What skills do we need to navigate and thrive in a rapidly evolving job market and an AI-driven future?
In a new episode of the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell, executive coach and Cornell Tech lecturer Keith Cowing discusses the decreasing value of tasks and the increasing value of judgment and leadership in an AI-driven future.
AI has broadened how companies integrate technology and digital transformation into their operations. For Karan Girotra, the Charles H. Dyson Family Professor of Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, AI prompts questions about a new wave of automation..
The AI for Digital Transformation certificate program, authored by Girotra, combines academic theory and practical executive experience in business and technology into one seamless journey through the new opportunities and potential pitfalls that AI brings. Girotra explains how businesses can utilize these new tools for success through data collection and experimentation. The program concludes with tips for encouraging a culture of learning and leadership through AI.
Girotra discussed the power of data-driven AI enhancements and digital transformation in a recent conversation with eCornell.
How essential is learning AI for professional development right now?
“That really comes down to the question: How is the world going to change [from this breakthrough]? We’ve seen from previous generations of automation that when we automate physical work, the new efficiency forms a pattern. This time, the automation of cognitive language work allows us to benefit in certain ways, including increasing productivity of individuals and organizations. People who don’t work on implementing these ideas risk being left behind and won’t reap the benefits of automation.”
How have you worked to make digital transformation, specifically with AI, accessible for a general audience?
“The program is not basic in ambition, but it is basic in style. The technical language is minimized, and [the courses] do not use jargon. In fact, there is a whole module that I call ‘Cut through the techno babble.’ So it’s designed to be extremely accessible.”
With AI constantly evolving, does this course have longevity in its application?
“Right now, there are so many hyper-specific courses in the AI boom. You have marketing with AI or trading with AI or one of a million other subspecialties. The problem with specific versions is that they change and lose their value with [any procedural innovation]. But if you learn AI more generally – what it can do for any role – then you can invent new ways to use it without copying the current ways people are using it. In a way, there’s a trade-off. When you get more narrow, AI becomes more relevant [for current issues], but it becomes less useful as the world changes. With this course, we teach the conceptual knowledge behind AI in digital transformation to let individuals chart their own procedures in a changing environment.”
Keep pace with the rapid advancements in AI and digital technologies in the AI for Digital Transformation certificate program. Learn more and enroll.
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
Marketing can sometimes feel abstract and uncertain, yet professionals in the field must meet the challenge of justifying their expenditures and linking them to key performance indicators each day.
Sachin Gupta, the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business, shares his statistics-based and data-driven approach to getting outstanding returns in his Demand Marketing online certificate program from eCornell.
Gupta recently spoke with the eCornell team about the program.
How do you embark on the process of data analysis in marketing?
“The data is typically collected in a survey-based setting online where you recruit participants in the study. When we come to the analysis of the data, that’s where the statistics kick in. The analysis is done using a model that is likely to be unfamiliar to most people. In the program, I explain that analysis in some detail. I demonstrate how to use R programming language to analyze data, interpret the findings and make decisions based on the results.”
How can marketing data influence decision-making?
“These decisions might involve product design choices for items like cell phones. Consider battery life as a feature: How should changes in battery life be tailored to meet demand? Similar considerations apply to pricing, which hinges on consumer willingness to pay for enhanced features. For instance, if you offer phones with a 12-hour battery life and phones with a 6-hour battery life, you must assess consumers’ willingness to pay for the extended battery life and use that information to determine pricing strategies.”
How can historical data inform future marketing decisions?
“When focusing on return on investment for your different marketing activities, you have to look back on historical data where you have sold the product, employed some marketing activities and spent money. This approach highlights what worked and to what extent and, therefore, comes up with a measured ROI. That’s a backward-looking accounting perspective from which information can be used to make better decisions in the future.”
What is the most critical information in digital advertising that drives decisions?
“The idea of attribution is pervasive in the industry. It involves analyzing spending on various digital channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and others to accurately attribute or assign credit to the platforms and campaigns that are actively driving your conversions and sales.”
Applying these analytical techniques can assist you in crafting cost-effective marketing strategies that align well with demand. Sachin Gupta’s Demand Marketing certificate program is open to professionals who possess a foundational knowledge of statistics and Excel. Learn more and enroll now.
For Joseph Astrachan, a co-author of Cornell’s Family Business Leadership online certificate program, a family-run business is a generational tradition. Since Astrachan was young, his family has operated businesses in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to shipping. He is no stranger to the difficulties that come with owning a company tied to the fabric of a family, including managing close relationships in the face of business challenges.
With Daniel Van Der Vliet, executive director of the Smith Family Business Initiative within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, John Engels, president and CEO of Leadership Coaching Inc. and Holly Isdale ‘86, founder of WealthHaven, Astrachan has blended academic theory and industry practice in a certificate program that helps others navigate the obstacles and opportunities of running a family business successfully.
“There is no way around it: Navigating a family business is distinctly different from the traditional corporate model,” said Astrachan, a Professor Emeritus and former executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business.
The certificate program uses a hands-on approach to address how the personal and professional overlap in family businesses. Courses include:
Just like with any other business, management in a family-run venture evolves over time. For family businesses, there is often an added layer of grief associated with leadership changes. Sometimes assumed agreements and familial relationships complicate these transitions.
“Continuing a family-run business requires perpetuation through transition, passing it from one generation to the next,” Van Der Vliet said in a recent conversation with eCornell. “Even though all business begins with family . . . some of this expertise around family business does not exist in academia. Family business is very specialized.”
To help learners understand the nuances, the Family Business Leadership program combines advisory parties – like lawyers and accountants – and family members into one cohesive group of learners. The courses organize behaviors in family businesses into familiar workplace relationships and help make sense of common patterned dynamics. Learners gain practical insights they can immediately apply to their own operations.
“Family members are not asked to share anything deeply personal,” Van Der Vliet said. “Their projects could become more personal if they choose, which can be beneficial for their takeaways from the course… and for those that are not family members in the family business, on the advisory or service side, they can have an opportunity to realize [how family dynamics] broadly affect the company.”
Discover how to manage relationships, steward wealth and implement governance structures in Cornell’s Family Business Leadership certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
Mindful and inclusive leaders are highly sought after in today’s increasingly global and diverse workplace. Organizations need leaders who can foster environments where individuals with varying backgrounds feel valued and understood.
Organizations tend to concentrate on the bureaucratic elements while the foundation of an inclusive setting lies in individuals’ empathy, compassion and wisdom. Research studies suggest that through greater emotion regulation, meditation can enhance interpersonal awareness and the capacity to connect with people from different walks of life.
Connie Yuan, author of the Mindful Inclusion program from eCornell and a professor of communication at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has combined her mindfulness and organizational behavior expertise to transform how meditation is perceived and applied in leadership.
The Mindful Inclusion program begins by introducing Tibetan Buddhist techniques for meditation success and later highlights the importance of formal structures and informal networks to bridge practical skills with theoretical understandings in organizations. The need for adaptive leadership is emphasized as no one-size-fits-all method exists.
Courses include:
Yuan emphasizes that welcoming multiculturalism instead of commonality among diverse individuals is critical as fostering innovation through varied perspectives leads to effective management and growth.
“The program helps people embrace diversity not as something we have to live with because [workplaces are now more diverse]. It treats diversity as a resource opportunity for growth,” said Yuan.
The program also offers an alternative management approach for people exposed to collaboration and entrepreneurship at all levels — from CEOs to individual contributors. By improving relationships with people who are different from themselves, participants develop greater compassion to navigate intercultural connections effectively.
Enroll in the Mindful Inclusion certificate program to make the most of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The shift toward hybrid work exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since become a staple in all types of organizations.
Although hybrid teams can offer a number of benefits, leaders often find that the practices they have come to depend on for managing in-person teams do not translate well to the hybrid context. And with hybrid team management being the responsibility of both leaders and team members alike, where can you look for opportunities for improvement?
In a new episode of the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell, professor Brad Bell, director of the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell’s ILR School, shares ways that hybrid teams are mismanaged and presents strategies for effectively managing hybrid teams.
Well-structured executive compensation packages can attract talented leaders to C-suite and top-tier management positions. Companies must consider the impact those offers might have on their employees and businesses.
Providing a clear rationale for high-level salaries and benefits supports employee productivity and morale throughout an organization. Getting it wrong can have a detrimental impact on company culture and can also lead to fines, sanctions, tax penalties, lawsuits or reputational damage.
LizAnn Eisen, faculty director for the Cornell Tech Board of Directors Forum and acting professor of the practice at Cornell Law School and Cornell Tech, recently hosted a Cornell Keynote discussion of executive pay featuring Jessica McNamara ‘96, senior counsel at IBM, and Jennifer Conway, a partner at Davis Polk. The trio covered strategies for ensuring an organization’s pay structures align with regulatory requirements and best practices for perks, clawback and noncompetes.
1. Prioritize transparency and cross-team alignment on perks.
The crescendoing call for transparency in executive pay calculations includes non-cash benefits, or perks, such as travel on company aircraft, personal security and country club memberships. Corporate leadership teams can sometimes find it difficult to distinguish business expenses from disclosable perks.
“The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) considers a personal benefit to be a perk unless it’s integrally and directly related to the performance of duties,” Conway said. “If it’s a perk, then it has to be valued based on the aggregate incremental cost to the company — the cost of providing the perk — which sounds simple, but it can actually be very complicated.”
While SEC rules apply only to public companies, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) monitors all businesses for non-cash, in-kind fringe benefits provided to any worker in exchange for services, focusing on whether employers are properly reporting employee income. A taxable fringe benefit requires imputing income based on fair market value.
Both SEC enforcement action for inadequate perk disclosure, which the commission sees as a possible breakdown of internal controls, and audit activity from the IRS regarding personal trips reported as business travel have increased recently.
When dealing with the two different sets of federal standards for perks, McNamara advises that companies make sure their practice is robust using three key steps:
2. Understand the latest rules on compensation recovery.
Last fall, the SEC adopted the final clawback rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. The act subjects erroneously paid compensation to recovery and applies to top officers of a company. The no-fault component of the rule is new: Even if an executive had no role in their organization’s misstatement of finances, their excess compensation tied to meeting performance or revenue goals now could be subject to recovery.
In restatement processes, some areas for repayment like performance-based bonuses should be apparent, but retirement plan contributions and payments based on stock-price changes could slip through the cracks. The risk for litigation, according to Conway, makes it important for businesses to be thorough.
“Given the complexity, it’s important to work with outside counsel,” she said. “It’s also helpful to make sure that you’re correctly calculating what’s subject to recovery.”
To ensure that its executives are aware of the new clawback rules, IBM’s legal team added language regarding recovery and repayment provisions to its equity award agreements, McNamara said.
3. Prepare for a future that may not include noncompetes.
The Federal Trade Commission’s recent ruling to end noncompetes is set to take effect in September, but there have been legal challenges to the agency’s authority. From the major questions doctrine to the rule’s retroactivity, every matter of the potential ban is up for debate.
“There’s a good chance that the rule never goes into effect, but it’s definitely important to take very close note of it. On the state level, there is much more momentum to act,” Conway said.
If the ban were to be enforced, it would prohibit any term or condition of employment that intends to prevent a worker from seeking other work once they have left a company. While the rule would be retroactive, an exception applies to a limited group of senior executives who serve in policymaking positions and whose compensation exceeds $150,000 annually.
According to Conway, one of the most significant portions of the new rule impacts noncompetes tied to the sale of a business.
“The final rule does not apply to noncompetes entered into by a person pursuant to a bona fide sale of a business entity, sale of the person’s ownership interest in a business entity or all or substantially all of the business’s operating assets,” Conway said. “That raises a question of how small an ownership might be sufficient. Is it so broad that you could cover somebody with just a small interest in equity of a public company? As the rule is currently drafted, it doesn’t actually impose any sort of threshold.”
For IBM, which has acquired several companies — including many in California where a sale-of-business exception to prohibitions on noncompetes has existed for some time — not having a threshold is important for protecting the good will of businesses that they purchase McNamara said.
Given the litigation challenges, companies do not have to alter their existing practices right now, Conway said, but they can engage in certain activities to prepare for the future:
“Once the IP walks out the door and someone starts work the next day for somebody, the only real method [for relief] is an injunction. If the injunction isn’t granted, there’s no equitable relief that can get the IP back. The damage is done,” McNamara said. “The noncompete is a nice way for people to sit out for a period so their information becomes stale. A reasonable rule, even if it applies to a level of technical talent you need to protect . . . would be much more palatable to the business community.”
Visit the eCornell website to watch the full Keynote “Executive Pay in the Spotlight: Perks, Noncompetes and More,” one webcast in a multipart series leading up to the Cornell Tech Board of Directors Forum. The immersive forum will prepare you for today’s most urgent opportunities and challenges in board governance, including AI and other developing technologies. Learn more and register.
Finding the right talent is a top priority for businesses. Building a deep and diverse candidate pool is key in matching open positions with the best employees to fill them.
In a new episode of the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell, Susanne Bruyère, a professor of Disability Studies and academic director of the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at the Cornell ILR School, joins host Chris Wofford to discuss the growing number of corporate affirmative hiring programs to recruit individuals who are neurodivergent.
Since 2020, organizations all over the world have shifted to hybrid work models. This change has forced leaders to reevaluate how remote collaborative processes can still drive organizational culture. Brad Bell , Donna Haeger and Theomary Karamanis , faculty authors of Cornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy Program, spoke to the eCornell team about the challenges and opportunities posed by hybrid work.
Is it possible to replicate an in-person environment in a virtual workspace?
Theomary Karamanis, Senior Lecturer, SC Johnson College of Business: “That’s the biggest mistake that organizations make: They feel that they need to simulate everything that happens organically in an in-person environment into a virtual environment, and you cannot do that. Instead, try to have less live meetings, less synchronous communication and a bit more asynchronous [work]. Live meetings should usually be limited to problem solving, creativity and conflict resolution.”
How does the hybrid work environment affect the leadership structure of an organization?
Brad Bell, Professor, ILR School: “In these semi-remote environments, leaders can’t be as hands-on, they can’t see everything that’s happening, so a lot of the leadership has to be assumed by the team members themselves in these hybrid and remote settings. This opens a gap [inside the organization’s leadership structure]. Someone that is not a leader might look at courses like [Hybrid Work Strategy] and assume they need to be in a management role to benefit from this. But without usual in-office interaction, those concepts and tools have become importantly applicable to both the leaders and the members.”
What can leaders do to ensure that their hybrid organizations are consistently productive?
Donna Haeger, Professor of Practice, SC Johnson College of Business: “Oftentimes at work, whether it’s hybrid or not, everyone’s focused on ‘task, task, task’, ‘get the work done.’ That’s become even more of a pressure because things do become disjointed when people are not colocated . . . An organization’s culture and productivity are tied together. Tasks and relationships, and the synergy between those, are what really create productivity. [Fostering that synergy] is really essential in a hybrid work environment: The research has shown that the stronger the culture, the more productive the workplace will be.”
Begin developing your confidence as a hybrid team leader with eCornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.
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Justin Heitzman, an eCornell writing intern, contributed to this post.
What are the latest breakthroughs in generative AI? What’s just noise?
In a new episode of the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell, Karan Girotra, the Charles H. Dyson Family Professor of Management and professor of operations, technology and innovation at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and Cornell Tech, explores what’s new in the world of AI, including updates on Apple Intelligence, Anthropic and advancements in China.
Read more on the Chronicle.