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When Google famously allowed its engineers to spend 20 per cent of their time pursuing a passion, Chade-Meng Tan decided to spend his time on a cause dear to his heart: creating the conditions for world peace within his lifetime. After much research and consultation with scientists, monks, academics and more, he concluded that the road to peace was paved with compassion-the happiest brain state ever recorded by neurologists. His initiative now had a focus, and soon, his Search Inside Yourself program was being delivered at Google and other forward-thinking organizations. He describes his journey and what he believes lies ahead if we are able to scale compassion.

In 2008, the newly appointed chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bank of Baroda, one of India's largest public-sector banks, was exploring ways to implement the vision of making the bank one of the most popular and customer-oriented public-sector banks in the country. Under the tenure of the previous CMD, a strong foundation for growth had been built, and subsequently, the bank had made tremendous progress and had been ranked third among its peers. However, the bank continued to suffer from the typical malaise of large public-sector organizations - although change was taking place, the firm was sluggish, inadequately responsive to customers, and using outdated processes and technology. Consequently, the new CMD was faced with the challenge of managing the legacy of his predecessor. To accomplish his goal, he took on the task of reinventing the bank by dispelling the culture of fear and caution that prevailed. Could he make the firm more agile and customer-savvy, while quadrupling revenue?

A multi-issue 1-on-1 internal negotiation between a manager (Sebastian) and his employee (Diane). Diane wants Sebastian's feedback on her recent performance on X-Caliber as this will have a significant impact on if and when she will be promoted, but it's not all good news.

A multi-issue 1-on-1 internal negotiation between a manager (Sebastian) and his employee (Diane). Diane wants Sebastian's feedback on her recent performance on X-Caliber as this will have a significant impact on if and when she will be promoted, but it's not all good news.

New research from Duke University reveals that gender bias distorts our assessments of creative work--and that can have a negative impact on both individuals and their organizations.

In 2007, Chuck Prince, then the CEO of Citigroup, made a notorious comment about the subprime mortgage market: "As long as the music's playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing." Soon after, the financial system crashed, and that remark came to be seen as a cavalier justification for excessive risk taking by the bank. But authors Martin and Kemper raise another possibility: Prince may have been painted into a corner, because Citigroup's stock was indefensibly overvalued. The only way the bank could earn the unrealistically high returns shareholders expected was through ever more dangerous activities. The overvaluation trap was first identified by Michael Jensen in a 2005 article examining the dot-com bubble. He noted that it often affects entire sectors and that in response to it executives tend to adopt two strategies: investing in hot, hyped technologies (as Global Crossing did with fiber-optic cable) and glamorous acquisitions (Nortel's downfall). And when investment opportunities start to dry up, firms may turn to financial manipulation (think WorldCom) to prop up their overpriced equity. Martin and Kemper point out that today companies in the pharmaceutical and oil sectors are caught in this same trap. Their market caps are spectacularly high. But massive spending on R&D is not producing more new drugs, and ever greater investment in oil reserve exploration is only exacerbating the glut of supply. The dance may be ending for both industries, and their executives need to figure out new and more-realistic narratives for value creation.

The chief executive officer of Kvantum Inc. received a distressing email from the human resources manager at Data Research Services. The two companies shared office space, and Data Research Services had invested seed capital in Kvantum. However, a Data Research Services employee was now accusing one of Kvantum's most competent junior data scientists of harassment. The Kvantum employee had apparently approached the Data Research Services employee personally and then again through a popular social networking website. If the allegations were verified, Kvantum could lose a valuable employee. Moreover, a workplace scandal could adversely impact the start-up's reputation. The issue required immediate action. Should it be considered misbehaviour? If so, what kind of misbehaviour? Most importantly, how should Kvantum resolve the problem?

LTMRHL launched its Brand Ambassador campaign in Hyderabad on January 8, 2013 to bring about awareness and dispel negativity about the Metro Rail project. A two-year review in 2015 revealed that although many of the initial problems had been overcome, and negativity considerably reduced, the campaign had only achieved partial success. Based on the review, a decision had to be taken to continue or abandon the campaign after the scheduled commercial operations in July 2017. Will the current strategy be the gateway to success post commercial operations, mulled Sanjay Kapoor, General Manager & Head Corporate Communications (LTMRHL).

This case is about Katherine Schuler, soon to become senior vice president of marketing at a fast-growing retail organization, Boxes & Bins (B&B). Part of Schuler's success has been due to her "fit" into a company with clear values and principles. In particular, B&B always put its employees first, and eschewed debt in order to grow only as the company could afford it. Several years ago, the founders sold most of their stock to a private-equity firm, the Weichel Group, which leveraged B&B heavily in order to accelerate the opening of more stores and to pay off the founders. Even after a recent IPO, the Weichel Group remained a major shareholder, and it urged B&B to hire two senior managers from large discount retailers to run operations and merchandising. Schuler's move into her new role could lead to her becoming B&B's president if she is successful. Schuler understands that B&B needs to grow, and wants to help it do so, but is uncertain about the plans for how that growth will occur. She wants B&B to acknowledge its key success factors to date because she believes that doing so will help it move to a new future. Yet she knows that changing B&B may be impossible-therefore, leaving might be her best option.

Whether taught to students unfamiliar with U.S. business culture or to students unacquainted with working in China, this case allows for an exploration of values that shape attitudes and behaviors in both countries. The material presents one executive's unique leadership experience in managing across cultures. From creating cross-cultural teams to balancing the goals of corporate in the United States and local operations in China, Owen Rankin's role as a leader in the middle is rich with experiences dealing with preconceived notions. The case works as a source for any manager working outside his or her home country. In the (A) case Owen Rankin, VP of corporate reputation at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), is appointed to head up J&J's Olympic Games committee. He was tasked with convincing others in the organization to move forward on the project. Rankin and his team spent months going back and forth to China, meeting with J&J business-unit leaders, and trying to persuade them to support the project. The (A) case ends at Rankin and his core committee back in China at their final decision-making meeting-would it be a go or a no-go decision? The (B) case presents Rankin's experience to build a team, engage stakeholders, develop and activate programs, attend the games, and then wrap up the closing of the sponsorship. As Rankin and his team supervised the dismantling of the event, thoughts turned to the next Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and London, England. Should J&J continue to be a sponsor?

Whether taught to students unfamiliar with U.S. business culture or to students unacquainted with working in China, this case allows for an exploration of values that shape attitudes and behaviors in both countries. The material presents one executive's unique leadership experience in managing across cultures. From creating cross-cultural teams to balancing the goals of corporate in the United States and local operations in China, Owen Rankin's role as a leader in the middle is rich with experiences dealing with preconceived notions. The case works as a source for any manager working outside his or her home country. In the (A) case Owen Rankin, VP of corporate reputation at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), is appointed to head up J&J's Olympic Games committee. He was tasked with convincing others in the organization to move forward on the project. . Rankin and his team spent months going back and forth to China, meeting with J&J business-unit leaders, and trying to persuade them to support the project. The (A) case ends at Rankin and his core committee back in China at their final decision-making meeting-would it be a go or a no-go decision? The (B) case presents Rankin's experience to build a team, engage stakeholders, develop and activate programs, attend the games, and then wrap up the closing of the sponsorship. As Rankin and his team supervised the dismantling of the event, thoughts turned to the next Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and London, England. Should J&J continue to be a sponsor?

TriCiclos, a recycling company in Chile, and the first B Corporation in Latin America, is innovating the way business is understood and conducted. The chief executive officer is excited about the financial future of the company, including expansion into new geographic markets in Latin America. Nevertheless, different geographic markets bring a new set of challenges for a sustainable business: foreign governments with different laws and regulations for recycling and partnering with clients and recyclers, the need to establish partnerships with local recycling plants and, more importantly, how these variables affect the company's organizational mission and culture.

Following the board's suspension of the chief executive officer (CEO) due to a corruption scandal, Cricket South Africa (CSA) appointed an acting CEO in March 2012. After successfully restoring the organization's damaged reputation, re-establishing the confidence of existing sponsors and attracting new corporate partners within his first four months, the acting CEO submitted his letter of resignation. In it, he cited hostility from some members of the board and a lack of confidence in his judgment. However, after his resignation he was encouraged to reconsider his decision. Should he withdraw his resignation and continue the important turnaround task? If so, could he manage the challenges facing him and CSA in a different way? If not, what would the implications be for him, the management of cricket in South Africa and the multiple stakeholders, including sponsors?

For any enterprise to be competitive, continuous learning and improvement are key--but not always easy to achieve. After a decade of research, the authors have concluded that four biases stand in the way: We focus too heavily on success, are too quick to act, try too hard to fit in, and rely too much on experts. Each of these biases raises challenges, but each can be curbed with particular strategies. A preoccupation with success, for example, leads to an unreasonable fear of failure, a mindset that inhibits risk taking, a focus on past performance rather than potential, and blindness to the role of luck in successes and failures. Managers therefore need to treat mistakes as learning opportunities, recognize and foster workers' capacity for growth, and conduct data-based project reviews. To counter the bias toward action--and the unthinking perpetual motion and exhaustion that ensue--leaders can schedule more work breaks and make time for reflection. They can redress the tendency to conform, which stifles innovation, by encouraging workers to cultivate their individual strengths and to speak up when they have ideas for improvements. And they can develop and empower their employees to solve problems instead of turning automatically to outside experts.