Publications

02 Apr 2010
What Do You Think?

Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs?

for low job satisfaction among those surveyed in The Conference Board survey. More than half, Nanninga reports, said "there were no career advancement opportunities in their current roles," but... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

12 Sep 2023
Book

Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

2022, they say, 16 percent of workers were “very satisfied” with their jobs, while almost half felt somewhat or very dissatisfied, according to “Job Satisfaction Survey: What Workers Want in 2022” from the blog Virtual Vocations. That’s... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

March 2000 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Microsoft's Vega Project: Developing People and Products

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

With a focus on Matt MacLellan and his careful development as a project manager under his boss and mentor, Jim Kaplan, the case describes the evolution of Microsoft's human-resource philosophies and policies and illustrates how they work in practice to provide the... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Competitive Advantage; Retention; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Design; Information Technology; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership Development

2022
Book

Purpose + Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World

By: George Serafeim

The roadmap and best practices to reap the enormous value that can emerge when your business prioritizes social and environmental goals—such as climate change, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability—right alongside the pursuit of profit.

We not only... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Profitability; Business And Society; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Value Creation; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Research Summary

Personal Development and Interpersonal Feedback

Enabling individual development and learning are key to enabling organizational success as well as employee satisfaction and engagement. Many organizational approaches to employee development visualize feedback processes as mechanisms for illuminating individual... View Details

Keywords: Feedback; Personal Development

May 1993
Case

Alan Stein

By: Carl S. Sloane, Shoshana Zuboff and R.Keith Giarman

Deals with issues of adult and career development at mid-life. Describes the career and personal history of an adult male, choice points in his life, and how he made critical career and personal choices. Focuses in on his decision to "retire" from Goldman, Sachs at an... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Satisfaction

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September 2005 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur...(A)

By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean

In the spring of 2005, an exhausted Philip McCrea, president and CEO of software development company VitesseLearning, reflects on the demands of his successful start-up and his desire to be closer to his growing family. Profiles the youth, career, family life,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives

July 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Sarah Robb O'Hagan: The Rocky Road of Passion

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz and Francesca Gino

In November 2018, Sarah Robb O’Hagan is reeling from an unceremonious exit as CEO of Flywheel, a chain of indoor cycling studios. In the past, Robb O’Hagan had led transformational change across companies throughout the sports and fitness industry, including as... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Satisfaction; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Interests

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

2022
Book

From Strength to Strength: Finding Meaning, Success, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

By: Arthur C. Brooks

Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our... View Details

Keywords: Aging; Meaning In Life; Purpose; Personal Development and Career; Success; Happiness; Satisfaction

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Article

From Wealth to Well-Being? Money Matters, but Less than People Think

By: Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn

While numerous studies have documented the modest (though reliable) link between household income and well-being, we examined the accuracy of laypeople's intuitions about this relationship by asking people from across the income spectrum to report their own... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Work-Life Balance; Satisfaction; Income; Household

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Read Now

25 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Feeling Stuck? Getting Past Impasse

psychotherapist, and career development counselor for over 25 years, is also a researcher on career decision making generally and the relationship between personality structure and work View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Ryan W. Buell

Ryan W. Buell is a Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches View Details

Keywords: banking; e-commerce industry; fast food; financial services; high technology; hotels ＆ motels; insurance industry; restaurant; retailing; service industry; transportation

16 Jul 2024
Blog Post

Driving Positive Impact on Community and Climate with Ben Schutzman (MBA 2016)

and setting yourself up for success from a broader career satisfaction standpoint. Finally, use your network. It is amazing where all those opportunities come from if you get out there and start having... View Details

2014
Chapter

Reaching Your Potential: Know Yourself—and Find Fulfillment

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

Despite racking up impressive accomplishments, you feel frustrated with your career—convinced you should be achieving more. You may even wish you had chosen a different career altogether. These feelings often stem from a common error: buying into others' definitions of... View Details

Keywords: Fulfillment; Leadership; Satisfaction; Personal Development and Career; Success

October 2019
Case

Street Symphony: Making Human Connections Through Music

By: Rohit Deshpandé

To Vijay Gupta, music was sacred. A highly accomplished and renowned violinist with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gupta believed the act of making and performing music was a deeply spiritual practice — one that had the power to heal audiences and musicians... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Music Entertainment; Human Needs; Music Industry; Los Angeles; California; United States