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ROBOTS NOT IN OUR HOMES, BUT IN OUR HOTELS
Robots who had a human voice, showed emotions, and physically looked human were preferred by customers in service settings that included a bank or hotel reception. A robot’s perceived usefulness and intelligence was also important to customers, but relational characteristics, such as rapport, were seen as less important. Lastly, customers found it easier to use human-like robots as they are then able to apply the usual social expectations and rules of human-to-human interactions. ‘Our research shows the perception of human-like qualities in service robots can facilitate engagement with customers, as it incorporates the underlying principles and expectations people use in social settings in a person’s interaction with social robots,’ Blut said. When viewed in conjunction with last month’s research, the suggestion is that in a public setting, customers want to engage with robots who seem human, but when outsourcing tasks in their homes they would like robots to be more… robot. / Ellen Buchan (EB)
COUNTRY: UK SCHOOL: DURHAM UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL Last month’s news and research pages in AMBITION (February 2021 edition), featured research from St.Gallen which found that robots used in the home, such as automated lawnmowers or vacuum cleaners, could cause discomfort or guilt in the user when they were more ‘human-like’, for example, if they had a human face, voice, or name. However, new research from Durham University Business School adds an interesting twist to this with the finding
that in a customer service setting, customers prefer robots to have human-like characteristics. The study was based on 11,053 individuals interacting with service robots and was carried out by Durham University Business School’s Markus Blut, together with researchers from International Business School Suzhou, Paderborn University and the University of Rostock.
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LEADING THINK TANKS NAMED IN INDEX
International Director, Marlos Lima, taking note of the institution’s rise in the index from its first appearance in 27th place 12 years ago, one year after the index was established: ‘It is a clear sign that FGV has been participating ever more in decisions that are made in Brazil and abroad, through its analysis and recommendations.’ The annual index forms part of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), which conducts research on the role played by policy institutes in governments and civil societies around the world. Laying claim to a database of more than 8,000 think tanks, the index aims to take differences between think tanks and the spaces in which they operate into account, ‘in an effort to help make sense of this highly diverse set of institutions,’ its website explains. Other AMBA-accredited Schools are associated with entries in the ‘Best University-Affiliated Think Tanks’ category, including the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex in the UK – home to the University of Sussex Business School – and Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) at MGIMO University in Russia – home to MGIMO School of Business and International Proficiency – which both placed inside the top 10. / Tim Banerjee Dhoul (TBD)
COUNTRY: BRAZIL SCHOOL: FGV EAESP, FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) – home to FGV EAESP (São Paulo School of Business Administration) – has been ranked third on a list of the top think tanks worldwide in the latest Global Go To Think Tank Index Report . In placing third, FGV lies behind the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the US and Belgium’s Bruegel in first and second place, respectively. The Brazilian institution, meanwhile, has also been named a Center of Excellence in both the ‘Central and South America’ and the ‘Best Managed’ segments of the rankings. ‘This is the result of decades of work and it shows that FGV is now an active player on the international stage,’ said FGV’s
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