About International Business Today

Dr. Marc Correa dives into the art of managing paradoxes and tensions to foster organizational harmony. The discussion explores how leaders can navigate competing priorities, such as innovation versus tradition or global consistency versus local adaptation, while maintaining a cohesive vision. Practical strategies for creating harmony in diverse and complex business environments are shared, offering insights applicable across industries and organizational levels.

About the guest: Correa is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of People Management and Organisation at ESADE Business School in Spain. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Ramon Llull University and is an expert in leadership, happiness, and organizational harmony in global contexts.

Professor Herman Aguinis tackles the reproducibility and replicability crisis in business research, offering insights on identifying rigorous and credible studies, spotting red flags, and asking critical questions when working with external researchers or consulting firms. The importance of transparency, data-sharing practices, and promoting a culture of research integrity within organizations is also discussed.

About the guest: Aguinis is the Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Management at The George Washington University School of Business. His research focuses on global talent management, workforce diversity, and research methods. He is recognized as one of the world's most impactful business and economics researchers.

Professor Gilad Chen challenges the idea that “there is no ‘I' in team,” exploring how individual motivation and personal connections influence team performance across diverse contexts, including entrepreneurial and multicultural teams. The discussion highlights strategies for navigating the complexities of managing individuals within teams and fostering collaboration when team members juggle multiple responsibilities.

About the guest: Chen is the Robert H. Smith Chair in Organizational Behavior at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from George Mason University and is an award-winning researcher specializing in teams, leadership effectiveness, and work motivation.

Professor Fernando Suarez discusses strategic innovation, platforms, “hybrid traps” and leadership and vision, all part of the journey to discover innovative customer solutions, which, he asserts, is a hard road, long and winding, but essential for the long-term survival of the firm. He illustrates his ideas with examples from many arenas—electric vehicles, green construction, smart homes, AI chips—as part of a stimulating and wide-ranging conversation.

About the guest: Suarez is the Jean C. Tempel Professor in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT Sloan School of Management, and has been a Visiting Professor at the London Business School (UK), Hitotsubashi University (Japan), and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and ESE Business School (Chile). He serves on several boards, launched a software company, and has published widely, in leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Operations Research, the Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review.

Laura De Dominicis, Executive Director of Nurturing Minds, shares how her organization built a sustainable school for disadvantaged girls in Tanzania. While nonprofits often begin with a compelling vision and a heartfelt desire to make a difference, they face significant challenges—including limited financial resources and talent shortages. Like for-profit firms, they require strategic thinking to sustain their mission and maximize impact. De Dominicis explores the importance of partnering with local leaders, transitioning operations to Tanzanian staff, securing funding, and expanding programs that empower students to become leaders in their communities.

About the guest: De Dominicis joined Nurturing Minds in 2008 as a board member and became Executive Director in 2015. The organization supports quality education, life skills, and entrepreneurship to help girls in Tanzania become leaders in their communities. Her interview is a must-listen for anyone interested in setting strategy for international  nonprofit organizations, international development, and in the transformative power of education.

Professor Samina Karim focuses on how firms can design their organizations to become more innovative. How a firm combines its activities and its resources (including knowledge and its people) affects how much value it creates. Creating value can involve acquisitions as well as divestitures, and also relying on partners, through alliances and ecosystems. Internally, the firm should rely on design rules, aligning the organization with the technology, as it reshapes business units and reconfigures employee roles and tasks in the organization, thus helping address and resolve task and resource bottlenecks.

About the guest: Karim is Professor and Group Chair of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation academic group at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. She has led the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management, and has served as Associate Editor at Strategic Management Journal and is currently Deputy Editor at Organization Science, as also on the editorial boards of Strategic Organization, and Strategy Science.

Digital medicine, an aging population, workforce stress, the growing scarcity of family doctors and competition from the retail healthcare model introduced by companies such as CVS are disrupting the US healthcare system and the physician-centric model. Professor Tim Hoff discusses why healthcare innovation is essential to continue providing quality primary care in this transforming scenario.

About the guest: Hoff is Professor of Management, Healthcare Systems, and Health Policy at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. He specializes in emerging trends and innovations in the health care marketplace, particularly in the U.S. health care system. His most recent book is Searching for the Family Doctor: Primary Care on the Brink, published by Johns Hopkins University Press (2022). He has published three other scholarly books, over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has received national awards for his research, and is also active in executive education and management consulting for health care organizations.

The US spends more on healthcare than other developed nations, but does not obtain commensurate value. Professor Gary Young reviews how drawing on US industry strengths, such as a competitive private sector and industry-leading pharmaceutical and biotech capabilities, and combining with preventative health measures, telemedicine, and increased AI use, can collectively help deliver higher value in healthcare delivery.

About the guest: Young is Director, Northeastern University Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research; Professor, Strategic Management and Healthcare Systems, at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. 

Students gain international experience from study abroad, working abroad, as well as from carrying out business projects in different countries. These experiential projects can be short duration, such as visits to family businesses, understanding their achievements and the challenges they face, in both developed and emerging markets. In longer duration projects, students work in teams with entrepreneurial startups, analyzing the firm, industry and environment, and offering action recommendations. Professor Greg Collier discusses several variables influencing successful experiences and learning, including choosing client sites and countries to visit, selectivity in enrolling students for such experiences, classroom work prior to travel, establishing clear rules for course participation and engagement, and partnering with local universities and business organizations.

About the guest: Collier is Professor of Practice, Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation academic group at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. He has extensive experience as an international business executive, particularly in Asia, with Electronic Data Systems (now HP), Fidelity Investments, and General Motors. His focus is on corporate innovation, business model innovation, and corporate and entrepreneurial strategy, and has led students on experiential learning courses to India, China, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Professor Paula Caligiuri shares insights from her new book with Andy Palmer entitled “Live for a Living”. With global careers being so challenging, Professor Paula Caligiuri shares the ways to integrate your career with your other life priorities, such as family and personal interests. She also discusses how to stay in control of your career to move toward an ideal career journey.

About the guest: Caligiuri is a DMSB Distinguished Professor of international business and strategy at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. She is also the founder of Skillify and has been named one of the most prolific authors in international business for her work in the areas of expatriate management, global leadership development, and cultural agility.