An Ethical Systems Book Review BY DAVID NEWMAN Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and HappinessRichard H. Thaler, Cass R. SunsteinPenguin Books, Revised & Expanded edition (2009) (public library)Summarized by Erick Rabin Introduction Choice Architecture involves organizing any context in which people make decisions. Urinals, stairwells, alarm clocks, school cafeterias, retirement accounts—all of these can be made…

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Mohamad Jebara loves mathematics — but he’s concerned that too many students grow up thinking that this beautiful, rewarding subject is difficult and boring. His company is experimenting with a bold idea: paying students for completing weekly math homework. He explores the ethics of this model and how it’s helping students — and why learning…

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Incentive gaming, or “gaming the system,” refers to when we figure out ways to increase our rewards for performance without actually improving our performance.

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Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories — and maybe, a way forward. By: Dan Pink This video is shared under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND 4.0). Please…

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Each year, one in seven large corporations commits fraud. Why? To find out, Alexander Wagner takes us inside the economics, ethics and psychology of doing the right thing. Join him for an introspective journey down the slippery slopes of deception as he helps us understand why people behave the way they do. By: Alexander Wagner…

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Motivation can be thwarted in many ways. Fortunately, the research provides some great tools for diagnosing and improving motivation. Q: How can I incentivize my employees to produce more? A: Employee performance is generally a function of ability, opportunity and motivation. The first thing you should do is determine which of these factors are contributing…

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Q: Given that I have no formal business training, the simple questions in running the show always get me. Is there a ceiling for salaries for managers (adapting for inflation, of course), or do they just grow infinitely with our growth? A: Congratulations on your business success. Since you are the one running the show,…

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