Skip to main content

Posts

A closer look into the mind of the consumer

http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/Research/NewThinking/ResearchStories/RyanWebb--MindoftheConsumer A Rotman researcher examines technologies that could be used for measuring consumer tastes and choices For marketers, seeing into the minds of customers — and understanding exactly what they think, what they want and how much they’d be willing to pay — could be considered nothing short of miraculous. Though companies can run focus groups or conduct surveys when designing new products, consumer preferences are notoriously hard to measure. After all, it’s hard for customers themselves to predict whether they might like a product that hasn’t been developed yet. And people lie — especially if asked about their guilty pleasures or embarrassing habits. Ryan Webb,  an assistant professor of Marketing at the Rotman School, is hoping to identify new ways to overcome some of these challenges. By blending neuroscience and economic theory in his research, Webb examines ...

Learn to Love Networking

“I hate networking.” We hear this all the time from executives, other professionals, and MBA students. They tell us that networking makes them feel uncomfortable and phony—even dirty. Although some people have a natural passion for it—namely, the extroverts who love and thrive on social interaction—many understandably see it as brown-nosing, exploitative, and inauthentic. But in today’s world, networking is a necessity. A mountain of research shows that professional networks lead to more job and business opportunities, broader and deeper knowledge, improved capacity to innovate, faster advancement, and greater status and authority. Building and nurturing professional relationships also improves the quality of work and increases job satisfaction. https://hbr.org/2016/05/learn-to-love-networking

How to love networking, deal with competent jerks and inspire change

The students in Professor  Tiziana Casciaro’s  classes deal with some of today’s toughest management problems. Each semester, Casciaro, who teaches in the  MBA  and the  Initiative for Women in Business  programs at Rotman, challenges her students to consider very complicated cases: how would they manage an employee who does excellent work, but constantly offends and alienates coworkers? Where would they begin if they had to upgrade or tweak operations at an organization that is very resistant to change? Ultimately, her students are learning hard lessons about the importance and the complexities of the social networks that arise at work. “No one can do it alone and our students are no exception. Whether they become entrepreneurs or climb the corporate ladder, their success will depend on others. That’s why it’s so crucial that they shape and structure their network so that they can benefit from the experience, knowledge and support of others.” Cas...

Three Principles of Holistic Thinking

One of the key issues individuals face as they move into higher levels of responsibility is recognizing the value and importance of holistic thinking. I would define holistic thinking as the ability to see the whole picture and to understand the interdependencies of various component parts. I think a good analogy is a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle can be overwhelming if you just have a huge jumbled pile of pieces and try to put them together with no frame of reference or guidance. My daughter loved doing puzzles when she was younger, and from watching her, I’ve learned a few principles that help the puzzle come together faster: Keep the overall goal in front of you (like a picture of the completed puzzle), and review it often. Frame up the borders of the puzzle, by finding the corners and all the straight edge pieces and put those together first. Find patterns by grouping similar puzzle pieces together, such as specific colors which provide a hint they must be c...

Understanding the MBTI ® and Personality Type

MBTI Preferences, Skills, Development, Culture. A type preference doesn't necessarily translate into skill. For example, a person may prefer making decisions, but it doesn't follow that they are good ones and a person interested in possibilities about the future may not identify the most worthwhile and appropriate vision. As these are preferences, people can and do develop skill in their non-preferred areas, but they do not change their core preferences. These skills, when developed appropriately, are simply support their original preferences A person preferring Perceiving can be most timely with all their work and attend to their diary, if it makes sense to them and a person preferring Thinking judgement can be interested in people and personal issues if they can see the logic in it. Not spending sufficient time in your preferred modes can result in stress and lack of effectiveness in the workplace and at home. M...

6 Steps to fiing Income Tax Returns Online

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/tax/6-steps-to-file-income-tax-return-online/articleshow/64708010.cms?edition=840&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ETwealth The advent of online tax return filing websites and the income tax department’s constant upgradation of its e-filing portal (www. incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) have made the tax return filing process relatively easier in recent years, but for many individual salaried taxpayers and pensioners, it remains a dreaded activity which they put off until the last minute —even beyond 31 July, the due date for filing tax returns. This year, though, such procrastination will mean paying a huge pri .. Read more at: //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64708010.cms?edition=840&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ETwealth&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst The advent of online tax return filing websites and ...