Social Capital

Trends measuring Americans' values need to be analyzed in the context of differences in question wording and changes in methodology.

Despite declining fertility and marriage rates, Americans want to have children and to be married.

News flash: Your team's chats around the water cooler aren't necessarily time wasters. Gallup research shows that socializing is good for your employees' well-being -- and your company's performance.

Most people equate well-being with being wealthy and healthy. That's not the whole story, say the authors of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements. In this interview, they explore the basics of well-being and what we can do to increase our own well-being.

It's easy to cultivate a sense of doom at the moment, and there are ample reasons to give up hope. But business leaders should resist the tide of negativity, says a prominent psychologist. That's because hope serves a bottom-line business purpose.

Measuring internal customer service is driving positive results in one of the world's biggest medical equipment companies. This profile of a major division of Stryker -- with 1,800 employees in 21 countries who speak almost two dozen different languages -- reveals how.

Measured by the statement "I have a best friend at work," this element has proven to be incredibly controversial to executives. But those business leaders who think friendships are none of their business don’t understand human nature, according to the authors of 12: The Elements of Great Managing.

An expert on Asian economics forecasts the political and economic fate of China, examines how immigration is shaping the U.S. and Japanese economies, and tells what every business student should know.

Why does it matter so much to employees that someone at work cares about them? It's because their need for bonding extends far beyond their homes, churches, and neighborhoods, according to the authors of the New York Times bestseller 12: The Elements of Great Managing.

Psychologist Shane Lopez has many reasons to be optimistic about the bottom-line power of hope. Far from being a mere warm-and-fuzzy attribute, hope can be measured, increased, and deployed. And Dr. Lopez contends that it plays a central role in business as it drives persistence, motivation, goal setting, and innovation.

Leading management thinker Fred Luthans says that while management science and economics have explored business with excruciating thoroughness, they've overlooked something big -- the human mind. In this interview, Luthans tells how businesses can benefit from developing "psychological capital," how managers can turn common sense into a systematic tool, and why psychological capital is a business advantage most organizations don't even know they have.

Management insights from executives and researchers show you how to foster positive emotions and psychological well-being at work -- and boost employee productivity and engagement.