Job Satisfaction - Publications - Faculty & Research

Article

Reclaim Your Commute: Getting To and From Work Doesn't Have to be Soul Crushing

By: Francesca Gino, Bradley Staats, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia J. Lee and Jochen I. Menges

Every day, millions of people around the world face long commutes to work. In the United States alone, approximately 25 million workers spend more than 90 minutes each day getting to and from their jobs. And yet few people enjoy their commutes. This distaste for... View Details

Keywords: Commuting; Welfare; Attitudes; Satisfaction; Performance Productivity

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03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

Brooks: Right. Goldberg: I was very happy. Brooks: Yeah, that's good. Goldberg: But is that-- Brooks: Yeah, that's right. Goldberg: Is that actual happiness? What was that feeling that I was-- Brooks: Yeah. Yeah. Goldberg: Job security?... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

patients as they see fit. A new Harvard Business School case study explores Buurtzorg’s decentralized model in depth, with lessons for institutions struggling with morale and productivity. Buurtzorg’s approach has yielded patient View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

orchestra as a soloist just within reach. But suddenly, his performance started to worsen. No amount of practice or specialized training helped. In fact, the harder he raged against his decline, the faster it inevitably came. He took a View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

02 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars'

at all, they make a lot of mistakes. The biggest mistake that they make, for example, is believing that they’ll actually find satisfaction through money, power, and fame. Sooner or later, they become a success addict. If you’re an... View Details

Keywords: by Dan Morrell

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

their businesses to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends rather than invest for the long term, undermining job growth and putting the country’s economic future at risk, often pointing to the high ratio of shareholder payouts... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Value Maximization and Stakeholder Theory

constituency can be given full satisfaction if the firm is to flourish and survive. Moreover, we can be sure, externalities and monopoly power aside, that using this value criterion will result in making society as well off as it can be.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

06 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Does Hybrid Work Actually Work? Insights from 30,000 Emails

environment. At the other extreme: Companies like 3M, SAP, and Twitter are letting many employees work from anywhere. Stuck in between: Employees quitting inflexible jobs as part of the “Great Resignation” and new hires feeling adrift... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

07 Jul 2021
Book

Good News for Disgraced Companies: You Can Regain Trust

"What we want from a company today is not the same as 10 years ago. But the principles are the same." Companies need to do a better job of earning trust, the authors say. The Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual survey of 34,000 people in... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

18 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Commuter Hell? You Can Still Be Productive

Workers commute an average 38 minutes each way between home and work—a trip that can feel like a dreadful chore before the workday even begins. In fact, long commutes lower job satisfaction and increase... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

09 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Organizations

and Nohria examine how an organization built around the four-drive theory might look. The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work brings you and the world's need of work. With it, life is heaven, or as near heaven... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Lawrence & Nitin Nohria

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

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13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

percentage points higher in patient satisfaction surveys than specialists with whom the primary care doctor didn’t train, finds new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine. PCPs and specialists who spent their early years together... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Does Spirituality Drive Success?

with the whole person? In a service industry, where most jobs can be described as "menial" and entry-level, he retains employees and maintains morale by embodying his belief that "every person is created in God's image and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace, Sean Silverthorne & Wendy Guild

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

design, but just look at their faces, beaming with pride and anticipation! Or online, head over to Facebook and Instagram, where you will see other instances of value creation. Look at the pictures and videos your friends post when they receive a coveted View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

13 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

Want to Be Happier? Spend Some Money on Avoiding Household Chores

to-do lists would lift our mental well-being, yet people don’t outsource unpleasant jobs all that much—even those who can well afford to do so. The researchers surveyed hundreds of millionaires in the Netherlands, and almost half reported... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

10 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Key to Doing Your Best at Work? Be Yourself

John, the charismatic chief marketing officer of Netflix (once described by Buzzfeed as the “coolest” person to ever go onstage at an Apple event). Research shows being true to who you are leads to greater professional performance and personal View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

01 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

aptitude for following standard procedures during customer calls. Individuality was not just discounted; in some ways it was expressly discouraged. "As a service role, the job can be stressful, not only because employees must help... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Web Services; Service; Telecommunications

13 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

better opportunities for career enhancement and mentorship, and higher overall job satisfaction ranging from nearly 3 to 5 percent. “The survey measures suggest that the virtual watercoolers may have... View Details