Business Talk

Dr. Frank Liu, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Western Australia Business School's Department of Accounting and Finance and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic History (CEH), joins us to discuss his study "Divine Dividends: How Religious Traditions Shape Corporate Payout Policies" - exploring how Buddhist and Taoist influences shape dividend behaviors among Chinese A-share firms. His research finds that stronger religious traditions foster higher dividend payouts, greater corporate responsibility, and deeper investor trust, highlighting the powerful role of informal institutions in financial decision-making.

What inspired this research was a moment of striking contrast in Shanghai - walking out of a modern glass-and-steel office tower, Dr. Frank Liu found himself face-to-face with the Jingang Temple directly across the street, incense in the air and temple bells ringing. That juxtaposition sparked a profound question: could the cultural environment surrounding companies actually shape boardroom decisions? Drawing on over 33,000 firm-year observations of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2023, Dr. Liu and his co-author Xu Xian mapped the density of Buddhist and Taoist temples within a 200-kilometer radius of company headquarters to measure religious influence. Their findings are compelling; firms located in areas with stronger religious traditions were not only more likely to pay dividends but also paid larger amounts and maintained more consistent payout policies over time. Buddhism, with its core emphasis on dhana (generosity and giving), exerted a stronger influence than Taoism, though both traditions discouraged the kind of corporate stinginess that Chinese investors colorfully describe as "iron roosters", companies so tight-fisted that not even a single feather can be plucked from them. Beyond dividends, religiously influenced firms demonstrated superior CSR performance, reduced opportunistic behavior by controlling shareholders, and greater transparency underscoring how informal institutions like culture and religion can serve as powerful governance mechanisms, particularly in contexts where formal enforcement remains imperfect.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Frank Liu offered compelling insights from his research, "Divine Dividends: How Religious Traditions Shape Corporate Payout Policies," in a thought-provoking conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

In her research, "Blind Spot: Integrating Biodiversity into Corporate Risk Management," Dr. Monomita Nandy, Professor in Accounting and Finance at Brunel Business School, Brunel University of London, UK, reveals a critical oversight at the heart of modern corporate strategy, most businesses treat nature as an externality rather than recognizing how deeply their operations, supply chains, and long-term resilience depend on living ecosystems.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Monomita Nandy shared key insights from her research, “Blind Spot: Integrating Biodiversity into Corporate Risk Management”, in an engaging conversation on the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

Dr. Sarah Whitley, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, joins us to discuss her research, "Positive Emotions During Search Engine Use: How You Feel Impacts What You Search for and Click On."

In her research, "Positive Emotions During Search Engine Use: How You Feel Impacts What You Search for and Click On," Dr. Sarah Whitley, along with co-researchers Dr. Anindita Chakravarty and Dr. Pengyuan Wang, explores how incidental positive emotions, feelings unrelated to the search task itself. shape the way people interact with search engines. The study, drawing on approximately 50 million archival search queries, reveals that users in a positive mood are more likely to describe products using emotionally positive keywords such as "exciting," "joyful," or "inspiring," and are subsequently more inclined to click on advertisements. Notably, positive emotion queries demonstrated a 2% higher click-through rate compared to neutral queries, a seemingly modest figure that translates into thousands of additional clicks at scale. The research also uncovers a key psychological mechanism: positive emotions reduce users' skepticism toward advertising, not by making them unaware of ads, but by lowering their perception of manipulative intent what Dr. Whitley describes as a "rose-colored glasses" effect.

For marketers, these findings present a valuable and largely untapped opportunity, particularly during high-mood periods such as weekends and holidays, and across hedonic product categories like entertainment, clothing, and dining.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Sarah Whitley joined the Business Talk podcast for an engaging conversation, sharing key insights from her research, "Positive Emotions During Search Engine Use: How You Feel Impacts What You Search for and Click On." The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

Dr. Achyuta Adhvaryu, Tata Chancellor's Professor of Economics at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and inaugural Director of the 21st Century India Center at the University of California, San Diego, presented his research on "Platform Work: Evidence from Drivers in India, Indonesia, and Kenya," drawing on surveys and platform data to examine drivers' earnings, costs, and career trajectories.

In his research on "Platform Work: Evidence from Drivers in India, Indonesia, and Kenya," Dr. Achyuta Adhvaryu unpacks the complex realities of gig work in the Global South by combining platform administrative data with on-ground worker surveys. The study finds that while monthly net earnings for platform drivers can exceed comparable informal work by 25-30% in India, this comes at a steep cost, fuel expenses alone consume one-third of gross earnings in India and Indonesia, and over half in Kenya, where high operating costs render platform work increasingly unsustainable.

A critical distinction also emerges between hourly and monthly earnings: drivers in Indonesia log upwards of 70 hours a week, raising serious concerns about work-life balance and whether flexibility is a genuine advantage or a quiet compulsion. The research further reveals that platform work serves a dual role - as a primary income source for roughly one-third of drivers, and as a financial safety net for another third who turn to platforms during economic emergencies - though algorithmic pressures for constant engagement increasingly threaten that safety-net function. Dr. Adhvaryu argues that the most promising path forward lies not in capping work hours, but in transitioning drivers to electric two-wheelers, expanding charging infrastructure, and enabling platforms to deliver financial benefits such as insurance and micro-credit directly through their apps.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Achyuta Adhvaryu shared insightful perspectives drawn from his research, "Platform Work: Evidence from Drivers in India, Indonesia, and Kenya," during an engaging conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

In this episode of the Business Talk podcast, Dr. Gopal Naik, Former Professor in the Economics Area and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair in Utility Development & Water Economics at IIM Bangalore, shares compelling insights from his research study, "Impact of the Use of Technology on Student Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment in India." His groundbreaking tele-education initiative reached nearly 200,000 students across 1,000 rural government schools in Karnataka, earning the prestigious WSIS 2015 Award at ITU Geneva.

Conducted as a large-scale Randomized Control Trial (RCT) spanning 1,823 schools across 18 districts, the study examined the impact of live, interactive multimedia-based instruction on student performance in Science, English Grammar, and Mathematics. The intervention, designed to be resource-light and self-sufficient, used just one computer and projector per school, delivering expert-led, high-quality content via EduSat, India's educational satellite replacing approximately one-third of regular classroom time. Results demonstrated significant improvements in learning outcomes across all three subjects, with Science recording the largest gains, as animations and videos made complex concepts more accessible to rural learners.

Dr. Naik emphasizes that technology must complement, not replace, traditional educational investments such as teacher hiring and training, and underscores the transformative role technology can play in bridging educational inequality for students in underserved communities.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Prof. Gopal Naik offered insightful perspectives drawn from his research, "Impact of the Use of Technology on Student Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment in India," in an engaging conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

In a thought-provoking conversation on the Business Talk podcast, Dr. Matthew Cronin, Professor of Management at the Costello College of Business, George Mason University, unpacks the transformative ideas behind his acclaimed book The Craft of Creativity, co-authored with Prof. Jeffrey Loewenstein and winner of the 2018 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association. Dr. Cronin challenges the popular notion that creativity is an innate talent or a sudden "aha moment," arguing instead that it is a skill built on four core practices - faith, persistence, tolerance for ambiguity, and provisional commitments, each of which can be cultivated with time and experience. Central to his framework is the Story Model of Creativity, which holds that everyone operates with mental narratives about how things work, and that true innovation lies in finding the "plot twist" that productively disrupts those stories.

He further introduces the PAGES model - Parts, Actions, Goals, Events, and Self-concept, as a practical tool for unlocking fresh solutions by shifting just one dimension of how we perceive a problem. Ultimately, Dr. Cronin reminds us that creativity is not about powering through; it is about holding ideas lightly, exploring them immediately, and balancing the courage to persist with the wisdom to know when to change course.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music.

B. Dr. Matthew Cronin offered thoughtful perspectives from his acclaimed book, “The Craft of Creativity”, in his conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited.

In this episode of Business Talk, Emeritus Professor Lawrence H. White, an American economist formerly of George Mason University, joins us to discuss the central ideas from his book Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?

He explains what a “monetary standard” means in practice and compares three alternatives, gold, fiat money, and Bitcoin, through a clear lens: how well each system responds to changes in money demand and how stable its purchasing power is over time. Professor White challenges the notion that a gold standard has a rigid money supply, arguing that recycling and expanded mining can make gold supply more responsive than many assume, while also emphasizing gold’s longer-run predictability. He contrasts this with fiat systems, where central banks must forecast money demand (often imperfectly), and with Bitcoin’s fixed supply rule, which he argues can produce extreme volatility and limits its usefulness as everyday money and for long-term contracts.

Drawing on history, including his interpretation of the Great Depression, and present-day policy dilemmas, he makes the case that real-world monetary performance depends less on slogans and more on incentives, institutions, and how monetary systems handle shocks.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music.

B. Dr. Lawrence White offered thoughtful perspectives from his acclaimed book, “Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?”, in his conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited.

Dr. Anandasivam Gopal, President’s Chair of Information Systems and Innovation at Nanyang Business School, discusses his research, “Dancing to the #Challenge: The Effect of TikTok on Closing the Artist Gender Gap in the Music Industry.”

Professor Anandasivam Gopal explained how TikTok hashtag dance challenges, 30-45 second, easily replicable dance videos tied to a shared hashtag, can create measurable, sustained momentum for emerging music artists rather than just a short-lived “spike.”

Drawing on a dataset linking TikTok challenge activity with Spotify followership, the study uses daily follower growth (a compounding metric that signals durable audience-building) and carefully constructed comparison groups to isolate impact across similar songs while reducing confounds such as “superstar bias” and overlapping TikTok releases. The key finding is that when women creators make dance challenges for women artists (especially in Western pop with high danceability and light, fun themes), artists see roughly 3% higher daily Spotify follower growth, an effect that can compound to around 40–50% over two weeks, while self-created challenges by artists show little to no net benefit due to the “self-promotion penalty,” explained through role congruity theory. Practical implications follow for platforms and artist teams: encourage and seed more third-party challenge creation (ideally by women creators), treat challenges as selective strategy rather than a guaranteed formula, and keep the creative tone authentic and “peppy” to maximize the likelihood of sustained cross-platform spillover.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Anandasivam Gopal shared insightful perspectives from his research, “Dancing to the #Challenge: The Effect of TikTok on Closing the Artist Gender Gap in the Music Industry”, during his conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.

Dr. Gustav Peebles and Prof. Benjamin Luzzatto discuss their book, “The First and Last Bank: Climate Change, Currency, and a New Carbon Commons,” which presents a bold new approach to currency and community, one designed to help remove carbon from the atmosphere and add a powerful new tool to the fight against climate change.

The guests, propose a carbon-based monetary system inspired by the historical gold standard except designed to be regenerative rather than extractive, with carbon drawn down and securely stored while a community currency circulates in the local economy. They argue carbon can function as a viable reserve asset because it already has real market value and practical uses (for example, in soil improvement and water purification), and they outline a model of community-owned “carbon banks” that convert carbon waste into stable biochar, verify its carbon content, and issue currency chits backed by that sequestration.

By keeping storage local and governance commons-based, the model aims to rebuild trust through transparency and enable ordinary citizens to take direct climate action, complementing, not replacing, existing tools like regulation, carbon taxes, and decarbonization efforts.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music.

B. Dr. Gustav Peebles and Prof. Benjamin Luzzatto shared thoughtful insights from their acclaimed book, “The First and Last Bank: Climate Change, Currency, and a New Carbon Commons,” in a conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited.

Dr. Nirajana Mishra, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, shares insights from her research on how financial stress shapes couples’ willingness to talk about money, often not because conflict is actually happening, but because partners anticipate disagreement, negative emotions, or clashes in money attitudes. Drawing on multiple studies, she explains why financial stress is a subjective sense of not being in control (not simply a function of income), how it can amplify existing tensions, and why avoidance carries real financial and relationship costs.

The conversation also highlights practical, evidence-based ways to break the cycle: anchoring discussions in shared goals, using collaborative language, and reframing money disagreements as specific, solvable problems rather than perpetual battles rooted in personality differences.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music.

B. Dr. Nirajana Mishra shared key insights from her research, “Discussing Money with the One You Love: How Financial Stress Influences Couples' Financial Communication”, in an engaging conversation on the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.