Evidence-based-business: are all coffees created equal?

Coffee is widely seen as the world’s most popular drink and for many, it is an essential part of their daily routines. Whilst most people know coffee can have positive effects on alertness and productivity, the evidence on the long-term effects on the heart has been inconsistent. This talk will look at the findings from recent research amongst large number of UK participants – in particular, the association of coffee consumption with changes in heart structure, heart disease and artery stiffness.

This talk will explore some of the reasons for the lack of women in leadership, drawing on social science research in psychology and management. It will examine common misconceptions and research insights about how employees progress into leadership roles, and why men and women have different experiences in their journey to leadership. Drawing on studies of real leaders in organisations, the talk will illustrate how sometimes well-indented career advice can steer women away from leadership roles, through subtle - and to some extent unconscious - gender bias. 

Practitioners in many fields, from medicine to policy-making, try to work in an evidence-based way. This means using the best available evidence from multiple sources, including scientific evidence, to make better-informed decisions both about the problem at hand and the most likely solutions. One practitioner whose decisions affect us all is the organizational manager or leader. But do managers practice in an evidence-based way? In general, it seems not. What are the barriers? What shapes their decision-making if not evidence? How can the management profession become more evidence-based?