One of the big problems in life is understanding achievements. We often find it fairly simple to look at the resources devoted to some activity. This isn’t always a terrible thing to look at because a pretty good correlation can exist between resource input and good things happening. Yet, this connection is far from perfect….
Category: Management Theory
Time To Get Past Malthus
When reading pieces on sustainability you often see references to Thomas Malthus. He was an 18/19th century English economist and clergyman. Weirdly, it is often people who would class themselves as progressive who seem to cite him most. Why? It seems like a bad habit that people can’t quit despite the fact that it really…
The Responsible Company
Patagonia are well-known as a company with a mission. You have to admire that even if you don’t subscribe to the mission. Being known for something is vital to effective marketing. The founder, and his nephew, give their thoughts on what the responsible company means. What does it look like? How does it act? Responsible…
Business Ideas Change
Reading history gives you an understanding that things change. (Often for the better, see here and here, but that isn’t the point of today’s post). Here I just want to note how business ideas change. This is important to remember. What we advocate now might be thought weird, quaint, or barbaric in the future. The…
Points Pressure Versus Rewarded Behavior
There are various different ways that loyalty programs can be effective. We looked at how a specific program, Air Miles Cash in Canada, impacted the behavior of its collectors. We compared points pressure versus rewarded behavior to see which drove most of the collector activity. This allowed us to suggest how to increase the program’s…
The Future Is Abundance
Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler’s book Abundance is a great read. It argues that the future is abundance. The world will be able to produce what we need to give everyone in it a decent life. The book is a valuable antidote to pessimism. The Future Is Abundance, Innovation, And Progress Whenever they see discussions…
Comparing Text Classification Methods
Marketing research, especially academic research, now assesses a lot of unstructured text data. (Unstructured data is that which does not come in neat database/spreadsheet form of rows and columns). Classifying such text is a task that computers excel at. So, how do we go about comparing text classification methods to find which one best fits…
Regulation And Business Responsibility
What can business history tell us about regulation and business responsibility? The Purpose Of Business Looking at business history gives an interesting perspective. The idea that businesses are only there for the benefit of shareholders (see here) is not the only view that exists by a long way. One set of people who had a…
Leadership, Power, And Morality
One of the things that struck me about Jeffrey Pfeffer’s Power was its amorality. Generally speaking, I agree with him but even I was left a bit uncomfortable at times. Pfeffer clearly sees power as something you gain in order to achieve things with it. Power isn’t really anything to do with morality. Leadership, power,…
Gaining And Using Power
Jeffrey Pfeffer’s Power is a classy version of a self-help book. I know self-help book sounds a bit insulting but I don’t mean it to be. The idea of giving practical advice that is informed by good research is central to what academics should be doing. There are enough complete nonsense self-help books to show…
