Defend your research corporate wellness programs make us unwell

The research: André Spicer, a professor at Cass Business School at City University London, conducted a cultural and historical analysis of ideas about wellness in companies (which he published in a recent book, The Wellness Syndrome, coauthored by Stockholm University’s Carl Cederström). He concluded that corporate wellness programs not only provide low returns on investment but actually backfire, making many employees less healthy and more anxious about their jobs. The challenge: Are “fun runs” and diet programs part of the problem, not the solution? Professor Spicer, defend your research

Sometimes, Less Innovation is Better

City, University of London professor Paolo Aversa and his colleagues documented every innovation on more than 300 Formula 1 race cars over 30 years and then cross-referenced that data with information on F1 race results. They discovered that in certain situations, more innovation led to poorer performance. Their conclusion: sometimes, less innovation is better

The power of PowerPoint : a visual perspective on meaning making in strategy

Research Summary: Relying on ethnographic data from two consulting engagements, we find that strategists use three visual mechanisms (depiction, juxtaposition, and salience) to create PowerPoint slides. These visual mechanisms prompt meaning-making through the conversations they stimulate, creating strategic visibility. As participants react to visuals, they enact revised interpretations of the strategy, reflecting strategic resonance. Based on the interactions among these three subprocesses (visual mechanisms, strategic visibility, and strategic resonance), we develop a process model for how visuals influence meaning making in strategy engagements. We contribute to existing strategy practice and process studies by explaining how visuals help broker divergent interpretations of a strategy and give rise to new understandings, especially when issues are politically sensitive or analytically complex

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