We all know that air pollution is bad for our health. But what is often overlooked is that high pollution levels also cause significant harm to our economic well being. Brian Viard, Associate Professor of Strategy and Economics at CKGSB, has been researching the economic effects of pollution for much of the past few years. His team has found persuasive evidence that the costs of air pollution are greater and more wide-ranging than most people realize. In this interview with CKGSB Knowledge, he explains how tackling the pollution crisis could actually make the Chinese economy more productive.
ETH Zürich Professor Brad Nelson on AI, China, Medical Robotics and Commercialization
Back in 2014, Stephen Hawking warned that people should be careful about artificial intelligence (AI)—the full development of it could spell the end of the human race, he said. Brad Nelson, professor of robotics and intelligent systems at ETH Zürich, is optimistic about the technology’s development. To him, machines and robotics are augmenting instead of replacing the human workforce. In this interview with CKGSB Knowledge, Nelson talks about the state of AI so far, China’s advantages in this industry and, as an engineer, his insights into the relation between humans and machines.
Networking 2.0 Series: Q&A with Julia Hobsbawm, Author of Fully Connected
Today, we pack more computing power in our pocket than it took to get to the moon, and we can send a message to anyone in the world in less than a second. We’re overloaded with information, and as a consequence, many of us feel more anxious, more distracted and less productive. Why? “Unlike computers, we do not have limitless storage nor do we have unlimited time”, writes Julia Hobsbawm in her book Fully Connected. As a social network analyst, she says that people today are struggling with over-connectedness and are searching for meaning. People need to look more closely at what she calls “social health”.
Talent Management, an Interview with Edward E. Lawler III
Business has changed, specifically the relationship between management and employees. Once upon a time, companies offered careers—long-term, stable employment wherein the employee filled a narrowly-defined role. In past generations, it was common to spend an entire working lifetime at a single company, but now most millennials are ‘less loyal’ to employers, they go where their talents are valued. Edward E. Lawler III, Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California, expounds on the new model, which he terms “talent management”, a new paradigm focuses on the critical needs of a business, and finding the right people that can fulfill them.
Up Close and at a Distance: An Interview with Bill Bishop
Bill Bishop, co-founder of the stock market news website MarketWatch and author of Sinocism, talks about how China’s relationship with the world has changed. In this interview, he shares insights on China’s ascendance to second-largest economy in the world, as well as some of the serious economic challenges it faces today, such as an aging society and rising debt, and the current backlash against globalization. But along with that, he also discusses the many bright spots–the emerging internet economy, for example–and the hazards of getting caught up in what can be a biased and negative news cycle mentality.
Roger Martin on the Lost Art of Strategy
Companies today are less enthusiastic about corporate strategy. Strategy as a way of thinking has become “a lost discipline”, as phrased by Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and where he still teaches. In this interview, he points out that having an “emergent strategy” does not mean “don’t have a strategy” and we should get away from strategy as planning. He also explains “integrative thinking” and “design thinking” and how to use them in daily lives and help decision-making.
CKGSB Knowledge Summer 2015 Issue: Big Data in China
Big data has made its way to China and has been eagerly adopted by the countryʼs tech giants. Does it stand to revolutionize business?
China’s Robam Bets Big on the Smart Appliances Market
Zhao Jihong, President of the Hangzhou-based high-end kitchen appliance maker Robam, believes that the future belongs to smart appliances.
Air Pollution in China: What’s at Stake?
How serious is air pollution in China and how is the country addressing it at a policy level? Also, what kind of business opportunities is this creating? A comprehensive look. If you live in China, chances are the one thing you’d be most concerned about is the level of PM2.5 in the air. PM2.5, or particulate matter […]
Bottom of the Pyramid and Beyond: The Thinker Interview with Stuart Hart
In the year 2002, C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart published a groundbreaking article in Strategy+Business magazine that introduced to the world the idea of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). The idea, which says that the poor present a vast untapped business opportunity, and if companies serve the poor, they can help eradicate poverty and […]
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