The visually stunning alien world of Pandora and its inhabitants helped make Avatar the highest-grossing movie of all time. Despite all its accolades for creativity, part of the film’s success was due to reining in creativity, according to an Academy of Management Review article.
Well-intentioned efforts to buoy marginalized groups can sometimes lead to further exclusion, according to an Academy of Management Journal article. But emphasizing collaboration and self-determination can mitigate these risks.
AOM scholars offer “a road map for how organizations may practice mindfulness to bring about transformative change that can reduce suffering and promote collective flourishing.”
“Racial bias can manifest in many ways. Sometimes it is in the form of abstract stereotypes about a group. Other times, it’s person-to-person comparisons that result in racial bias. This is the case when evaluators make assumptions about leader candidates whom they do not know well based on comparing them to previous leaders from the same race whom they know reasonably well,” an AOM scholar explains. “During leader succession, these person-to-person comparisons explain patterns of racial bias and hiring decisions more than abstract stereotyping.”
As organizations wrestle with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, an Academy of Management Perspectives article points out that “without the latter two, it is hard to sustain the former.”
Psychological safety helps employees voice their ideas and observations. While newly hired employees may initially feel safer expressing themselves than more-tenured colleagues, that confidence can be fleeting and take decades to rebuild, according to an Academy of Management Discoveries article.
“Turnover is a reality in today’s work environment, rendering many organizations to have several times more alumni than employees. Opportunities for firms to potentially capture value after employee exit abound,” according to AOM scholars. With alumni being able to benefit or harm former employers, managers and business leaders need “exit and alumni practices to understand why a steady flow of boomerangs, repeat gig workers, external referrals, and alumni ties to other organizations can be valuable.”
