This quantitative study surveyed N=481 senior executives to explore gender differences in the relationship between senior executives’ worklife and their subjective well-being as an indicator of their physical and cognitive performance. Results show significant differences between female and male senior executives in the profiles of seven worklife factors in terms of their relationship with subjective well-being. Therefore, the seven factors should be taken into consideration for organizational design as well as executive training and development programs.

This research contributes the first economic model for employee engagement interventions. The Economic Value Added (EVA) model allows for detailed cost/benefit analyses such as return on investment (ROI) calculations as a basis for executive decision-making. The EVA model is tested in a real life situation with 387 employees of a European pharmaceutical company. The test case yielded an ROI of 148.5% for the first twleve months on a specific organizational training and devleopment intervention.

This quantitative study (1) investigated the relationship between basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS) at work and subjective well-being (SWB) in 142 senior executives as indicator of their physical and cognitive performance and (2) compared the results to two other managerial level samples of 260 managers and 445 employees. The findings contribute new theoretical perspectives of differences in the relationship between BPNS at work and SWB by managerial level and senior executives’ gender (‘complementarity effect’). The findings can have a significant impact on organizational design, training and development measures.

How do sustainability challenges shape the competitive behavior of corporations? The research studies the current state of the world in terms of its environmental limits. The case is made that no country which enjoys high standards of living appears to be living within its environmental limits. Given forecast rapid population growth and the legitimate drive to raise standards of living for all, the need for technological change and innovation is presented in a new dimension in sustainable development. It is shown that the integration of sustainability into the core business strategy of a corporation is becoming a determining factor for future competitive advantage. Two examples, one from the automotive sector and one from the consumer goods sector, are provided. Furthermore, the key challenge in measuring environmental and social performance is highlighted and current developments and solutions presented.

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity has become a serious health problem impacting nearly a third of all people in the developed world. Negative health outcomes associated with being overweight or obese include increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. A commonly accused and suspected villain responsible for recent increases in obesity and decreased physical activity is technology, particularly screen-time. We argue that society needs to embrace technology, not fight it, to successfully manage future global obesity and health issues. To this end, this current research evaluates how an iPhone app could help support peoples’ attempts to manage their eating behavior; specifically, adhering to one’s diet despite the lure and temptation of our toxic food environment.

Does investing in sustainability actually pay off? The research studies the current state of the world in terms of its sustainability limits, reaching from climate change to biodiversity. It highlights population growth as the main driver for exceeding some environmental planetary boundaries and makes the link to the type of technologies used. The traditional approach to innovation and competitive advantages is analyzed and the necessity to integrate sustainability into the methodologies is determined. It is shown that the integration of sustainability into the core business strategy of a corporation is becoming a key factor for future competitive advantage. The integration of the materiality aspect by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board is crystallized as a key milestone in sustainability accounting. Finally, the case is made that sustainability does create financial outperformance.

Motherhood is a complex and often a challenging transition period for women including hormonal changes, social changes including increased social isolation, loss of identity, actual and perceived negative changes in body image, role overload, weight retention, changes in sleep patterns, fatigue, and variation of daily routine. With these challenges and changing roles, depression during and after pregnancy is a major issue. While exercise is often lauded as an effective tool for enhancing psychological well-being and reducing the psychosocial impact of challenges faced by mothers, the mechanisms by which exercise helps and how to supports mothers’ motivation to exercise is not well understood. Our research into how mothers’ exercise contexts relate to their motivation to exercise, as well as psychological outcomes, was with the intention that our findings would help practitioners better design exercise programs to more successful facilitate exercise adherence and ameliorate the challenges of motherhood.

This article reviews change from an evolutionary perspective, suggesting “courage” as a link between “change” and “well-being”. The mental vitamins of autonomy (vitamin A), belonging (vitamin B), and competence (vitamin C) are suggested as motivators for courage and as a tool for coaching and training.

Senior executives are the key organisational decision makers whose actions have a material impact on organizations and society. Apart from provoking claims by newspapers and business magazines, there is very little academic evidence to either support or reject claims that senior executives were greedy, short-term-oriented oligarchs only pursuing their self-interest. This qualitative study explored the theoretical constituents of relatedness need satisfaction, suggested by literature as a predictor of individuals’ motivation, behavior, performance, and well-being. The theoretical constituents could be addressed by executive development programs to raise senior executives’ effectiveness as a key contributor to organizational performance and societal welfare.

The research looks in the reputational risk management by leading European banks. It varies from previous studies since it treats reputation as an independent dimension, rather than as part of the CSR paradigm. With the rise in online communication and social networking, reputation of any organization is at a greater risk than before. A better crisis management capacity and an ability to speedily recover from unforeseen reputational risk events are essential for banks going forward. The findings of the research show variations in the process of identification, assessment and management of reputational risk by leading Banks in Europe. The study further documents a general lack of crisis management mechanisms in the reputational risk management framework for most banks.

Academic studies have identified senior executive actions as a predictor of corporate functioning, behavior, and performance. Hambrick et al. (2005) suggest that senior executives are “finite flawed human beings” who “reside in jobs where the stakes associated with their humanness – both positive and negative – are enormous” (p. 503). For example, the 2008 financial crisis has been proposed by literature, at least in part, to be a result of senior executives’ actions related to negative aspects of humanness such as unethical behavior. Given the potentially far-reaching negative implications of senior executives’ behavior for organizations and society, this research examined senior executives’ inner lives, specifically relatedness need satisfaction in senior executives’ as antecedent of their behavior.

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