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
What Makes a Framework Work?
Some conceptual frameworks, like the BCG growth share matrix and SWOT analysis, have had a lasting impact on business strategy and practice. This article looks at the seven evaluation criteria — comprehensiveness, utility, validation, clarity, memorability, integration, and differentiation — that distinguish effective and enduring business frameworks.
Three Strategies for Using Digital Personas Successfully
Deepfakes have received much (well-deserved) bad press. But the underlying technology has potential for building more positive customer experiences and applications for societal good. This article outlines three strategies that can help organizations address the risks of using digital avatars to advance their business and social goals.
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Beating Burnout With an NBA Strategy
When building out a hybrid work plan, companies must be cognizant that burnout is at an all-time high. To avoid overtaxing their best talent, businesses can take a page from professional sports, where championship-winning teams like the NBA’s Toronto Raptors rely on load management techniques to keep players healthy. Forward-thinking companies can get ahead of workload issues by building out a “virtual talent bench.”
The Workplace Benefits of Volunteer Work
Performing volunteer work for a charitable cause can help employees develop valuable skills for their jobs. But programs with that goal can backfire if volunteers believe that their employer’s real motive is to profit through improved performance. People are more receptive when managers are transparent about the gains that can be achieved for all parties involved.
Revolutionizing Africa’s Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity
At a vaccine summit earlier this month, African health leaders laid out plans to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity and boost the continent’s regulatory bodies for medicines. Kick-starting successful vaccine manufacturing will require at least four key elements: significant financing, expanded research capacity, a commitment from governments to purchase vaccines, and regulatory bodies that meet international standards.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
- Five ways to ensure the post-pandemic recovery focuses on women (Source: Fortune)
- Proactively supporting employees’ mental health and wellness benefits both workers and companies (Source: MIT SMR)
- A manager and an employee dissect Basecamp’s controversial new memo banning internal “societal and political discussions” (Source: Quartz)
Quote of the Week:
“Dignity, rather than diversity, is the foundation for building work environments that acknowledge and value the humanity of each person. It is the cornerstone upon which organizations can create environments based in belonging and justice.”
— Aida Mariam Davis, founder and CEO of Decolonize Design, in “Dignity Is the Bedrock for Workplace Belonging”