Health as a Way of Doing Business

Howard  Koh; Sara J. Singer; Amy C. Edmondson

Article | JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association

Health as a Way of Doing Business

by Howard Koh, Sara J. Singer and Amy C. Edmondson

Abstract

For too long, the worlds of business and health have been mired in a checkered, sometimes contentious, history. Millions of deaths worldwide can be attributed to risk factors including tobacco use, alcohol and drug misuse, and suboptimal dietary intake linked to commercial products. Media (including social media) coverage about the safety and cost of many consumer goods, both medical (drugs, devices) and nonmedical, reflect profound public concerns. Longstanding societal scrutiny about the role of business in environmental pollution has only increased in the era of global warming.

Keywords: Health; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Public Opinion;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Koh, Howard, Sara J. Singer, and Amy C. Edmondson. "Health as a Way of Doing Business." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 321, no. 1 (January 1, 2019): 33–34.

Novel forms of teamwork—created by rapid change and growing diversity among collaborators—are increasingly common, and they present substantial methodological challenges for research. We highlight two aspects of new team forms that challenge conventional methods. Factors pertaining to change (e.g., in membership) create entitativity challenges such as whom to count as team members, while factors pertaining to difference (e.g., in expertise) create concordance challenges such as how to interpret disagreement in groups. We review research methods that are well suited to each of these specific challenges. We identify the particular challenges of studying teams that exhibit high difference and change simultaneously and call for adaptive methods that enable insight into how they work. Clarity about the dimensions of deviation from ideal team forms, along with shared terminology, will help researchers make and discuss tough methodological choices and assist reviewers in evaluating them.

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Health as a Way of Doing Business

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