Human Capital Briefs

some CEOs consistently win in one context but lose in another. If you’re involved in CEO selection, this requires that you both hire the right CEO and understand when the company’s strategic situation suggests that a different CEO is more likely to win.

Most of the people who end up in top jobs have never had any training for or experience in dealing with communicating in a crisis on the big stage. I thought it might be useful to put together a playbook that every leader should have ready for when it hits the fan.

Time Magazine recently put “The Mindfulness Revolution” on its cover, which could either be seen as hyping the latest business fad, or as signaling a major change in the thinking of executive leaders. I believe it’s the latter.

Satya Nadella’s appointment as Microsoft’s CEO was greeted with headlines such as “Why Microsoft and Everyone Else Loves Indian CEOs,” echoing Time’s 2011 lead heralding “India’s Leading Export: CEOs.”

he advent of broadband access in middle schools in Portugal led to a decline of 0.78 of a standard deviation in academic grades between 2005 and 2009, say Rodrigo Belo, Pedro Ferreira, and Rahul Telang of Carnegie Mellon University.

Sorry, Ivy League-educated dilettantes: While that framed degree may look mighty fine on your wall, most business leaders aren't particularly keen on your academic credentials when hiring, at least according to a new survey from Gallup.

A worker who started out earning $40,000 and switched jobs seven times over the course of a 40-year career would lose $47,000 in lifetime retirement savings if all of her employers followed IBM’s example and paid 401(k) retirement contributions as lump sums on the last day of each year.

In mid-September 2013, 10 professionals returning from multi-year career breaks walked into 270 Park Avenue in New York City to begin the J.P. Morgan ReEntry Program. Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse have recently initiated internship programs for return-to-work professionals.

A recent HBR blog proposed to deliver “The Cure for the Common Corporate Wellness Program.” But as with any prescription, you really shouldn’t swallow this one unless all your questions about it have been answered.