Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2025 i Rotman Management

GENERATIVE AI stands poised to help companies reinvent themselves — by streamlining operations, delivering better customer experiences and otherwise driving growth in many ways. That’s why, in a global survey by Accenture of 2,300 business leaders, nearly all (97 per cent) said they believe that Generative AI (GenAI) is a game-changing technology worthy of long-term investment. However, despite these great expectations, many companies struggle to turn their GenAI pilots into scalable solutions. A big reason for this, our research also shows, is that most are still not ‘data ready’ for GenAI. For example, when we surveyed 2,000 CXOs in 2024, 48 per cent said their organizations lacked enough high-quality data to operationalize their GenAI initiatives. So, what does it mean to be data-ready for GenAI? Companies with high readiness have…

THE COMMANDER. When you work for a Commander, you typically know where you stand and what’s expected of you, but Commanders can be so quick to take action that they may steamroll you or others. Because they’re low on sociability, these leaders won’t be your first pick for a heart-to-heart. They care more about what needs to be done rather than how everyone feels about it. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re uncaring, but they show their commitment to others by setting clear, ambitious targets rather than through praise or acknowledgment. Expect a brisk work pace with an emphasis on consistent momentum and deadlines. How to approach them: Emphasize efficiency and achievement. If declining extra tasks, explain how focusing on your core responsibilities will translate to faster completion of the team’s…

HIGH-QUALITY SOCIAL CONNECTIONS are essential to our mental and physical health and well-being. Unfortunately, loneliness is widespread, affecting an estimated one in four people. A large body of research shows that it has a serious impact on physical and mental health, quality of life and longevity. In fact, in 2023 the World Health Organization launched an International Commission on Loneliness, which it says can be as bad for people’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Clearly, there are implications for the workplace. In a recent paper, we set out to integrate the findings to date to create an updated conceptual model of workplace loneliness for the modern age. Our work highlights the complex nature of loneliness as it pertains to the workplace. In this article we will summarize our…

Over the past few years, I’ve been encouraging business leaders to take a ‘less is more’ approach. This technique differs radically from the old way of doing things. Traditional organizations were designed for stable market environments and often come with a heavy legacy of complex administrative processes. That makes them notoriously inflexible and difficult to transform. In such companies, when the going gets tough, the management gets tougher. The default approach is to impose more rules and tighter controls from above as a way of keeping disruption in check. The problem is, tightening controls often stifles the organization. In fact, what management should do is loosen its hold and give the organization the freedom it needs to work effectively. The idea is that management should stick to defining what they…

Sinan Aral: Michiel, you were part of a team that recently demonstrated the ability of an AI mediator to help humans find common ground, often updating their views. Can you explain how this system works? And what is its potential impact on our highly polarized society? Michiel Bakker: We developed a system of language models that simulates an election and uses a social choice framework to present a unified perspective. The system processes diverse opinions and identifies a group statement that maximizes agreement. Essentially, it reconciles different viewpoints to find a statement that a group can collectively endorse. We focused on small groups reaching consensus on political issues, but the system has broader implications. It’s a more affordable and accessible alternative to traditional mediation methods, showing great potential in facilitating…

IN THE LATE WINTER OF 2023, 1,000 members of the tech and academic communities banded together to call for a six-month pause on all AI development, to give the world’s governments a chance to create some regulatory guardrails. AI development was moving too fast, the signatories said, and companies should work with regulators to create “a robust AI governance system.” While AI might do some wonderful things, the risks of this technology were simply too great to ignore. Fast forward six months…and not much changed. There were no new laws to rein in AI development. No regulations that require tech companies be transparent about their algorithms or testing. No fresh guardrails to protect people against bad actors. The technology continued to advance at a rapid pace. Regulation just couldn’t keep…

In your latest book, you propose a paradigm shift to make work fair. What does this entail in practical terms? Anyone can make work more fair by improving how they do things they are already doing daily in their job. If you hire people, employ practices that have been proven to give everyone a fair shot. If you create presentations, ensure the images you select are representative of your employees, customers and the communities you serve. And if you chair a meeting, run it so that you can benefit from everyone’s wisdom. Making work fair means designing workplaces where everyone can thrive and perform at their best. This means giving all people — regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other aspect of their identity or background —…

Yourbook—Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI—debunks many of the doom prophecies associated with AI. Why are you and your co-author such AI optimists? My co-author, NYU Professor Anindya Ghose and I have spent the last 20 years helping companies convert their data into an asset. With 40 years of collective experience in this space, we’ve found there are always two sides to every new technology. You can go back all the way to the kitchen knife, which can be used to inflict harm or to create beautiful sushi. AI is a very powerful, general-purpose technology that is more complex and layered than anything we’ve seen in the past. It is also intangible, leaving room for voices that are either dystopian or utopian. But, like all technology, it is…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) has brought leadership as a practice to a major inflection point, placing leaders at the helm of a crucial decision: Will AI create an era of mechanical, impersonal efficiency or will it catalyze a renaissance, redefining leadership itself? This moment is not just about adopting a new technology; it’s about shaping the future of work. If approached with foresight, AI can be the dawn of a golden age for leaders, an era in which they transcend traditional roles to become beacons of humanity. By delegating tasks to AI and using AI to augment skills and behaviours, leaders have an opportunity to unlock a truly human experience of work while enhancing organizational performance. But humans have always been better at inventing tools than at using them. Consider for…

THE FUTURE OF WORK is a topic that has received a considerable amount of attention in the last decade, especially with regard to the increasing use of advanced technology. Although organizations can benefit in many ways from technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), they will also face many new challenges, such as the potential objectification and dehumanization of employees. As a result, leaders of the future must find ways to combat and minimize the potentially negative and harmful effects of technology on employees and their other stakeholders. In a recent paper, Jamie Gruman (University of Guelph) and I argue that the future of work (FoW) is likely to generate dehumanizing changes to organizational cultures that can only be mitigated in one way: through the deliberate introduction of care. We show…

Susan Christoffersen: Selwyn, your résumé has only one company on it: IKEA. What first brought you there in 2002—and what has kept you there for 20-plus years? Selwyn Crittendon: I grew up with this brand — playing in the kids’ ‘ball pit’ while my family shopped. Back in 2002, I accepted an excellent opportunity to join forces with a company I loved. I was living in the Washington, D.C. area at the time, and the job was at a small store in Woodbridge. Many of the people who worked there had been there for 30 to 40 years, so there was this great wealth of knowledge, a deep understanding of the brand and a passion for it. They gave me an amazing opportunity to learn and grow. For me, it’s…

INDICATORS OF EMPLOYEE STRESS, burnout and unhappiness are higher than ever before. With approximately 60 per cent of the world’s population working, employers have a huge opportunity to be a part of the solution to the mental health crisis. Not only is it the right thing to do, but there is also a growing body of highquality evidence demonstrating that a focus on employee wellbeing is good for the health of your business, too. The latest research indicates that improved well-being among employees is reflected in improved productivity, better talent attraction and retention, reduced absenteeism and benefits for the bottom line and stock market performance of an organization. Research published in Management Science reveals that a one-point increase in employee well-being on a zero-to-10 scale can lead to an average…

AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC moves into the rearview mirror, a wide range of its enduring consequences are becoming clear. Trends underway in Canadian cities even before the pandemic have been reshaped and, in some instances, accelerated and amplified by what has occurred since March 2020, when an unprecedented national lockdown began. Experiences of isolation and hardship have led many urban Canadians into levels of unmitigated distress. The impact has been unequal, with some of the most profound problems arising for low-income workers, essential workers, healthcare providers, immigrants, children and the elderly. In this article we will discuss some of the key impacts of the pandemic on Canadian cities, in hopes of placing these issues firmly on the radar of leaders everywhere. The Impact on Mobility and Proximity Evidence based on…

WE FIND OURSELVES at a critical juncture in the economic evolution at which we must define the relationship between humans and technology. Nearly every industry and every type of work will be actively disrupted by technology advances, if they haven’t been already. We have seen, for example, the impact robotics has made on augmenting physical labour in our workforce and how artificial intelligence (AI) has enhanced knowledge work. As new technologies continue to be adopted into our workplaces, we are forced to confront questions about how to move workers up the value chain alongside innovation, and moreover, to solve for how we will centre humanity in the further development of AI. It is our view that over time, AI and other automation technologies have the potential to make work more…

Sam Ransbotham: We hear so much about the benefits of AI, but let’s talk about some of the risks you foresee. Can you walk us through how these powerful tools might diminish our human abilities? Jeremy Kahn: I’m concerned that this technology is so seductive and easy to use that we will overuse it — and, as a result, lose important cognitive abilities like critical thinking. Anyone who has used a chatbot from OpenAI or Anthropic knows that they provide very plausible, pat answers or capsule summaries of whatever information you want. It’s easy to take the output and go off thinking, ‘I’ve got the answer.’ The problem is, the way these systems are currently designed, there is no prompting of the user to think about the provenance of the…

What are ‘shareholder proposals,’ and why is this such an important topic for business leaders to understand? Shareholder proposals are a fascinating tool of corporate governance. They provide shareholders with an opportunity to have their voices heard and nudge companies to change their business practices. They can be important mechanisms to enhance transparency and the accountability of boards and management to shareholders — and ultimately, all stakeholders. The right to bring a shareholder proposal is not reserved for ‘big players’ only. Even small shareholders can bring an issue to a management team and board, so long as they meet the ownership threshold of $2,000 or one per cent of the company for at least six months. Shareholder proposals are important because they can lead to broader, systemic change in market practice,…

Interview by Carmina Ravanera Carmina Ravanera: In 2024, the organizational adoption rate of AI in at least one business function was 72 per cent, with an expected annual growth rate of 37 per cent to 2030. With such significant growth ahead, what do leaders need to be aware of? James Zou: The most important thing to understand is what AI is: an algorithm that learns from data. When you first develop an algorithm, you give it some data and ask it to make predictions based on it. Once you understand that algorithms intrinsically learn from the data we provide them, it becomes clear how different types of biases can creep into them. If I train my algorithm on text or other data that contains historical biases or stereotypes, the algorithm…

Describe what you see as the next frontier in artificial intelligence (AI). The term ‘frontier AI’ is often used to refer to highly capable AI models that are at the leading edge of technological advancement, capable of performing a wide array of tasks. Frontier models are laying the groundwork for what could be near-general-purpose AI (GPAI) — a broad pursuit by a school of thought in the AI field. However, when I talk about the next frontier in AI, I shift the focus from intelligence-driven advancements to integrity-led progress. ‘Artificial Integrity’ represents this new direction. I propose that the next significant evolution in AI should be its ability to operate with built-in integrity. That entails designing AI systems with an inherent framework that ensures responsible, integrity-driven behaviour, consistently. This includes…

DREW, A RESEARCH MANAGER at a city environmental agency, was getting ready to draft his resignation letter. He and his colleagues had just accomplished one of their major goals — a multi-year site cleanup that involved rehabilitating a former block of condemned buildings into senior living with an attached community centre. But rather than celebrating their hard work, his boss, Melina, had almost immediately launched into their next project and was insisting he conduct preliminary studies within the month. Drew felt his career was a calling — that he was doing his part to improve the city he grew up in. But the pace at which Melina expected him to work was unsustainable. He was happy to put in extra hours to meet key deadlines, but Melina viewed every project…

PERSONALIZATION HAS BECOME AN OVERUSED BUZZWORD. Every company claims to be doing it. But are they? What exactly is personalization? Some might define it as ‘something built or delivered for me, just the way I want it.’ But companies have been doing this for a long time: offering the choice of fabric for a sofa, the specifications of a PC, the choice of a seat at an event and so on. That isn’t personalization; it is simply customization. Nor is it a matter of adding a ‘Hi, Jordan’ greeting at the beginning of an e-mail or a simple ‘Others who bought this also bought…’ recommendation to an online shopping search. Well, then, what is personalization? It’s what happens when you’re searching on a website and are shown items based not…

TRULY, WE LIVE IN A TIME OF CONTRADICTIONS. The world is plagued by armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions and environmental threats, but at the same time, it is blessed with advancements in science, technological breakthroughs and transformative digitalization. Foreseeing what lies around the corner has become impossible. That which we thought we knew, we no longer know — and that which we knew we did not know, can often no longer be known. For business leaders, this level of uncertainty can be overwhelming. Corporate CEOs used to map out their short, medium and long-term strategies on the basis of predictions, forecasts and extrapolations from current data. How did customers behave last year? Then they are likely to behave in much the same way this year. Where did we source our raw…

You have said that Canadian physicians and nurses are “working within an inhumane system.” Please describe what they are up against. Dr. James Maskalyk: It feels like we’re losing something essential — our connection to the human suffering in front of us and through it, our deepest self. As our systems grow more complex and technology-driven, we are being pulled away from the bedside, away from real conversations with patients, families and colleagues — and ever deeper into screen time. I am confident that in five years or so — hopefully faster — there will be ambient scribes recording my conversations with patients so that when I say, “MD Order: Give patient X one gram of ceftriaxone,” AI will initiate the order with the hospital’s pharmacy and ensure it arrives…

You refer to our current environment as ‘the Novel Economy.’ How do you define that term—and why does it demand a ‘mindshift’ from individuals and organizations? The Novel Economy describes an environment where disruption is no longer episodic, but constant and pervasive. Everything is ‘novel,’ and the impact of each disruption is new and unusual. It’s a landscape shaped by a confluence of forces: the rise of generative AI, climate change, geopolitical instability, societal shifts like remote work and the enduring lessons of the pandemic. Each of these forces disrupts traditional business models and expectations, creating a world where organizations must constantly adapt — or risk irrelevance. Yet, with each disruption, legacy leaders will acknowledge disruption with a nod to a ‘new’ or ‘next’ normal. What they’re really saying is…

BUSINESS DESIGN is a humancentred approach to innovation and problem-solving that focuses on people’s needs. Whether you want to create or improve a product, service, program or experience to make it more meaningful, effortless and/or more inclusive and equitable, you can employ a business design framework. This entails an end-to-end process. At Rotman, we use a four-step framework, conceptualized by innovation educator and former BDI Academic Director Dr. Angèle Beausoleil, to navigate an end-to-end innovation process. This framework integrates techniques, frameworks and mindsets to start, find, frame and solve any business problem in a human-centered way. There are many models or frameworks for business design, but they all have one thing in common: Using human-centred design to develop clear vision of what’s next and how to implement it, with a…

You believe we have entered a new world of work—a parallel universe of sorts that has completely different rules than the one we occupied before. Please explain. The pandemic and various other events — including climate change, world crises and remote work — have prompted people everywhere to re-evaluate the meaning of their life and work. Many have decided to make a career pivot or leave a bad job, while others are questioning whether what they do for a living has value. At certain points in our work lives, everyone asks, ‘Why am I here?’ But what’s different about the current situation is that we all seem to be asking this question at the same time — as if we’re having a shared existential crisis. You write that going to…

When many of us hear the word wellness, we think of spa treatments or meditation. What is ‘digital wellness’? I like to use the definition that comes from Google’s toolkit for its developers. They define digital wellness ‘a state of satisfaction that people achieve when digital technology supports their intentions.’ The fact is, it’s not necessarily the technology that is harmful, it’s how we use it. When technology can help us achieve our intentions or our personal mission, whatever it might be, we can achieve a state of digital wellness. What is the connection between digital well-being and overall well-being? The World Health Organization describes mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which we can realize our potential.’ When I think of wellness in general, it entails things like…