Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Crisis leadership is often cast in terms of people displaying extraordinary power, influence, charisma, and superhuman qualities.1 It is thus not surprising that we often assume that strong leaders have complete agency and control over making and executing decisions, especially during crises. Consider this definition of the term leaderism…
Unilever drew attention when it announced that half of its media budget would go toward social channels—a move that’s part of its “influencer-first” strategy. For Kellogg’s Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing, it’s a sign of the times. Brands need to consider how they might engage with the personalities on these platforms. “If you…
In 2025, Carrefour ceased operations in Italy. This was, in part, due to transactional relationships with suppliers that undermined its competitiveness in the market. Vicente Foggia argues that retailers capture disproportionate value from collaboration, yet many continental European retailers remain reluctant to invest in partnership structures. In July 2025, Carrefour sold its Italian operations for €1 billion. Sales were…
AI investment continues to fuel the U.S. economy, but many expect it to slow down dramatically in 2026. Agentic AI was the hot topic of 2025, but it remains an expensive early-stage experiment that’s not quite ready for mainstream use. What does this mean for leaders looking to guide their teams? In this video, MIT…
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” The sentiment has since been echoed by many who argue that an educated populace is critical for maintaining democracy. Indeed, studies have shown more-educated individuals are…
Family businesses are often seen as cautious and traditional, focused on stability and reluctant to take big risks. That reputation may seem at odds with growing a business during uncertain times, when conditions change quickly and there’s pressure to nimbly adapt strategies and investments. Yet recent data suggests that for many firms, the family approach…
Gary Waters/Ikon Images In 2016, Wells Fargo found itself embroiled in scandal when headlines revealed that its employees, under pressure to meet aggressive sales targets, had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts. The root cause wasn’t just unethical behavior but a flawed approach to performance measurement. When Wells Fargo’s leadership incentivized employees to sell eight…
In this bonus episode of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, Princeton University professor and artificial intelligence researcher Tom Griffiths joins host Sam Ransbotham to unpack The Laws of Thought, his new book exploring how math has been used for centuries to understand how minds — human and machine — actually work. Tom walks through…
Tessa Charlesworth is an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations. Her research tackles the questions of how and why our thoughts (beliefs) and feelings (attitudes) change over time. Her research adopts a multi-level and multi-method approach to understand change as it unfolds within individuals, organizations, and the broadest level of our collectives. William Brady is…
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Most organizations treat customer complaints as a source of frustration to be contained, apologized for, and moved off the books as swiftly as possible. But what if those complaints are actually a practical source of innovation? In other words, what about treating complaints as an early-warning system and a…