An emoji lost in translation

Earlier this week, I punctuated a message for a colleague with the emoji below: I wanted to express my frustration at a certain situation, by adding an emoji that, in my view, had a certain physical resemblance to me. However, something happened between me (the information source) and my colleague (the destination) such that when … Continue reading An emoji lost in translation

My PhD, 10 years on

This month (November 5th to be exact) marked the 10th anniversary of my PhD viva. I did my PhD at LSE with Dr James Backhouse, and investigated the profiling of undesirable customers (or customer screening). I looked at how organisations define who is a desirable customer, and who isn’t one; and the process that they … Continue reading My PhD, 10 years on

Umberto Eco’s advice to young writers

Umberto Eco died last Friday (Feb 19th 2016). You may know him as the author of great fiction books, such as 'The Name of the Rose' or 'Foucault’s Pendulum'. However, Eco described himself as primarily a ‘university professor who has found a nice way to spend his weekends’. His academic work has been … Continue reading Umberto Eco’s advice to young writers

Labels matter for how organisations treat customers

A pudding tastes better when it is described as ‘healthy’ than when it is described as ‘diet’. A business proposal is more credible and persuasive when it is delivered by someone with the title 'director' than when delivered by the same person but using any other title. And students judge online courses more favourably when … Continue reading Labels matter for how organisations treat customers

We need a new Facebook button. Or a new definition of ‘like’.

Last week, a friend lost a very close relative. She made a related post on Facebook, which quickly accumulated over 100 comments with various messages of sympathy and encouragement, and nearly 400 likes. Likes! Dicitonary.com is telling me that to like something is to 'take pleasure' in it; which, obviously, is not what the well-wishers … Continue reading We need a new Facebook button. Or a new definition of ‘like’.