The Management Lab
The Management Lab is a podcast featuring two business professors, Sean Hansen and Uri Gal, who bring science-based tools and insights to tackle current managerial issues. Each podcast includes a discussion of the latest research findings, practical strategies, and real-world examples that will help you to enhance your managerial skills and drive organizational success.
Episodes
February 3, 2025 • 62 mins
In this episode, Sean and Uri explore the increasing prevalence of workplace surveillance, particularly in the context of remote work and the rise of AI technologies. They discuss the ethical considerations surrounding employee monitoring including: the importance of maintaining a balance between productivity and employee well-being, the need for transparency, and potential biases introduced by AI-enabled surveillance tools. The...
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January 21, 2025 • 66 mins
Creativity plays a key role in both individual flourishing and organizational success. In this episode, Sean and Uri discuss various aspects of creativity, particularly in the workplace. They explore the differences between creativity and innovation, the impact of leadership styles on fostering creativity, the role of AI in enhancing individual creativity, and the importance of a supportive work environment for nurturing creativity...
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September 4, 2024 • 57 mins
Why can a group of intelligent, rational individuals still end up making poor decisions?
In this episode, Sean and Uri explore irrational group thinking, examining how dynamics like groupthink - where the desire for harmony leads to poor decision-making - occur.
We discuss what causes groups to fall into these traps, the potential harm to organizations, and how managers can promote a culture of critical thinking and open dialogue.
...
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July 13, 2024 • 66 mins
AI is dramatically transforming the ways in which we create content, present information, and formulate arguments.
Technologies such as large language models, social media algorithms, and synthetic media generation have the potential to upend mechanisms of social discourse that are central to the functioning of liberal democratic systems.
In this episode of The Management Lab, we explore the impacts of AI on social discourse. We ex...
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June 11, 2024 • 58 mins
The use of AI for mental support is rapidly increasing. Research shows that AI designed to understand and respond to human emotions can help people combat depression, avoid suicide, and improve their human relationships.
We examine both the potential and ethical questions arising from using AI for mental support. We also discuss how using such technologies can create new opportunities and challenges for organizations.
Sources Disc...
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May 7, 2024 • 51 mins
Techno-stress refers to the stress we feel because of our inability to adjust to the introduction of new technologies. It can reduce workers’ job satisfaction, increase attrition, and hinder organizations’ ability to innovate. Sean and Uri examine the science of the causes, nature, and implications of technostress, and how managers can mitigate its negative effects.
Research discussed in the episode:
Ayyagari, R., Grover, V., &...
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April 1, 2024 • 56 mins
Workplace boredom refers to a state of low arousal and dissatisfaction, which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating work environment. It can lead to counterproductive behavior, job turnover, anxiety, and depression. Sean and Uri examine the science of the causes, nature, and implications of workplace boredom, and how managers can make it more interesting.
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February 20, 2024 • 64 mins
With the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, excitement about the potential of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is running hot. In this episode of The Management Lab, we explore these emergent technologies along with their most promising business applications and the challenges to their organizational use.
Research we discuss in the episode:
Adhyaru, J. S., & Kemp, C. (2022). Virtual reality as a tool to promote we...
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January 16, 2024 • 53 mins
Stereotype threat refers to the performance-sapping impact of situations in which people feel they are at risk of confirming or reinforcing negative stereotypes about a social group of which they are a member. Sean and Uri investigate the science of the causes and nature of stereotype threat, and how managers can mitigate its effects.
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December 20, 2023 • 59 mins
Employee feedback is an essential component of work life that can be a source of individual growth and organizational success but also of anxiety and rigidity. Sean and Uri investigate the science of how managers can deliver effective feedback.
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November 28, 2023 • 76 mins
Employee voice refers to the ways in which employees communicate their opinions and suggestions to their managers on how to improve their organization.
Conversely, employee silence occurs when employees withhold their views due to fear of negative consequences or a belief that their opinions are not valued.
Understanding these dynamics is critical for managers because encouraging employee voice can lead to better organizational out...
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October 31, 2023 • 67 mins
In our rapidly-evolving, digitally-dominated world, many of us seek meaning, purpose, and a deeper connection to our inner self. This quest is not confined to our personal lives; it extends to our professional environments as well.
Spirituality, therefore, is emerging as a vital component for organizational success and employee well-being.
In this episode, Sean and Uri discuss spirituality in the workplace and unpack why spiritual ...
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October 11, 2023 • 82 mins
The explosion of generative AI in the past year has engendered plenty of emotional responses across the globe. Not surprisingly, the interaction of emotions and AI is a critical facet of our adaptation to this technology.
In this episode, we discuss the intersection between AI and human emotions, how AI can recognize and respond to emotion in users, and how human emotions can be leveraged to increase the use of AI.
Specific questio...
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September 24, 2023 • 68 mins
Over the past decade, businesses have made a concerted effort to improve their monitoring, analysis, and reporting of a wide range of non-monetary societal impacts collectively grouped under the label of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors.
Driven largely by the investment community, the ESG framework seeks to capture diverse, traditionally-overlooked aspects of organizational performance. In this episode of The Man...
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August 14, 2023 • 92 mins
Along with most other aspects of our business environment, the domain of human resource management is being fundamentally reshaped through the application of advanced data analytics. People analytics is a class of technology tools aimed at promoting evidence-based practices in organizations and allowing managers to make objective and rational decisions about their workforce. In this episode of The Management Lab, we explore the pro...
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July 13, 2023 • 64 mins
We're diving into the transformative role of generative AI in the workplace and examine if and how it impacts business productivity.
Some of the questions we explore are: Should managers be unleashing the power of generative AI on everything in sight, or should they take a more measured approach? Does ChatGPT merely augment human capabilities or is destined to replace us? Is there still a role for human intuition in the AI era? And...
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June 26, 2023 • 93 mins
We finally break the seal on a discussion of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, the potential of generative AI for good and for ill has dominated technology speculation across the globe. In this episode, we explore several of the ethical dimensions of generative AI (while conceding that such dimensions are almost unlimited).
Specific topics discussed include:
The evidence of pol...
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June 6, 2023 • 75 mins
CEOs are central figures in organizations, standing at the helm of large corporations and wielding the power to create substantial wealth. Their influence is imprinted not just on their employees and shareholders, but also on society at large. They create jobs, foster innovation, and drive the engine of our economy.
On the other hand, some CEOs prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term corporate health, employee welfare,...
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May 23, 2023 • 57 mins
Recent decades provide ample evidence of the potential for unethical behavior in organizational leadership. From Enron to Volkswagen and Wells Fargo to Purdue Pharma, we see that ethical failings in managerial ranks can have devastating effects on organizations and society at large.
In this episode, we explore some research on the dynamics of leadership personality and its implications for ethical behavior (or lack thereof). We pre...
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May 9, 2023 • 64 mins
How can managers harness behavioral science to help their employees make better decisions? The principle of nudging says that, by tapping into innate psychological tendencies, we can design choice scenarios to increase the likelihood of individuals choosing well.
In this episode we delve into the world of nudging techniques, examining how they can influence decision-making in various organizational scenarios, with a special focus o...
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