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…
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Weird Versus Non-WEIRD
Joe Henrich’s book on the WEIRDest people in the world is ambitious and packed with ideas and data. To be honest it isn’t my sort of thing but you have to admire what he has done. He is looking at the psychology of weird versus non-weird people. Weird being western, educated, industrialized, rich & democratic….
The Marketing Of Better Business
How is the marketing of better business going? The Marketing Of Better Business In his book, Better Business, Christopher Marquis makes a fascinating claim. The B Corp movement is the most important social movement you’ve never hear of. Marquis, 2020, preface Assuming this is true it is both exciting and a bit of a concern….
Alexander The Great Man?
One way I judge people is how they see Alexander the Great. This is a very helpful approach to judging others. Invariably any celebration of the Macedonian king gives insight into the flaws of the person doing the celebrating. There is one rather obvious weakness with my approach to judging character. You might be surprised…
Ostriches, Eagles, And Leadership Storytime
I am a historian by initial training and I love a good story. Though the great man (gender deliberate) of history approach has had its day there are still things that we can learn from stories of notable individuals. JB Steenkamp’s Time To Lead is the archetype of old-fashioned history-based leadership work. When you think…
Progress Exists And Is A Good Thing
Matt Ridley is an interesting writer. A popular science/ideas writer he gives you his thoughts on a wide variety of subjects. I do admire his willingness to adopt an overarching narrative. To be honest, at times it can seem a bit too much for my tastes. His libertarian-esque views tend to see him damning a…
Education Technology: The Blackboard
It is easy to forget that any new technology has to start somewhere. One of the best things about being an academic is the chance to read somewhat random things. Occasionally they turn out to be useful, mostly they are just interesting. Today I consider an article in the History of Education Quarterly on a…
The Pseudo Profound Statement
I have previously written about how disappointed I was by Jerry Muller’s The Tyranny of Metrics, see here and here. Today I will look at a broader problem that his book exhibits. Namely ‘The Pseudo Profound Statement’. I see this in a lot of places not just in Muller’s work. Be Careful With A Pseudo…
The Problem Of Understanding Others
A second post on Gad Saad’s, The Parasitic Mind. I’m not sure this was his central aim but he did make me think about the problem of understanding others. Is Society Really Collapsing? I really wanted to know why he thinks society is collapsing. I have never known why people think this. It is not…
Machine Learning (ML) And Marketing: What Should You Know?
It doesn’t take long nowadays before someone will raise the issue of machine learning (ML) and marketing. Here I try and explain some of the basic issues in respect of ML and marketing. Arguably the key one being machine learning is often used for prediction rather than explanation. A good ML model might predict excellently….