Todd Haugh from Kelley.
I’ll let others introduce themselves as they are logging in, but let’s start with the first question:
Each of the articles suggests that there is something about cultural forces - whether music, sports, or film – that somehow moves people, perhaps in a way that might be conducive to peace or at least
to some kind of workplace or social harmony. Could each of you share how that happens/happened in the research you conducted?
Good morning friends.
Matthew makes a good point about the need to reshape incentives if firms are to take cyber attacks more seriously. The best recent estimate from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that cyber attacks only cost firms roughly 1% of their valuation. In fact, in some cases, firms stock prices actually rise after major data breaches – such as LinkedIn. Even Target’s recovered just one quarter after its major breach.
Karen can certainly add to this, but our paper focused on the role of music as an organizational force. In particular, we explored how the first female-led drum troupe in Rwanda helped women unite behind a common cause (despite very different backgrounds). They then used their experience learning and playing songs with one another to start their own business.
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While some are responding to the first question, Scott and Josh, could you introduce yourselves?
Looking forward to the discussion!
Recording artists are in a unique position in society. They have access to a large audience via their music, music videos, and media appearances. Their celebrity status connects them with resources that ordinary peace advocates may not have, such as corporations and other celebrities.
Artists can directly campaign for social issues, but music can inspire people and give voice to social concerns which laypersons are unable to express to the public.
Through their music and careers, recording artists can and do promote peace and social change. They become the voice of generations and initiate meaningful steps through their lyrics and actions.
Josh Perry, Kelley School of Business at Indiana University
Good morning, everyone! This is Scott Shackelford from Kelley.
So let’s start with this Abbey and thanks for bravely starting us off! Would you think of music, then, as the common link for linking previously conflicting parties together?
Absolutely. It is through music that the woman found common footing. The rhythm, timing, collectiveness of the experience is very uniting.
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To follow up to Abbey’s comment about the role of music in the film we presented, Sweet Dreams, music was the unifying force among the women of different backgrounds in post-genocide Rwanda. The drum troupe consisted of women from both Hutu and Tutsi backgrounds, as well as very different socio-economic backgrounds, yet the drum troupe equalized all of that.
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While others explored ways in which music unifies and brings people together, the paper that Professor Arlen Langvardt (also at IU’s Kelley School) and I wrote examines the ways in which use of music - without permission - creates legal and ethical conflicts between political candidates and the artist (singers and/or songwriters).
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So let me try stitching things here a bit. In Sweet Dreams, music was a common link that brought the women together as well as providing motivation and connection because of the timing and rhythm. Cindy also brings in the importance of lyrics of recording artists and also the notion of the actions of the performers, for example as protest, as a way that music intersects with peace
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Thanks, Tim. I agree. Music is a form of communication. Music has the power to convey specific messages to others in an easily accessible form. Both historically and today, music plays a fundamental role in protests and civil rights music.
In the section of our paper regarding the biological impact of music, we discuss research showing how music triggers emotion, which in turn has effects on decision making. That means music has the capacity to frame choices, particularly ethical ones. This, of course, relates to ethical business practices and ultimately peace-building activities of companies.
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Let’s extend this further with another example that was featured at the IU Cinema this year with the film depiction of the Christmas Eve World War I truce, where German, Scottish, and French soldiers celebrated a religious service, sang, played soccer, and traded goods with each other. Each of these, I’d suggest, provides a cultural artifact that can, at least at times, bridge differences to bring people together, even in the midst of life and death combat
Yes, Joyeux Noelle certainly proves Todd’s point of triggering common emotions, which can cause unlikely outcomes.
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We’ll move to the next question in just a second and I don’t want to leave Josh’s good point out. I do think that is going to be a featured question when we get to the third question of our discussion today. So, I think from these early discussions that we can see multiple ways in which music can alter, motivate, or provide a context for a kind of different dialogue that might otherwise be the case. Of course, there is always the issue, as we talked about quite a bit last month with the music scholars, that music (like business, law, etc) is ambivalent It can be used negatively as well as positively. But given that, we are considering how it can be used positively, which I think we have done a good job in doing.
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