IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormsom/v26y2024i2p409-430.html

OM Forum—The Operations of Well-Being: An Operational Take on Happiness, Equity, and Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Charles J. Corbett

    (Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095; Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095)

Abstract

Problem definition : The meaning of life must surely be more about well-being than wealth, but what does that have to do with operations? Well-being encompasses a lot: Are we happy as individuals? Are groups treated fairly? Is society sustainable? Operations management has many impacts on well-being at each of these levels, some more obvious than others. Methodology/results : This MSOM Fellow forum article offers a wide-ranging exploration of linkages between operations and well-being. It organizes “operations” into five broad areas: pace and productivity, predictability and probability, process and prevention, performance and payment, and pollution and protection. For each of those, it explores what makes individuals (un)happy, what is fair, and what is sustainable. Managerial implications : It concludes with 7 recurrent themes for research in Operations Management.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles J. Corbett, 2024. "OM Forum—The Operations of Well-Being: An Operational Take on Happiness, Equity, and Sustainability," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 409-430, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:26:y:2024:i:2:p:409-430
    DOI: 10.1287/msom.2022.0521
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0521
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/msom.2022.0521?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Keith Chen & Judith A. Chevalier & Peter E. Rossi & Emily Oehlsen, 2019. "The Value of Flexible Work: Evidence from Uber Drivers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(6), pages 2735-2794.
    2. Vishal V. Agrawal & Mark Ferguson & L. Beril Toktay & Valerie M. Thomas, 2012. "Is Leasing Greener Than Selling?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(3), pages 523-533, March.
    3. Maria Besiou & Alfonso J. Pedraza‐Martinez & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2021. "Humanitarian Operations and the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4343-4355, December.
    4. Hummy Song & Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell & David R. Vinsonc, 2018. "Closing the Productivity Gap: Improving Worker Productivity Through Public Relative Performance Feedback and Validation of Best Practices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2628-2649, June.
    5. Ioana Lupu & Joonas Rokka, 2022. "“Feeling in Control”: Optimal Busyness and the Temporality of Organizational Controls," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 1396-1422, July.
    6. Juliane Reinecke & Jimmy Donaghey, 2021. "Towards Worker‐Driven Supply Chain Governance: Developing Decent Work Through Democratic Worker Participation," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 14-28, April.
    7. Conny E. Wollbrant & Mikael Knutsson & Peter Martinsson, 2022. "Extrinsic rewards and crowding-out of prosocial behaviour," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(6), pages 774-781, June.
    8. repec:osf:socarx:k3hy4_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Lea Cassar & Stephan Meier, 2018. "Nonmonetary Incentives and the Implications of Work as a Source of Meaning," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 215-238, Summer.
    10. Mohammad Amir Anwar & Mark Graham, 2020. "Hidden transcripts of the gig economy: labour agency and the new art of resistance among African gig workers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1269-1291, October.
    11. Daniel J Benjamin & Jakina Debnam Guzman & Marc Fleurbaey & Ori Heffetz & Miles Kimball, 2023. "What do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(6), pages 2377-2412.
    12. Felipe Caro & Charles J. Corbett & Tarkan Tan & Rob Zuidwijk, 2013. "Double Counting in Supply Chain Carbon Footprinting," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 545-558, October.
    13. Monia Niero & Charlotte L. Jensen & Chiara Farné Fratini & Jens Dorland & Michael S. Jørgensen & Susse Georg, 2021. "Is life cycle assessment enough to address unintended side effects from Circular Economy initiatives?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1111-1120, October.
    14. Hummy Song & Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell, 2015. "The Diseconomies of Queue Pooling: An Empirical Investigation of Emergency Department Length of Stay," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 3032-3053, December.
    15. Angharad H. Porteous & Sonali V. Rammohan & Hau L. Lee, 2015. "Carrots or Sticks? Improving Social and Environmental Compliance at Suppliers Through Incentives and Penalties," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(9), pages 1402-1413, September.
    16. Nur Sunar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2022. "Socially relevant and inclusive operations management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4379-4392, December.
    17. Genevieve LeBaron, 2021. "The Role of Supply Chains in the Global Business of Forced Labour," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 29-42, April.
    18. Sriram Narayanan & Ed Terris, 2020. "Inclusive Manufacturing: The Impact of Disability Diversity on Productivity in a Work Integration Social Enterprise," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1112-1130, November.
    19. Soledad Giardili & Kamalini Ramdas & Jonathan W. Williams, 2023. "Leadership and Productivity: A Study of U.S. Automobile Assembly Plants," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1500-1517, March.
    20. Knudsen, Hannah K. & Ducharme, Lori J. & Roman, Paul M., 2007. "Job stress and poor sleep quality: Data from an American sample of full-time workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 1997-2007, May.
    21. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    22. Charles J. Corbett, 2018. "How Sustainable Is Big Data?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(9), pages 1685-1695, September.
    23. Hau L. Lee & V. Padmanabhan & Seungjin Whang, 1997. "Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 546-558, April.
    24. Lehdonvirta, Vili, 2018. "Flexibility in the Gig Economy: Managing Time on Three Online Piecework Platforms," SocArXiv k3hy4, Center for Open Science.
    25. Deniz Okat & Ellapulli V. Vasudevan, 2023. "Going the Extra Mile: What Taxi Rides Tell Us About the Long-Hour Culture in Finance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(7), pages 4228-4239, July.
    26. Metters, Richard & Marshall, Donna & Pagell, Mark, 2019. "Cultural Research in the Production and Operations Management Field," Foundations and Trends(R) in Technology, Information and Operations Management, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 1-150, November.
    27. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1091-1119, April.
    28. Charles J. Corbett & Gregory A. DeCroix, 2001. "Shared-Savings Contracts for Indirect Materials in Supply Chains: Channel Profits and Environmental Impacts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(7), pages 881-893, July.
    29. Christopher S. Reina & Glen E. Kreiner & Alexandra Rheinhardt & Christine A. Mihelcic, 2023. "Your Presence Is Requested: Mindfulness Infusion in Workplace Interactions and Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 722-753, March.
    30. Naveh, Eitan & Lei, Zhike, 2019. "Coping with Errors in Organizations: Challenges, Opportunities, and Frontiers for Operations Management Research," Foundations and Trends(R) in Technology, Information and Operations Management, now publishers, vol. 12(4), pages 349-433, November.
    31. KC, Diwas, 2020. "Worker Productivity in Operations Management," Foundations and Trends(R) in Technology, Information and Operations Management, now publishers, vol. 13(3), pages 151-249, April.
    32. Randy Hodson, 2005. "Management Behaviour as Social Capital: A Systematic Analysis of Organizational Ethnographies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 41-65, March.
    33. Arnaldo Camuffo & Federica Stefano & Chiara Paolino, 2017. "Safety Reloaded: Lean Operations and High Involvement Work Practices for Sustainable Workplaces," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 245-259, June.
    34. Zengkai Zhang & Dabo Guan & Ran Wang & Jing Meng & Heran Zheng & Kunfu Zhu & Huibin Du, 2020. "Embodied carbon emissions in the supply chains of multinational enterprises," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(12), pages 1096-1101, December.
    35. Xiaoyang Long & Javad Nasiry, 2022. "Sustainability in the Fast Fashion Industry," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 1276-1293, May.
    36. Masha Shunko & Julie Niederhoff & Yaroslav Rosokha, 2018. "Humans Are Not Machines: The Behavioral Impact of Queueing Design on Service Time," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 453-473, January.
    37. John Boudreau & Wallace Hopp & John O. McClain & L. Joseph Thomas, 2003. "On the Interface Between Operations and Human Resources Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 179-202, September.
    38. Robert J. Niewoehner & Bradley R. Staats, 2022. "Focusing Provider Attention: An Empirical Examination of Incentives and Feedback in Flu Vaccinations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3680-3702, May.
    39. Pradeep K. Pendem & Paul I. Green & Bradley R. Staats, 2022. "The Microstructure of Work: Understanding Productivity Benefits and Costs of Interruptions," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 2202-2220, July.
    40. Charles J. Corbett & Robert D. Klassen, 2006. "Extending the Horizons: Environmental Excellence as Key to Improving Operations," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 8(1), pages 5-22, March.
    41. Jingqi Wang & Yong-Pin Zhou, 2018. "Impact of Queue Configuration on Service Time: Evidence from a Supermarket," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3055-3075, July.
    42. Enno Siemsen & Aleda V. Roth & Sridhar Balasubramanian & Gopesh Anand, 2009. "The Influence of Psychological Safety and Confidence in Knowledge on Employee Knowledge Sharing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 429-447, April.
    43. Fifield, Judith & Reisine, Susan T. & Grady, Kathleen, 1991. "Work disability and the experience of pain and depression in rheumatoid arthritis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 579-585, January.
    44. Başak Kalkanci & Morvarid Rahmani & L. Beril Toktay, 2019. "The Role of Inclusive Innovation in Promoting Social Sustainability," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 2960-2982, December.
    45. Guanyi Lu & Rex Yuxing Du & Xiaosong (David) Peng, 2022. "The Impact of Schedule Consistency on Shift Worker Productivity: An Empirical Investigation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 2780-2796, September.
    46. Saravanan Kesavan & Susan J. Lambert & Joan C. Williams & Pradeep K. Pendem, 2022. "Doing Well by Doing Good: Improving Retail Store Performance with Responsible Scheduling Practices at the Gap, Inc," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 7818-7836, November.
    47. Ioana Lupu & Joonas Rokka, 2022. "'Feeling in Control' : Optimal Busyness and the Temporality of Organizational Controls," Post-Print hal-04325533, HAL.
    48. Iris Bohnet & Alexandra van Geen & Max Bazerman, 2016. "When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint vs. Separate Evaluation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1225-1234, May.
    49. Plambeck, Erica L., 2012. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through operations and supply chain management," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S1), pages 64-74.
    50. Wallace J. Hopp, 2018. "Positive lean: merging the science of efficiency with the psychology of work," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1-2), pages 398-413, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nur Sunar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2022. "Socially relevant and inclusive operations management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4379-4392, December.
    2. Divya Singhvi & Somya Singhvi & Xinyu Zhang, 2026. "A Data-Driven Approach to Improve Artisans’ Productivity in Distributed Supply Chains," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 74(1), pages 281-300, January.
    3. Alon Bergman & Guy David & Hummy Song, 2023. "“I Quit”: Schedule Volatility as a Driver of Voluntary Employee Turnover," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1416-1435, July.
    4. Jónas Oddur Jónasson & Kamalini Ramdas & Alp Sungu, 2022. "Social impact operations at the global base of the pyramid," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4364-4378, December.
    5. Karen Donohue & Özalp Özer, 2020. "Behavioral Operations: Past, Present, and Future," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 191-202, January.
    6. Fei Gao & Gilvan C. Souza, 2022. "Carbon Offsetting with Eco-Conscious Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 7879-7897, November.
    7. Sining Song & Yan Dong & Thomas Kull & Craig Carter & Kefeng Xu, 2023. "Supply chain leakage of greenhouse gas emissions and supplier innovation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(3), pages 882-903, March.
    8. Ahmad M. Ashkanani & Benjamin B. Dunford & Kevin J. Mumford, 2022. "Impact of Motivation and Workload on Service Time Components: An Empirical Analysis of Call Center Operations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6697-6715, September.
    9. Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2025. "OM Forum—Operations Management Research: Relevance and Impact," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 1-7, January.
    10. Steiner, Alexandre Arns & Lerman, Laura Visintainer & Kai, Dalton Alexandre & Benitez, Guilherme Brittes, 2026. "Digital corporate governance at diversity, equity, and inclusion in operations and supply chain management: A mixed-method approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    11. Wenhui Zhou & Dongmei Wang & Weixiang Huang & Pengfei Guo, 2021. "To Pool or Not to Pool? The Effect of Loss Aversion on Queue Configurations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 4258-4272, November.
    12. Sezer Ülkü & Chris Hydock & Shiliang Cui, 2020. "Making the Wait Worthwhile: Experiments on the Effect of Queueing on Consumption," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1149-1171, March.
    13. Robert J. Niewoehner & KC Diwas & Bradley Staats, 2023. "Physician Discretion and Patient Pick-up: How Familiarity Encourages Multitasking in the Emergency Department," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 71(3), pages 958-978, May.
    14. Hummy Song & Mor Armony & Guillaume Roels, 2024. "Queue Configurations and Operational Performance: An Interplay Between Customer Ownership and Queue Length Awareness," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 2284-2304, November.
    15. Vishal V. Agrawal & Şafak Yücel, 2022. "Design of Electricity Demand-Response Programs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7441-7456, October.
    16. Mor Armony & Guillaume Roels & Hummy Song, 2021. "Pooling Queues with Strategic Servers: The Effects of Customer Ownership," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 13-29, January.
    17. Atalay Atasu & Charles J. Corbett & Ximin (Natalie) Huang & L. Beril Toktay, 2020. "Sustainable Operations Management Through the Perspective of Manufacturing & Service Operations Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 146-157, January.
    18. XiaoLi Zhang & Jelle de Vries & René de Koster & ChenGuang Liu, 2022. "Fast and Faultless? Quantity and Quality Feedback in Order Picking," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(4), pages 1536-1559, April.
    19. Sanjith Gopalakrishnan & Daniel Granot & Frieda Granot & Greys Sošić & Hailong Cui, 2021. "Incentives and Emission Responsibility Allocation in Supply Chains," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4172-4190, July.
    20. Ying Zhang & Sriram Narayanan & Tharo Soun & Kalyanmoy Deb & Dustin Cole, 2023. "Maximizing disability diversity, language diversity, and productivity: A study in apparel manufacturing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(12), pages 3783-3800, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:26:y:2024:i:2:p:409-430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.