
- 15 Aug 2023
- Research & Ideas
Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy
Giving to others is also good for the giver. A research paper by Ashley Whillans and colleagues identifies three circumstances in which spending money on other people can boost happiness.

- 11 Aug 2022
- Research & Ideas
When Parents Tell Kids to ‘Work Hard,’ Do They Send the Wrong Message?
It takes more than grit to succeed in a world rife with systemic inequity. So why don't we tell children that? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how honest talk about social barriers could empower kids to break them down.

- 08 Mar 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
France Telecom: Corporate Restructuring and Employee Well-Being
The France Telecom case series follows the evolution of the organization from a national telephone monopoly to a private company facing severe challenges. These included a lessening competitive advantage, with the advent of mobile carriers and competition from other countries, as well as a workforce that was much larger than needed and included many civil servants, making it difficult to reduce headcount. As increasing pressure mounted internally to make changes and 22,000 jobs were lost between 2006 and 2009, the culture at France Telecom shifted from one where employees were proud to work to one where the physical and mental wellbeing of some employees became increasingly fragile. Did corporate leaders push employees too far, creating unacceptable levels of stress and unhappiness? Professors Cynthia Montgomery and Ashley Whillans discuss some fundamental tensions between the pressures and benefits of capitalism, the responsibilities of management, and the day-to-day and long-term impacts on employee well-being in the case, “France Telecom: A Difficult Restructuring.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 29 Nov 2021
- Research & Ideas
How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family
Working late again? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how incentive pay encourages workers to think of downtime as wasted time. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 16 Nov 2021
- HBS Case
How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves
Aggressive downsizing at France Télécom culminated in 19 employee suicides. Case studies by Cynthia Montgomery and Ashley Whillans show how mistreating workers can have deadly consequences. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 07 Apr 2021
- Research & Ideas
How Teams Work: Lessons from the Pandemic
How will COVID-19 change collaboration? Leslie Perlow and Ashley Whillans explore the tactics that helped and hindered newly remote teams in 2020. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 05 Jan 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
Using Behavioral Science to Improve Well-Being for Social Workers
For child and family social workers, coping with the hardships of children and parents is part of the job. But that can cause a lot of stress. Is it possible for financially constrained organizations to improve social workers’ well-being using non-cash rewards, recognition, and other strategies from behavioral science? Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans describes the experience of Chief Executive Michael Sanders’ at the UK’s What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, as he led a research program aimed at improving the morale of social workers in her case, “The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 05 Oct 2020
- Book
Want to Be Happier? Make More Free Time
Enjoying life requires time, but too often we willingly give it away in pursuit of money and career. Ashley Whillans shows how to restore the proper balance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 13 Aug 2020
- Research & Ideas
6 Ways to Support COVID-Weary Employees
Ashley Whillans and colleagues offer managers solutions to ease the stress many employees are experiencing in the new workplace. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 07 Jul 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action
Assembling a large, diverse team of researchers to make sense of COVID-19’s impact on issues of work and organizational psychology, this project explores changes that are unfolding for practitioners and human resources professionals.

- 21 May 2020
- Research & Ideas
Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research
Pandemic uncertainty doesn't have to spell doom. Happiness experts at Harvard Business School offer these research-based strategies for managing stress. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 01 May 2020
- In Practice
COVID-19’s Hard Lessons Might Prepare Business for Climate Change
We asked experts from the HBS Business and Environment Initiative how the coronavirus crisis might change the way companies think about sustainability. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 31 Jul 2019
- Research & Ideas
Distressed Employees? Try Resilience Training
Depressed employees are up to five times more likely to experience work-related problems than employees with chronic physical illnesses. So why aren't employers helping them? asks Ashley Whillans. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 28 Jan 2019
- Research & Ideas
Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees
In today's tight job market, employers must focus on how to attract and keep top talent. Giving away stacks of money may not always be the best incentive, warns Ashley Whillans. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 14 Mar 2018
- Research & Ideas
Feeling Stressed? Try Sniffing Your Romantic Partner's Shirt
Attention business travelers: Reducing on-the-road stress might be as simple as tucking a loved one’s t-shirt into your suitcase, according to new research by Marlise Hofer, Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans, and Frances S. Chen. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 13 Nov 2017
- Research & Ideas
Want to Be Happier? Spend Some Money on Avoiding Household Chores
In an age of time scarcity, buying our way out of the negative moments in the day is an important key to happiness, according to research by Ashley V. Whillans, Michael I. Norton, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Paul Smeets, and Rene Bekkers. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
Ryan Serhant: How to Manage Your Time for Happiness
Real estate entrepreneur, television star, husband, and father Ryan Serhant is incredibly busy and successful. He starts his days at 4:00 am and often doesn’t end them until 11:00 pm. But, it wasn’t always like that. In 2020, just a few months after the US began to shut down in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Serhant had time to reflect on his career as a real estate broker in New York City, wondering if the period of selling real estate at record highs was over. He considered whether he should stay at his current real estate brokerage or launch his own brokerage during a pandemic? Each option had very different implications for his time and flexibility. Professor Ashley Whillans and her co-author Hawken Lord (MBA 2023) discuss Serhant’s time management techniques and consider the lessons we can all learn about making time our most valuable commodity in the case, “Ryan Serhant: Time Management for Repeatable Success.”