Do managers add value?

The usefulness of managers

Interesting article from the Economist over the value that managers can bring into organizations, based on a study performed by Stephan Billinger and Stephen Rosenbaum*.

Based on the study:

• Managers bring value into an organization, as they promoted the collaboration within a group / achieved better results than a randomized control groups without managers;
• Manager incentives matter both for managers and for workers:
• Workers become suspicious of managers when incentives are included;
• Managers react positively to incentives, however incentives might exacerbate the agency problem and promote short-term behaviors (with the company and with its associates).

My conclusions:

• Managers within a proper framework add value to any organization;
• The incentives/rewards drive culture and behaviors, thus quintessential to a company success.

*Discretionary mechanisms and co-operation in hierarchies: An experimental study, Journal of Economic Psychology 74

Study on the reading list

Review: O Sonho do Celta

O Sonho do Celta by Mario Vargas Llosa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

O Sonho do Celta apresenta e relata a história de Roger Casement de uma forma vívida, simples e acutilante.

Desconhecia totalmente quem era e a importância que teve na defesa dos direitos humanos no final do século XIX princípios do século XX e o impacto que teve na denuncia dos abusos realizados pelas potências colonizadoras (quer através da ocupação directa e gestão de territórios, quer através do exercício do poder económico)

O livro deu-me a conhecer quem foi e os feitos mais relevantes que realizou durante a sua vida e como lutou pelos seus ideais no Congo, na Amazónia e na Irlanda. Ressalto que este percurso não se deveu a ideias preconcebidas e definidas por uma filosofia estabelecida “ex-ante”, mas como consequência do sentir e viver as injustiças “in loco”, que tendo por base os seu valores morais e éticos o fizerem questionar a realidade em que vivia.

Adicionalmente, o livro também deu-me a conhecer parte da história da independência da Irlanda, que também desconhecia quase na sua totalidade.

O livro é um romance, com tudo o que isso implica, e não é um livro que pretende ser um relato histórico dos acontecimentos, está muito bem escrito e é um romance de leitura fácil e apelativa.


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Storytelling With Data

An interesting HBR video on how to put in practice storytelling with good examples, you just have to go through the first 30 seconds of the video and then it is worthwhile.
3 stages:

1. Setup
2. Conflict
3. Resolution (it does not mean to get it solved, but what was the outcome of the problem/conflict)

Afterwards, you can present your hypothesis and propose a solution

Storytelling With Data: A Good Charts Workbook Tool

Goodyear WinterCommand™ Product Launch Video

On the same subject & related Goodyear Winter tires:
Kim Adams, tyre tester for Auto Express, commented on the tyre’s impressive performance in snowy conditions: “The (UltraGrip) Performance+ dominated our snow tests with an almost two percent advantage over the next best… with a strong front grip and a rear that follows rather than slides through turns. Traction on lock was also impressive in an area where many rivals struggle.”

Automation Isn’t About to Make Truckers Obsolete

Automation Isn’t About to Make Truckers Obsolete

Interesting article on AI and the impact on the auto-industry and specially the trucking activity.

As always in order to fully understand a problem you should analyze in its different workable variables and then make an assessment, is not doomsday (although it will impact several person)but most probably will be a pivotal one specifically for the current truck drivers

How to make your arguments stronger

"...stick to their strongest points; resist the temptation to try besting others with brute force. ..."

"...it’s important to note that the delivery of your message is every bit as important as its content ..."

"...You cannot increase the quality of an argument by simply increasing the quantity of your argument ..."

On Pricing - how to create value

Why do they sell used books by weight (and what that implies for pricing data)

Interesting and make you think about several industries