Videos
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Stephan Meier on Strategy - EMBA program in partnership with Colombia Business School -
How Putting Workers First Helps Businesses Thrive with Stephan Meier
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Stephan Meier | AI and the Human-Centric Future of Work
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The Future of Work and Management
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Professor Stephan Meier on "The Employee Advantage" | McKinsey Author Talks -
Launch of THE EMPLOYEE ADVANTAGE
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#64 | Prof. Stephan Meier | The Evidence: How Putting Workers First Drives Commercial Success
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The Other Gender Gap at Work
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Suspicion of Bank Motives
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Stephan Meier: Behavioral Personal Finance
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Growing up in a Recession Increases Compassion? by Stephan Meier, Maria Cotofan and Robert Dur
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Prof Stephan Meier on 'The Employee Advantage - How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive'
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Strategic Leadership Across Business and Society
Learn More About Stephan Meier
Stephan Meier, Ph.D. is the James P. Gorman Professor of Business and chair of the Management Division at Columbia Business School (CBS). An award-winning teacher at CBS, every year hundreds of students learn from him about the “human side” of strategy in Columbia’s MBA and executive education programs. Before Columbia, Meier worked as the first senior economist at the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where he began to deeply appreciate the value and importance of evidence-based policy making.
In his role as the coordinator for CBS’s core strategy class — the mandatory class that all of the roughly 1,100 MBA and EMBA students who start every year at CBS have to take — Meier shapes how the students learn about business strategy and has himself developed many of the case studies used in the class.
Author of “The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive” (PublicAffairs, October 2024), in recent years, he developed a popular new elective and executive education program, “Future of Work.” Meier is also the co-faculty director of the new flagship executive education program, “Executive Development Program: Leading Into the Future.” Through these endeavors, he teaches hundreds of executives every year about how humans actually work and how to design the future of work with those lessons in mind.
Meier is a world-renowned expert at the intersection of behavioral economics, business strategy, and future-of-work. He leads the lab on Humans in the Digital Economy in the Digital Future Initiative at CBS. Meier’s research findings have been published in top academic journals such as Science, Nature, American Economic Review or Management Science, have been featured in popular magazines such as Harvard Business Review, and covered by countless news outlets such as The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and BBC. Meier has also worked as a consultant with Uber Technologies to help them better understand what motivates Uber drivers.
Meier has a master’s degree in history, economics and political science from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and a doctorate in economics from the same institution.
Stephan Meier is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
“The Employee Advantage” – Turn the Spotlight on Your Most Valuable Asset
Businesses traditionally consider customers to be king, but what if a company’s workforce was given similar priority? Award-winning Columbia Business School professor Stephan Meier points out that with the rise of AI technology, the organizations that treat their human employees well will have a key advantage over increasingly robot-reliant competition. Drawing on his book, “The Employee Advantage,” Meier illustrates how firms that emphasize an employee-centric business model boost their profitability and innovation while becoming magnets for top talent. Through compelling case studies and real-world examples from his research and executive education programs, Meier reveals essential mindset shifts for creating a mutually beneficial environment where both employees and business thrive. Participants walk away with practical strategies for holding employees as critical stakeholders, ultimately lowering turnover and raising profits.
Craft the Future of Human-AI Collaboration by Keeping Humans at the Heart
As leaders rush to implement the latest emerging technologies into their business workflows, how can they ensure these tools enhance human skills instead of encroaching upon them? According to Stephan Meier, an award-winning Columbia Business School (CBS) professor and chair of CBS’s Management Division, organizations need to take a human-centric approach to design a future where people can collaboratively work with new technology while staying motivated and creative. Director of the “Humans in the Digital Economy” lab at the Digital Future Initiative at CBS, Meier zooms in on strategies for integrating emerging technologies in ways that strengthen autonomy and trust within teams. Attendees exit with clear steps for using artificial intelligence tools as partners that enhance employee satisfaction and productivity, without subjecting them to surveillance.
Cultivate a Positive Culture by Removing Toxicity and Enabling Constructive Conversations
A toxic workplace culture hampers employee well-being while making it difficult to achieve organizational goals. How can an organization constructively change culture once nastiness and negativity have settled in? According to Columbia Business School professor Stephan Meier, leaders can create a more positive and psychologically safe workplace by making open communication the standard. In this engaging and entertaining presentation, Meier reveals how to remove barriers to engagement, foster a workplace that celebrates transparency and empower employees to contribute to their fullest potential. Managers walk away with strategies for identifying and mitigating negativity at work to ensure every team member feels valued and understood, paving the way for enhanced collaboration and innovation.
Lead Into the Future With These Crucial Management Skills
New tools like generative and agentic AI are presenting unprecedented opportunities and challenges to leaders. When business and demand on its workforce seems like it’s changing faster than ever before, how can executives be sure they’re making the right choices for their organizations? By intentionally applying classic leadership skills like relationship building and the art of persuasion, and adapting them to the new dynamics, says Stephan Meier, an award-winning professor at Columbia Business School (CBS). In this highly interactive presentation drawn from his popular executive development program at CBS, “Leading Into the Future,” Meier focuses on the practical application of management fundamentals to address real-world business dynamics, such as the explosion of data availability, changes in workforce dynamics/expectations and the need for constant up- and re-skilling. Attendees walk away with insights into the old and new skills needed to strategically manage the integration of emerging technologies. They also gain a clear understanding of how to adapt to the shifting global market while shaping the trends of the future.
The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive
(PublicAffairs, October 2024)
Praise for "The Employee Advantage"
“An engaging look at the complex relationships that connect pay, respect, culture, autonomy, purpose, and more to employee experience and company value. 'The Employee Advantage' shows that employee experience remains a worthy bellwether for company success.”
“Meier is one of the world’s greatest applied behavioral economists. No one is better positioned to share insights about how we can better design organizations that put employees first. A tremendous thinker and excellent communicator, Meier is sure to write a book that we’ll all benefit from reading.”
“There has not been a new perspective on business strategy since Michael Porter’s work. Meier brings his background in behavioral economics to add a unique perspective to corporate strategy because he considers the value of the employee as critical to corporate success.”
"Meier is one of the most talented researchers studying the role of behavioral economics in motivation. He possesses a keen sense of observation and understanding of how this field informs business strategy and the future of work. His work has a real impact on how businesses operate and a book written by him, sharing this knowledge, will be an invaluable resource.”
“Move over, customer centricity. This book highlights that no company can afford to put employees second. With robust evidence and rich cases, Meier explains why leaders who fail to care about people do so at their own peril."
“Meier has provided insightful thinking and compelling evidence for the win-win value of putting employees first in business rather than behind customers and shareholders. Even more importantly, he’s offered a roadmap for doing so effectively and efficiently. Serious leaders of all kinds should read this book and internalize its lessons.”
“From one of the biggest researchers in behavioral economics and motivation, this book will keep your organization on top of its game through the ever-shifting landscape of work.”
“This brilliant book is a clarion call for leaders to embrace an employee-centric mindset as a strategic imperative. With insights drawn from behavioral science, Meier makes it crystal clear: the future belongs to companies that go all-in on their employees.”
“Meier seamlessly and intentionally tackles a conversation at the heart of every organization. His terrific work rooted in real-world examples emphasizes an employee-centric mindset, encouraging leaders across levels to do the same.”
