Women's remote work, Idea feedback, Office attire

Insights

01 Dec 2022

Virtual Work Offers Pros and Cons for Women’s Careers

Remote work can have both positive and negative effects on gender equality, including women’s career advancement, pay, work-family balance, and well-being, according to AOM scholars.

Create Ideas with Strangers, Refine Ideas with Friends

When it comes to generating new ideas, people get more stimulation and varied points of view from collaborators they don’t know or don’t know well. But when it comes time to refine ideas, close friends and partners offer more insightful criticism.

To Get More Done at Work, Change Your Clothes

Clothing choices don’t only affect how people perceive us. What we wear to work can influence how we think about ourselves and even change the ways we behave at work. When people feel good about their work clothes, they actually perform better at their jobs.

The Dangers of Employees Becoming More Like Contractors

Nondisclosure and noncompete agreements. Incentive pay formulas. Mandatory arbitration clauses. Workplace dating disclosures. The list of contracts employees have to sign goes on and on. Employers who make workers sign such contracts may be hurting the employees, their own ability to manage the employees, and even the long-term success of their organizations.

How to Help Star Newcomers Shine

Star performers—from Sheryl Sandberg to LeBron James to Indra Nooyi—often get credit for lifting their teams to new heights. Yet some star performers’ luster dims after they move to new organizations. How new teammates perceive these stars can have profound effects on whether the stars flounder or flourish.

CEOs’ Social Class Background Varies by Industry

CEOs are not all from elite backgrounds, as many people might think, and CEOs from different social class backgrounds tend to work in different industries, according to a German study detailed in an Academy of Management Discoveries article.

New infographic: Leaders Pay Dearly for Not Communicating Enough

The United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities is Dec. 3. This year’s theme is “transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world.” Here are some relevant findings by AOM scholars:

Three Benefits of Employees with Disabilities Serving Customers

Employing people with disabilities is not just the right thing to do—it promotes corporate social responsibility and leads to favorable reputation effects for organizations.

The Sharing Economy Can Turn Back the Clock on Equal Access

U.S. legislators need to keep pace with Internet technology to prevent sharing economy businesses from circumventing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, according to an Academy of Management Discoveries article.

Disabilities Can Weaken Supervisors’ Perceived Status

AOM scholars discover that when supervisors and subordinates both had disabilities, or when neither had disabilities, their relationships were fine. But when a supervisor had a disability and the subordinate did not, or vice versa, they reported poorer relationships.

Why Diverse Workplaces Remain Elusive (video)

Despite the billions of dollars U.S. companies spend on diversity programs each year, current strategies will not necessarily achieve their goals. Programs designed to increase the number of hires, promotions, or pay raises among people with disabilities, ethnic and racial minorities, women, immigrants, and LGBT or poor people fail to hit the mark, an Academy of Management Review article shows.

Promoting Human Rights under Authoritarian Regimes

In democratic societies, new organizations addressing social causes need to create as much buzz as possible about themselves to grow. But social ventures under authoritarian regimes need to take a different approach, according to AOM scholars who studied a new human rights organization in Egypt, where disabled people face job discrimination.

Holiday Consumerism Is at the Heart of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

AOM scholars analyzing aspects of jazz found lessons for managers and business leaders:

The Best Leaders for Creative, Audience-Facing Teams

Creative teams that perform for audiences do best without typical leaders who just tell members what to do. Leaders who also help forge connections and build status through networks in their field are better at fueling creativity and popularity with such teams, according to an analysis of hundreds of New York City jazz bands.

Easing Fears about Improvising at Work

“When you read about improvisation in the arts, you read a lot of positive accounts,” an AOM scholar says. “People think improvisation is fun, exhilarating, and can even be a transcendent, profound experience. Whether it’s in jazz, theater, or even in basketball. But then when you read accounts of improvisation in organizations, you read something very different.”

Submitting to the Whip to Achieve Greatness

An indie film starring Miles Teller, about an ambitious jazz drummer and his brutal instructor, may offer surprising implications for certain kinds of organizations.

Pros and Cons of Listening to Music at Work

What matters in the workplace, according to AOM scholars, is the choice of music, which can help or hurt work tasks, depending on the music’s characteristics. For example, listening to fast music (like Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing”), or loud music, increases arousal levels and narrows attention, which can help with reasoning for complex tasks.