GROW: Using Artificial Intelligence to Screen Human Intelligence

Ethan  Bernstein; Paul  McKinnon; Paul  Yarabe

Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2017

GROW: Using Artificial Intelligence to Screen Human Intelligence

by Ethan Bernstein, Paul McKinnon and Paul Yarabe

Abstract

Over 10% of all 2017 university graduates in Japan used GROW, an artificial intelligence platform and mobile app developed by Tokyo-based people analytics startup IGS, to recruit for a job. This case puts participants in the shoes of IGS founder and CEO Masahiro Fukuhara, a first-time entrepreneur, as he considers the varied ways the "big data" he is collecting is being used--and whether some uses promised more meaningful (or less potentially misleading) impact than others.

After briefly introducing IGS, Fukuhara, and GROW, the case outlines exactly how GROW works, starting with a mobile app to assess competencies and personalities of candidates and ending with artificial intelligence (machine learning) to produce high-quality recommendations to companies about whom they should hire. The case then articulates precisely how three companies--airline ANA (All-Nippon Airways), global conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation, and advertising/media company Septeni--use GROW in very different ways to manage talent recruiting, screening, hiring, placement, and development.

The case asks students to consider two questions: (1) Which of the three companies' approaches to using people analytics for talent acqusition and development is most appealing (or most concerning)?; and (2) Should Fukuhara turn on the most advanced part of the artificial intelligence engine, allowing GROW not just to provide recommendations to clients about whom they should hire, but also (based on performance and attribute data of previous hires) to overrule clients' specifications (or biases) about the competencies they should be targeting in their ideal hires?

Accompanying the case are the (anonymized) data one of these companies used to make their hiring decision, so that students can experience first-hand the opportunities and challenges of using people analytics in hiring. The case also provides an accessible yet thorough explanation of the key aspects of artificial intelligence (supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement machine learning).

The case is well-suited to courses in Managing Human Capital, People Analytics, Talent Development, Organizational Behavior, or General Management.

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Resources; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Advertising Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Japan;

Language: English

Format: Print

12 pages

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Citation:

Bernstein, Ethan, Paul McKinnon, and Paul Yarabe. "GROW: Using Artificial Intelligence to Screen Human Intelligence." Harvard Business School Case 418-020, August 2017.

Article | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences

The Impact of the 'Open' Workspace on Human Collaboration

Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban

Organizations’ pursuit of increased workplace collaboration has led managers to transform traditional office spaces into ‘open’, transparency-enhancing architectures with fewer walls, doors and other spatial boundaries, yet there is scant direct empirical research on how human interaction patterns change as a result of these architectural changes. In two intervention-based field studies of corporate headquarters transitioning to more open office spaces, we empirically examined—using digital data from advanced wearable devices and from electronic communication servers—the effect of open office architectures on employees' face-to-face, email and instant messaging (IM) interaction patterns. Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction decreased significantly (approx. 70%) in both cases, with an associated increase in electronic interaction. In short, rather than prompting increasingly vibrant face-to-face collaboration, open architecture appeared to trigger a natural human response to socially withdraw from officemates and interact instead over email and IM. This is the first study to empirically measure both face-to-face and electronic interaction before and after the adoption of open office architecture. The results inform our understanding of the impact on human behaviour of workspaces that trend towards fewer spatial boundaries.

Keywords: Open Office; transparency; collaboration; Collective Intelligence; workspace; workspace design; architecture; cubicles; boundaries; spatial boundaries; Human behavior; propinquity; co-location; Interaction; sociometers; people analytics; Buildings and Facilities; Communication; Design; Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Networks; Social and Collaborative Networks; Technology; United States;

Citation:

Bernstein, Ethan, and Stephen Turban. "The Impact of the 'Open' Workspace on Human Collaboration." Art. 239. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences 373, no. 1753 (August 19, 2018). View Details

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This note describes the major considerations and frameworks of compensation. Its audience is general managers interested in learning about their own or their employees’ compensation.

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share (Exhibit 1-2) and headcount (Exhibit 3). As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and they had done so with mixed success and consequences for both company success and employee retention. Reflecting on Clever’s progress as of early 2017, co-founder and CEO Tyler Bosmeny proposed investing in developing effective managers, such that others wanted to work for them and grow under them. Premised on the belief that providing high-quality feedback was a critical function of effective managers, he launched a Radical Candor initiative, based on tech veteran Kim Scott’s book "Radical Candor," that sought to develop managers by helping them master the art and science of developing others.

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GROW: Using Artificial Intelligence to Screen Human Intelligence

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