peterson | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

Feedback is very useful for telling us “where we are.” In my experience, there are a hundred wrong ways to ask for feedback and one right way. Most of us know the wrong ways. We ask people, “What do you think of me?” “How do you feel about me?” “What do you hate about me?” or “What do you like about me?” Think about your … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Marshall Goldsmith | Subjects: Career, Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development