54:33 minutes | August 5, 2025
#28 Operational Excellence Meets Dignity
Why Good Jobs Are Good Business with Zeynep Ton
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About the Speaker
Zeynep Ton is a professor of the practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management and
the co-founder and president of the nonprofit Good Jobs Institute, whose mission is to
help companies thrive by creating good frontline jobs.
In her research, teaching, and consulting work, Zeynep focuses on helping
organizations design systems that delight customers; provide meaningful, dignified, and
well-paying frontline jobs; and drive high productivity and strong investor returns.
She has received numerous awards for teaching excellence at MIT Sloan and
previously at Harvard Business School. Her research has been published in leading
managerial and scholarly journals and has been widely featured in the media.
Zeynep is the author of two books: The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest
Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits and The Case for
Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone’s
Work.
Originally from Turkey, Zeynep came to the U.S. on a volleyball scholarship to Penn
State, where she earned a B.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. She later
earned her D.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She now lives in Cambridge with her
husband and four children.
