Business, ethics & society

Do diversity and inclusion efforts do what they’re intended to? Professor Martin Davidson, Darden’s senior associate dean and global chief diversity officer, discusses workplace practices that encourage a culture of race-intelligent inclusion and greater understanding of the needs of black people.

Health care in the United State is wildly complicated and remarkably expensive. Paul Matherne (EMBA ’10), a Darden lecturer, pediatric cardiologist and acting chief medical officer of UVA Health, looks at the misaligned incentives at the heart of U.S. health care system.

Opportunity zones offer investors the chance to reduce capital gains taxes by investing in areas high in poverty. But the legislation came with a small window of opportunity, and critics see a lack of visible development thus far. What’s the greatest chance of success for residents and investors? How can the challenges be overcome?

High student loan debt has a lingering psychological effect and changes price sensitivity — and spending habits — those with much debt become numb to the prodigious numbers they face on the balance sheet and tend to spend even more. Here’s how regulatory changes can help them face the numbers and keep them from getting insurmountable.

These insights from Darden Ideas to Action articles unveil the value of ethical considerations from a variety of standpoints and in a variety of sectors. They contain lessons for business leaders, employees and consumers.

Equatorial Guinea struggled with malaria for years. The Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Project, a public-private partnership with a stakeholder perspective, has tackled the problem, leading to medical innovation, improved health of inhabitants and increased infrastructure and productivity.

Though agriculture is important to Nigerian economic activity and rice is a major food staple in Nigerian households, the domestic supply does not meet demand. The Value Chain Development Program public-private partnership is designed to improve the livelihoods of economically disadvantaged farmers.

In less than five years, Myanmar coffee went from a low-grade commodity to a high-value specialty sold for premium prices globally. Through training in farming, expertise and training itself — as well as attention to both the supply and demand sides of a market — Value Chains for Rural Development helped farmers and others across the value chain.

A group of prominent CEOs recently issued a statement encouraging business to create value for all stakeholders, not limited to investors. Ed Freeman and his colleagues have been working with Stakeholder Theory for decades. Here, Darden professors across disciplines offer examples of how businesses can (or already are) prioritizing stakeholders.

Confident people are seen as competent people. And people of higher social class tend to have more confidence than others — yet perceptions of their abilities tend to exceed their actual performance. Darden Professor Peter Belmi studies cycles of inequality and here explains what the phenomenon means for businesses and what to do to stop it.