On Friday, January 31, the WHO declared the new coronavirus a global health emergency. By now, the virus has reached every region in mainland China and continues to spread outside China as well. Evacuation and quarantine operations of hundreds of foreign nationals from China are underway. Moreover, several countries reacted to the emergency by restricting […]
Welcome to the Twenties!
Some days ago we entered a new decade, the twenties. As the New Year and decade begins, it is interesting to reflect on the past ten years and make some predictions about the future. Here are some of my personal highlights: There was the internet, now there is AI and the GIG economy, when will […]
‘Range’: The Case for Diversification on the Pathway to Excellence
Who do you want to become when you grow up? Such a familiar question to many of us, I believe. This question suggests that one needs to decide early, and start moving towards the chosen direction as soon as possible. Indeed, achieving something great needs a lot of work, sustained focus and persistence, hence, the […]
When an Ostrich, a Bird, a Frog and a Lizard are moved to a foreign environment…
Here is a puzzle: if an Ostrich, a Bird, a Frog and a Lizard are moved to a foreign environment, which one of them has the best chance of successful adaption and adjustment? Taken literally, the puzzle sounds like a case for environmental biologists… yet, let’s look at it metaphorically and explore the theme of […]
Latest Research: How Do Employees Respond to a Radical Global Language Change over Time?
Radical change, such as through mergers or acquisitions, is integral to organizational life. Radical changes bring about qualitative changes in the ways people in the organization cognitively, emotionally and behaviourally interact with each other and the world around them. One increasingly common form of radical change in global organizations is replacing the native language of […]
Gender Bias in Academia: Latest Study Results
I have touched upon the topic of gender equality in my blog on several occasions, be it about gender diversity in the workplace, the gender pay gap, or gender imbalances in expatriation. As such, the topic is far from being new, yet it cannot be dismissed, as the challenge of gender equality continues to persist. […]
Would you want to live and work longer?
Today average human life expectancy is longer than ever before. According to WHO data, for the first time in history today, most people worldwide can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. Moreover, as there has been a steady grow in longevity over the past 150 years, it seems reasonable to assume that the next […]
Four Worlds of Work: Which One Shall We Pick for Our Future?
The world of work is changing, we all hear about it, read about it and experience it. There is an increasing amount of self-checkout machines in customer care, more and more people are getting involved in virtual jobs, and employers are ever more eager to hire people with abilities to learn and adapt, rather than with […]
Remote Gig Work: Flexible and Independent?
I suppose it comes as no surprise that the nine-to-five workday is considered outdated and employees instead expect flexibility in their workplaces. Flexible work policies, including opportunities for home office or the possibility to telework away from home in temporary office spaces such as those provided by WeWork or Daysk.com appear attractive for a reason – […]
The Global Mobility Function Re-engineered: Latest Industry Findings
Over the past few years the role and focus of the Global Mobility function has been under scrutiny. The annual Global Mobility Survey by Santa Fe has pointed to a mismatch between the desired and actual role responsibilities of the Global Mobility function — both as viewed by the function itself and by line management. As discussed in my […]
Are Issues of Religious Diversity on Your Managerial Agenda?
In the aftermath of Notre Dame’s catastrophic fire, several social issues have similarly seemed to ‘catch fire’. Some speak about the hypocrisy of the situation, seeing the generous donations of the rich in France as a way of buying the ‘indulgences’ for wealth inequalities. Others question why such donations are raised to restore a building, […]
FOMO and FOBO That Leaders Should Be Aware of
Fear is one of the universal and central emotions to human existence. Some 200,000 years ago fear helped our caveman ancestors to survive on a daily basis, and it seems to have been an adaptive feature of our cognitive and affective repertoire ever since. Although nowadays we hardly find any saber-toothed tigers, we successfully focus […]
From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: The Case of Canada
In my previous blog post, I discussed the topic of entrepreneurial talent and highlighted some findings from the latest GTCI report. One of the key points in the report was about the need to nurture such talents as they provide small businesses, large organizations and countries with a competitive edge. The notion of nurturing implies […]
Entrepreneurial Talent: Insights from the Latest GTCI Report
The notion of talent is central to all stories of success. We can speak about high achieving talents in sports, find many historical accounts about talented leaders of countries and nations, and attribute business success to talented heads of organizations. Yet, behind these success stories of talented leaders in the field there are usually stories […]
Deep Work in a Global Context
In the last blog post I touched upon the topics of internet addiction, digital distractions, and the harmful influences of our online lifestyles, in general. Following up on the topic, let’s look at the notion of deep work, a term coined by a computer science professor at Georgetown University, Cal Newport. In his bestselling book, […]
The dark side of the digitally savvy and connected world
Internet and information technology tend to be viewed as major contributors to the development of global businesses and, generally, productivity growth. I have also repeatedly written about these benefits, be it business opportunities created by social media platforms, new forms of work, such as telecommuting and virtual expatriation, or improved connectivity that allows for functioning […]
