Top business school articles for students 2025

From education's digital revolution to combatting the obesity epidemic, we present 10 of the most-read articles from the last 12 months on IB Knowledge.

3 minute read
students

We've compiled 10 of the most-read articles published by Imperial College Business School over the last 12 months. They cover a range of topics we know you will be interested in, from whether consumers really care about sustainability and how you can use humour to your advantage in a professional setting to carbon markets and effective marketing. 

Whether you want to learn more about the effect AI is having on the job market, or whether carbon markets really work, you will find practical tips and vital context right here. 

Education's digital revolution

Given the pace and extent of technological development over the past few decades, it is surprising that education has remained a largely static, standardised experience. This is a situation Monica Arés, Executive Director of Imperial College Business School’s IDEA Lab, is determined to change.

Do consumers really care about sustainability?

As the world experiences a severe climate and biodiversity crisis, consumers indicate they care about sustainability – nevertheless they often fail to act on these principles. Professor Eduardo Andrade looks into whether consumers really think about the environmental impact of products, and what policymakers can do to encourage us all to make more eco-friendly choices. 

Using humour for success in business

Whether interviewing for a new job or seeking funding as an entrepreneur, it can be tricky to balance the need to promote your personal accomplishments without appearing arrogant. Dr Jieun Pai reveals how self-enhancing humour, or "humourbragging", can be used to ace your interview or pitch. 

Creating more effective marketing strategies with data

Professor Stephan Seiler explores the availability of pre-purchase data and how it's changing our ability to observe the "consumer journey". From the virtual stores and review sites people are visiting, to the products they browse from the comfort of their own homes, new insights highlight opportunities for its future use as the quality of data improves.

Combatting rising rates of obesity

Professor Franco Sassi, Director of Imperial College Business School's Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation, investigates whether authorities could draw on the success of the UK’s tax on sweetened drinks, and rethink consumption taxes across all foods to encourage people towards healthier diets.

How is AI affecting freelance jobs?

The rise of new generative AI tools such as Chat GPT has been swiftly followed by a substantial fall in demand for freelancers. Dr Xinrong Zhu investigates which industries generative AI is reshaping, the winners and losers of the automation of expertise, and what impact this will have on livelihoods and economies. 

Do carbon markets work?

Ever since the EU created its market-based carbon policy, governments and businesses have been keen to see an impact. But analysing how effective policies can be on a noisy economic and global stage is complex. Here, Dr Mirabelle Muûls examines what we know, so far, about its effects. 

Boosting charity fundraising

Fundraising is an expensive and time-consuming business for charities: potential donors are unlikely to respond to digital appeals, yet mail and phone campaigns can be costly and inefficient. There is a better way, say Dr Sven Mikolon and Professor Wolfram Wiesemann, who have used data analytics and AI to provide insights into how charities and nonprofit organisations can raise cash – with marked success.  

The art of effective conversation

Nearly every human activity involves conversation, whether spoken or written – and, in the workplace in particular, the stakes can be high. To know if a conversation is going well, people first need to be aware of their goals, but this is rarely the case. Research by Dr Michael Yeomans sets out a new framework that helps classify the different goals people might pursue in conversation, and how to use it to your advantage.

What doctors can do to help social media-driven anxiety

Increasingly, people are aware of the link between social media use and anxiety, which the World Health Organisation identifies as the most common type of mental disorder worldwide. An interdisciplinary team from Imperial has developed a new framework that addresses how primary healthcare can play a key role in solving this growing health crisis.