Work family in the pursuit of happiness.

Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence tied the American national project to pursuing happiness. In fact, one could argue that we all are “happiness seekers”. Yet, not all of us are happy. The world happiness report of 2017  shows that the key antecedents to happiness are having someone to count on, generosity, a sense of freedom and lack of corruption. Thus, it seems, organizations have a lot to do and say to enable (and not to hinder) people happiness. Moreover, in 2017 Norway was 1st in its citizens’ level of happiness, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. Is it a coincidence that those countries rank high in work family friendliness as well?  All of the top four countries rank highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.

Evolutionary psychology sees the pursuit of happiness as a motivation for positive choices. Should organizations maximize collective and aggregate happiness? Does work Family Balance, Facilitation and/or Integration foster positive choices as well? Would that be sound business for organizations?

Finally, today’s world moves between two opposite extremes: On the one hand, a radical move towards capitalism insist in the need to make decisions exclusively guided by economic criteria; On the other hand, a new movement of populism insists in the need of putting aside ambition and achievements in the material world. Yet, we need to explore further how, and under what circumstances, work life polices, practices and culture enable happiness and contribute to economic growth.

The Conference will take place in July 1st and 2nd at IESE, in Barcelona (Spain). We welcome papers focused on the current and future transformations of work and family and their social and organizational implications, from a wide range of scientific perspectives: management, philosophy, empirical social sciences, law and regulation, and humanistic studies, among others.

We expect to contribute to building a new vision of work and family that places the centrality of the human being at the core of the definition and practice of organizations and societies.

If you are interested in participating, please submit a 800 word short-paper by March 1, 2019, through the electronic system available in this site. We will notify acceptance to the authors by April 1, 2019. Participants to the conference who have papers accepted should submit full-papers by May 15, 2019.

We especially encourage theoretical and innovative empirical papers, ethnographies, lab studies, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses.

IESE is a dynamic community of scholars and practitioners that will welcome you to Barcelona, a traditional and welcoming Mediterranean city. It is a privileged city, with a great number of tourist attractions and a friendly atmosphere that will offer conference participants and their families plenty of opportunities to enjoy their stay here over and above the academic program we are preparing for you.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at IESE, in Barcelona!