Sustaining Culture When Everyone’s Remote

There can be profound corporate cultural losses when we’re all remote. When workers are not physically together, we may lose cohesion, productive serendipity, and a sense of belonging — on an individual, team, and organizational level. Related Reading Jennifer Howard-Grenville, “How to Sustain Your Organization’s Culture When Everyone Is Remote,”...

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The Best of This Week

Back to the Future With Returning CEOs? Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple — the company he cofounded — in 1985, only to return and rebuild the company in the 1990s. Many other companies have also turned to former CEOs, known as “boomerang CEOs,” in times of need, but little was known until now about the impact of these rehires. This comparative investigation...

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Boomerang CEOs: What Happens When the CEO Comes Back?

In the spring of 1985, the board of Apple Computer made the fateful decision to force out cofounder Steve Jobs. Apple struggled over the next decade, losing much of its market share and dominance in the personal computer industry. As it neared collapse in 1996, Jobs returned to retake the reins of the company he had created. Through a series of brilliant...

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How Job Crafting Can Make Work More Satisfying

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of employee engagement for organizations. Disengagement results in lost productivity that costs employers an estimated $500 million annually. According to Gallup research, over 65% of workers don’t consider themselves engaged and want their jobs and current roles to be more satisfying, meaningful, and fulfilling....

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Working With Robots in a Post-Pandemic World

Whether you turn to news outlets, tech magazines, or academic sources for insight, you’re likely to hear that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to drive massive growth in automation, especially via robots.1 The arguments in favor of this view seem reasonable: Main Street might look dead, but companies that provide shippable goods have been facing double,...

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Cooperative Advantage: Rethinking the Company’s Purpose

As companies reopen and recalibrate during these turbulent times, it’s worth asking whether they should resume business as usual or whether their true purpose should instead be reconceptualized. Indeed, capitalism itself is being challenged due to inequities in employment, health care, and education that the pandemic has only emphasized as the model’s...

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Can We Amplify the Good and Contain the Bad of Social Media?

Sinan Aral is the David Austin Professor of Management at MIT. To listen to an audio version of Paul Michelman's conversation with Sinan Aral, you can download or stream the latest episode of MIT SMR's Three Big Points podcast, “Inside the Hype Machine.” In his new book, The Hype Machine (Currency, 2020), MIT Sloan professor Sinan Aral takes...

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The Best of This Week

Sensemaking Is Critical for Navigating Complexity Many leadership models are missing a key ingredient: sensemaking, the capability for navigating change and planning through uncertainty. As our world grows more complex — and in the face of difficult, uncertain circumstances — executives need to recognize sensemaking as a crucial leadership tool and...

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BRAVE Conversations About Race

In the past few months, there have been strong calls for organizations to join the movement in the fight against racial injustice, and many have started to answer this call. Although many see the value in addressing race and racism in organizations, it can be difficult to have conversations about these topics in the workplace. Related Reading ...

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Our Guide to the Fall 2020 Issue

Plotting Strategy in a Dynamic World David J. Teece, Paul G. Raspin, and David R. Cox Organizations can never be fully prepared for an unanticipated shock. But the most resilient ones learn to expect the unexpected. They can rebound quickly and take advantage of opportunities that emerge. A framework developed by the authors offers four sets of...

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