Seen and heard this week
Seen and heard this week is a weekly column highlighting thought leadership from the NUS community
This week in the media, faculty from NUS Business shared their views on an array of topics. Associate Professor Goh Puay Guan from the Department of Analytics and Operations, who holds a joint appointment with the NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education, wrote about how Industry 4.0 — a confluence of technologies enabling digitalisation, data and dynamic response — is an opportunity for Singapore to strengthen its position as a financial, logistics and business hub in a commentary in The New Paper on 4 July. He said that Industry 4.0 can transform industries by changing the structure of global supply chains, creating new business models and blurring the lines between industries.
On 5 July, BBC reported on a study conducted by Assistant Professor Jie Gong from the Department of Strategy and Policy which analysed the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect within the English Premier League. The study looked at teams who were relegated to the First Division — a little pond — and found that although the team lost some of its most prized members, remaining players enjoyed more play time and chances to hone their skills, which later translated into them playing for better clubs and earning more. Asst Prof Gong believes that the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect can also be found in other highly competitive careers where frontline experience is critical, such as law or management consulting.
In another career-related piece published on 6 July in The Business Times, Associate Professor Daniel McAllister from the Department of Management and Organisation discussed the findings of a joint study with the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. The study found that new employees with little or no managerial connections, but who have strong ties with their co-workers and favourable self-evaluations, are as successful in adjusting to their new roles as those with connections. The findings suggest that new hires can choose to channel their energy into building relationships with co-workers who can help them through their learning curve instead of focusing solely on forming connections with senior-level executives, and that workplace initiatives that facilitate employee engagement across the ranks could help prevent talented newbies from leaving because they feel they do not fit in.
Read more about the NUS community in the news.
