Suggestions
Frsa Dr Maja Korica
Reader in Management and Organization - Thinkers50 Radar - The RSA Fellow
Professional Background
Professor Maja Korica is a distinguished academic and thought leader renowned for her insightful examination of organizational dynamics and how they influence management practices. With a robust career as a Reader in Management and Organisation at the prestigious University of Warwick's Warwick Business School, she has dedicated herself to understanding the intricate workings of organizations and the vital role that management and leadership play in their success. Her tangible expertise covers a wide range of topics, including the effectiveness of boards of directors, accountability in management, and the practical applications of leadership strategies within organizations. As a noted start-up survivor, Maja has firsthand knowledge of the entrepreneurial landscape, which enriches her academic perspective and her contributions to the broader discourse on organizational effectiveness.
Education and Achievements
Maja's academic journey reflects her commitment to excellence and deep understanding of management. She embarked on her scholarly pursuit at the University of Oxford, where she achieved her DPhil (PhD) in Management Studies from the esteemed Saïd Business School. Her application of theoretical knowledge to practical situations in organizations earned her recognition among her peers and established her as an influential voice in the academic community. Prior to this, she also completed her MSc in Management Research, graduating with distinction from the same institution, illustrating her profound research capabilities and analytical skills.
Her educational foundation was solidified at RIT Croatia, where she earned her BSc with High Honors in Service Management. This early academic experience provided her with a robust understanding of customer service and the operational aspects of running a business, skills she would later apply in her extensive research and teaching.
Maja's contributions to the field of management have not only been confined to academia; she has also earned a spot on the Thinkers50 Radar list, an achievement that recognizes up-and-coming thinkers and influencers in the business world. This accolade speaks to her impactful work and her commitment to advancing the discipline of management.
Achievements
Throughout her career, Prof. Maja Korica has made significant strides in the academic and professional realms of management. With a distinct focus on understanding how organizations function beyond theoretical frameworks, she has introduced novel insights into the operations of boards of directors and accountability mechanisms. Maja emphasizes the importance of practicality over dogmatism, ensuring that her research and teachings remain relevant in today’s fast-paced business environment. Her narrative as a start-up survivor adds a layer of authenticity to her expertise, allowing her to connect with students, business leaders, and stakeholders on a personal level.
As a leading figure in her field, Maja is heavily involved in mentoring future business leaders and engaging in collaborative projects that bridge the gap between theory and practice. Her work not only benefits academia but also extends into consultancy and thought leadership, furthering her mission of fostering accountability and innovation within organizations.<br>
Summary
Highlights
🌼 Discretion is key to good work - for everyone.
As this interesting essay makes clear, for the philosopher Kant, a key feature of good work is the ability to exercise freedom of choice in how you do things. Crucially, this does not mean that ALL jobs necessitate huge amounts of creativity and problem solving. But it does mean that we tend to hugely under-estimate and mis-attribute the kind of jobs that do, especially when it comes to less socially prestigious jobs (i.e. mechanics have to figure out a lot of problems to unforeseen problems; so do personal assistants).
This tendency is most troubling when we consider the classic - and hugely problematic - division of labour implied in maxims like 'managers envision and employees execute'. The issue with this is that it leads us to be concerned about good work solely for those up the chain of command. This explains for instance all the HBR and business press writing on 'purposeful careers', 'passion at work', 'growth mindset' and alike, which is very clearly aimed at (senior and aspiring) leaders and managers, and rarely considers or indeed speaks to 'average' employees. The underlying message is such concerns are above their paygrade (or even worse as an assumption, their abilities).
Such assumptions are hugely corrosive. Either we care about good work for all, or we accept that our lack of care is due to views about humanity and work that are barely tolerable, morally and pragmatically.
I happen to think that EVERYONE deserves good work, which means we should encourage and reward freedom and choice at work for them too. This is why for me Timpson gets it right (see my last post) and HBR and too many senior corporate leaders get it wrong. They cannot pretend to care about work if they only care about some people's experience of it.
#management #leadership #managementeducation #managementdevelopment #leadershipexcellence #leaders #workforcedevelopment #work #goodwork #decentwork #goodworkforall #HR #peoplefirst #peoplemanagement
😨 Repeat after me: high visibility does NOT equal high performance.
In a move that will surprise no one, EY has now resorted to the ultimate low of monitoring their staff's entry swipe card data. But the utter misguided distrust of this isn't even the worst problem here.
This is: "more than 80 per cent of company bosses surveyed by KPMG in October said they were likely to reward employees who came in more regularly with better assignments, pay rises or promotions. Some partners at EY, which employs around 21,000 people in the UK, were also shown analysis correlating office attendance and mid-year performance ratings, one person said."
If leaders keep insisting that higher in person visibility to their bosses equals rewards and promotions at work, then the people they are bound to reward the most are the people MOST ABLE/WILLING TO BE VISIBILE - it will NOT be the people doing the best work. In other words, you are rewarding the wrong things.
But as always, this isn't because senior leaders of these organisations are stupid. What they are however is a combination of 1) disingenuous and 2) lazy. Disingenuous because they are unwilling to admit that their insistence on fixed in-office work is for reasons other than productivity (e.g. distrust, cost of offices, personal preferences) and laziness because managing otherwise would require them to learn and move away from the comfort zones of what they know how to do, which is manage employees physically visible to them.
These kinds of decisions only create distrust and incentivise people gaming the system or walking away. Honest question: why as a leader would you want that?
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipskills #changemanagement #leaders #EY #bigfour #monitoring #staffmonitoring #management #officelife #officemandates #returntooffice #HR #peoplemanagement
https://lnkd.in/eSfBAjXC
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
People also viewed
Related People