AMBITION | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
SHOULD WE BE USING ROBOTS IN SECRET?
resemble humans was one of two important caveats found to this rule. The problem links to earlier research in which people were found to be less willing to outsource tasks to ‘identifiable’ service providers. Guilt here arises from asking somebody with whom people can empathise to do things that are unpleasant and that they could do themselves. The second caveat to levels of happiness found in the current research is the perception that using some smart products is an indication of laziness. This has greater currency in cultures where ‘busyness’ is a status symbol and the researchers suggest that this could help explain why take up of smart products hasn’t met previous expectations. In March 2020, market prevalence of robotic vacuum cleaners, for example, only stretched to 10% of Americans, according to data from Statista. How, then, can companies ensure they make products that consumers feel good about using? To counter the identified downsides, one of the recommendations
COUNTRY: SWITZERLAND SCHOOL: ST.GALLEN
worldwide. From refrigerators that order in supplies to automated lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners that wile away the hours rolling merrily around gardens and floors, smart products can certainly take chores off their owners' hands. It was duly found that this can have positive effects on consumers’ wellbeing: ‘The use of smart products can make people happier by leaving more time for things that really matter to us,’ said Emanuel de Bellis, who worked on the study at the University of St.Gallen’s Institute of Customer Insight (ICI-HSG), together with researchers attached to HEC Lausanne, Harvard Business School and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. However, the guilt attached to the use of smart products that
If a robot, or ‘smart product’ to use a more accurate term, appears ‘human- like’ by having a human voice or face – and especially when it has been named after real people – consumers feel less comfortable outsourcing tasks to it and can even feel guilty for doing so. Ultimately, such feelings worsen the user experience and dilute the appeal of buying and using a product. Yet, many of the world’s tech giants, such as Samsung and Amazon, are actively trying to design things that mimic humans and their behaviour as far as possible. This quandary stems from a study designed to investigate whether smart products make consumers happier and is based on a survey of 5,000 people
made by these researchers is that companies consider encouraging
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consumers to use smart products, and enjoy their time-saving benefits, in secret. / Tim Banerjee Dhoul (TBD)
SOCCER STAR SHOOTING FOR SUCCESS IN BUSINESS
always pursued sport and academics simultaneously, Espinoza was inspired to enrol in an MBM when a teammate from the Mexico women's national squad was studying a master’s in finance, enrolling in 2019 as part of only the second generation (cohort) of the EGADE programme. During the programme, Espinoza was able to take full advantage of the course by participating in a corporate immersion programme at Accenture, while enjoying continuing success in her sporting career: ‘Now that I have finished my studies, I feel that this was the best decision I could have made. The MBM changed me professionally and personally. It has given me a different perspective of business and more tools to have a greater impact on the people around me and on the world,’ Espinoza reflected. The Mexican international defender played for both Arizona Western College and Oregon State University in the US while studying business administration as an undergraduate. She was called up to the Mexico women’s national team at the age of just 16 before signing, in 2017, as a professional for Levante in Spain and then joining Mexico’s Tigres UNAL in 2018. / Ellen Buchan (EB)
COUNTRY: MEXICO SCHOOL: EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL
For most people, graduating from a master’s in business management (MBM) programme would be the primary achievement of their year, but not for Greta Espinoza who also achieved success in her other passion – football (soccer). In the same week as her graduation, Espinoza also competed in the Grand Final of the Women’s Liga MX, the highest division of women’s football in Mexico. Espinoza studied her master’s at the Monterrey site of EGADE Business School. While she has
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