Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(466)
- Faculty Publications (140)
- December 2020
- Supplement
France Télécom (B): A Wave of Staff Suicides
In the B case we learn that at least 19 France Telecom employees took their own lives between 2006 and 2009, 12 others attempted suicide, and eight suffered from serious depression for reasons reportedly related to work. Some of these deaths occurred in public places,... View Details
Keywords: Mental Health; Change; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Health; Human Capital; Human Resources; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Law; Social Psychology; Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Crisis Management; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union
- December 2020
- Supplement
France Télécom (C): An Unprecedented Trial
In the C case we learn that former CEO Didier Lombard, Deputy Chief Executive Louis-Pierre Wenes, Human Resources Head Olivier Barberot and France Telecom itself were charged for institutional harassment by French authorities, a first for a CAC 40 company. In December... View Details
Keywords: Human Behavior; Human Dignity; Human Resource Practices; Corporate Change And Sustainability; Corporate Culture; Strategic Corporate Decisions; Strategic Change; Strategic Decision Making; Emotion; Management Challenges; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Law; Courts and Trials; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Management Practices and Processes; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union
- Article
Healthy Buildings in 2070
By: John D. Macomber and Joseph G. Allen
Fifty years seems a very long time in the future for most industries. Not so in buildings and real estate; built structures routinely last decades if not hundreds of years, as long as they are economically competitive. Any discussion of the 50-year future has to... View Details
- Article
Returnable Reciprocity: Returnable Gifts Are More Effective than Unreturnable Gifts at Promoting Virtuous Behaviors
By: J.J. Zlatev and Rogers, T.
Increasing virtuous behaviors, such as initiating healthy habits, is an important goal for policymakers and social scientists. To promote compliance with requests to perform virtuous behaviors, we study “returnable reciprocity.” Whereas traditional reciprocity involves... View Details
Keywords: Nudges; Reciprocity; Want-should Conflicts; Wellness; Health; Behavior; Change; Well-being
- October 8, 2020
- Article
How to Build a Life: Reading Too Much Political News Is Bad for Your Well-Being
By: Arthur C. Brooks
- October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A)
By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty
This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details
- October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
- Supplement
The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (B)
By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty
This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details
- October 2020
- Article
Why Time Poverty Matters for Individuals, Organisations, and Nations
By: Laura Giurge, Ashley V. Whillans and Colin West
Over the last two decades, global wealth has risen. Yet, material affluence has not translated into time affluence. Instead, most people today report feeling persistently “time poor”—like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. This is critical... View Details
- August 24, 2020
- Editorial
How to (Actually) Save Time When You're Working Remotely
By: Lauren C. Howe, A.V. Whillans and Jochen I. Menges
The pandemic has given many of us the opportunity to ditch the commute and work from home long-term, offering huge potential time savings. But to truly reap the benefits of remote work during the current crisis and beyond, we need to think proactively about how we... View Details
- August 2020
- Article
Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness? A Registered Replication Report
By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Jason Proulx, Iris Lok and Michael I. Norton
Research indicates that spending money on others—prosocial spending—leads to greater happiness than spending money on oneself (e.g., Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008, 2014). These findings have received widespread attention because they offer insight into why people engage... View Details
- March 24, 2020
- Article
Delayed Negative Effects of Prosocial Spending on Happiness
By: Armin Falk and Thomas Graeber
Does prosocial behavior promote happiness? We test this longstanding hypothesis in a behavioral experiment that extends the scope of previous research. In our Saving a Life paradigm, every participant either saved one human life in expectation by triggering a targeted... View Details
- Article
Prosocial Spending and Buying Time: Money as a Tool for Increasing Subjective Well-Being
By: Elizabeth Dunn, A.V. Whillans, Michael I. Norton and Lara B. Aknin
Researchers have long been interested in the relationship between income and happiness, but a newer wave of work suggests that how people use their money also matters. We discuss the three primary areas in which psychologists have explored the relationship... View Details
- Article
Toward a Corporate Culture of Health: Results of a National Survey
By: Michael Anne Kyle, Lumumba Seegars, John M. Benson, Robert J. Blendon, Robert S. Huckman and Sara J. Singer
Context: The private sector has a large potential role in advancing health and well-being, but attention to corporate practices around health tends to focus on a narrow range of issues and on large businesses. Systematically describing private sector engagement in... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Teaching Note
Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation
By: Ryan W. Buell and Leslie K. John
Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
This Teaching Note explains the theory of the case and teaching plan for the case: Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation (619-018). In August 2017,... View Details
This Teaching Note explains the theory of the case and teaching plan for the case: Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation (619-018). In August 2017,... View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose
In this paper, I address how the ascendance of the theory of shareholder value maximization into the central consciousness of public corporations and its canonization as the only legitimate expression of corporate purpose has contributed to both a widening breach... View Details
- Article
Making Seconds Count: When Valuing Time Promotes Subjective Well-being
By: Alice Lee-Yoon and A.V. Whillans
Time is a finite and precious resource, and the way that we value our time can critically shape happiness. In this article, we present a conceptual framework to explain when valuing time can enhance vs. undermine well-being. Specifically, we review the emotional... View Details
- 2019
- Chapter
Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: An Evaluation of the Evidence
By: Lara B. Aknin, Ashley V. Whillans, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn
Humans are an extremely prosocial species. Compared to most primates, humans provide more assistance to family, friends, and strangers, even when costly. Why do people devote their resources to helping others? In this chapter, we examine whether engaging in prosocial... View Details
- 2019
- Article
Preferences for Experienced Versus Remembered Happiness
By: Cassie Mogilner and Michael I. Norton
Consider two types of happiness: one experienced on a moment-to-moment basis, the other a reflective evaluation where people feel happy looking back. Though researchers have measured and argued the merits of each, we inquired into which happiness people say they want.... View Details
Keywords: Well-being; Life Satisfaction; Experience; Retrospective; Time; Happiness; Satisfaction; Welfare; Perception
- October 2018 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation
By: Ryan W. Buell and Leslie K. John
Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
In August 2017, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was looking for ways to differentiate itself from competing banks and was also trying to improve the financial well-being of... View Details
In August 2017, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was looking for ways to differentiate itself from competing banks and was also trying to improve the financial well-being of... View Details
- 2018
- Working Paper
Status Inconsistency: Variance in One's Status Across Groups Harms Well-being but Improves Perspective-taking
By: Catarina Fernandes and Alison Wood Brooks
Most people belong to many different groups. While some people experience consistently high or low status across all of their groups, others experience wildly different levels of status in each group. In this research, we examine how status inconsistency – the degree... View Details