Although travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are taking a toll on physically mobile people such as expatriates or migrants, the number of people working across national boundaries is nowhere near stagnating. In fact, studies such as the Santa Fe Relocation Global Mobility Survey 2020/21 suggest that the nature of global mobility is evolving […]
The Problems of Our Left Brained World
Many of us have grown up with respect and admiration for logic, reason, and rational thinking. Broadly speaking, Western educational systems aim at developing these exact skills and qualities, teaching us to think methodically, to organize, structure and categorize knowledge, to think in abstract terms and derive mental representations of different experiences. According to Ian […]
Why the Strategic Use of Inpatriation Benefits Multinationals
You have probably heard an old aphorism – Time is Money. Today, in the knowledge economy, it is more suitable to equate money with knowledge though. I believe that any contemporary economist would argue that knowledge (and technology) are the required components for enhanced productivity and economic growth. This premise holds particularly true for multinational […]
What If Santa Asked ’Have You Been a Good Employer’?
As 2021 is drawing to a close, we probably agree that we have been better adjusted and equipped for this second year of the pandemic. For one thing, there has been a global Covid vaccine rollout, which likely helped many countries across the world to manage the situation better and keep their economies relatively open. […]
Ted Lasso: An Example of a Global Leader Who Wins Over People
Do you remember the TV series The Office? The American series aired in 2005, ran a total of 201 episodes, won several awards, and surely made it to the list of favourites for many viewers. Probably echoing the perceptions of many, I would argue that the series was indeed quite entertaining and funny, especially because […]
Global Leadership Succession: Is Merkel Irreplaceable?
On September 26th Germany voted for a new government—and a new leader! As the election results in Germany unravelled, the whole of Europe and the world watched carefully. Indeed, Angela Merkel’s departure is significant and marks an end of an era. Merkel is the first German chancellor, who has served a record four terms in […]
Global Issues on the Global Stage of Sports
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are over. Although each Olympic event has its moments and distinguishing features, the Tokyo Olympics got themselves a unique status of the so-called Pandemic Games. Echoing the controversial attitudes before the Olympics, opinions about the de facto event are similarly scattered and contrasting. Some praise Tokyo for uplifting everyone’s spirit and […]
When Globalization Gets Stuck…
As consumers we rarely think about how the products we order online get to our homes, or how the items we buy from the local shops get there. Indeed, the world is so interconnected nowadays, that buying Japanese tea in a local store in Sweden is nothing out of the ordinary. Neither is ordering a […]
Let’s ReThink the Notion of a Confident Leader
In uncertain and volatile times, we need strong and confident leadership, don’t we?! The answer might be more complicated than a simple Yes or No. As a psychologist might wittily remark, it all depends… How do we define and see such confidence? Is a confident leader the one, who has all the answers to difficult […]
Lost Connections: Lessons from Covid and Beyond
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is taking its tolls. Let alone the grim death statistics, there are all kinds of long-term socio-economic effects, and the more recently emerging realization of substantial mental health problems. Indeed, the rise of anxiety and depression amid the pandemic is easy to comprehend: people live in isolation and amidst restrictions, disrupted […]
When the Pandemic Isn’t the Only Reason to Work from Home
By now, the majority of us have at least some experience of setting up our office in our living room, commuting to work within seconds of stepping from one room into another, and ‘bumping’ into your colleagues for ‘random’ chit chat at scheduled times and through prepared online meetings… yes, the work-from-home experience, which, as […]
Covid-19 and the Psychology of Human Behaviour
By now, we have experienced the Covid pandemic for almost a year. Last January, we kept reading about the spread of the virus in China, which back then seemed to be quite a distant thing… As of the end of January 2020 though, the WHO declared Coronavirus a global pandemic and, with the spread of […]
On Global Leadership, Humility, Biden and Hopes for the Next Years
About four years ago my first blog post of the year 2017 was about Trump’s inauguration. Back then I wrote about the feelings of uncertainty and anticipation of an era of protectionism and populism. Four years forward, we are all quite familiar with how his ‘America first’ philosophy turned out, and each of us can hold their own […]
Mental Health Issues: Still an Invisible Illness in the Workplace?
How would you describe a modern workplace? I would say that in contrast to the standard 9-to-5 workdays with assigned tasks and work desks, the modern workplace comes through as this upbeat, inspiring, flexible, fun, and rather casual environment. Just scrolling though some images of a modern office, such as at Google or Facebook, you […]
Covid-19 and the Unfolding of Global Leadership
As Covid-19 unfolded, it became quite clear that leaders in all countries had to face and cope with a globally interconnected health crisis. This global crisis demands committed global leadership, which however has greatly varied in approaches, styles and actions, as all of us could experience and witness. Driven by our curiosity of what we […]
A Case For Compassion in Global Business
Have you heard about compassion? According to the Dalai Lama, compassion is “associated with a sense of commitment, responsibility, and respect toward the other.” A recent scholarly definition sees compassion as “an interpersonal process involving the noticing, feeling, sense making, and acting that alleviates the suffering of another person” (Dutton, Workman, & Hardin, 2014). While […]
