Forefront

Leaders who are attentive to employees' emotional needs and unite them around a common purpose could help reduce COVID-19-induced stress in the workplace, according to a study led by Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources Jasmine Hu. It concludes that "servant leadership" can even promote engagement.

As COVID-19 cases surged this spring, the pandemic led some people more than others to ponder their own mortality. A new study in China and the United States suggests that these people were the ones who showed the highest levels of stress and the least engagement at work. But the research also uncovered a bright spot: The right kind of boss can make a positive difference.

Want to address systemic racism at business schools? Seven business school scholars, including Tanya Menon, professor of management and human resources at Fisher, suggest starting with MBA program rankings.

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Tracy Dumas, associate professor of management and human resources, about how our personal and professional lives interface with one another. 

What makes for a good apology? You have to mean it, sure. But there’s a narrative structure that a good apology should follow. Roy Lewicki, professor emeritus of management and human resources, is an expert in the art of negotiation as well as rebuilding trust. He’s spent years researching the ideal apology, and he’s broken it down the perfect apology into six components.

As our reliance on delivery services increases amid a backdrop of unrest, Associate Professor of Logistics Terry Esper, a recognized expert in "last-mile" logistics, shares his thoughts and professional insights about the tough conversations and safety considerations necessary to protect black delivery drivers.

As workplaces begin to re-open and safety jumps to the forefront, research by Fisher's John Gray and his colleagues shows that ensuring workplace safety doesn't necessarily equate to the long-term survival of a business. In fact, companies that provide safe workplaces are more likely to go out of business than those that do not. 

A study by Ray Noe, the Robert and Anne Hoyt Designated Professor of Management and Human Resources at Fisher, and his colleagues discovered a link between informal learning, which is a common way employees pick up new skills that improve their job performance, and having fun at work.

In principle, a company's board of directors reports to the shareholders and represents their interests. In practice, however, there is much variation in director quality and the extent to which they serve shareholders’ interests. A study by Isil Erel, the David A. Rismiller Chair in Finance, and Michael Weisbach, the Ralph Kurtz Chair in Finance, and a colleague shows how a 21st-century technology, machine learning, can help companies select higher quality directors.

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Tim Judge, executive director of the Fisher Leadership Initiative, to discuss leadership knowledge in a world where we are looking in all the wrong places.

From managing a new team or trying to motivate your crew to get them over the finish line, Fisher's Jasmine Hu shares insights into nine essential steps to building and leading a great team.

Two simple words can save the customer experience after a service failure -- and surprisingly they're not "I'm sorry." Xiaoyan Deng, assistant professor of marketing and logistics, and her colleagues find that saying "thank you" after a breakdown in service is more effective at restoring consumer satisfaction.

How assertive should you be? Research by Fisher's Jasmine Hu showed that informal leaders were more liked and respected when they had “a moderate amount of assertiveness and warmth.”

The proliferation of Offices of Patient Experience at some of the nation’s top facilities and leading healthcare networks is designed to improve delivery of care and patient outcomes. But do these offices actually improve patient experience? Are there certain conditions that make these offices more important in some hospital settings, and less so in others? Research by Fisher's Elliot Bendoly, Aravind Chandrasekaran and a colleague provide some answers.

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion, university chief wellness officer, and professor and dean of the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University, to discuss prioritizing health and wellness within an organization. 

Tanya Menon urges us in her TED Talk to change our “habitual daily footpath,” which exposes us to the same daily physical environments, people and ideas.” A loss of efficiency and convenience will likely mean a gain of diversity. “A simple change in planning, a huge difference in the traffic of people and the accidental bumps in the [social] network,” she explains.

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Elliot Bendoly, distinguished professor of management sciences at Fisher, sits down to harmonize the tension between structured and creative approaches to give managers a framework for high-performance problem solving.

If the idea of needing to dissociate from your dreary plight as someone with an abusive boss seems a little too soul-destroying to be a viable solution, studies suggest you can, in fact, fight fire with fire. Research by Fisher's Bennett Tepper, the Abramowitz Memorial Professor, found that employees with hostile bosses are better off when they respond with passive aggression.

Employee training is the top risk-management strategy for many HR leaders, according to a report from the Risk Institute at Fisher College of Business.

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Billy Taylor, global head of diversity and inclusion at Goodyear, to discuss the cliché that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” and to argue for why culture actually controls strategy, and how converting a company’s “my way” into “our way” leads to operational success.

Past research on failure by Fisher's Selin Malkoc adds context to a new study that shows failures early in a scientist’s career can lead to greater long-term success.

In your quest for a balanced life, have you neglected your hobbies? It’s not too late. Learn how to find a hobby and how to incorporate it into your busy life. Research by Fisher's Selin Malkoc is useful in helping to avoid over-scheduling leisure time and activities.  

As part of the “There’s a Better Way” podcast, Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate director of the Center for Operational Excellence, talks with Dan Markovitz, an accomplished author, speaker and consultant who focuses on building lean organizations.

In examining the role of "culture fit" in diversity hiring, Tim Judge, the Joseph A. Alutto Chair in Leadership Effectiveness at Fisher, says that properly defining and understanding what "culture fit" is can help employers improve their talent strategies.

Setting goals is the easy part. Actually accomplishing them is an entirely different story. To help stick to your goals, research led by Professor Howard Klein found that people showed greater goal commitment and performance when they told their goal to someone they believed had higher status than themselves.