A study from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has found that anxiety can cause people to not only seek more advice from others when faced with a decision but reduce people’s ability to discern the good advice from the bad….For Ronald Burke, professor of organizational studies at York’s Schulich School of Business, the findings in the Wharton study only make sense. “When people are anxious or under high levels of stress they are likely to make more mistakes,” he said in The Globe and Mail March 29. “Because of anxiety they feel pressure to act quickly.” That impulsiveness, he added, can make it hard for people “to separate the wheat from the chaff.” Read full story.
Students among those displaced by fire near York campus
Twenty people, including some students, have been displaced by a two-alarm fire that broke out in a townhome near the southern edge of York University’s Keele campus on Monday afternoon, reported CBC News April 1….York University sent a statement to media indicating that it would provide “short term housing and support tonight and longer term accommodation for students who are directly affected by the fire.” Read full story.
India’s generics drug ruling will help, not hinder, innovation
“Monday’s news that the Indian supreme court has effectively denied Swiss multinational Novartis the patent protection for its ‘new’ blood cancer drug Glivec (Gleevec in North America) has prompted some controversial discussions in the media,” wrote Dirk Matten, professor of strategy, Hewlett-Packard chair in corporate social responsibility and co-director, Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business at York’s Schulich School of Business, in The Globe and Mail April 2. Read full story.
Something smells with Google Nose
Thanks in large part to the Internet, and social media in particular, pranks on April 1 are no longer intimate affairs between a small number of people. If all goes well, the rollout of mock innovations and parody makeovers go viral….York University Professor Russell Belk said the comedic companies are all seeking buzz rather than a spike in sales. Well-executed humour can go viral and attract lots of mainstream media attention, but those that miss the mark may also risk turning off their customers, he said in the Winnipeg Free Press April 2. Read full story.