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Within a workplace, emotional landscapes the collective composition of employee sentiments directly influence how people make sense of situations. Managing these landscapes can help in the pursuit of organizational strategic objectives. Current advice recommends strategies such as encouraging general suppression of emotions or giving generic pep talks. Instead, leaders need to respond to employees' emotional states with more nuance.

"We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." Warren Buffet, 1986 Letter to Shareholders. This investment strategy had proven powerful for Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. It had transformed a bad textile company into a diversified investment company, ranked as the 12th largest company in the world in 2019, right behind Apple. It had made Warren Buffet a billionaire and countless of his shareholders millionaires. At the end of 2019, Berkshire's shareholders included Fidelity Investments and the central bank of Norway. The company's stock was considered the number one retirement stock in America. Amid the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, U.S. financial markets crashed at record speed (-35% between February 12 and March 20, 2020), including the biggest single-day drop ever of -12.9% on March 16, 2020, eclipsing the record of October 28, 1929. Expected to be greedy when others are fearful, Buffet was a net seller of stocks and remained on the sideline during that period. His inaction, combined with an unusually cautionary tone at the annual shareholders' meeting, triggered heavy criticisms. Some of his loyalists sold their stocks. As he was approaching his 90th birthday, many started to wonder whether Warren Buffet had changed his time-tested strategy. Was he disconnected from reality? Was he fearful himself?

The grocery industry was going through a major transformation as a consequence of three major trends - the increasing use of ecommerce and online shopping, the intense rivalry from the hard discounters such as Aldi and Lidl who threatened the already modest margins of the national chains such as Safeway, Kroger, and Wal*Mart, and changing customer demands that emphasized convenience, ubiquity, and variety. It was against that backdrop that Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, initiated the Restock Kroger campaign, a strategic initiative that aimed to digitally transform the entire grocery business. Slated to cost $9b, the initiative was launched in 2017 with four fundamental aims - "redefine the grocery customer experience, expand partnerships to create customer value, develop talent and, living our purpose" . The campaign to transform the company was announced just a few months after Amazon had entered the grocery business with its game-changing acquisition of Whole Foods. The case study follows the execution of the Restock Kroger initiative as it unfolded and highlights the crucial decisions that the company made in its digital transformation journey. In doing so, it offers a snapshot of the partnerships that Kroger has built to gain momentum in the digital realm, how it has tried to leverage modern digital technologies (e.g., AI, big data, predictive analytics) to not only improve the efficiency of its store operations but also to provide superior customer service. As the case closes, the company's business was being challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the rapid transformation strategies that were deployed by its major rivals such as Walmart and Amazon. Thus, the case offers a good platform to explore the process of digital transformation, aligning the strategy of transformation with the customer journey, and balancing the pressures to maintain some of the elements of the legacy retail model while ushering in radically new solutions online.

When Hurricane Sandy struck the mid-Atlantic coast, in October 2012, thousands of Guardian employees in New York and New Jersey were affected, and company headquarters was flooded by five feet of water. Two days later all the team members had been accounted for; some had been put up in hotel rooms, others had been supplied with generators, and Guardian had created a fund to cover employees' hurricane-related costs.That experience taught Mulligan to think even longer-term than she always had: What were all the things that could go wrong, and how could the company protect itself from them? What could go right if Guardian were poised to seize the opportunities presented? Technology became a top priority: The company migrated many applications to the cloud and modernized employee productivity tools. It built a data analytics operation from the ground up and retrained actuaries to be analysts. Working remotely became common at Guardian. And its leaders anticipated two other important issues for organizations: diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the gig economy.

"Co-opetition"--cooperating with a competitor to achieve a common goal or get ahead--has been gaining traction for three decades. Yet many companies are uncomfortable with the concept and bypass the promising opportunities it presents. In this article two professors who helped introduce the approach offer a framework for deciding whether to team up with a rival, drawing on examples from Apple and Samsung, DHL and UPS, Ford and GM, and Google and Yahoo. Their advice: Start by analyzing what each party will do if it chooses not to cooperate and how that will affect industry dynamics. Sometimes working together is a clear win, but even if it isn't, it may still be better than allowing someone else to take your place in the deal--which could leave you at a disadvantage. Next, it's critical to figure out how to cooperate without giving away your "secret sauce"--your current advantages. Once you've done that, you'll need to craft an agreement that clearly outlines the deal's scope, who is in charge, how the arrangement could be unwound if needed, and how gains will be divided. You'll also have to manage resistance within your own firm and alter internal mindsets. Co-opetition requires mental flexibility, but firms that develop it can gain an important edge.

Workers who come from lower social-class origins in the United States are 32% less likely to become managers than those who come from higher social-class origins. That represents a disadvantage even greater than the one experienced by women compared with men (27%) or Blacks compared with whites (25%). Social class disadvantage in the workplace prevails in every major economy around the world. In discriminating against people who come from a lower social class, we're discriminating against a majority of the work­force--a grossly harmful indulgence, especially when you consider what happens if you don't discriminate. According to the author's research, GDP is higher per capita in countries where more managers come from lower social-class origins. Companies pay a lot of attention to issues of gender and race, and for very good reason. In this article, the author argues that it's time to focus equally on social class disadvantage. In doing so, he notes, firms reinforce their efforts to combat other forms of disadvantage. He explores the root causes of the problem and lays out the most promising interventions that are emerging from research and practice to help remediate it.

When you're seeking to advance your career--by joining a different company or moving into a new role with your current employer--it's important to think strategically about not just what you want but how to get it. In this article the authors draw on their work coaching executives and their cross-cultural research to propose four steps that can help you prepare to negotiate. First, think broadly about your long-term career goals instead of focusing narrowly on the offer at hand or the question of pay and benefits. Second, be mindful of what type of opportunity you're asking for--something standard, an unusual arrangement for yourself, or a chance to take your organization in a new direction--and tailor your arguments accordingly. Third, arm yourself with the necessary information to reduce ambiguity about what's possible and with whom to negotiate. Fourth, connect with people who can be helpful in making your case, and approach negotiations as an opportunity to enhance your working relationships. If you follow these steps and set career targets that are specific and realistic, you're more likely to chart a path to success.

Products and services that rely on machine learning-computer programs that constantly absorb new data and adapt their decisions in response-don't always make ethical or accurate choices. Sometimes they cause investment losses, for instance, or biased hiring or car accidents. And as such offerings proliferate across markets, the companies creating them face major new risks. Executives need to understand and mitigate the technology's potential downside. Machine learning can go wrong in a number of ways. Because the systems make decisions based on probabilities, some errors are always possible. Their environments may evolve in unanticipated ways, creating disconnects between the data they were trained with and the data they're currently fed. And their complexity can make it hard to determine whether or why they made a mistake. A key question executives must answer is whether it's better to allow smart offerings to continuously evolve or to "lock" their algorithms and periodically update them. In addition, every offering will need to be appropriately tested before and after rollout and regularly monitored to make sure it's performing as intended.

By now most companies have committed to sustainability efforts--and yet many CFOs still see those efforts as a cost rather than a source of value. That makes it hard to unlock the internal financing needed to scale them up. The authors--the director and a senior scholar at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business--have developed the Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) analytic tool, which companies can use to measure the financial returns on their sustainability activities. Implementing ROSI is a five-step process. Companies should (1) identify their current sustainability strategies, (2) identify related changes in operational or management practices, (3) determine the resulting benefits, (4) quantify the benefits, and (5) calculate the monetary value. The savings and growth thus revealed can reach hundreds of millions of dollars; in large companies, it can be billions. Particularly now, as companies scrutinize budgets threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic, ROSI analysis can help CFOs improve organizational finances through sustainability investments that create value for investors, employees, customers, and the world at large.

Across society, volunteerism has been stagnant or trending slightly downward in recent years. In the corporate world, however, it has been on the rise. In fact, paid time off for volunteering is one of the few employee benefits that has increased significantly over the past five years. The benefits of well-designed corporate volunteer programs have been clearly established: They boost productivity, increase employee engagement, and improve hiring and retention, to name just a few. But too often, firms' programs fall short. In designing their volunteer programs, companies fall prey to common pitfalls: They blindly copy what other firms are doing, prioritize leaders' pet projects, or pressure employees to participate, essentially making volunteering mandatory. Such errors diminish the value of the programs to the company, employees, and society. Instead, firms should prioritize meaning, balance top-down structure with bottom-up passion, and seek to involve a variety of stakeholders in their initiatives.

By aligning executives' financial incentives with company strategy, a firm can inspire its management to deliver superior results. But it can be hard to get pay packages right. In this article four experts break down the key elements of compensation and explain how to put them together effectively. When designing packages, boards must make decisions about the proportion of fixed versus variable pay, short-term versus long-term incentives, cash versus equity, and group versus individual rewards. Many look at the copious data available on executive pay and benchmark their plans against those of their industry peers. The mix is also driven by company size, region, culture, and risk appetite. A good plan always begins with a firm's strategic goals, however. Is the company striving for profitable growth, a turnaround, or a transformation? Is it trying to compete with public companies as a private entity? Each scenario calls for a different plan design. The Covid-related economic crisis may also alter plans. If targets become unachievable, incentives will lose their power and need to be revised--offering firms a chance to incorporate measures that serve stakeholders' interests better.

Judging from how they're portrayed in the media, it would be easy to dismiss family businesses as hotbeds of power-playing, backstabbing, and favor-currying, ultimately destined to fail; think of the Murdochs and News Corp, or the Redstones and National Amusements, to name just two. But many family businesses have enjoyed success for decades, even centuries. The authors explore five aspects of ownership that are crucial to whether a family business thrives or perishes: the type of ownership (whether a sole owner, a partnership, or another arrangement); the governance structure; how "success" is defined; what information the owners will (and won't) communicate to other family members and stakeholders; and how to handle the transition to the next generation.

Extensive research shows that when employees get hands-on managerial support, they perform better than when they're left to their own devices, but unnecessary or unwanted help can be demoralizing and counterproductive. So how do you intervene constructively? The authors share three key lessons learned during 10 years of study: (1) Step in only when people are engaged in a challenging task and ready to accept help; (2) clarify that your role is to offer assistance, not take over the project or judge anyone; and (3) align the rhythm of your involvement to employees' needs, determining whether the situation calls for intensive guidance in the short term or intermittent path clearing over a prolonged period. These strategies are especially valuable for helping teams that are physically separated, as so many are during the current pandemic.

A manager grapples with the question of flexible work schedules. This fictional case study by Thomas J. DeLong features expert commentary by Elizabeth McKinnon and Rachel Thomas.

Two new books--"The Game Is Not a Game" and "Football's Fearless Activists"--offer some useful context for examining the current relationship between athletics and activism, from Colin Kaepernick's kneel to the NBA Bubble.

The iconic recording artist on courage, compassion, and resilience.

A manager grapples with the question of flexible work schedules. This fictional case study by Thomas J. DeLong features expert commentary by Elizabeth McKinnon and Rachel Thomas.

A manager grapples with the question of flexible work schedules. This fictional case study by Thomas J. DeLong features expert commentary by Elizabeth McKinnon and Rachel Thomas.

In 2017, Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus were deciding whether to leave their labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put other job opportunities aside, and dive full-time into founding a wastewater analysis start-up, Biobot. Ghaeli, an architect, and Matus, a computational biologist, had been turning sewage into information about "population health" and now had dreams of turning the data encoded in urine and stool into a viable and impactful business. In plainer terms, they planned to "tap into what you flush down the toilet every day." They'd been told not to. They'd been told their idea was too broad and their skills too narrow. They'd been told they had no defensible intellectual property and limited scalability. They'd been advised to choose other startups instead, and knew, as immigrants on temporary visas, if they failed at this venture, they might even have to leave the country. Despite the many hurdles and objections, Ghaeli and Matus felt mostly at ease about moving ahead. Were they missing something? Or was everyone else?

Experienced executives rely too much on old playbooks PLUS the downside of creative superstars, a better way to manage virtual queues, and more.