The stigma of menopause

For half the global population, menopause is a natural part of life. It also happens to overlap exactly with the age at which employees are most likely to be qualified to advance into top leadership positions — and new research shows that people experiencing menopause are often judged as less leader-like, creating yet another barrier that holds women back. However, research also found that when women talk openly about going through menopause, it can reduce this bias, helping them to come across as having high leadership potential regardless of menopausal status. What can managers do to help reduce the harmful effects of this stigma? 1) Normalise the open discussion of menopause. Many women are afraid to mention the topic at work. 2) Create psychologically safe workplaces that empower everyone to share and ask for support without fear of retribution or discrimination. 3) Proactively ensure that all employees feel supported — not silenced — as they progress through the phases of their careers and lives.

(Adapted from “Research: Workplace Stigma Around Menopause Is Real,” by Alicia A. Grandey, published on December 20, 2022, by Harvard Business Review)

Displacing Hollywood in the Japanese box office

The US share of the world’s third-biggest box office has been dropping for years, a phenomenon that predates the pandemic and has only been aggravated by it. It’s part of a broader decoupling between Hollywood and Japan. But unlike the woes studios face in China, this is no ideological departure. Japan is a free market, with no equivalent of the quota Beijing places on US movies nor censors stepping in to prevent their release on moral grounds. Instead, Japanese audiences favour domestic fare. While the first Avatar was a box-office hit in Japan and the country’s 12th-highest-grossing movie of all time, tastes have shifted in the decade-plus since. Japanese animation these days is a big-budget affair, illustrated nowhere better than by the hits from director Makoto Shinkai, the creative force behind Your Name, the 2016 tale of body-swapping teens that is Japan’s fifth-biggest box-office blockbuster.

(Adapted from “’Avatar’ Struggles Show How Japan Is Ditching Hollywood,” by Gearoid Reidy, published on December 23, 2022, by Bloomberg)

For half the global population, menopause is a natural part of life. It also happens to overlap exactly

Branding: Harry & Meghan vs the royal family

You don’t have to be a royal prince to market yourself into the limelight these days. But notoriety often comes at the expense of the institution that paved your way. One of the reasons the public is obsessed with Harry and Meghan is that they represent an important economic trend that resonates well beyond the British royal family: the rising tension between individual branding and the power and prestige of being part of an institution. And it’s not just the royals; it’s a trend across all industries. The dynamic creates tension between being a star and being a good institutional team player is particularly noticeable in the media industry. The whole economy has changed. Many industries reward superstars — they get higher salaries, fame and can monetise their own brand while everyone else is left behind.

(Adapted from “Harry and Meghan and the Perils of Superstar Culture,” by Allison Schrager, published on December 12 by Bloomberg)

Blockchain as a behavioural tool

It wasn’t long after the developers of bitcoin first used a distributed ledger to record transactions in 2008 that the blockchain revolution was announced with all the fanfare that usually accompanies promising new technologies. Then, as often happens with emerging technologies, blockchain’s promise collided with developmental realities. Now, a decade and a half down the road, that early promise is becoming manifest. In his new book, Enterprise Strategy for Blockchain: Lessons in Disruption From Fintech, Supply Chains, and Consumer Industries, Ravi Sarathy argues that distributed ledger technology has matured to the point of enabling a host of applications that could disrupt industries as diverse as manufacturing, medicine, and media. Blockchain is a tool, but it’s also a new way of running a business.

(Adapted from “It’s Time to Take Another Look at Blockchain,” by Ravi Sarathy, interviewed by Theodore Kinni, published on December 08, 2022, by MIT Sloan Management Review)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 26th, 2022