INSEAD Knowledge Podcast

The emergence of large language models (LLMs) is poised to transform many industries, from entertainment and health care to market analysis. Businesses that fail to explore the rich opportunities presented by language technologies may soon find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage. We speak to Abhishek Borah , Associate Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, about his new book, Mine You...

Professionals are often told – and mostly convinced – that networking is good for their careers. However, the challenge is plugging the knowing-doing gap. How can people build and manage their networks more effectively? What makes individuals more or less motivated to network? In this podcast, Ko Kuwabara, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, explains how mindsets can affect...

Leaders play an important role in spearheading organisational change. However, INSEAD professor Narayan Pant notes that many leaders tend to rely on the same ways of doing things that have worked for them in the past, even though it may be the wrong approach for a particular situation. In this podcast, Pant delves into why it can be difficult for leaders to identify and change their behaviours. He...

The increasing volatility and asynchrony in today's business environment is urging leaders to move beyond traditional, internally focused team models. In this podcast, INSEAD professor Henrik Bresman discusses the second edition of his book, X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed , co-authored with Deborah Ancona from MIT Sloan. The book emphasises the need for teams to engag...

Digital technologies create digital relationships that limit comapnies ability to innovate and change. It’s long been understood that social networks, the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook, but also tools such as Whatsapp and Slack, enable individuals to collaborate and accomplish important tasks . As a result, firms typically rely on collaboration through networks to help them innovate and change ....

Why and how to reinvent multinational management skills. In this podcast conversation, Yves Doz, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Management at INSEAD, draws on over 30 years of research to argue that global companies now have two choices: They can simply retreat from operating globally, or they can try and rebuild their multinational management capabilities.

Are start-up ecosystems born or can they be made? Both, says Chiara Spina, INSEAD Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, who has extensive experience working with and studying start-ups in Italy, the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan. In the latest INSEAD Knowledge podcast, Spina explains that flourishing ecosystems such as Silicon Valley and Israel are often nurtured by unique local conditions...

Artificial intelligence has already demonstrated its ability to amplify performance and reshape competitive dynamics. A prime example lies in the pivotal role played by chess computers as artificial training partners, boosting players' capabilities . Introduced in the late 1970s, chess computers gained popularity in Western countries but were not available in the former Soviet Union due to microch...

Supply chain disruptions have become commonplace in recent years due to the increasing occurrence of natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war and various forms of geopolitical tension. In an increasingly volatile business environment, organisations that are used to operating in structured environments can look to the humanitarian sector for insights on navigating this new reality....

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, many companies have harnessed the language model and similar generative AI tools for a variety of business functions, including writing marketing copy, coding and plugging gaps in medical imaging data. But before leaders jump on the generative AI bandwagon, they should consider how it fits into their existing technological infrastructure and wider digi...

How do world-renowned leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, artists and creatives achieve success? For some 20 years, Nathan Furr, an Associate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, has been interviewing such individuals, culminating in a book with 42 practical tools to overcome uncertainty. In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, we speak to Nathan Furr and Susannah Furr, his co-author of the book The Upside...

Despite their best efforts and desire to “do good”, firms are often primarily focused on financial returns and rarely give stakeholders a seat at the table. This is because firms often lack a genuine understanding of the values that diverse stakeholders can bring and the unique needs and interests they seek. In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, Lite Nartey, a Visiting Professor of Strategy at INSEAD,...

What does it take to transform the idyllic Greek island of Tilos into the first zero-waste island? Can this circular model be extended to other islands and even other parts of the world? These are questions the INSEAD Sustainable Business Initiative seeks to answer in its first research collaboration with Polygreen – a network of companies that offers integrated and innovative circular economy sol...

Love them or loathe them, Chinese tech giants such as ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have become global household names in e-commerce, digital payments, social media and gaming in a few short years. Relatively little is known about these firms, but a new book may just change that. Written by INSEAD Professor of Strategy Guoli Chen and Jianggan Li, founder and chief executive of venture capital fir...

From the challenges of hybrid working to the quiet quitting trend, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a seismic impact on the workplace, leaving many companies struggling to understand how best to understand and meet employees' needs and motivations. In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Mark Mortensen proposes a more holistic approach to understanding employ...

The engine a multinational uses to create novel ideas is often an "innovation outpost". In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, INSEAD Professor Felipe Monteiro shares his research on these outposts and the ways that multinationals manage to integrate innovation.

Does taking photos during an experience helps us enjoy it more, or not? Alixandra Barasch, INSEAD Visitor Professor of Marketing, joins us to discuss the interplay between immersion in an experience and common fears of being judged on social media. Barasch also shares advice on the type of photos we should share online if we want observers to feel more connected to us. In addition, tech can influe...

Why is it so hard to lose weight and keep it off? Is it because willpower is a scarce resource? Or could there perhaps be a biological component? Hilke Plassmann, Octapharma Chaired Professor of Decision Neuroscience at INSEAD, joins us to discuss how newly discovered connections between the gut and the brain are making scientists rethink the issue of food choice. As researchers like Plassmann dis...

In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, Professor Morten Bennedsen, the Academic Director of the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise at INSEAD, talks about how the experience of bringing in talent from outside the family can rejuvenate family firms. Professionalisation is “about having the right leadership skills at any level in the organisation and moving the family firm from a one-man ba...

Unlike men, CEOs are not all created equal. Whether it’s due to national culture, industry, personality and timing, captains of industry or public service run the gamut between powerful leaders or symbolic figureheads. INSEAD Professor of Strategy Guoli Chen draws on nearly two decades of research into chief executives, leadership teams and corporate strategy to illuminate the factors that determi...

Our relationship to products and brands is complicated. Our opinion of them is shaped by how they make us feel as much as what they do for us. Tim Kobe, founder of strategic design firm Eight Inc., knows this all too well. Starting with his pioneering work on the initial Apple Store concepts, he's helped global brands find their voice -- and new heights of profitability -- by leveraging the emotio...

Many executives have a nagging sense that something is amiss in their lives. But not all of them find the courage – or the tools – to tackle what needs fixing. In his new book, The CEO Whisperer, Manfred Kets de Vries, INSEAD Distinguished Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change, shares lessons and insights he gleaned from decades of helping CEOs and executives become their b...

How can doing more with less make us more innovative? With a paradox mindset, by embracing both sides of seemingly conflicting priorities, many people find creative solutions to persistent problems. INSEAD's Ella Miron-Spektor joins us to discuss her research into the paradox mindset. Whether people struggle or thrive with competing demands largely depends on their mindset. With a paradox mindset,...

How did a DVD-by-mail company transform itself into a leading global entertainment brand? By rejecting mediocrity, embracing negative feedback, and turning hierarchy on its head. INSEAD's Erin Meyer joins us to discuss Netflix's unique corporate culture, designed to maximise innovation by minimising rules and red tape. Her new book, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, was writt...

Capitalism's current troubles did not begin with Covid-19, but the pandemic has further exposed the grave consequences of inequality in developed economies and the fragility of global value chains. Populist movements (on both the left and right) are intensifying their demands that Adam Smith's "invisible hand" be assigned a local habitation and a name. Moreover, the harsh business lessons of Covid...