Heather Galio

Mason’s retail center holds first-ever virtual summit

Marianne Klinker — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:35:53 +0000

Mason’s retail center holds first-ever virtual summit Marianne Klinker Thu, 04/13/2023 - 12:35

On Thursday, April 20, the Center for Retail Transformation (CRT) at ��AV School of Business will hold a half-day virtual summit entitled “Driving Value in Constrained Times.” The event will host a roster of illustrious speakers including C-level executives at Serta Simmons Bedding, The Lionesque Group, Saadia Group, Kraft Heinz, and others.

This virtual summit marks the culmination of a collaboration between Microsoft and CRT dating back to early 2022. In conjunction with the tech giant, CRT embarked upon a webinar series allowing space for industry professionals to participate in thought leadership events. Each panel featured retail and technology experts addressing a different topic related to the ongoing digital transformation of the industry.

Complementing the webinars’ in-depth exploration of specific subjects, “Driving Value in Constrained Times” will offer a holistic view of an industry finding new ways—via innovative technologies—to contend with a challenging economic environment. The afternoon will consist of panels and presentations from industry leaders on high-level topics including but not limited to “Leading Through Economic Downturn”, “Driving Shopper Engagement and Loyalty” and “Data and Technology: The Connective Tissue of Retail.” School of Business Dean Ajay Vinzé will deliver opening remarks.

Dean Vinzé says, “The high caliber of speakers at this event reflects the deep connection to business practice that sets ��AV School of Business apart. I expect the virtual summit will make for an informative, engaging and insightful afternoon, leveraging the innovative mission and capabilities of our Center for Retail Transformation.”

In addition to Microsoft, the event boasts sponsorship from Icertis, Optimizely, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Wipro.

CRT’s director Gautham Vadakkepatt says “Macroeconomic conditions, supply chain disruptions and tightening consumer spending are creating a ‘perfect storm’ for retailers. With nearly two dozen keynote speakers offering expert perspectives, the virtual summit will present a range of pertinent suggestions to help retailers of all stripes rise to the challenge. We’re also hoping that the summit helps further industry collaborations for Mason researchers and students.” Vadakkepatt is an associate professor of marketing at the School of Business.

Learn more and register for the event here.

Launched in 2020, the Center for Retail Transformation's vision is to be the foremost academic institution to drive transformation in retail. The center works to promote developing retail leaders, advance retail research, and connect the world of retail.

Prior webinars are available to view on YouTube.

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Should you always negotiate? Not always, according to this Mason expert

Colleen Rich — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 20:09:34 +0000

Should you always negotiate? Not always, according to this Mason expert Colleen Rich Tue, 02/28/2023 - 15:09

In This Story

Einav Hart

Negotiation is a critical skillset in business and in society. Negotiation is a complicated, joint decision problem where parties can, potentially, make each other better off—but also have some competing interests. For example, you might want a higher bonus while your boss wants to keep expenses low.

Einav Hart. Photo provided

Much of the advice about how to negotiate focuses on the terms of the negotiated deal. You might think, then, that more—and more aggressive—negotiations would always lead to better outcomes. Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at ��AV, suggests that our relationships and context influence how we should negotiate—and even whether it is a good idea to negotiate at all.

“The idea that we can ‘win’ a negotiation reflects a belief that we are competing and need to take as much as we can,” said Hart, “but focusing on the short-term gains might lead to worse outcomes in the long term.”

For example, negotiating aggressively with a new hire might cause them to agree to a lower salary, but it might also harm their morale, their commitment to the organization, and their work effort. As a result, your outcome—even if you saved a few thousand dollars on salary—may be worse than it would be if you had built a relationship through a more collaborative negotiation process.

Hart’s research introduces the concept of “ERRO”—the “Economic Relevance of negotiators’ Relational Outcomes”—to help us decide when and how to negotiate. These decisions should depend on how much your relationship with your negotiation counterpart matters economically.

“When you buy a barbecue grill, for instance, the price you pay may determine your economic outcome more than your relationship with the seller,” said Hart. “However, when you hire a service provider—such as a babysitter, a caterer, or a contractor—a poor relationship following the negotiation may harm the economic value you derive from the agreement, and a positive relationship might increase the economic value you derive.”

Thus, buying a grill has low ERRO, but hiring a babysitter has high ERRO.

In a low ERRO context (like that BBQ grill), aggressive or competitive negotiation tactics that sacrifice relational outcomes may work just fine. But in high ERRO contexts (think babysitter), negotiating aggressively is likely to backfire in the long term. Collaborative tactics ,such as asking questions, expressing empathy, and making concessions (or even not negotiating), may get you the best outcome overall—even if you seemingly leave some money on the table.

In most cases, Hart said, the real value of a negotiation is created after parties leave the bargaining table. Thus, the decision to enter a negotiation is a decision that should be made carefully and strategically.

Hart’s research on organizational behavior and decision making explores how people communicate about conflict and sensitive topics, and how negotiating affects people's future, post-agreement relationships and performance. Her work integrates insights from psychology, and game theory. Prior to joining Mason, Hart was a data scientist at Uber and a visiting scholar at Wharton.

To reach Einav Hart directly, contact her at ehart8@gmu.edu.

For more information, contact Benjamin Kessler at bkessler@gmu.edu.

About George Mason
��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls nearly 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at www.gmu.edu.

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Mason professor explains why your offboarding process is important

Colleen Rich — Mon, 09 May 2022 20:51:26 +0000

Mason professor explains why your offboarding process is important Colleen Rich Mon, 05/09/2022 - 16:51

Photo by Getty Images

The Great Resignation continues with no end in sight, and virtually no industry spared. It is one of the most disruptive—perhaps even traumatic—events to hit the workplace in living memory. And most companies are woefully underprepared.

As ��AV professor Sarah Wittman explained in a recent interview with Business.com, the usual offboarding process is rote: effectively a checklist.

"It tends to be standard and efficient,” said Wittman, an assistant professor of management in Mason’s School of Business. “You're not treating these transitions as the big things that they are."

Sarah Wittman. Photo provided

Wittman said that with so many organization-focused priorities, the process is often so perfunctory and one-sided that even the basic formality of the exit interview is skipped.

But Wittman believes that it isn’t because managers are indifferent. Quite the opposite: the coldness of the process many times belies strong suppressed feelings of betrayal, bewilderment and abandonment, particularly in cases where employees are leaving voluntarily. Where the severance has been an organizational—not employee-led—decision, the coldness may be part of a defensive posture against the prospect of wrongful dismissal lawsuits.

Wittman warns that this approach to off-boarding is extremely short-sighted.

“Resignees don’t disappear into thin air after their last day of service,” she said. “Presumably, they are heading to another organization, meaning the continuation of relationships can allow for immense networking. The employee of today is potentially a competitor, a client, a supplier, or maybe even a regulator tomorrow.”

Bad offboarding can also send negative signals to employees left behind, who may be wondering “whether anyone actually believes all of those HR messages that we get that our people are important… Do people stop being important as people as they are on their way out?”

Wittman said this could be one explanation for so-called “turnover contagion,” or a resignation domino effect.

- Ultimately, the quality of a company’s offboarding is a reflection on corporate culture and the emotional intelligence of its leadership. Wittman suggests three steps every company can take that would be a huge improvement over the usual rote exercise.Pre-planning is useful because it “does remove a lot of those emotional elements and the time aspect” that initially deter employers from smooth offboarding processes. Wittman recommends that managers sit down and think “ideally, what I would like my relationship with that employee to look like from an organizational perspective five days from now, five months from now, five years from now,” and using this relational orientation to guide the process.

- Another technique Wittman suggests is creating alumni networks to stay connected with ex-employees and current employees. She states that companies that have created these networks have “created a powerful synergistic approach” to offboarding. Consulting companies, like McKinsey & Co., have wholeheartedly embraced the turnover model, due to the nature of their industry. Similar to universities, they run employee alumni programs so ex-colleagues can stay connected and maintain professional relationships that could be beneficial in the future. Some companies even invite ex-employees to employee get-togethers, creating a system where interactions can be continued.

- The last offboarding improvement tactic Wittman suggests is finding opportunities for potential ongoing collaborations. These allow companies to preserve “the social capital that you in part have helped build. And you keep a name for yourself and build goodwill in the process.” For example, Google encourages and facilitates alumni and current employees’ work together on projects and ideas.

As offboarding is inevitable in today’s working climate, Wittman suggests companies “treat an employee’s departure as a joyous event—a graduation rather than a funeral,” choosing to celebrate an employee’s transition to new positions and opportunities.

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