Not a gag. The conclusion is based upon bona fide research.
Having worked with management in oodles of companies throughout my career, I feel at once validated and consoled.
The Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded annually by an organization called Improbable Research for “achievements that first make people laugh and then make them THINK.” From their website: “We also hope to spur people’s curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what’s important and what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not—in science and everywhere else?”
(Thanks to the latest Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, which is where I heard about this year’s management prize.)
—Steve Cuno