MIT Sloan Management Review leads the discourse among academic researchers, business executives and other influential thought leaders about advances in management practice, particularly those shaped by technology, that are transforming how people lead and innovate. MIT SMR disseminates new management research and innovative ideas so that thoughtful executives can capitalize on the opportunities generated by rapid organizational, technological and societal change.
Over and Out
MIT Sloan Management Review
Why Employees With Working-Class Roots Are Better at Getting Their Ideas Heard • GETTING MANAGER BUY-IN FOR A GOOD IDEA IS harder than it should be. Our research points to a communication style that reliably breaks through this wall — and that is disproportionately exhibited by white-collar employees with working-class origins.
A Compelling Story Can Disarm Even a Skeptical Negotiator
SMR READS
Customer Resistance to AI
Enterprise LLM Usage Is Climbing — and So Are the Bills
Tying Purpose to Performance
The Global Scaling Gap: Why Strategic Clarity Is Crucial in the Age of AI • AI and digital tools can deepen geographic disadvantages as easily as they erase them — unless strategy leads the way.
The Elusiveness of Merit-Based Hiring • DEI critics advocate for nominally “meritocratic” approaches, but there are more rigorous ways to surface the best candidates for jobs or promotions.
Algorithms Trap Us in the Familiar. Can They Also Spark Breakthroughs? • New research shows domain experts can unlock creativity with AI and search tools — if they use them differently.
Why Water Management Is a Strategic Concern • Water resources are in crisis globally. What leaders have managed as a utility, they must recognize as a risk factor.
The Link Between Explicit AI-Generated Images and Offline Crime • As businesses are increasingly held legally responsible for societal harms caused by social media, GenAI adult content may expose vendors to more liability.
Why Principled Leadership Matters Now
How Leadership Anxiety Derails Transformation • Anxiety can both stimulate change and cause defensive organizing in resistance to it. To effectively lead change, leaders must learn to meaningfully manage their own and others’ anxiety.
Dethroning Loyalty • Leaders who demand loyalty from employees lose out on the benefits of freely given commitment to organizational purpose.
What Kind of Chief Purpose Officer DoesYour Company Need? • A study of chief purpose officers reveals that different leadership approaches are needed depending on where an organization is in its purpose journey.
Stop Prompting AI. Start Directing It • Conversational AI speeds up familiar work. Configuring AI to interrogate your data — what the authors call directing intelligence — surfaces insights that familiar ways of working tend to miss.
Spot New Tech Skills Emerging From the Workforce • The novel capabilities that technological change requires take shape as workers develop their own adaptations to new tools and systems.
The Hidden Cost of AI-Assisted Creativity • AI boosts individual creativity but narrows collective idea diversity. Four studies reveal why, and what managers can do about it.
A New Way to Address Troubled Team Dynamics • Improve productivity and decision-making by understanding how personality mix affects teamwork.
The Five Inclusive Behaviors Board Chairs Overlook • Boards have made strides in diversifying membership — but despite good intentions, they often fail to surface new or different points of view.
Building on AI’s Unfinished Foundation • Generative AI is moving fast, but the surrounding architecture needed for economywide transformation hasn’t settled. Companies...