In description
Ratings and rankings are frequently used to motivate companies to become good corporate citizens. The late Wooseok Jung, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources, and his co-authors, Amanda Sharkey from the University of Notre Dame and David Tan from Johns Hopkins University in the US, studied the response of firms that barely make it into a CSR ranking, such as Tesla. They showed that in a specific context, companies can take significant action in the area of CSR but that these efforts are mostly window dressing.
HEC research professor Craig Anderson has been exploring the impact of “awe” on well-being for over a decade. The specialist in affective science recently published a paper on culture and awe, comparing the emotional approach of Americans and Chinese to this phenomenon. Anderson’s research was at the heart of a 2023 National Geographic documentary “Operation Arctic Cure” which traces the use of awe to alleviate PTSD in veteran soldiers. The American academic shares his insights into a new science reshaping policies in sustainability, marketing and health.
Shocking images get our attention, but the effects might be more nuanced than marketers realise, say Professors L.J. Shrum of HEC Paris and Elena Fumagalli of INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. Their recent paper on ‘shockvertising’ explores the subtle ways in which powerful negative images influence consumers.
By L. J. Shrum
Marc Beretta’s RESKILL Masterclass focused on what he terms the "experience-based qualities for leadership development." These qualities were gathered from over 20 years of coaching top executives around the world. Drawing on over 20,000 hours of experience and real-life examples, Beretta identifies six core leadership qualities: awareness, agility, eco-friendliness, high standards, kindness, and co-visionary thinking. Beretta argues that such assets help leaders not only develop themselves but also foster healthier, more productive environments in their organizations. Extracts.
Despite advances in workplace equality, the gender gap in leadership persists. Women continue to be underrepresented in management positions, particularly in male-dominated sectors. This gap is not just a result of discrimination or lack of opportunity but is partly rooted in how societal expectations influence leadership aspirations. Ekaterina Netchaeva, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources at HEC Paris, is a leading researcher on gender dynamics in the workplace. Her extensive work, relayed by Bloomberg and Forbes, delves into the complexities behind why women aspire less to leadership roles than men. During her HEC RESKILL masterclass, Netchaeva explored the underlying causes of this leadership gap.
This summer’s eruption of violence in the UK has renewed searching questions on the role social media plays in our society. It has also accelerated calls for new or revamped regulation of the country’s social media platforms, encapsuled in the UK’s Online Safety Act. But online violence and brutalization do not confine themselves to politicized and stigmatized communities. HEC Professor Kristine de Valck has explored, with fellow academics Olivier Sibai (University of Bath) and Marius K. Lüdicke (WU Vienna), the presence of direct, cultural, and structural violence in an online community that few researchers would imagine: the British electronic dance music community. Kristine shares her decade-long research on one such leisure-oriented community, on a phenomenon also observed on Reddit, Twitch and Discord platforms. She suggests ways to mitigate such online brutalization of consumers.
By Kristine De Valck
This business case was written by Associate Professor Luc Paugam, Forvis Mazars Chair for Purposeful Governance at HEC Paris, and Professor Florian Hoos, Professor of Sustainability and ESG Accounting at IMD, it has been published in the Case Centre.
For luxury retail brands, selling their goods in other businesses’ stores may be an effective way of reaching more customers. But the employees at these stores might play a bigger role in the success of these distribution partnerships than expected, write Dominique Rouziès of HEC Paris and her co-authors Moumita Das Gyomlai of Ohio University, Michael Ahearne of the University of Houston, and Jean-Noël Kapferer of INSEEC U in their recent paper.Key findings:Salespeople in non-owned stores are important for selling luxury brands.Luxury can thrive in non-luxury environments if the store employees are engaged and perceive a strong fit between the store's brand and the luxury brand.To enhance this brand fit and improve sales performance in non-owned stores, luxury brands should invest in brand-specific training and communicate a clear rationale for the partnership.
By Dominique Rouziès
Online reputation matters in the food industry. With every star earned on Tripadvisor, for example, a popular eatery can attract more customers, bolster revenue and expand its business. What’s more, new research by HEC Professor of finance François Derrien and co-authors Alexandre Garel (Audencia Business School), Arthur Romec (TBS Business School) and Jean-Philippe Weisskopf (EHL Hospitality Business School) have confirmed there is a causal link between a restaurant’s ratings and its ability to service additional debt, making it easier for lenders today to identify successful restaurants and drive their growth.
By François Derrien
Central bankers have recently been under considerable pressure. They responded to the recent surge in inflation with rate hikes that not only raised concerns about economic growth but also increased the cost of issuing new public debt, constraining fiscal policy and potentially making some public debt unsustainable.
By Eric Mengus
