Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

The Wall Street Journal reported a study conducted by scholars at Stanford and Harvard , suggesting that employers are willing to pay more for candidates with high potential and promise than those with actual, proven performance. Is that for real? If so, how can job candidates demonstrate their potential during the interviewing process? In this study, researchers asked 77 participants to evaluate two hypothetical applicants for a managerial position based on the candidates’ performance on two tests, one measuring a candidate’s leadership potential and the other measuring the actual leadership achievement. It turned out that these 77 participants were more excited with the candidate who did very well in leadership potential but moderate in actual achievement, as compared to the candidate who did very well in actual achievement but moderate in leadership potential. Interesting, but really? I do not think potential alone can make the cut in job search especially in today’s econo...

This month’s HR Magazine reported two interesting studies about self-promoter and self-deprecator. They are:   Leaders who rated their skills significantly higher than the ratings given by their bosses are six times more likely to derail than those who have a more realistic view of their work performance, according to a study with 39,000 global leaders. While the self-deprecators are less likely to derail than self-promoters, they are also less likely to advance than those who are in touch with their actual work performance, according to Louis Quast , associate chair of the Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development Department at University of Minnesota. Self-deprecators are often overlooked even though they could be really good performers.  Another study of 14,000 U.S.-based managers reveals that those seen by their immediate supervisors as lacking in self-awareness and tact were most likely to derail. I am not sure whether being a self-promoter or...

I keep hearing two distinguishing voices about social media. Some complain that social media has negative impact on individual users and the society as a whole because people can become very addicted to it and there is no sense of privacy in the cyber world. Others think highly about social media because people can use social media to promote business , find jobs , solve crimes , and remain connected with friends and family. Which school of thoughts makes sense to you?     To me, they all make sound arguments. I see social media as a “neutral” tool. If people do not understand social media or fail to use it in an appropriate way, it could be very harmful. At the same time, social media can certainly become very useful, depending on how we use it. The following news videos, for example, provide some great examples of how social media can make positive impact. As featured in the first, CBS news video , NextDoor is a new entrepreneurship venture that keeps people connec...

Marketers have always been working diligently to better understand consumers and their behaviors. Using cellphone signals to track consumers’ shopping routines is a great example. Now, Orbitz has found some interesting statistics by comparing the spending habits of Mac users and PC users. And because of that, Orbitz will display pricier options on top of the search results for Mac users than those for PC users. As suggested in this news video @WSJ (Wall Street Journal), however, it does not mean that Orbitz is offering higher price for the same product to Mac users than to PC users. In other words, there is no price discrimination. What Orbitz does is to simply display different search results for Mac users because:   As compared to PC users, Mac users spend $20 - $30 more per night on hotels. They are more likely to stay in a four- or five-star hotel. They are more likely to upgrade to a bigger room. Similar results are also found in e-commerce sites. Retai...

It is no doubt that social media will be here to stay, but do you know how big social media has become? This MSNBC news video shares some updated statistics with us. Twitter   Sixty-seven percent (67%) NBA players are on Twitter. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber , for example, have 26+ million and 23+ million followers respectively as of June 24, 2012, more than the population of Australia (22 million). I ( @LinchiKwok ) have to admit that I like Twitter even more after I use it as a teaching tool in my social media class. Twitter makes it easier for me to communicate with students and other industry professionals. As a matter of fact, Twitter is also very helpful for travelers. When my flight was delayed due to a storm in May, I tweeted to @AmericanAir and got prompt responses and assistance. What a great testimonial for the power of Twitter complaints !  YouTube   There are over three billion hours of YouTube videos being watched every month, 500 years...

There are millions of unemployed workers who are eager to find a job. Yet, there are companies still finding it difficult to fill vacancies. What is going on? Is it possible that we are not educating or training the labor force with the right skill sets that meet the society’s needs? Is it because employers are finding it challenging to screen the enormous amount of applicants for every vacant position? According to this Wall Street Journal interview with Peter Cappelli , a Wharton School professor, there might be another possibility --- employers now have a different level of expectations. In my interpretation, employers are probably expecting too much from job candidates. Some employers, for example, no longer want to invest in new hires. In the old times, employers were usually willing to hire candidates with good attitude and great leadership potential. Then, they would train new hires the technical skills needed at work and even let them spend time adjusting to the new or...

This morning, I heard from my sister in China that a guy threw a bundle of ¥100 notes to the air in Canton Baiyun International Airport (¥100 RMB ≈ $15 USD). Surprisingly, nobody seemed to care about the money. People pulled out their phones and cameras and started taking pictures. I assume that quite a few of them would have immediately shared the “moment” on the internet. That is interesting. I wonder if we have become too obsessed with social media. If so, now it is time to remind ourselves the mobile etiquette. Let’s see if you agree to the following “mobile etiquette on vacation” that is discussed in a Fox News video . Pay attention to the tour guy. What are some examples of “not paying attention” when the tour guy is talking? In my opinions, these behaviors should be avoided: talking with others or on the phone, having the plugs on the ears, searching information or checking in with the phone, and not following instructions. What else do you think? Post pictures of a re...