The United States is sarcastically called a “third world country in a Gucci belt,” and things seem to be getting worse. The recent presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden doesn’t give the American people much hope for responsible and cohesive leadership any time soon. Investors should consider buying gold as a safe haven…
DigitalVision/Getty Images What do a human rights negotiation in Afghanistan, a crisis negotiation in Calgary, and a business dispute between a Brazilian and a Frenchman have in common? At first blush, nothing. However, when we dig deeper into these high-stakes negotiations, there is a common thread that connects them all. The concept of face. What…
Morsa Images/Getty Images Many large corporations have invested in digital twins: photorealistic virtual replicas of products or operations from the physical world. Modern personal computers and a new generation of software simulation tools can now bring these powerful modeling and visualization capabilities to small and mid-size firms as well. While they might not be quite the…
HBR Staff/Kelsey Curtis/Unsplash Like many firms, Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining company, expresses solidarity with its stakeholders in strong terms. Here’s its annual report: As a mining and metals company, we recognise the impact our business can have on our many stakeholders and the wider responsibilities this brings. We work hard to understand…
Illustration by Asia Pietrzyk If you’re working to improve your leadership capability, what exactly should you be trying to develop? The experience of the 2020 pandemic offers a powerful lesson: A critical skill a leader must bring to the table is the ability to figure out what kind of thinking is required to address a…
Steven Puetzer/Getty Images For months now, the drumbeat for reining in Big Tech has been getting louder. Critics have suggested solutions from breaking up Facebook and Amazon to regulating social networks and search engines as public utilities. This summer, the heads of major tech firms were hauled before Congress, and the House Antitrust Subcommittee reportedly is…
October 01, 2020 Do you wish you could understand your boss better? In this episode of HBR’s advice podcast, Dear HBR:, cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer your questions with the help of Mimi Nicklin, a business coach and the author of the new book Softening the Edge: Empathy: How humanity’s oldest leadership trait is…
Benne Ochs/Getty Images How would you reimagine a gas station for the future? Even with the increasing penetration of electric vehicles, gasoline cars are likely to remain the dominant automobile for years or even decades. I have asked this question of hundreds of senior executives. They typically suggest things like including a coffee shop, making…
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images Robots have rolled into retail, from six-foot-tall free-moving machines spotting spills in Giant Foods Stores to autonomous shelf-scanners checking inventory in Walmart. At Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, a “LoweBot” in some stores can answer simple questions, such as where to find items, and can assist with inventory monitoring.…
miodrag ignjatovic/Getty Images In 2020, the emergence if a deadly and terribly contagious virus has challenged leaders in ways they never expected. National leaders are responding in inconsistent and contradictory ways. Outside of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, corporate leaders can feel like they are flying blind. Even the most beloved and respected experts on…
