Ioana Lupu and Shanming Liu

Many high-performing professional services firms—from big law to accounting to consultancies—are characterized by the extreme hours logged by their employees. Yet, organizational attempts to curb these hours (and the stress associated with overwork) have often failed. A study of 150 global firms explains one reason for this failure: a misunderstanding of overwork’s root cause.

Junhyok Yim, Anthony C. Klotz, Trevor A. Foulk and Pauline Schilpzand

Plenty of research espouses the benefits of team rituals, including boosts in employee performance and motivation. However, most of the existing literature examines simple rituals (like a team cheer). A new study explored the impact that complex rituals—like holiday parties, onboarding events, and company retreats—have on future employee behavior and engagement. The study found discrete ways that these larger events can prove beneficial to employees—as well as several avoidable pitfalls that sap these events of their engagement-boosting potential.

Margaret Heffernan

Yes, people do change their minds

James Plunkett

Seven ways to make big institutions less sclerotic

Ana Filipa Silva

When speed is the only valued aspect of shipping, it's difficult for quality to keep up. How do we change the narrative?

Chris Stokel-Walker

A new study raises serious questions about how perceptions of AI assisted productivity translate into results.