SHORT LISTEN: Not Just Parrots: How Middle Managers Communicate Purpose

When a corporate scandal explodes, like Volkswagen’s Dieselgate or BP’s oil spill, companies scramble to save their reputations. Often, they turn to nonprofits, funding environmental or social causes to show they’re part of the solution. But are these partnerships real, or just spin? Strategy professor Aline Gatignon suggests answers. Her new study uncovers how crises change the way corporations and nonprofits work together - and how nonprofits sometimes resist being used as PR cover. Her research is a story about power, legitimacy, and the resilience of civil society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HEC academics Pauline Asmar, Matteo Winkler, Lisa Baudot and Olivier Sibony share with Breakthroughs the books which sustained or transformed their approach to research. For, as the 19th century Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said: "What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why should employees articulate your company’s purpose - and not just the firm’s CEO? In this SHORT LISTEN Breakthroughs speaks with Pauline Asmar, a doctoral researcher at HEC Paris, whose groundbreaking work reframes how purpose actually works inside companies. Drawing on data from nearly 60,000 employees across 469 firms, Asmar reveals that it's the middle managers who translate abstract mission statements into daily motivation - not the top brass. We discuss why this “purpose dialogue” at management/worker level is emerging as a vital new lever for team commitment, how companies can fail despite having purpose statements, and what happens when leaders just parrot slogans instead of listening. Plus, how purpose-washing creates skepticism, and what can be done about it. For the full version, go to https://shows.acast.com/knowledgehec/episodes/not-just-parrots-how-middle-managers-bring-purpose-to-life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why should employees articulate your company’s purpose - and not just the firm’s CEO? In this episode of Breakthroughs, we speak with Pauline Asmar, a doctoral researcher at HEC Paris, whose work reframes how purpose works inside companies, at the level of the teams. The research is co-authored by HEC Professor and Purpose Chair director Rodolphe Durand. Drawing on data from nearly 60,000 employees across 469 firms, Asmar reveals that it's the everyday managers who translate abstract purpose statements by the top brass into daily motivation. We discuss why this “purpose dialogue” at management/worker level is emerging as a vital new lever of team commitment, how companies can fail despite having purpose statements, and what happens when leaders just parrot slogans instead of listening and engaging. We also discuss how purpose-washing creates skepticism, and what can be done about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month’s HEC Breakthroughs podcast features the insights by KU Leuven professor Frank Wijen who challenges fellow researchers in sustainability to go deeper and to have greater impact. Here are some of the key points taken from our 30-minute exchange on what Wijen calls “engaged research”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is academic research into sustainability doing its job, moving the cursor forward in a time of unprecedented climate crisis? It’s a question Professor Frank Wijen discusses in the context of dramatic ecology-related incidents around the globe. “Researchers are taking snapshots and not movies,” he says, and this static orientation is not answering the urgency of real-life crises. Breakthroughs explores possible solutions with the Full Professor of Global Sustainable Strategies from KU Leuven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve heard it a thousand times: diversity is good for business. But what if that familiar line doesn’t stand up to scrutiny or serious research – and, to cap it all, it’s counterproductive? In this SHORT LISTEN version of the HEC Breakthroughs podcast, HEC Paris professor and best-selling author Olivier Sibony explains why the “business case” for diversity may be leading us astray. If we want fairer, smarter organizations, we need to stop trying to change minds - and start redesigning the systems that shape them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve heard it a thousand times: diversity is good for business. But what if that familiar line doesn’t stand up to scrutiny or serious research – and, to cap it all, it’s counterproductive? In this latest HEC Breakthroughs episode, HEC Paris professor and best-selling author Olivier Sibony explains why the “business case” for diversity may be leading us astray. If we want fairer, smarter organizations, we need to stop trying to change minds - and start redesigning the systems that shape them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump’s dismantling of American Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs is happening at breakneck speed. His Executive Orders label DEI policies as "illegal and immoral forms of discrimination”. HEC scholars Matteo Winkler and Marcelle Laliberté scrutinize this shift of narrative which is challenging certain constitutional rights. They share their research on this seismic shift which, they say, could undermine the very essence of American - and by ricochet, European – societies and their notion of equal rights. Read the highlights here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Japan’s “super-aged society” (over 28% of its population aged 65 or above) and the US’ “aged society” (around 16% over 65) pose new challenges to the retirement period. And they’re set to rise. Just how do these two countries answer them? HEC professor Lisa Baudot plunges us into her new research through the eyes of CEO retirees from accounting’s Big Four. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.