Government Cyberattacks, the Perception of Lies, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
How Governments Can Better Defend Themselves Against Cyberattacks – Kellogg Insights
Northwestern Kellogg Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Professor Sandeep Baliga recently co-authored new research with University of Chicago’s Ethan Bueno de Mesquita and MIT’s Alexander Wolitzky, which articulates a new theory about how victims of cyber aggression might choose to retaliate—or not—against shadowy aggressors.
Baliga explains that their model presents a theory that “cyber warfare is inherently multilateral.”
“If the standard of proof is satisfied, yeah, then you should react super aggressively. But when there’s a lot of noise, you might actually want to back off because others may exploit your policy by hiding behind misidentification. If somebody wants to trigger a war between us and China, then they have every reason to do a hack that looks like China did it.”
Baliga adds, “If nations get better at both detecting attacks and identifying their perpetrators, then cyber peace is more likely to prevail.”
You can read the full article on the future of government cyberattacks here.
New Study Finds When Telling Lies, Perception Matters – Booth News
Chicago Booth Assistant Professor Emma Levine recently co-authored new research with UCLA Anderson’s Adam Eric Greenberg and Deakin University’s Matthew Lupoli that finds that “well-intentioned lies can spark strong resentment from the person who is deceived.”
In other words, “Telling a lie in order to help or protect someone—a practice known as prosocial lying—backfires if the person being lied to perceives the lie as paternalistic,” meaning lies that require the “liar to make assumptions about whether lying is in the deceived party’s best interest.”
Photo via newschicagobooth.uchicago.edu
Levine explains the trio’s findings, which were published as part of a paper entitled “Paternalistic Lies” in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes:
“We sometimes tell lies to others believing that they will help, when in reality we are acting upon a paternalistic assumption that lying is better than the truth. Our research demonstrates that in these situations, the individual on the receiving end is likely to resent deception.”
You can read more about the research here.
Faculty Focused on Workplace Wellness Continue to Steer the Discussion – Gies College of Business News
Gies College of Business Assistant Professors of Finance David Molitor and Julian Reif co-authored The Illinois Workplace Wellness Study, whose results examine the efficacy of a homegrown wellness program.
According to the website, “The study’s findings will empower employers, public health professionals, and policymakers to make more informed decisions regarding the implementation of workplace wellness programs throughout the United States.”
You can find more here.
MIT Examines the Appeal of Lying, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
When the ‘Lying Demagogue’ is the Authentic Candidate – MIT Sloan Newsroom
One of the major questions in the post-Trump U.S. public discourse is how voters could possibly support a political figure that so brazenly bends the truth at every possible turn. In a new paper published in February’s American Sociological Review, MIT Sloan School of Management professor and deputy dean Ezra Zuckerman Sivan attempts to rationalize the appeal of a lying demagogue:
“When a candidate asserts an obvious untruth especially as part of a general attack on establishment norms, his anti-establishment listeners will pick up on his underlying message that the establishment is illegitimate and, therefore, that candidate will have an ‘authentic’ appeal despite the falsehoods and norm-breaking.”
Read more about Zuckerman Sivan’s research here.
What Most People Get Wrong About Men and Women – Harvard Business Review
The ongoing pay gap dialogue has inspired both men and women to step up and pressure the organizations that employ them to commit more aggressively to gender parity. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, HBS researchers Catherine H. Tinsley and Robin J. Ely explore the harmful rhetoric that drives many of these well-meaning initiatives and offer a four-step alternative approach for people to:
1) Question the narrative
2) Generate a plausible alternative explanation
3) Change the context and assess the results
4) Promote continual learning.
“The solution to women’s lagged advancement is not to fix women or their managers but to fix the conditions that undermine women and reinforce gender stereotypes. By taking an inquisitive, evidence-based approach to understanding behavior, companies can not only address gender disparities but also cultivate a learning orientation and a culture that gives all employees the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
“When people are less embedded, they are also less aware of opportunities for stretch assignments and promotions, and their supervisors may be in the dark about their ambitions. But when women fail to “lean in” and seek growth opportunities, it is easy to assume that they lack the confidence to do so—not that they lack pertinent information.” – Catherine H. Tinsley and Robin J. Ely
You can check out the full article here.
Unity in Diversity: The Babson Latin American Forum – Babson Blog
The Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business recently hosted its Latin American Forum, which featured esteemed guest speaker and Open English founder Andres Moreno, whose online platform teaches English, and Santa Teresa rum CEO Alberto Vollmer.
Moreno and Vollmer both used their lectures as an opportunity to examine how entrepreneurship can co-exist with social impact. Vollmer discussed the Alcatraz Rugby Project, a recognized program of social reintegration for young people with behavioral problems. Moreno chose to focus on how his delivers the best product and service to its consumers.
You read a more in-depth survey of the Babson Latin American Forum here.
