Business and Society with Michigan Ross

In the season 5 premier of Business and Society, host Jeff Karoub sits down with Michigan Ross professors Felipe Csaszar and Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks to explore the tension between algorithmic strategy and human execution. Together, they examine how leaders can harness AI's processing power to expand strategic vision without sacrificing the trust, agency, and buy-in of the teams driving real-world results.

Main Takeaways

• Overcoming Strategic Bottlenecks: AI enables organizations to break past human bounded rationality by rapidly processing thousands of strategic options and pressure-testing ideas through synthetic deliberation.

• The Danger of Human Friction: Treating human limits and employee resistance as mere friction to be bypassed risks repeating tech-industry mistakes, resulting in a loss of team trust and operational ownership.

• Preserving Human Agency: While AI can analyze market dynamics and draft strategy, leaders must retain ultimate agency and responsibility, ensuring progress does not treat employees as collateral damage.

• Human-Centered AI Integration: Successful corporate leadership requires building workflows where raw algorithmic speed supports — rather than replaces — the non-negotiable human elements of leadership.

Subscribe to Business and Society on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Visithttps://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.michiganross.umich.edu/newsmichiganross.umich.edu/news for more information on research and to stay up to date on future episodes!

Felipe Csaszar - Harvard Business Review article

Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks research website

Business and Society Episode 501 on YouTube

Credits

• Executive Producers: Judi Melena Smelser and Jeff Karoub
• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Felipe Csaszar and Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Theme Music: “Lost Einsteins” by Jeff Karoub

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On the season four finale of Business and Society, we’re pulling back the curtain on the "Crypto Kleptocracy" and diving deep into how digital assets are reshaping the U.S. political landscape. Guest Will Thomas, assistant professor of business law at the Ross School of Business, explains how crypto ventures are being used to eclipse traditional wealth-building and sidestep current definitions of “quid pro quo.”

Our discussion covers:

• The Quid Pro Quo Gap: How transactions are being structured to bypass traditional paper trails and corruption laws.
• The Supreme Court Factor: Analyzing how recent judicial narrowing on public corruption definitions has inadvertently paved the way for automated self-dealing.
• The Trump Case Study: A look at how the shift from brick-and-mortar assets to digital ventures has created a new playbook for political fortune.
• Regulatory Roadmaps: Evaluating the proposed solutions, from aggressive securities law enforcement to the creation of a specialized federal task force.

• This shift toward digital assets is blurring the line between political influence and personal wealth. We examine how the automation of self-dealing, combined with the narrowing of legal guardrails, makes modern oversight a necessity, not an option. This raises an important question: Is a technology designed to democratize finance destined to become a tool for corruption at scale?

Credits

• Executive Producers: Judi Melena Smelser and Jeff Karoub
• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guest: Will Thomas
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Theme Music: “Lost Einsteins” by Jeff Karoub

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For business leaders, modern work often asks them to pull off a balancing act that can seem nearly impossible. Innovate while maintaining stability; drive for results while being empathic to your team. Researchers at the University of Michigan realized these aren't just frustrating contradictions—they are four essential 'gears' of management, which they named the Michigan Model of Leadership.

On this episode of Business and Society, Gretchen Spreitzer, Michigan Ross associate dean for executive and corporate relations, Monica Worline, lecturer in management and organizations, and Mike Barger, clinical assistant professor and area chair in business administration, discuss the Michigan Model of Leadership and its relevance, particularly in times of great change and volatility.

Based on 50 years of research and the Competing Values Framework—cited by the Financial Times as one of history's 40 most important business models—learn how this system helps leaders at all levels navigate the complexity of modern business.

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership as a "Flex" Between Competing Values

• Overcoming "Natural Hard-Wiring" and Blind Spots

• The Enduring Need for Human-Centric Leadership in the Age of AI

Credits

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Gretchen Spreitzer, Monica Worline and Mike Barger
• Executive Producers: Judi Melena Smelser and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Theme Music: “Lost Einsteins” by Jeff Karoub

Bonus Content

Learn more about the Michigan Model of Leadership.

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Between the Grammy Awards, the Super Bowl, and this year’s Winter Olympics, this season has been buzzing with live entertainment.

On this episode of Business and Society, Michigan Ross professors Marcus Collins and Gregg Latterman sit down with Jeff Karoub to discuss the entertainment industry. Topics covered include the human connection that synchronous viewing experiences provide, the evolution of live production design for the sake of at-home audiences, and the ways music reflects the zeitgeist.

Collins and Latterman delve into the inner workings of the music industry and the impact of AI, exalting the power of novelty in successful music and discussing the artist’s crucial role in finding, building, and maintaining an audience.

Listen to Marcus Collins’s podcast From The Culture on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Youtube.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Marcus Collins and Gregg Latterman
• Executive Producers: Jeff Karoub and Matt Trevor
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

Special thanks to Ashley Birch and Judi Melena Smelser.

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On this episode of Business and Society, Michigan Ross Professor Tom Buchmueller and Professor Anand Parekh from the School of Public Health sit down with Jeff Karoub to discuss healthcare changes taking effect. Topics covered include the introduction of work requirements for Medicaid starting in 2027, the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, the Healthcare Marketplace, and the damage dealt to the Affordable Care Act.

The guests speak to the link between health insurance coverage and decreased mortality, the importance of community health centers, and their experiences seeking bipartisan solutions to healthcare crises.

Relevant Links:

“The Impact of Health Insurance on Mortality” by Helen Levy and Thomas C. Buchmueller

“How Cuts to the Insurance Marketplaces Will Harm Entrepreneurs” by Vani Agarwal, Tom Buchmueller, Helen Levy, and Wesley Yin

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Tom Buchmueller and Anand Parekh
• Executive Producers: Jeff Karoub and Matt Trevor
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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This November, tariffs are in effect and in flux, the job market is unstable, and AI continues to impact the way business is done. Consumers and businesses alike are looking out for these trends in the economy as the holiday shopping season approaches.

On this episode of Business and Society, Ross professors Ari Shwayder and Michael Speigl discuss the current state of the economy, unpacking the macroeconomic data and the uncertainty surrounding it. Topics covered include the bifurcated nature of today’s economy, the ways tariffs are gradually being passed on to consumers, changes in the labor market, AI, and predictions for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

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The rise of short-term contract work and freelance jobs has created a large percentage of workers who work on their own terms, outside of organizations. These freelancers find new ways to deal with autonomy in their work, walking a precarious tightrope between instability and independence.

On this episode of Business and Society, Ross Professor Sue Ashford discusses her award-winning research on the gig economy. Topics covered include the connection between productivity and identity for freelancers, how they gauge their own success, and the four main factors for thriving as an independent worker: connection to people, place, purpose, and routine.

The conversation ends with a discussion of how the gig economy has transformed in the five years since Ashford’s paper was published. She discusses algorithmic management, how a global pandemic brought society closer to independent work, and the future of her research.

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Between 1989 and 2009, fewer than 100 women became CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

In 2014, Aparna Joshi, and her co-authors embarked on a deep dive into every one of these rare events. While the barriers to women’s success in senior roles and the negative industry reactions to their ascension have been long documented, Joshi felt these focuses failed to provide actionable knowledge. Her research thus highlights the “recipes” for women’s post-succession success, and points organizations towards a clearer path forward.

On this episode of Business and Society, Professor Aparna Joshi, Michigan Ross Professor of Management and Organizations and recent recipient of the 2025 Academy of Management’s Impact Award, sits down with host JT Godfrey to discuss her research, the factors of success for women in senior leadership, and ways of creating more supportive and thriving environments.

• Host: JT Godfrey
• Guest: Aparna Joshi
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, switched its drinking water supply from the Detroit system to the Flint River to save money, resulting in a decade-long public health crisis in which Flint’s residents faced lead contamination and other serious health issues. A major challenge for Flint and hundreds of cities looking to update their aging water infrastructure is efficiently and accurately predicting the location of lead pipes. Enter BlueConduit, a Ross School of Business start-up that originated the approach of using machine learning to do just that. Since the company's foundation in 2016, they've rapidly expanded, working with over 100 customer accounts spanning over 400 different towns and cities in more than 25 states.

On this episode of Business and Society, Professor Eric Schwartz, co-founder of BlueConduit and associate professor of marketing at Michigan Ross, sits down with host JT Godfrey to discuss his experience tackling the Flint Water Crisis. Schwartz explains how the company’s machine learning technology works, recounts BlueConduit’s journey from beginning as a community start-up to expanding and impacting public policy, gives insights into the businesses of public utility and infrastructure, and shares his optimism in data science and marketing being used as forces for good.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: JT Godfrey
• Guest: Eric Schwartz
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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In the season finale of Business and Society, recorded live at theUniversity of Michigan MaizeXBlue Conference, host Jeff Karoub sits down with a panel of experts to discuss the changing media landscape. Sarah Zimmerman, Lecturer of Business Communication at Michigan Ross and professors Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan from the College of Literature, Science, and Arts give their insights on the fragmentation of traditional mainstream media, the rise and evolving role of influencers, and the ways they expect the media landscape to continue to change in the coming years.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Sarah Zimmerman, Yanna Krupnikov, and John Barry Ryan
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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Professor M.S. Krishnan of Michigan Ross and Professor Shobita Parthasarathy from the Ford School of Public Policy join this episode to discuss opportunities AI brings to the business world and some of the challenges and functions in which AI needs guardrails. Topics covered include the transformation of labor, developing technology in a way that centers and serves people, and the role of AI in education. The experts discuss interacting with AI critically and with personal responsibility, in a world where widespread adoption is well underway.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors M.S. Krishnan and Shobita Parthasarathy
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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Michigan Ross Professors Andy Hoffman, Cindy Schipani, and Norm Bishara join this episode of Business and Society to discuss their research and expertise related to corporate governance — the systems and regulations that allow a company to operate with accountability, transparency, and fairness. The panel explores how businesses and public policy intersect to set these guardrails, and the importance of supporting innovative regulation for the sake of all stakeholders — shareholders, employees, community members, and the environment. The guests emphasize the importance of clear values and ethical decision-making in business, regulation, and corporate governance, particularly in the current political and economic moment.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Andy Hoffman, Cindy Schipani, and Norm Bishara
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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On this episode of Business and Society,Jerry Davis, professor of management and organizations and faculty director of the Business+Impact initiative, returns to the podcast to discuss his research. He covers the impact generative AI has on scientific publishing and the ways corporate annual reports distort data to create an inadequate picture of today’s economy. The discussion closes with a plea for recognizing the importance of well-funded, nonpartisan, faithful information to better understand the economic world.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guest: Professor Jerry Davis
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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Professors Nigel Melville from the Ross School of Business and Yousif Hassan from the Ford School of Public Policy join this episode of Business and Society to discuss the challenges of artificial intelligence. They explore the varied and emergent nature of risk associated with AI, the challenges of governing a rapidly developing technology, layoffs, human agency, systemic biases, and the environmental toll of data centers. The panel focuses on the desire for transparency surrounding AI’s implementation and the importance of coming to a shared understanding and vision as a society for AI’s positive integration into the business world.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Nigel Melville and Yousif Hassan
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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Professor Sam Keppler joins this episode of Business and Society to discuss her most recent research on the use of AI in K-12 classrooms. In her research, Keppler explores how technological advancements and operational strategies can improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of K-12 education. In a recent paper, Keppler and her co-authors studied how AI tools such as ChatGPT can be used in K-12 classrooms throughout the United States. In following 24 teachers over the 2023-2024 school year, involving multiple observations, interviews, and surveys, the team found that teachers who used AI for advice in addition to material creation reported feeling more productive, effective, and creative. In the episode, Keppler explores her most recent research and shares her insights on artificial intelligence, K-12 education, and more.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: JT Godfrey
• Guest: Professor Sam Keppler
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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On this episode of the Business and Society podcast, host Jeff Karoub sits down with Michigan Ross professors Scott Rick and Ari Shwayder to discuss the business of the holidays. The panel explores retail therapy as a response to the election, a return to pre-pandemic spending levels on the macroeconomic scale, the holiday shopping habits of “tightwads” vs. “spendthrifts,” and “Amazonification” in conjunction with the rise of online spending.

One key topic of discussion was retailers’ ability to fill their workforce in the current labor market and the potential benefits and drawbacks of automation as a partial solution to staffing. They closed the discussion by addressing consumers’ desire for sustainability and the strategy of painting higher-quality luxury items as the sustainable choice.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Scott Rick and Ari Shwayder
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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The Michelin Guide and its infamous star rating system have incredible influence in the culinary world. Many chefs spend their entire careers chasing a star, and financiers see a high rating as the pinnace for a successful investment. But how do the changing tastes of the ultimate culinary tastemakers affect customer satisfaction? In a new paper, Puneet Manchanda, Isadore and Leon Winkelman Professor of Marketing, and collaborators explore the impact of reduced Michelin ratings on consumer sentiment and review content.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: JT Godfrey
• Guests: Professor Puneet Manchanda
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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On this episode of the Business and Society podcast, Professors Brian Connolly, Jerry Davis, and Erik Gordon discuss the Ross Financial Times poll, what economic issues matter to voters, and how these issues may impact the 2024 election. Key topics include housing, inflation, the role of partisanship in processing information, and the new tools and algorithms being used to raise prices.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Brian Connolly, Jerry Davis, and Erik Gordon
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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On this episode of the Business and Society podcast, three professors from the University of Michigan share their research on the 2024 presidential election. The panel discusses the findings of the polls, surveys, and studies they participate in and provides insights into the unique elements of the Harris and Trump presidential campaigns. Particularly what is important to voters in this ever-changing election cycle.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Professors Erik Gordon, Joanne Hsu, and Nicholas Valentino
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
• Editorial Production: Mads Henke

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On this episode of the Business and Society podcast, Brian Connolly, assistant professor of business law, andJennifer Erb-Downward, director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives at the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, join to discuss their research and thoughts on the housing crisis. Connolly and Erb-Downward explore topics like rising rent, home pricing, gentrification, and more. Throughout the discussion, the panel explores research and insights on the causes of the housing crisis, some adverse effects on the average American, and its implications for the upcoming presidential election.

To learn more about the hosts, participants, resources, and research discussed in this episode, check out a full-length article for this episode at https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/podcasts/business-society.

• Host: Jeff Karoub
• Guests: Brian Connolly and Jennifer Erb-Downward
• Executive Producers: JT Godfrey and Jeff Karoub
• Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman

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