Zeynep Ton

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Zeynep Ton is a Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Zeynep's research focuses on how organizations can design and manage their operations in a way that satisfies employees, customers, and investors simultaneously. Her work has been published in a variety of journals, including Organization Science, Production and Operations Management, and the Harvard Business Review.

In 2014, Zeynep published her findings in a book, The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits. The book draws on 15 years of research to show that the key to offering good jobs to employees, great service to customers, and superior returns to investors is combining investment in employees with specific operational choices that increase employees’ productivity, contribution, and motivation.

After her book was released, company exeutives started reaching out to Zeynep to understand how to implement the Good Jobs Strategy in their organizations, or to describe how they were already adopting the strategy. Zeynep cofounded the nonprofit Good Jobs Institute to help them transform through assessments, workshops, and longer term partnerships.

Prior to MIT Sloan, Zeynep spent seven years at Harvard Business School. She has received several awards for teaching excellence both at HBS and MIT Sloan.

Zeynep lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. A native of Turkey, she first came to the US on a volleyball scholarship from the Pennsylvania State University. She received her BS in industrial and manufacturing engineering there and her DBA from the Harvard Business School.

 

Publications

"How the Food Industry Is Using Cross-Training to Boost Service."

Kalloch, Sarah, Amanda Silver, and Zeynep Ton. Harvard Business Review, September 22, 2023.

"When Doing Less Adds Up to More."

Ton, Zeynep. MIT Sloan Management Review, July 2023.

"Good Jobs are Good Business."

Ton, Zeynep. Time, June 8, 2023.

The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone's Work.

Ton, Zeynep. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2023.

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Recent Insights

Ideas Made to Matter

Thinkers50 awards recognize 13 from MIT Sloan

Researchers studying good jobs, digital transformation, misinformation, and innovation were nominated for the 2023 Thinkers50 awards.

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Ideas Made to Matter

The 4 essential choices in a good jobs system

A good jobs system prioritizes customers and is designed to maximize employees’ productivity, motivation, and contributions.

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Media Highlights

Press Source: The Economist

Into the upside down

"Units with high turnover have worse customer satisfaction, worse execution and costs are much bigger."

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Executive Education

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Business Sustainability Strategy

For many companies, the topic of sustainability is at the forefront of business agendas. Consumers and stakeholders are demanding greater accountability from organizations, and the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly stringent. However, pursuing the environmental, social, and governance impacts of business is often met with tension. Leaders now need to manage the misconception within business that meeting sustainability goals means compromising profits.

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