Coffee-swilling bosses listen up: Java may add pep to your step, but guzzling more of that magic bean juice won't make you manage better. In fact, it could hurt your performance, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. This may be especially the case for high-powered types who do a lot of international traveling. Twenty-two managers who normally drank four to ten cups of coffee a day spent two days working as president of a fictional international company. On one day, they were given their regular ration of caffeine; on the other, each received more than their usual dose.
No manager was reduced to helpless jitters by the extra caffeine -- all retained their ability to strategize, take initiative, and respond to situations in a variety of ways, and were faster in processing incoming information. The trouble, however, was that hopped-up managers were less able to integrate past information in making decisions. Because executive performance depends more on integrating information than on decision-making speed, this means extra coffee may actually hurt managers, says researcher Usha Satish, Ph.D., of Penn State. "Especially if you are doing business overseas, you need to integrate what you have been told about the country where you are working."
