Banters on Business

Four Day (32 hour) Work Week For Same Pay: Will It Work?

Professors Alex and Kayla offer a critical examination of the idea of a 32-hour workweek. We explore potential benefits, while acknowledging the challenges. We delve into why a 4 day workweek with the same pay may not be feasible or effective, touching on issues of compensation, productivity, and industry-specific challenges. Whether you are an employee, employer, or just interested in the future of work, this episode provides a thought-provoking analysis of a timely and important topic.

What is Confidence?

This episode is based on Alex's interview with The New York Times. Alex is an academic expert on the topic confidence. He developed and tested a theory of core confidence published in Journal of Applied Psychology.
Core confidence is observed in someone who displays hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience. We dive into the differences between core confidence and self-efficacy. 

HR Analytics vs. People Analytics

What distinguishes HR Analytics from People Analytics? HR Analytics is focused on the past; people Analytics focuses on the future impact. It seeks to answer questions such as, what can we do to impact the future with our employees? It helps organizations embark on a journey in value creation with people as main actors, creating endless enablement during the employee lifecycle. 

Work from home experiment: What if it works? Health vs. wealth

Series: Work from Home Experiment: What if it Works?
Episode 4: Health vs. Wealth
In this episode, we discuss the really hard philosophical issue in science, which is to make decisions on the basis of comparing things that are not naturally comparable. So, how many lives are comparable to how many dollars? How do we develop interventions that both maximize lives saved and minimize the economic cost?

Work from home experiment: What if it works? Implications for anxiety, depression, and nostalgia

Series: Work from Home Experiment: What if it works?
Episode 3: Implications for Anxiety, Depression, and Nostalgia
Humans long to belong. Overall, being alone does not mean loneliness. But, learning to value social solitude is easier said than done. Thus, we predict an increase in depression and relationship break-ups during the pandemic, which will negatively spill-over to impact job performance. 

Work from home experiment: What if it works? Algorithmic management vs. people leadership

Series: Work from Home Experiment: What if it works?
Episode 2: Algorithmic Management vs. People Leadership
Isn’t it a simple arithmetic to surmise that if there are less people at work, leading them becomes less pressing? If there are less people around the work setting, why would we increase attention dedicated to leading them? This sounds logical. However, what will that do to the motivation and other human qualities of employees?

Work from home experiment: What if it works? Real teamwork vs. virtual teamwork

Series: Work from Home Experiment: What if it works?
The key question we address is whether effective work from home is simply a clone of effective work in organizational settings.
Episode 1: Virtual Teamwork vs. Real Teamwork
Teamwork will morph gradually into virtual teamwork. Will the cognitive, emotional, motivational, and social aspects of virtual teamwork be as effective as those of in-person teamwork?