Mission and research pillars

The WISE (Well-being for Individuals, Society & Enterprises) Research Centre advances knowledge on well-being in management, supporting educators, managers, and policymakers. Its mission is to help organizations achieve a better balance between profitability and responsibility. By focusing on individual and collective well-being, organizations foster engagement and performance, while also developing responsible and sustainable strategies.

The WISE Research Centre addresses three key well-being challenges at work, in consumption and for societies:

  • Inclusivity & Care
  • Mental & Social Health
  • Sustainable & Technological Well-being

These three research pillars are addressed by specialized expert groups from various management disciplines, including management and leadership, marketing and consumer behavior, work and human relations, entrepreneurship, and organizational psychology. The research teams are based across our European campuses

three research pillars

Contributions and research outputs

The WISE Research Centre translates academic research into actionable insights for key decision-makers in the organizational ecosystem.

  • We publish both theoretical and empirical research papers, available for consultation.
  • Our findings are disseminated through impact papers, reports, press releases, videos, and podcasts, all of which can be read, watched, or listened to.
  • We integrate our research into classroom teaching and academic activities.
  • We design customized training programs for companies looking to train their managers.
  • We collaborate with researchers and organizations dedicated to fostering well-being through experiences and interventions.

If you're interested in our research outputs or would like to learn more about our training programs and potential research collaborations, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Charlotte Gaston-Breton - cgaston-breton@escp.eu
Almudena Cañibano - acanibano@escp.eu

Sustainable Business Model Conference

Women in finance Chair annual event

Our People

Directors

Almudena Cañibano - Professor - ESCP

Almudena Cañibano

Director ESCP Research Center on Well-Being (RCWB)

Her research focuses on the changing nature of work and its connection to employee experiences. She has studied innovative work organization systems, flexible working, human resource management and their effect on occupational health, employee wellbeing, and organizational performance. Her work has been published in top-rated academic journals such as Human Relations, Human Resource Management Journal, Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, and Journal of the Association for Information Systems, among others.

Charlotte Gaston-Breton- Professor - ESCP

Charlotte Gaston-Breton

Director ESCP Research Center on Well-Being (RCWB)

Charlotte Gaston-Breton (HDR from Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne and Ph.D from the University Paris Dauphine) is currently Full Professor in the European Marketing Department at ESCP Business School. She is the Coordinator of the European Marketing Department and the co-Academic Director of the online Executive Master in International Business (EMIB). She is the scientific director of the research center in Happiness, Well-Being & Management

Permanent Faculty

Kerstin Alfes - Professor - ESCP

Kerstin Alfes

Professor
Berlin
kalfes@escp.eu

Hsin-Hsuan Meg Lee- Associate Professor - ESCP

Hsin-Hsuan Meg Lee

Associate Professor
London
hlee@escp.eu

Isabella Maggioni, Associate Professor for Finance

Isabella Maggioni

Associate Professor
Turin
imaggioni@escp.eu

Benjamin Voyer
 -    Professor

 - ESCP

Benjamin Voyer

Professor
London
bvoyer@escp.eu

Vitor Lima -  Assistant   Professor

 - ESCP

Vitor Lima

Assistant Professor
Madrid
vlima@escp.eu

Chiara Succi     -   Associate Professor

 - ESCP

Chiara Succi

Associate Professor
Turin
csucci@escp.eu

Daniela Lup  -    Professor

 - ESCP

Daniela Lup

Professor
London
dlup@escp.eu

Saeid Vafainia  -   Assistant  Professor

 - ESCP

Saeid Vafainia

Assistant Professor
Paris
svafainia@escp.eu

Our Research Activities

Inclusivity & Care

This research pillar aims to address diversity and fairness in consumption, the workplace, and at school to foster inclusive and respectful organizational environments.

Representative areas of research include but are not limited to:

  • #Invisible identities: Sexual orientation, neurodivergence, or religious beliefs among others are invisible but often stigmatized identities in consumption, at work or at school. This research stream aims at examining those experiences felt by consumers, employees and students and propose accordingly managerial interventions to address them.
  • #Cultural differences: Gender inequality, language or skin tone differences are often affecting decisions and behaviors related to consumption, work or education. This stream of research aims at examining topics such as women in finance, skin tone influence in consumption, meaning of happiness across cultures.
  • #Inclusive interventions: Social media platforms, brand communities, work environments or educational settings play a crucial role in fostering inclusive, fair and ethical experiences. This stream of research aims at examining how organizations can design, implement and monitor such experiences for their stakeholders.

The main experts of this research pillar are Almudena Cañibano, Marion Festing, Géraldine Galindo, Charlotte Gaston-Breton, Hsin Hsuan (Meg) Lee, Daniela Lup, Minna Paunova.

Mental & Social Health

This research pillar aims at exploring strategies to cope with critical situations in consumption, the workplace, or at school that may negatively impact individual and collective health.

Representative areas of research include but are not limited to:

  • #Healthy practices: Addictive or compulsive consumption, unhealthy habits, or risky decisions are practices that may be induced by organizational environments and the products or services they produce. This research stream aims at examining the predictors, consequences and possible interventions to mitigate those ill-being practices.
  • #Stress and anxiety: Burnout, stress, anxiety are critical issues that organizations and managers need to act upon. This research stress aims at understanding how individuals and organizations cope with such issues.
  • #Loneliness: Loneliness is a widespread psychosocial issue in modern society that poses significant risks especially when it is experienced in social contexts. Consumption groups, social platforms, workplace, schools, are in turn urged to explore loneliness experiences and how they can mitigate them to preserve and enhance individual, societal and organizational well-being.

The main experts of this research pillar are Kerstin Alfes, Argyro Avgoustaki, Almudena Cañibano, Charlotte Gaston-Breton, Minas Kastanakis, Hsin Hsuan (Meg) Lee, Daniela Lup, Diana Pérez-Arechaderra, Saeid Vafania.

Sustainable & Technological Well-being

This research pillar aims at examining how individual, societal, and organizational well-being can be preserved and enhanced amidst ongoing technological and sustainability transitions [#Digital well-being, #Human-centric technologies, #Mindful behavior]

Representative areas of research include but are not limited to:

  • #Digital well-being: Excessive use of social media, constant connectivity, or AI delegation can hinder focus, flow or critical thinking, among others. This research stream aims at examining the usage of digital technologies at work, in consumption or at school to further develop strategies that promote balanced and mindful digital engagement.
  • #Human-centric technologies: Self-tracking technologies, AI services or even robots may be designed to enhance consumer, employee or student well-being. This stream of research aims at uncovering the bright and dark side of human centric technologies to better set the right tools for teh right purposes.
  • #Mindful behavior: Being mindful is about stopping our automatic modes of thinking and behaving to foster more responsible and less harmful behaviors for the self,, the society and the environment. This research stream aims at exploring how mindfulness practices at work, in consumption or at school may induce more responsible and less mindless habits.

The main experts of this research pillar are Almudena Cañibano, Charlotte Gaston-Breton, Hector Gonzalez-Jimenez, Hsin Hsuan (Meg) Lee, Isabella Maggioni, Vitor Lima.

Our Publications

Diversity, Equality & Inclusivity
KASTANAKIS, M., MAGRIZOS, S. AND KAMPOURI, K.

2022

Pain (and pleasure) in marketing and consumption: An integrative literature review and directions for future research

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, VOL. 140, p. 189-201

Alfes, K., Veld, M., Fürstenberg, N.

2021

The relationship between perceived high‐ performance work systems, combinations of human resource well‐being and human resource performance attributions and engagement

Human Resource Management Journal, 31 (3), 729-752

Fürstenberg, N., Alfes, K., & Shantz, A

2021

Meaningfulness of work and supervisory‐rated job performance: A moderated‐mediation model

Human Resource Management, 60(6), 903-919

Gaston-Breton, C., Lemoine J, Voyer, B. and Kastanakis, M

2021

Pleasure, meaning or spirituality: Cross-cultural differences in orientations to happiness across 12 countries

Journal of Business Research, vol. 134, p. 1-12

Physical, Mental & Social Health
Voyer Ben, Leban, M., Errmann, A., Seo, Y.

2024

‘Mindful Practices in Luxury Travel: a case of the Faroe Islands’

Tourism Management

Weißmüller, K. S., Ritz, A., Steijn, A. J. (Bram), & Alfes, K.

2024

Private Life Events as Antecedents for Public Employees’ Engagement and Burnout

Public Personnel Management, 53(1), 85-112

Schumacher, T., & Festing, M.

2023

Developing Cultural Intelligence in a Serious Game-Centered Blended Course: Insights from Experiential Learning Theory and Empirical Evidence

Journal of International Business Education (Vol. 18)

Avgoustaki, A. and Frankort, H.T.W.

2023

All Work Intensity is Not Created Equal: Effort Motives, Job Satisfaction, and Quit Intentions at a Grocery Chain

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(4): 869-894.

KASTANAKIS, M., NOBRE, H., KUMAR, A., PAUL J.

2023

Consumers’ Relationship with Masstige Brands and Happiness

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 20 (2), P. 306-325

Rodrigo, L, Pérez-Arechaederra, D., Palacios, M. and Romero, J.

2022

Organisational commitment in the digital social innovation context: does qualitative comparative analysis add information to linear regression?

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 179, 1-9

GASTON-BRETON, C., SØRENSEN, E. B., & THOMSEN, T. U.

2020

“I want to break free!” How experiences of freedom foster consumer happiness

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, 121, 22-32

Maggioni, I.

2020

Consumer-Retailer Identification Enhancing Consumer Well-Being

F. Musso, & E. Druica (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Retailing Techniques for Optimal Consumer Engagement and Experiences (pp. 1-14). Hershey, PA: IGI Global

Avgoustaki, A. & Cañibano, A.

2020

Motivational Drivers of Extensive Work Effort: Are Long Hours Always Detrimental to Well-being?

Industrial Relations: a Journal of Economy and Society, vol. 53, no 3, 355-398

Maggioni, I., Sands, S., Kachouie, R., Tsarenko, Y.

2019

Shopping for well-being: The role of consumer decision-making styles”

Journal of Business Research, 105, 21-32

Avgoustaki, A., & Bessa, I.

2019

Examining the link between flexible working arrangement bundles and employee work effort

Human Resource Management, 58(4), 431-449

Technological & Sustainable Well-being
Hesselbarth, Y., Alfes, K., & Festing, M.

2024

Understanding technology-driven work arrangements from a complexity perspective: a systematic literature review and an agenda for future research

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 35(5), 964–1006

Alfes, K. Avgoustaki, A, Beauregard, T.A., Cañibano, A., and Muratbekova-Touron, M.

2023

New ways of working and the implications for employees. A systematic framework and suggestions for future research

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33:22, 4361-4385

 

Curto-Millet, D. and Cañibano, A.

2023

The Design of Social Inclusion Interventions: A Paradox Approach

Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 24(5), 1271-1291

Kraus, S., Blake, B., Festing, M. & Schaffer, M.A.

2023

Global employees and exogenous shocks: considering positive psychological capital as a personal resource in international human resource management

Journal of World Business (Vol. 58, Issue 3, Art. 101444). DOI 10.1016/j.jwb.2023.101444

Tham, T. L., Alfes, K., Holland, P., Thynne, L., & Vieceli, J.

2023

Extreme work in extraordinary times: the impact of COVID-stress on the resilience and burnout of frontline paramedic workers – the importance of perceived organisational support

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1–24

Lima, V., & Belk, R.

2022

Human enhancement technologies and the future of consumer well-being

Journal of Services Marketing, 36(7), 885-894

Lima, V. , Pessôa, L. A., & Belk, R. W.

2022

The Promethean biohacker: on consumer biohacking as a labour of love

Journal of Marketing Management, 38(5-6), 483-514

Cañibano, A. & Avgoustaki, A.

2022

To telework or not to telework: Does the macro context matter? A signalling theory analysis of employee interpretations of telework in times of turbulence

Human Resource Management Journal, 1–17

Galindo, G., Gaillard, H. & Honoré, L.

2022

Religion, Fait Religieux et Management

EMS Editions

Galindo, G., & Oiry, E.

2022

Managing Religion Situations in the Workplace: Roles of a Think Tank for Sharing and Implementing Management tools

Gérer et Comprendre, n° 143, 37-48

Kraus, S., Festing, M. & De Cieri, Helen

2022

Inclusion Competence – Conceptualization and Validation of a Construct and Measure

82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Seattle/USA, August 2022

 

Cañibano, A., Chamakiotis, P., Russell, E & Rojahn, L.

2021

Understanding Well- being in Virtual Teams: A Comparative Case Study

Information Systems. M. Themistocleous & M. Papadaki (Eds.). Springer

Lee, H. H. M., & Gaston-Breton, C.

2020

How Can Consumers Both Value and Resist Consumption? An Exploration of Consumer Relationships with Possessions in Their Pursuit of Happiness.

ACR North American Advances

Pérez-Arechaederra, D.

2020

The Psychology of Perceived Justice in Shared Health Care Decision Making. In A. Lind “Social Psychology and Justice”

New York: Frontiers

Our Contributions To Debates

Impact Papers
Hoang C., Lee H-H, Lup D.

2023

Friend and Foe: Cognitive, Emotional and Moral Consequences of Working with AI

ESCP Impact Papers, 2023-09-EN

Cañibano A. & Avgoustaki A.

2022

Employee experiences of telework in times of crisis ESCP

ESCP Impact Papers, 2022-30-EN

Avgoustaki A.

2021

Work Intensity and Unsustainable Work: Evidence from the European Working Conditions Survey

ESCP Impact Papers, 2021-30-EN

Galindo G.

2021

A sustainable HRM thanks to the crisis?

ESCP Impact Papers, 2021-04-EN

Hoang C., Lee H-H, Lup D.

2021

Good Deeds Across the Board: How Organisations Can Foster Prosocial Behaviour Across Domains

ESCP Impact Papers, 2021-26-EN

Lee H-H and Gaston-Breton C.

2021

Mind the Self, then the World: A Discussion on the dark side of Mindfulness

ESCP Impact Papers, 2021-29-EN

Succi C.

2021

Cognitive sustainability and employees’ wellbeing in a digital work environment

ESCP Impact Papers, 2021-28-EN

Cañibano A., Chamakiotis P., Russell E

2020

Virtual teamwork and employee well-being: The Covid-19 effects

ESCP Impact Papers, 2020-25-EN

Festing M. and Kraus S.

2020

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global employees

ESCP Impact Papers, 2020-19-EN

Gaston-Breton C.

2020

The regulatory functions of experiences of consumption in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

ESCP Impact Papers, 2020-05-EN

Media
Gonzalez-Jimenez, H.

2024

El rol ético de la IA y los robots en la experiencia del consumidor.

El Publicista. March 7th, 2024.

Lup D.

2023

Volunteering and giving: how to help your employees be leaders in their communities.

The choice

Lup D.

2023

AI shows why it is imperative to have more women in negotiations.

The choice

Alfes K.

2023

How bosses can ensure “meaningfulness” at a company?

The choice

Alfes K.

2023

Have we lost trust? How to encourage connection and trust in the modern workplace?

The choice

Cañibano A. & Avgoustaki A

2022

How people view telework depends on factors beyond the organisation.

The choice

Festing M.

2022

5 tips to build strong cross-cultural virtual teams.

The choice

Gaston-Breton C.

2022

Consumers need means of escape and self-development.

The choice

Gaston-Breton C., Lemoine J., Voyer B. and Kastanakis M.

2022

Here’s how companies can truly improve employee happiness.

The choice

Maggioni I.

2022

How responsible is your customer experience?

The choice

Perez- Aechaederra D.

2022

Leadership in uncertainty: Lessons from healthcare services.

The choice

Succi C.

2022

Let’s bring humour to work (no kidding)!,

The Choice, 10 th of May

Maggioni I.

2021

The Science of Well-Being in Retail.

The choice

Gaston-Breton C.

2021

It’s not rocket science, it’s well-being science!

The choice

Lup D.

2021

Why is neurodiverse talent overlooked and what can businesses do about it?

The choice