Publications

22 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture

Keywords: by Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely, and Erin M. Reid

24 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Who Sets Your Benchmarks?

Editor's note:When it comes to improving your leadership abilities, Professor Robert Steven Kaplan is a big believer in starting with a look in the mirror. In fact, he wrote a book on that subject: What To Ask The Person In The Mirror: Critical Questions For Becoming A... View Details

January–February 2024
Article

The Challenge of Maintaining Passion for Work over Time: A Daily Perspective on Passion and Emotional Exhaustion

By: Joy Bredehorst, Kai Krautter, Jirs Meuris and Jon M. Jachimowicz

Passion for work is highly coveted, but many employees report struggling to maintain their passion over time. In the current research, we explain the challenge of pursuing passion by conceptualizing passion as an attribute with temporal variation. Viewed through a... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Work-Life Balance; Employees; Emotions

July–August 2020
Article

Make the Most of Your Relocation

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

Although the COVID-19 crisis has halted travel in recent months, geographic mobility has become critical for managers and knowledge workers hoping to advance in today’s globalized economy, and that trend is unlikely to reverse. Geographic mobility can pay off... View Details

Keywords: Relocation; Mobility; Personal Development and Career; Geographic Location; Work-Life Balance

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Compilation

Time Distribution and Interaction Patterns for PEARL Project Team: Work Patterns at Ditto (D)

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Provides data to enable students to analyze how software engineers spend their time. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Time Management; Work-Life Balance; Information Technology Industry

November 1988 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Progressive Corp.: Coping with the Problem of Dual Career Parents (A)

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Compilation

Max Green: Work Patterns at Ditto (C)

By: Leslie A. Perlow

According to his managers, Max, a software engineer on a product development team, is an organizational superstar. Describes his life and provides a log of how Max spends his time. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Time Management; Groups and Teams; Work-Life Balance; Information Technology Industry

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Women’s Summit Celebrates ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit’

"If there is one thing that I hope this event will do, it is change the relationship that each of you has with this remarkable institution. We need you to be a part of this institution with all your heart." Survey On Work-life... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Koch & Harvard Gazette

02 Dec 2015
What Do You Think?

What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?

Are Investors the Ultimate Antidote to Gender Inequality in Leadership? Once respondents came to terms with my use of “gender equality” in the title of this month’s column they described several ways in which it might be achieved in our discussion of gender inequality... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2011
Working Paper

The Three Foundations of a Great Life, Great Leadership, and a Great Organization

By: Michael C. Jensen

I argue here that the three factors my co-authors and I identify as constituting the foundation for being a leader and the effective exercise of leadership can also be seen as the foundations not only for great leadership, but also for a high quality personal life and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Work-Life Balance; Strategy; Value

SSRN

March 30, 2022
Article

To Retain Employees, Support Their Passions Outside Work

By: Lauren C Howe, Jon M. Jachimowicz and Jochen I. Menges

With more and more people quitting, leaders need to find new ways to boost retention. One under-recognized way to keep employees on board is to give them the flexibility and resources they need to pursue their out-of-work passions. Drawing on their research, the... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Employees; Retention; Interests; Work-Life Balance; Human Resources; Strategy

August 2008
Case

Sloan & Harrison: Non-Equity Partner Discontent

By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman

The law firm, Sloan & Harrison, was dealing with some discontent among its junior non-equity partners. These partners were concerned with the transparency of the advancement process, their ability to position themselves as both leaders within the firm and rainmakers,... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Management Style; Performance; Work-Life Balance; Legal Services Industry

Educators

11 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

Marissa Mayer Should Bridge Distance Gap with Remote Workers

Marissa Mayer's decision to ask Yahoo! employees to work from offices rather than at home has at least two potentially negative consequences, one for her and one for her employees. But she can mitigate both by linking personal and professional identity for herself and... View Details

Keywords: by Lakshmi Ramarajan; Publishing; Web Services

10 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID's Surprising Toll on Careers of Women Scientists

COVID-19 is claiming an unexpected career toll among scientific researchers, and particularly on women, new research shows. If you are female, have young children, or work in a lab, you are more likely to feel the career-crunching effects dealt by the pandemic,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Pharmaceutical; Biotechnology; Health

August 13, 2024
Editorial

Can AI Save Physicians from Burnout?

By: Susanna Gallani, Lidia Moura and Katie Sonnefeldt

Keywords: Well-being; AI and Machine Learning; Work-Life Balance; Health Industry

2024
White Paper

Healthy Outcomes: How Employers' Support for Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities Can Benefit the Organization

By: Joseph B. Fuller

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Performance Productivity; Employees; Human Capital

1997
Book

Finding Time: How Corporations, Individuals, and Families Can Benefit from New Work Practices

By: Leslie Perlow

Why do Americans work so hard? Are the long hours spent at work really necessary to increase organizational productivity? Perlow documents the work life of employees who assume that for their own success and the success of their organization they must put in extended... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Working Conditions; Work-Life Balance; Performance Productivity

June 2016
Article

Managing the High Intensity Workplace: An 'Always Available' Culture Breeds a Variety of Dysfunctional Behaviors

By: Erin M. Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

People today are under intense pressure to be “ideal workers”—totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Working Conditions; Work-Life Balance; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture