The Best of This Week
The week’s must-reads for managing in the digital age, curated by the MIT SMR editors.
Topics
Weekly Recap
How Good Citizenship Can Trigger Unethical Leadership
Research shows that people engage in vicarious moral licensing at work, granting themselves leeway to do bad things in light of good deeds performed by close colleagues — and leaders are no exception. Two factors can make leaders susceptible to unethical behavior: narcissism and close identification with team members.
Corporate America Rethinks Political Donations
Many companies halted donations to politicians after last month’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, sparking a reckoning on corporate dollars in politics. Instead of funding politicians to support narrow corporate interests, companies should consider donations that support the broader social good.
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What Makes Super Bowl Ads Shareworthy?
Research shows that emotional triggers in video ads are more likely to move viewers to share the content. Jonah Berger, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania who studies influence and viral marketing, conducted the recent study (the largest of its kind) and shares the top takeaways for marketers.
Defining and Developing Human-Centered Businesses
The events of the past year cast harsh light on the ways that the modern business environment fails to adequately provide basics for workers. But when businesses advance a human-centered culture, they see greater success in driving growth, satisfying customers, and developing committed and engaged employees.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
- First-generation blockchain applications are delivering value by removing friction in shared ecosystems
- To enable better conversation in a meeting, pay special attention to how you begin it
- An economist compares reduced crime rates in two pandemic periods: 2020 and 1918
Quote of the Week:
“What we’ve lost — and all the accompanying grief — can’t be captured by numbers: It’s individual, nuanced, and ever-changing. It will take years for women to fully return to the workforce, likely to lower wages. The damage will be long term.”
— Angela Garbes, author of Like a Mother, in “The Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story”