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26 May/June 2014 BizEd technologies to understand con- sumer choice." Neuroscience also has applica- tions in leadership, he says—from helping leaders make better choices to helping companies do a better job of selecting and training them. "We might be able to use neurosci- ence to understand candidates in ways we can't just by using person- ality and IQ tests," Ramsøy notes. But even as the field expands with possibilities, scientists wrestle with ethical implications. For instance, there has been some outcry over "subliminal advertis- ing," such as when theaters show brief shots of popcorn or soda to encourage movie patrons to buy snacks. However, subliminal advertising creates only short-term effects and influences customers far less than repeated ads and specific ad placements, Ramsøy says. A big question still remains, he says. "How can we design adver- tising that isn't fooling people but still allows us to market to them in ways we know they respond to? I don't see any straightforward answer to that." The question will only get more urgent as neuroscience becomes more sophisticated. Today, neuro- science has progressed so far that researchers can write algorithms predicting how people will react to certain stimuli—they no longer need to test people to make those predictions. "It's both scary and very, very interesting," says Ramsøy. "How can we help business while still protecting the consumer? We need to discuss the issue in a meaningful way. To be honest, I don't think the debate has really started yet." On the Bright Side Positive Organizational Scholarship When Kim Cameron began researching forgiveness within orga- nizations, some of his funding came from a highly untraditional source for a business professor: a founda- tion that was supporting research on the psychology of forgiveness. It was only one of many benefits he enjoyed by conducting cross-disci- plinary research within his field of positive organizational scholarship. "Disciplines such as psychology are better funded than a business discipline such as organizational behavior, and there are many more psychology journals where the resulting research might be accepted," notes Cameron, associ- ate dean of executive education and the William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor. "At the same time, research- ers in those fields can conduct research much more quickly than organizational scholars," he adds. "When I work with a psychology scholar, I can enter a lab, talk to 60 students, gather data, and write a paper the next week. That's much faster than talking to leaders at 60 organizations." It's useful to gain the additional cross-cultural insights, because positive organizational scholarship is not an entirely mainstream field of study: Scholars in the discipline look for what goes right within a company rather than what goes wrong, Cameron explains. "For instance, in positive dynam- ics, researchers start with an affir- mative bias and focus on oppor- tunities and strengths, rather than threats and weaknesses," he says. "They try to determine how compa- nies achieve positively deviant per- formance." They also might study areas such as virtuousness, compas- sion, the mechanisms that help indi- viduals flourish within companies, and the ways people find meaning- fulness in their careers. As researchers in other fields— from law to accounting—also study the effects of positivity, new terri- tory opens up for business research- ers. "For instance, positive psychol- ogy has been an area of research for a long time, and I've gained many insights from Martin Seligman and other leaders in the field," says Cameron, who is currently serving on the board of the International Positive Psychology Association. "I'm willing to work across sectors because, if the research is relevant, we can merge our best ideas and learn from each other." While Cameron believes aca- demic research on, say, virtuousness in the organization is important in and of itself, he knows that CEOs pay more attention to theory when it helps them grow profits or beat the competition—and positive orga- nizational scholarship can do both. "I've found compelling evidence to suggest that virtuous practices in organizations lead to substantially higher profitability, productiv- ity, quality, innovation, customer satisfaction, and loyalty, as well as greater employee engagement, morale, and retention," he says. May/June 2014 BizEd to? I don't see any straightforward The question will only get more urgent as neuroscience becomes more sophisticated. Today, neuro- science has progressed so far that researchers can write algorithms predicting how people will react to certain stimuli—they no longer need to test people to make those "It's both scary and very, very interesting," says Ramsøy. "How can we help business while still protecting the consumer? We need to discuss the issue in a meaningful way. To be honest, I don't think the debate has really started organizational scholars," he adds. "When I work with a psychology scholar, I can enter a lab, talk to 60 students, gather data, and write a paper the next week. That's much faster than talking to leaders at 60 organizations." It's useful to gain the additional cross-cultural insights, because positive organizational scholarship is not an entirely mainstream field of study: Scholars in the discipline because, if the research is relevant, we can merge our best ideas and learn from each other." While Cameron believes aca demic research on, say, virtuousness in the organization is important in and of itself, he knows that CEOs pay more attention to theory when it helps them grow profits or beat the competition—and positive orga nizational scholarship can do both. "I've found compelling evidence to suggest that virtuous practices in organizations lead to substantially higher profitability, productiv ity, quality, innovation, customer satisfaction, and loyalty, as well as greater employee engagement, morale, and retention," he says.