What drives the decision-making of customers and employees? That was the question that Tom Marasheski, Director of Global Marketing Operations for Merck & Co.'s Global Human Health Division, wanted to answer when he and his colleagues attended the Behavioral Economics program at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education. Here, Marasheski describes how the program will help enable his team to strengthen their marketing and operations by applying the principles of behavioral economics.
We wanted to accelerate the application of behavioral economics in our organization in order to improve customer and employee engagement. Our goal was to learn the key behavioral drivers behind decision-making and how to develop choice architecture to influence outcomes.
Working in global marketing operations, I am always focused on ensuring that our processes are efficient, effective, and compliant. In the program, we learned about the "levers" that can change behavior; that framework also complements the Lean Six Sigma principles that we already use. It was valuable to learn when to trigger—or bypass—certain systems to correct for bias or heuristics that influence our organizational processes. The program has given me a systematic approach for addressing the psychological factors that may be at the root of a problem.
Since completing the program, I've become more self-aware and better able to recognize when biases are affecting my decision-making. This has allowed me to make better and more informed choices. I also have a new "behavioral-economics lens" that helps me determine when some of our business challenges are due to biases and when they're driven by behavior or change-management issues. Once I recognize the cause, I can begin to apply the relevant tool from behavioral economics.
Throughout the week, we were able to collaborate, review key learnings, and discuss ways to apply the principles of behavioral economics to our work. As a team, we were able to share insights, challenge assumptions, and develop an effective game plan for embedding behavioral economics in our organization.
The on-campus experience allowed me to focus on the content of the program without getting interrupted by daily work. I also enjoyed meeting and collaborating with people from different industries, countries, and functions.
This program will give you a whole new perspective. You'll learn how to identify the key drivers behind decision-making and how to effectively introduce simple interventions that can have a big impact on outcomes. These tools aren’t just applicable to business. They can help you become more self-aware and make better choices.
