Category: Business

Business
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How Social Science Can Improve Executive Relationships

Social Science Insights

French researcher Jacqueline Fendt argues that academic research on businesses is not practical enough in its focus. She argues that management education would be improved with a stronger focus on the everyday realities of Executives.

She also advocates using more qualitative research methods and case studies, rather than statistical surveys. This would improve in-depth understanding of how management is actually carried out in the real world. So how do social scientists carry out this type of work? One method we use is called ethnography.

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How to Improve Ethics in your Workplace

Social Science Insights

John Roberts from the University of Cambridge shows that the public’s mistrust of corporate ethics is not a given. It exists because many businesses are perceived to only pay lip service to corporate responsibility.

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Improving Corporate Diversity Programs

Social Science Insights

This week I discus the importance of monitoring diversity at different levels of the organisation, especially in leadership.

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Business

Social Sacrifice for Sustainability

Social Science Insights

An economics experiment suggests that ‘most people are willing to make enough of a sacrifice to keep resource use down to where there will be a sustainable environment in the future.’ However, people can become demotivated if they feel their sacrifice is in isolation. Here’s how to keep sustainability goodwill high.

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Business
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Entrepreneurship and Religion

Social Science Insights

A study of 1,700 Americans finds that entrepreneurs pray twice as much as the general public: more than half pray at least once daily, and one third pray multiple times per day. Entrepreneurs are also more likely to say they feel a personal connection to God “who is interested in their problems and affairs.”

The study finds that entrepreneurs also tend to attend religious services in churches that encourage business and profit-making, which some of the larger organised religions do not.  Entrepreneurs are celebrated as risk takers and extroverts. Religious people are typically painted as conservative and risk-adverse. How do these findings reconcile these two phenomena?

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How to Improve Business Through Diversity Management

Social Science Insights

Cultural diversity can improve businesses through new ideas, strengthening understanding and relationships of different client groups, and by boosting innovation through multicultural networks.

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Why Women’s Leadership is a Business Asset

Social Science Insights

Social science studies find that male bosses are more likely to judge the competence of women managers using a skewed view on gender. In practice, this means organisations are missing out on a proactive approach to leadership.

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The Benefits of Volunteering for the Business Sector

Social Science Insights

Australia’s in the midst of the festive season, the spirit of which is about giving and positive change ahead of a new year. So what does our not-for-profit sector look like?

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Typewriter with a piece of paper that says: EQUALITY

How to Promote Gender Equality in Your Workplace

Social Science Insights

A forthcoming international survey of 240,000 workers by Barbara Annis shows that women feel professional exclusion in their workplaces, while men remain unaware that there’s a problem. Men resort to expressing old fashioned chivalry like opening doors and offering to pay for lunch, thinking this makes women feel more comfortable and appreciated. In fact, it is the way that men exclude women from promotional opportunities, meetings, and mentorship that is a problem for women.

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Work to live or live to work? Social science shows what employees want

Social Science Insights

Studies show that most employees are unhappy with the way they’re under-utilised at work and with the break down of trust in their organisations. Many workers feel their employers lack integrity. With an ageing workforce on the rise, people feel increasingly pressured to delay their retirement.

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