From virtual snowstorms to golden locker boxes, today’s thriving stores feature experiences shoppers can’t get online. Consider five successful tactics. Rob Angell May 02, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Neil Webb/Ikon Images Many retailers with physical stores have felt as if they have been fighting for their lives during the past decade. A constant stream of media and industry analysis…

Research Feature What do CEOs who led through a serious cyberattack regret? Use this guide to learn from their experiences and take smarter actions before, during, and after an attack. Manuel Hepfer, Rashmy Chatterjee, and Michael Smets May 01, 2024 Reading Time: 13 min  Michael Glenwood Gibbs/theispot.com On May 7, 2021, executives at Colonial Pipeline discovered that cybercriminals had launched…

Topics Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy The Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy initiative explores the growing use of artificial intelligence in the business landscape. The exploration looks specifically at how AI is affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations. In collaboration with More in this series Get updates by email Please enter a valid email address Thank you…

Topics Innovation Disruption Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Paolo Beghini/Ikon Images On his office door, Clayton Christensen — who at one point I called my teacher, mentor, boss, colleague, coauthor, and, most importantly, friend — had a handcrafted sign saying, “Anomalies Wanted.”…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Values lie at the heart of effective leadership, serving as the foundation for decisions and organizational cultures. Yet in the lecture halls, meeting rooms, and offices where we teach leadership,…

Neil Webb/Ikon Images The Research The authors analyzed 96,712 internal applications submitted to 9,896 open jobs posted by 3,431 hiring managers in the U.S. operations of a Fortune 50 company over a four-year period. This data allowed them to calculate the rate at which a manager’s subordinates were promoted, which in turn enabled them to examine whether managers whose subordinates…

Frontiers Organizations that want to make real progress on sustainability need to build a business case for climate lobbying. Richard Roberts April 22, 2024 Reading Time: 10 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series MIT SMR/Joshua Sukoff/Unsplash In recent years, thousands of companies worldwide have made net-zero…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Brian Stauffer/theispot.com In today’s corporate landscape, the pursuit of heightened employee engagement and job satisfaction is imperative. Traditional job structures, often rigid and narrowly scoped, can lead to diminished motivation, lower productivity, and elevated turnover rates.…

Topics Responsible AI The Responsible AI initiative looks at how organizations define and approach responsible AI practices, policies, and standards. Drawing on global executive surveys and smaller, curated expert panels, the program gathers perspectives from diverse sectors and geographies with the aim of delivering actionable insights on this nascent yet important focus area for leaders across industry. In collaboration with…

Politics increasingly drives where your team wants to live. Here’s how leaders can navigate the red and blue tensions inherent in place. Kimberly Merriman April 17, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The influence of politics on where workers want to live now has key implications for a company’s talent strategy. A survey of 500…

Many companies develop AI models without a solid foundation on which to base predictions — leading to mistrust and failures. Here’s how statistics can help improve results. Thomas C. Redman and Roger W. Hoerl April 16, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images People are often unsure why artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms work. More…

Sjoerd van Leeuwen/theispot.com Imagine a product that millions of people find frustrating to use because of a design choice that could have easily been avoided. If it were your product, wouldn’t you want to know who was frustrated by it and why, how to fix the problem, and how your organization could avoid making similar mistakes in the future? Obviously,…

Research Highlight Marketing leaders are realizing gains from AI in three key areas, new research shows: increasing sales productivity, increasing customer satisfaction, and reducing marketing overhead costs. Christine Moorman and Colleen Hickey April 09, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Patrick George / Ikon Images From content creation to software coding and customer segmentation, artificial intelligence deployment fever is real. But…

The contrasting paths of two hot sauce manufacturers show that managing exposure on multiple fronts is essential. Achal Bassamboo and James G. Conley April 08, 2024 Reading Time: 5 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The divergent fates of two rival condiment businesses — the best of…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The battle to get companies to take sustainability seriously is essentially over. Even in the face of the “anti-ESG” movement — a very American phenomenon — there are vanishingly few…

Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Ethics is often associated with the abstract realm of philosophers. But there’s nothing abstract about the risks for business leaders: Ethical missteps can expose their companies to a host of reputational, regulatory, and legal risks. In response, companies develop ethical guidelines or codes for decision makers and set up boards to govern guideline usage.…

Previous waves of technology have ushered in innovations that strengthened traditional organizational structure. Not so for generative AI and large language models. Ethan Mollick April 02, 2024 Reading Time: 11 min  Topics Data, AI, & Machine Learning AI & Machine Learning Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Consider this an early eulogy for the traditional organizational structure, which began in…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images I recently interviewed 20 of my customers, all in senior roles at Fortune 100 companies, and asked them their biggest pain point in presenting to higher-ups and even colleagues. What…

In this short video, two experts share insights on how AI is reshaping work, workers, and talent ecosystems. MIT Sloan Management Review March 28, 2024 Reading Time: 1 min  subscribe-icon Subscribe Share [embedded content] Today’s leaders must grapple with big expectations for the impact of AI on the workforce — and an even larger amount of hype. Will AI automate…

Topics AI in Action This column series looks at the biggest data and analytics challenges facing modern companies and dives deep into successful use cases that can help other organizations accelerate their AI progress. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Alice Mollon / Ikon Images In 2022, we argued in the MIT Sloan Management Review AI in Action series…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Andrew Baker / Ikon Images I’ve been thinking about technology and trust for much of my career. Here’s one example: Back in 2011, my research focused on the intersection of human trust, robots, and highly critical,…

Daniele Petecchi didn’t realize how complex the process of producing tires was until he joined Pirelli, a company that’s been in the business of manufacturing tires for more than 150 years. But now, as head of data management and AI, he’s focused on leveraging the company’s wealth of data to meet the stringent technical, quality, and performance requirements of the…

Burnish your brand to meet the challenge of talent acquisition by taking some cues from consumer branding. Kimberly A. Whitler and Richard Mosley March 25, 2024 Reading Time: 14 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR A consistent priority issue for boards of directors and CEOs is the acquisition and retention of talent. In a 2023 Manpower study of more than 30,000 employers…

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Recent return-to-office (RTO) mandates like those at UPS and Boeing have a simple message: Come back to the office five days a week. CEOs cite productivity as a core reason…

Learn how to better support neurodiversity, as explained in this excerpt from the forthcoming book The Canary Code. Ludmila N. Praslova March 19, 2024 Reading Time: 12 min  subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Jessica is an ace data analyst; her mind excels at seeing connections that others miss. For many years, she delivered outstanding work and…

AT&T found a way to help workers kill outdated processes and tools that wasted time, energy, and money — one drop at a time. Here’s how the approach works. Jeremy Legg March 18, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min  Kevin Foley/MIT SMR; Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR An $8 expense — rejected because of a travel policy technicality — led to my own…

Magazine Spring 2024 Issue Radar Younger employees have high expectations for themselves, their leaders, and their weekends. Cynthia E. Clark March 11, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min  Topics Radar Brief insights on emerging trends in management from the opening pages of MIT Sloan Management Review’s quarterly print magazine. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty…

Magazine Spring 2024 Issue Unpacking what it takes to build and deploy a large language model reveals which players stand to gain the most — and where newer entrants might have the best prospects. Kartik Hosanagar and Ramayya Krishnan March 12, 2024 Reading Time: 18 min  Topics Data, AI, & Machine Learning AI & Machine Learning Jon Krause In the…

Magazine Spring 2024 Issue Big companies and risk capital can be awkward partners. Here’s how to get corporate venturing right. Ilya A. Strebulaev and Amanda Wang March 12, 2024 Reading Time: 22 min  Jon Krause The Research The authors set out to investigate factors in the success or failure of corporate venture capital initiatives. They interviewed leaders of 164 CVC…

subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Who Profits the Most From Generative AI? Kartik Hosanagar and Ramayya Krishnan Key Insight: A breakdown of what it takes to build and deploy a large language model shows where incumbents have the best prospects for success and where newer companies have an edge. Top Takeaways: Since the launch of ChatGPT, interest and investments in generative AI…

Topics Leadership Leading Change Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Jon Krause Our ambition at MIT Sloan Management Review is to arm business leaders with information to make a positive impact: on your organizations and careers, for sure, and also on your employees,…

Radar Amid supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, is the U.S. less reliant on imports than it used to be? Omri Nahmias March 11, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min  Topics Radar Brief insights on emerging trends in management from the opening pages of MIT Sloan Management Review’s quarterly print magazine. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR…

Topics Radar Brief insights on emerging trends in management from the opening pages of MIT Sloan Management Review’s quarterly print magazine. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share MIT Sloan Management Review: What spurred your focus on employee ownership? Vicente Reynal: As a leader, I had experienced great equity appreciation at the companies I had worked at. But I kept…

Applying thoughtful approaches to pronouncing an unfamiliar name can enhance inclusivity and belonging at work. Elisa S.M. Fattoracci and Larissa R. Garcia March 07, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Anne Wojcicki, Indra Nooyi, Ginni Rometty, and Oscar Munoz are all distinguished Fortune 500 CEOs with something else in common: Their names are often mispronounced.…

Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Sanyin Siang March 06, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min  Topics Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Leadership roles come with new personal and professional challenges — and Sanyin Siang, board and CEO coach, adviser, and author, is here to help with an advice column for top managers. More in this series I am considering new opportunities…

Topics Innovation Innovation Strategy Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Growth-oriented companies that seek to foster a culture of innovation have no shortage of good project ideas. However, many of them will fall outside the control of existing business lines or the organization’s formal structures for managing innovation, such as the R&D department. As a result, potentially valuable programs can…

1. “Beyond the Buzz: A Look at Large Language Models in Production,” PDF (San Francisco: Predibase, 2023), https://go.predibase.com. 2. A. Rosenbaum, S. Soltan, and W. Hamza, “Using Large Language Models (LLMs) to Synthesize Training Data,” Amazon Science, Jan. 20, 2023, www.amazon.science. 3. “Storm Reply Launches RAG-Based AI Chatbot for Audi, Revolutionising Internal Documentation,” Business Wire, Dec. 21, 2023, www.businesswire.com. 4.…

As leaders consider which skills to focus on developing in 2024, change management and emotional intelligence might top the list. Even as leaders are called on to craft strategy around the use of artificial intelligence, the harder problems involve steering teams through all of the changes AI continues to bring. If you’re one of those leaders, you’ll need to not…

Marketers have long benchmarked their budgets against their peers’ spending. But it’s time to seek better metrics than the average budget. In his 2015 book The End of Average, Todd Rose warns against “averagarians” designing systems based on the mean or judging success in terms of the deviation from the mean. He highlights Gilbert Daniels, an anti-averager hero, whose research…

The Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy initiative explores the growing use of artificial intelligence in the business landscape. The exploration looks specifically at how AI is affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations. As an associate professor at Harvard Business School and cofounder of the Customer Intelligence Lab at the school’s Digital Data Design Institute, Ayelet Israeli’s work…