Core Insights: Strategy

Design thinking has become the de facto way to innovate for successful companies these days, but it is now moving further up the organisational hierarchy. Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Pietro Micheli, Professor of Business Performance and Innovation, on how organisations can use design thinking in building a strategy and why the concept is so helpful in today's climate of uncertainty. Read more on how design thinking can aid a company's strategy and the six factors involved in using it here. Further, find out how design thinking can help build a strategy from the bottom-up here.

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Loizos Heracleous, Professor of Strategy, about agility.  Once the manifesto for software designers, agile has worked its way to the top of organisations as companies look to cope with an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Even before the global pandemic evidence suggested that volatility was increasing with more and more companies being disrupted by nimble start-ups as technology evolves at rapid rates in the fourth industrial revolution. But how do big companies incorporate agility into their strategy and structure? Professor Heracleous, co-editor of Agility.X - How organizations thrive in unpredictable times reveals the answers. 

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes interviews Hossam Zeitoun, Associate Professor of Behavioural Science & Strategy, on his latest research on which firms are able to withstand a recession. Dr Zeitoun analysed nearly 1,000 workplaces before and after the 2007-09 Great Recession to see why some thrived and others capitulated. As we enter the pandemic-induced global recession he reveals what the research revealed about those companies that came out of the recession intact. Read more about this research here.

Marianna Fotaki, Professor of Business Ethics, talks to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes about the importance of whistleblowers for organisations and society during the pandemic and in the new normal after it. She argues that instead of fearing and persecuting whistleblowers organisations should be putting in place 'speak-up' processes and rules so leaders hear of any mal-practice and can take swift action. For more on the role of whistleblowers and their importance during the pandemic read Professor Fotaki's article here.

Graham Loomes, Professor of Behavioural Science, reveals the trade-offs Governments are making between people's health and their livelihoods and argues they should be made transparent as leaders relax lockdown measures to get their economies moving again. Professor Loomes talks to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes about the difficult balancing act Governments are making in trying to save jobs and the economy and the increase risks it brings in spreading the virus. You can read Professor Loomes' argument here and more on the dilemmas involved for Governments in deciding how much money to spend on saving lives here.

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Ayfer Ali, Assistant Professor of Strategy, on how repurposing already existing drugs provides our best route to treating Coronavirus. Dr Ali reveals how a drugs repurposing strategy can unearth dozens of compounds in the fight against the global pandemic. She discusses how the steroid dexamethasone, which a study showed could reduce the risk of death by a third among hospitalised patients requiring ventilation, could be one of many possible re-purposed drugs that may halt COVID-19's spread. Read more from Dr Ali on repurposing drugs here.

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Keith Grint, Professor Emeritus at the University of Warwick and one of the leading figures on leadership in academia. He talks about the different facets of leadership that are needed during a crisis from command-and-control to handling wicked problems. Professor of Grint, who was Professor of Public Leadership at Warwick Business School until 2018, has written numerous books on leadership including Leadership, Management & Command: Rethinking D-Day.  You can read more from Professor Grint on leadership in a crisis here.

The lockdown across much of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant many people having to work from home, but how do you lead a team over the internet? Davide Nicolini, Professor of Organisation Studies and Director of the Knowledge & Innovation Network, reveals his research on the topic to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes. Professor Nicoloni explains the rules and pitfalls of managing a team exclusively online. For more read Professor Nicolini's article Four rules for leading a virtual team. 

In this 'Leading through COVID-19' episode Pietro Micheli, Professor of Business Performance and Innovation, talks through how Design Thinking can help companies find new markets and products, even re-invent their business to cope with the economic impact of the lockdown. Professor Micheli talks to host Trevor Barnes about the process and mindset to see the lockdown as an opportunity to make your business fit for the 'new normal'. Read more on how to use Design Thinking to re-invent your business here. 

Eivor Oborn, Professor of Healthcare Management, discusses the various coronavirus tracing apps that are being trialled with Core Insights host Trevor Barnes. Professor Oborn explains the disadvantages and advantages of the UK's NHSX app currently being tested on the Isle of Wight and how it differs to Google and Apple's version. To read more on how the app will work read Professor Oborn's article here.