Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life

This is a classic in the area of Stress research. It outlines the most widely used model of occupational stress and gives a good understanding if its development and use. It is n't a perfect model but it has advanced our understanding of stress in the workplace. Should be on everyones shelf.

Healthy Work is a classic--though currently under-appreciated--work on organizations. It is a book of great breadth and richness that deserves more than one reading. Healthy Work is a "must read" for those concerned with creating healthy organizations. It describes the demand-control model, which has had a huge influence on research on work and health. The model was prompted by Karasek's concern about the consequences of demand-control imbalances in the workplace. Karasek and Theorell provide a vision of humane organizations in which employees can master challenges and experience personal growth. Healthy Work is not an easy read, but it is a "must read" for OD practitioners, OB professors, and those concerned with improving life in organizations. It challenges us to improve the "psychic prisons" in which many employees--unfortunately--spend much of their waking hours.