Guest editorial: Happiness management: key factors for sustainability and organizational communication in the age of Industry 4.0

Citation

Ravina Ripoll, R., Romero-Rodríguez, L.M. and Ahumada-Tello, E. (2022), "Guest editorial: Happiness management: key factors for sustainability and organizational communication in the age of Industry 4.0", Corporate Governance, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 449-457. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-05-2022-576

Happiness management: key factors for sustainability and organizational communication in the age of Industry 4.0

Happiness is a personal and social concept that we all aspire to at some point. In our lives, it can come to be considered as a tool that facilitates human development in its various individual and collective dimensions (Ahumada-Tello, 2019; Ravina-Ripoll et al., 2019a). It is even a topic that has led to quantitative organizational indices that assess the population’s happiness and wellbeing. From this perspective, happiness is not only a utopian guide or an inspirational attribute but also becomes an organizing principle to improve governance and public policy development (Esmark, 2019; Acharya, 2021). This is how, in a competitive and complex environment, happiness can promote the development of a nation if it is oriented toward improving the productive results of human capital from the integration of actions by companies and governments to raise the perception of this construct (Ahumada-Tello, 2017; Orekhov et al., 2020).

It is from the advent of an approach based on human capital that the need arises to recover a perspective based on people as an essential asset in companies. Under this approach, concepts such as subjective wellbeing and happiness are accessed, which are analyzed as key factors for economic development in a global space where, due to the accelerated emergence of technological and scientific capabilities in production processes, the focus on the processes, tools and economic and technological results above the aspirations, perceptions and satisfaction of the members of the organization (McConvill, 2020). In this way, happiness management has emerged as a critical element for the development of organizations in this new century.

The state of wellbeing has been part of the economic growth policies of the most developed countries. This concept is associated with happiness as a key element that allows individuals to find a natural balance between their work and their personal, family, social and emotional life (Dumitrescu, 2020). Like all conventions of human nature, it is part of the culture of practically every social group. Despite the positions that philosophers, poets, diplomats and even politicians may have, there is always a level of anxiety that has to do with the focus on this concept, mainly on the subject of good governance, which applies to the extension of individual perception to a collective one (Marsico, 2020).

The need then arises to consider issues such as the members and decision-makers within the organization and the context in which corporate governance adheres to the study of happiness as a growth strategy in the organization (McConvill, 2020). In the same way, the value of participation is incorporated into this perspective because the role of shareholder members has been studied, and their involvement is among a limited number of factors that have a significant correlation with the level of happiness that they generate.

Other fundamental aspects that have been included in the study of happiness are those that address health issues and the promotion of physical activities that improve people’s quality of life. In the literature, we find studies that have carried out the analysis of happiness perception indices so that they can be assessed from the development of strategies that encourage people to start or increase the practice of exercises that improve their health, as well as the development of healthy habits that help increase people’s abilities and finally develop their self-confidence and look for alternatives that confirm the result of a deep analysis where, through the use of quality of life, areas for improvement can be found (Lee and Yoon, 2020; Zhou et al., 2021; Danish and Nawaz, 2022).

We must not forget that, in the past two years, the COVID-19 outbreak has occurred in the world and that it has caused serious challenges for governments, companies and people in general. The environment surrounding organizations, people and governments, in general, has been complex and with a high level of challenges to sustain socioeconomic operations. The effects of this pandemic have not only attacked international markets and directly impacted the economic growth of practically the entire world. Nevertheless, they have also had a high emotional effect on individuals who bring their concerns and feelings to social networks. These public demonstrations can help assess alert actions as natural affections to happiness and announcements of opening of activities to improve the same construct considerably. It is, therefore, important to highlight that the regions with the greatest vulnerability to the virus are the ones that have deteriorated the most in their perception of happiness, and it is immediately manifested in the applications that individuals use to communicate on social networks. (Duan et al., 2021; Feng and Zhong, 2021).

To conclude this approach to the phenomenon of people’s happiness and especially its effect on the state of wellbeing and its implications for organizations, it is important to consider that there are other aspects where the study of this construct requires an adequate analysis. These include information and communication technologies, which have influenced human beings over time by disseminating knowledge, saving work time, facilitating communications, increasing communication networks, as well as recently facilitating access to information through the use of artificial intelligence and increasing the intellectual capacity of individuals and organizations alike (Suhaimi et al., 2019; You, 2021). In addition to growing productivity, improving transparency and governance, being a fundamental axis in the construction of social capital and the empowerment of individuals through the construction of knowledge, they have also become a latent risk for the privacy of individuals, they have affected the labor structure and disappeared jobs, they have also impacted behavior habits in terms of a sedentary lifestyle and physical activity and finally, they have generated a new form of social classism where the digital world is now the way to differentiate groups. All these aspects have been evaluated in different environments to see how ICTs have built a new notion of happiness and the difference between countries (Maiti and Awasthi, 2020; Núñez-Barriopedro et al., 2020; Ravina-Ripoll et al., 2019b; Ahumada-Tello et al., 2018). ICTs have also impacted the development and planning of cities as an alternative to improve the quality of life (Zheng and Yang, 2019; Souza et al., 2019; Musa et al., 2020) and in the use of green technologies (Anand and Gaur, 2019).

The study of happiness now needs to be covered to carry out the proposal of strategies in organizations and their governance scheme. People are the essential value of a company, basically because they are responsible for the development of knowledge and, therefore, the acquisition of value in the products and services offered to the customer market. This element is highly complex, and the study of its motivations, emotions and intentions has been relegated to productivity and profitability. However, in a complex environment such as the one now observed globally, it is required that people and their perceptions be taken into consideration to increase companies’ survival.

Content overview

In this special issue entitled “Happiness Management: Key Factors for Sustainability and Organizational Communication in the age of Industry 4.0”, a series of articles are presented that different address topics on happiness management and the factors that appear in the work environment. a global environment and addressed by Industry 4.0. The authors discuss different approaches to the subject of happiness in organizations and how these have been gaining strength to face the presented technological changes.

In their article “The role of consumer happiness in brand loyalty: A model of the satisfaction and brand image in fashion”, Cuesta-Valiño, Gutiérrez-Rodríguez and Núnez-Barriopedro carry out a study on the antecedents of loyalty based on the interest of academics and professionals in the context of fashion consumption. Its primary purpose is to define a model of structural equations using the Partial Least Squares method, where the variables of brand image, consumer satisfaction and consumer happiness are evaluated to explain the loyalty variable. They carried out a descriptive study and used a sample of 2,515 consumers who statistically represent the population of Spain. Their findings confirm the importance of the three independent variables and their respective hypotheses in the development of brand loyalty (Cuesta-Valiño et al., 2021).

Now, Ravina Ripoll, Romero-Rodríguez and Ahumada-Tello, in their article “Workplace happiness as a trinomial of organizational climate, academic satisfaction and organizational engagement”, propose the study of the correlations between organizational climate, academic satisfaction and organizational commitment as factors that influence happiness in the workplace and apply a model of structural equations to the sample obtained from cadets of the Spanish National Police. To carry out this research, a descriptive, quantitative, correlational, exploratory and cross-sectional empirical methodology will be developed with a sample of 190 questionnaires from a population of 397. Structural equation modeling (SEM) shows that academic satisfaction, organizational climate and practical organizational commitment are recommended variables for assessing happiness within organizations. SEM shows that academic satisfaction, organizational climate and practical organizational commitment are recommended variables for assessing happiness within organizations.

On the other hand, there is a positive relationship between happiness and practical organizational commitment. The same is not valid for academic satisfaction and organizational climate parameters. However, there is a positive relationship between happiness and practical organizational commitment. This study fills a gap in the literature on analyzing governance models in public administration. This is particularly relevant in professions that require a high degree of engagement with citizens, such as police officers. This article is one of the first to analyze corporate governance in a public security corporation in Spain under the happiness management approach. It contributes by offering a better understanding of the psychosocial variables that affect the existence of good governance (Ravina-Ripoll et al., 2021).

Castillo-Abdul, Pérez-Escoda and Civila, in their article “Social media fostering happiness management: three luxury brands case study on Instagram”, propose to increase the understanding of luxury brands’ branded content strategies concerning follower’s engagement generated or not by happiness and wellbeing feelings spread in their branded content. The study sample was composed of the three most relevant luxury brands nowadays: Manolo Blahnik, Loewe and Balenciaga. An exploratory-correlational quantitative methodology was chosen; hypotheses were contrasted using ANOVA analysis with the SPSS software. Although the study can be considered quantitative, the first step of qualitative analysis was applied for content analysis with NVivo QSR software, categorizing all posts (N = 192) into three categories. Despite being different in each case, the dissemination of branded content and corporate social responsibility shows, in general, interaction and affective commitment with their stakeholders. In the specific case of Manolo Blahnik and Loewe, they have prioritized their content, in the context of the pandemic, in posts related to social welfare, happiness, mental and physical health care. There are significant differences in the interaction with their audience, which respond very favorably to both “Happiness” and “Health and safety” content. This study reveals how corporate social responsibility can be achieved using efficient communications in social networks. In this way, the perception of the sector’s image and reputation can be improved – both sectoral and organizational – which unquestionably translates into economic gains for the brands (Castillo-Abdul et al., 2021).

Jiménez-Marín, Galiano-Coronil and Tobar Pesántez, in their paper “Organizational communication and social marketing strategies targeting Spanish consumers of fashion. Sustainability as a form of happiness management”, have the purpose of understanding the perception and purchase intentions of Spanish consumers toward sustainable fashion and to see if this can guide the marketing strategy for sustainable fashion. The originality of this study lies in its focus on sustainability to achieve happiness and satisfaction of people as a form of governance from a social point of view (Jiménez-Marín et al., 2021). Using and designed a mixed methodology to test the categories: knowledge, environmental concern, product-related features and social influence. This study suggests that some implications and advice on sustainability marketing strategy could help companies develop sustainable fashion for Spanish consumers.

In their research entitled “Social networks as a vehicle for happiness management in university governance”, authored by Barquero Cabrero, Caldevilla Domínguez, Barrientos Báez and Gonzálvez Vallés aim to determine whether the communication of Universities in Madrid (Spain) on social networks through their official channels has caused positive results in students’ perceptions of their trust in university institutions during the first semester of the 2020–2021 term and to measure whether the implementation of happiness management strategies in the communication within university governance affected students’ happiness levels, as well as on the recognition of their belonging to the university. With an exploratory-correlational approach and a quantitative study, this study conducted a statistical analysis based on a general linear regression model with correlations between variables, using an instrument to collect data, whose construct and content validity was previously assessed by experts, which was answered by 564 students of the Degrees in Communication and Marketing from the Complutense University of Madrid, University of La Laguna, and ESERP Business and Law School. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were implemented to analyze the correlation between variables; Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Pearson and Spearman’s coefficients were also used. Primary findings indicate that those students who used social networks to receive news from university institutions about the COVID-19 pandemic deem these channels official, sound and credible. Similarly, using official information from university institutions on social networks increases students’ happiness levels. According to the authors, this is one of the first studies to provide scientific evidence of the relationship between happiness management and university governance. This research has practical implications that contribute to added value to these types of means for the university governance that seeks students’ happiness (Barquero Cabrero et al., 2021).

Galván Vela, Mercader, Arango Herrera and Ruiz, in their paper entitled “Empowerment and support of senior management in promoting happiness at work”, had the purpose of analyzing the conditions that increase employees’ subjective wellbeing. Therefore, they determine the relationship between the autonomy provided to employees and the support of top management on happiness at work. They implement a quantitative, nonexperimental and cross-sectional approach to do this. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire based on validated instruments in their respective fields. This instrument was applied to a sample of 603 workers from companies in different sectors of the north-western border of Mexico. For the validity of the measurement construct, exploratory factor analysis was carried out using the principal components method; Cronbach’s alpha tests were applied to assess instrument reliability and determine the relationship of the variables in this study. Multiple linear regression techniques were used using the least-squares method.

Results suggest that autonomy and support positively and statistically significantly influence the levels of happiness manifested in the workforce. It concludes with the importance of valuing practical organizational governance actions to increase happiness in the workforce. This research is limited to a nonprobabilistic sample. A regional geographic area was surveyed, so results cannot be generalized. It also explains happiness at work based on only two organizational behavior variables. A thorough analysis is recommended. Results of this study facilitate decision-making by top managers, especially about best business practices that create a harmonious state among its workers and allow the company to improve performance. Authors consider that this study facilitates the understanding of happiness in workers from the actions of senior managers and has leverage to develop human capital retention strategies. In the study of happiness at work, just under 400 documents were found under the terms associated with Happiness and Business, so it contributes to theory construction (Galván Vela et al., 2021).

Robina-Ramírez, Medina-Merodio, Estriégana and Jimenez-Naranjo indicate that in their paper “Money cannot buy happiness: improving governance in the banking sector through spirituality”, they had the purpose of proposing a model to develop happiness in the banking sector based on an improvement in the spirituality of employees. To do this, they followed Schwartz’s model for behavioral transformation and proposed a new path based on developing the transcendent vision of work. The data obtained were analyzed using the partial least squares-SEM method.

Their discoveries found that, contrary to the general idea that happiness is orientated toward the enjoyment of goods, bank employees prefer to develop spiritual values and resources that allow them to respond adequately to massive layoffs and pressures at work. The researchers found that the bank employees’ schedules made it difficult to organize group sessions. Multiple sessions prevented us all from interacting. As practical implications, they established a training strategy for the pursuit of happiness, proposed actions orientated toward happiness and introduced transcendence and spirituality as requirements for finding happiness during daily work. In the social value of this paper, it is a need to recover traditional values and principles daily. This will have a positive effect on communities and social interaction. A new concept has been coined: spiritual resources. This new variable can help to combat adversity by exploring the meaning of transcendence at work (Robina-Ramírez et al., 2021).

According to Kawalya, Kasekende and Munene, in their paper “The interaction effect of psychological capital on the relationship between self-driven personality and happiness at work in the present and post-COVID-19 era”, they have a purpose of examining how psychological capital (PsyCap) and self-driven personality fuse to affect happiness at work in the nursing profession in Uganda. To do that, in this article, they adopt a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical design and then they use SEM to test their hypotheses. Using proportionate and simple random sampling procedures, a sample of 900 respondents was drawn from different hospitals in Uganda, of which a response rate of 88.9% was obtained.

Their finding discovered that the magnitude effect of self-driven personality on happiness at work depends on PsyCap, implying that the assumption of nonadditivity is met. The authors indicate that only a single research methodology approach was used, and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate and validate their findings. As practical implications, the authors mention that to boost happiness at the workplace, heads of hospitals should always endeavor to find a viable self-driven personality and PsyCap blend that can add value to nurses’ happiness in Uganda. Health resource managers need to understand how self-driven personality and PsyCap foster happiness among nurses in Uganda. And finally according to the authors, this is one of the few studies that focus on testing the interactive effects of PsyCap on the relationship between self-driven personality and happiness in the workplace in Uganda (Kawalya et al., 2021).

Delgado-Rodríguez and De Lucas Santos, in their paper entitled “Tax compliance, public spending, and happiness in Europe”, indicate that their purpose is to analyze whether tax compliance is the basis for the short-run dynamics of welfare development and happiness. The strengthening of corporates and citizens’ tax compliance is vital to achieving fiscal policy goals and is part of the values that can generate a higher level of welfare and happiness in Europe.

This study analyzes the transmission channels and relationships of three very complex variables: tax compliance, public spending and happiness, with a short-run perspective. To do this, the authors use a dynamic factor model to offer new indexes that allow to monitor tax compliance, public spending and happiness trajectories and evaluate their short-run relationships. Next, an analysis of the cyclical characteristics in terms of duration, amplitude and intensity is provided using the Harding and Pagan method.

In their empirical findings, they show that the European countries were able to reinforce tax compliance during the expansionary periods of the economy, and this has made it possible to increase public spending and, indirectly, happiness. Otherwise, this paper shows that the contractions of public resources during the global crisis, such as COVID-19, reduced the possibilities of wellbeing in Europe and made it more difficult to increase public spending and happiness. By doing this, the authors have opened a new line of research. Therefore, these results should be considered the first step to unravel the complexity of these relationships.

Individuals and corporates contribute to a fairer and more equitable society through compliance with tax obligations. As a practical implication, the design of policies aimed at improving individual, corporate and the wellbeing of nations needs them to incorporate elements of tax compliance as a goal that has economic and social implications. According to the authors, this is the first paper that offers evidence on the short-run dynamics of tax revenue, public spending and happiness to better understand their relationships and behavior during the different periods of the economy (Delgado-Rodríguez and De Lucas-Santos, 2021).

Foncubierta-Rodríguez, in her manuscript “Influence of the entrepreneur’s personal values in business governance style and their relationship with happiness at work”, looks to find the personal values of the entrepreneur. As a secondary goal, Foncubierta-Rodríguez studies whether these values are associated with certain entrepreneurs based on socio-demographic factors (gender and age). To complete her goal, she selected a group to study in the Spanish business community. Then an exploratory study is carried out, first, with the definition of value constructs according to Schwartz’s personal values model and, second, with a relational analysis, measuring association effects through logistic regression. In her findings, two higher-order personal values of the entrepreneur seem to contain all the elements that would lead to management styles that would facilitate happiness at work. These values emerge from a dimension model of Schwartz’s theory of fundamental human values.

However, MVP does not follow its four adjacent/antagonistic dimensions but is composed of three dimensions adjacent to each other and, therefore, complementary. Moreover, some stereotypes in the literature on the relationships between personal values and certain socio-demographic factors are broken down, and their effects on happiness at work are revealed. One of the limitations of this work is the relatively small sample size. Another limitation is that this is a portrait of the group at a given time. Given the experimental nature of this type of work, especially in the case of socio-demographic factors, it would be advisable to carry out a follow-up longitudinal analysis with a time horizon. It would also be worthwhile considering this study by sector: are the values the same for entrepreneurs in a different sector.

It would be interesting, as a complement to the approach of this work, to carry out a study on the happiness at work of the entrepreneur’s employees, being the group of employees surveyed. As mentioned above, from the methodological point of view, a risk of using the multidimensional scaling modeling for the analysis of personal values is that the respondent reflects more on what he/she considers socially desirable than his/her accurate perception.

This bias is one of the main limitations of psychological research. Despite the above limitations, this paper makes significant contributions. On the one hand, at a theoretical and instrumental level, it shows that the higher-order values graph of Spanish entrepreneurs follows the circumplex essence of the Schwartz value model. In the case of entrepreneurs, it consists of three dimensions. A methodology is created to portray the Spanish entrepreneur in an axiological. These dimensions are weighted, in turn, by issues such as gender or age group. The type of leadership or management expected is a factor. Individuals make important decisions and choices about their relationships in the work environment based on the alignment of their values with those of the party they want to engage with.

The decision by international institutions for countries to implement the sustainable development goals (SDGs) (UNSDG 2030 Agenda) as cross-cutting strands of their policies has boosted the idea of addressing happiness at work. On the other hand, it can serve entrepreneurship educators. This study can also have social implications, making its tiny contribution to the SDGs through the study of personal values that guide the entrepreneur’s behavior. Thus, SDG 8 talks about Decent Work. In addition to the priority of improving the conditions of groups living in discriminatory working environments. Workers spend a large part of their lives at work. SDG 8 aims to ensure that people have quality employment, increasing their productivity and consumption potential. The role of specific higher-order personal values of the entrepreneur is highlighted, making him/her tend toward the realization of happiness management practices. Furthermore, through the methodology used, a model of the entrepreneur’s higher-order values has been established, which can be used to generate reasonable expectations about his/her way of governance and to what extent it is close to a framework conducive to happiness management.

In the last paper entitled “The Spanish home care workers between job vulnerability and happiness in times of crisis”, authors Mínguela-Recover, López-Fernández, López-Sánchez and Picardo-García aim to analyze the wellbeing experience of home care workers regardless of the service management model. It also aims to analyze their emotional experiences and working conditions. This study uses a mixed analysis with qualitative and quantitative approaches, and better understands home care workers’ wellbeing experience. The main finding indicates that home care workers experience intrinsic job satisfaction and demonstrate this with positive emotions regardless of their work situation. According to the authors, this is a pioneer study in Spain and introduces a greater understanding of how home care workers in Spain experience their work reality. The practical implications of this paper specify that caring for the career should be a business value. Measures oriented toward workers’ comfort generate greater happiness and commitment, which is automatically transferred to the quality of the care provided and reduces the psychosocial risks of their professional activity. In social implications, this paper visualizes the social reality of an essential profession through research that generates verifiable evidence that will help improve the working conditions of home care workers in Spain (Mínguela-Recover et al., 2021).