Every year, the World Happiness Report ranks the world’s happiest countries, based on responses to the Gallup World Poll. In 2024, Finland topped the rankings for the seventh consecutive year, with all the other Nordic countries featuring in the top 10. Other high performers included the Netherlands and Switzerland. Given that work takes up a major part of many adults’ lives prior to retirement, we can assume that management approaches in these nations contribute to their citizens’ happiness.

So, what can leaders learn from the world’s happiest countries?

1. Low power distance fosters wellbeing

“Traditionally, Finnish organizations have low power distance between their leaders and the rest of the organization,” says Sami Itani, professor of practice for the department of management studies at Aalto University School of Business in Finland. “Anybody can approach the CEO, even in large organizations.”

Itani believes that the Finnish workforce culture reflects the country’s society more broadly since levels of socio-economic polarization in Finland are among the lowest of all the countries that belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “When business leaders have a shared social background with their employees, it makes their organizations socially more united and generates trust between the leaders and their internal and external stakeholders,” he says.

Transparency is also prized in Finnish society, with all annual incomes being public information. As a result, there is little gender difference in terms of salaries for people doing a similar job.

“Another aspect of general happiness for us is a balance between work and free time, which managers not only understand and respect, but also use themselves,” Itani explains. “Despite the possibilities for remote and flexible work in most professions, the evenings and weekends are for friends and family.”

2. Empower remote workers

In the Netherlands, which ranked sixth on this year’s happiness index, more than half (52%) of workers work from home for some or most of the time. This is a higher proportion than in any other EU country.

Hybrid working fits the Dutch national culture, according to Dr Pascale Peters, professor of HR management at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. A study by Peters and her colleagues, commissioned by the Zadelhoff Nyenrode Institute for Real Estate Research, found that workers value hybrid working because it allows them to balance their work and non-work obligations while maintaining or even improving their productivity.

Nevertheless, the study revealed that while employees like flexibility, this factor is not the primary source of their workplace happiness. They also value the psychological safety provided by a physical office, having autonomy and the ability to share knowledge, and leaders who demonstrate an empowering management style (signaling trust and providing support where necessary). “All these factors can contribute to employees’ perception of self-determination, which in turn can contribute to their autonomous motivation to be proactive and innovative,” Peters says.

3. Provide psychologically satisfying work

“We know that having a psychologically satisfying job is key for overall happiness,” says Mads Nordmo Arnestad, associate professor of the department of leadership and organizational behavior at BI Norwegian Business School in Norway (the country ranked seventh on the index). “After all, we spend most of our waking hours at work. The Norwegian management culture favors trust and empowerment, allowing employees to experience a high level of autonomy. This autonomy has also been tied to intrinsic motivation, lower levels of stress and increased productivity.”

Arnestad adds that while autonomy and task variety are key to worker satisfaction, a job still has to pay. He says that in Scandinavian countries, low-paying jobs are awarded higher wages than in other countries. “A big part of the Scandinavian success story is adequately paying employees so that they are able to focus on their tasks and not constantly having to worry about their personal finances,” Arnestad explains.

4. Build consensus

In Switzerland (ranked ninth on the index) consensus underpins the national management style. Managers proactively seek out the opinion of others before coming to important conclusions – a process that is thorough, even if it has the drawback of being slow.

“For any managerial decision to be made, this decision has to be perceived as positive for the whole team or even the whole organization,” says Dr Jean-Philippe Bonardi, a professor at Swiss business school HEC Lausanne and board member of QTEM (Quantitative Techniques for Economics and Management) network. “This is why the process of consensus building, in which many people are involved, is so important for key decisions.”

Nevertheless, their focus on building consensus doesn’t stop the Swiss from being pragmatic. “The final decision is taken at the top once the process of consensus building has taken place,” Bonardi explains. “This is certainly one of the strengths of the Swiss managerial style and something that I think is closely related to happiness as it avoids two typical types of frustration: not being consulted and no decision made in the end.”

Today’s leaders can’t simply analyze data. They must be able to extract key insights and communicate their findings to nontechnical audiences.

• Managers will need soft skills such as communication and leadership to turn massive amounts of raw information into compelling stories that drive strategic decisions.
• Students can hone their data storytelling skills by completing projects involving real-world companies and participating in competitions where they must solve problems through data.
• Students should be wary about narratives created by GenAI, because these narratives sometimes lack transparency and therefore are unsuitable for certain situations and industries.

 
We live and work in an era of overwhelming data abundance, and the digital universe is expanding exponentially. Our daily activities both generate and rely upon trillions of data bytes flowing through social media, the internet, devices connected to the Internet of Things, and now generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

Experts estimate that the data generated by machines and humans in 2024 will exceed 140 zettabytes. That’s 10²¹ bytes or 1 trillion gigabytes—an unfathomable amount. This data explosion has transformed data into the “new gold” of the 21st century.

However, the true “gold” of data lies not in its quantity, but in its potential to help us make sense of the present and anticipate the future. Today’s managers cannot be content to simply clean, manage, govern, and analyze data. They must be able to extract, interpret, and effectively communicate the insights they extract from data. Their task is to turn raw information into a compelling narrative that drives understanding and informs strategic decision-making.

How can business schools ensure that our students go beyond being data analysts to become translators who can communicate their findings in ways that lead to impactful change? We must teach them how to tell stories with data. To do that, we must provide opportunities for them to develop the soft skills that enable them to inspire and motivate others.

The Importance of Soft Skills

For decades, MBA, masters, and undergraduate programs have emphasized soft skills such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, influence, and leadership. Until recently, technical fields have tended to overlook the value of these competencies. However, that is changing as more and more hard skills are enhanced or partially replaced by automation and the capabilities of AI.

Today, managers know they must be able to pair technical expertise with the ability to motivate employees and communicate with stakeholders. Graduates who possess both kinds of skills will be successful across roles, industries, and career paths.

Because soft skills are honed through experiences and self-reflection, students need to practice these skills in real-world situations. Thus, business schools should provide students with rich and diverse opportunities to work in teams, learn about other cultures, and collaboratively dive into difficult open-ended problem-solving activities.

Managers must be able to pair technical expertise with the ability to motivate employees and communicate with stakeholders.

We are working to merge soft skills with technical skills in the curriculum at EDHEC Business School in France, where I am a professor and the head of the school’s AI initiative. For example, students completing their capstone projects in finance present to an audience of coaches who are not necessarily well-versed in the intricacies of the data models used in the presentations. Students are forced to zoom out from the analytical details and reflect on these questions: What problem are we addressing? In lay terms, how do we address it, with what data, and why? What conclusions can we draw? How will our insights impact practice?

When students simultaneously develop hard and soft skills, they can bridge the gap between finding data-driven insights and implementing actions based on those insights. They can ensure that their findings are translated into real-life initiatives that can improve businesses and governments. And they can do this most easily when they understand how to use data to tell stories.

The Significance of Storytelling

Storytelling is a trait that is specific to human development and culture. Stories create emotional connections, foster understanding, and lead to greater cognitive and social development. While today’s GenAI is capable, at some level, of creating stories, human storytelling will always remain a powerful component of culture, and data storytelling will be crucial for leading businesses and governments.

Well-crafted narratives help people make sense of overwhelming amounts of information. At its core, data storytelling is about asking good questions, displaying curiosity, developing critical thinking, and guiding an audience to interact with data at a high level. One way that students can develop their storytelling skills is by participating in competitions in which they solve problems with data and then present solutions that can be grasped by nontechnical audiences.

At EDHEC Business School, our DataViz competition, which we run in partnership with Tableau and UNICEF, is open to students at schools across Europe. Participants choose the stories they wish to tell about the ways UNICEF helps children around the world face specific challenges. Students choose which datasets to use and develop dashboards designed to help the public better understand UNICEF’s work.

Another competition is the Global Business Analytics Challenge (GBAC) offered through the Quantitative Techniques for Economics and Management Masters (QTEM) network. (EDHEC is a member of the network, and I serve on its board.) QTEM brings together students, academic partners, and international corporations to help students develop analytical and quantitative skills, as well as soft skills.

For GBAC, students develop a data analytics solution and narrative based on a corporate partner’s real dataset and business issue. In recent years, students have designed solutions for companies in the banking, luxury, and nongovernmental sectors.

At its core, data storytelling is about asking good questions, displaying curiosity, developing critical thinking, and guiding an audience to interact with data at a high level.

In the early years of GBAC, students over-focused on creating models and offering analyses; they spent insufficient effort on telling stories and engaging the audience. Current students don’t just take courses on programming and data science; they also attend modules that develop their skills in public speaking, multicultural teamwork, presentation skills, communication, and pitching. Today’s winning teams combine rigorous data analysis with the art of storytelling to make complex data more understandable, engaging, and actionable for their clients.

Two years ago, the winning QTEM team—which included students from France, Portugal, and Germany—worked with data supplied by the British Red Cross. The organization wanted ideas on how to maximize its impact in providing emotional and psychological support to vulnerable groups, such as people with mental health issues.

The team opened its presentation with an emotional reminder of Queen Elizabeth’s passing and linked her death to statistics indicating that 40 percent of adults in the U.K. have experienced feelings of loneliness. After this impactful and sensitive opening, the students presented an analysis of the needs of different vulnerable populations and offered recommendations for identifying and assisting at-risk groups. Their proposed “Lilibet Aid Package” not only made an obvious reference to the queen but also focused on loneliness, anxiety, and positivity.

The International Element

An essential component of GBAC is that each three-person team is made up of students from different schools and countries. They work remotely and meet in person for the first time when they gather to present their findings.

This format enhances students’ soft skills because it provides them with opportunities to manage projects across disparate, multicultural, and remote teams. That’s an ability that has been in particularly high demand among employers since increasing numbers of employees now work from home in the wake of COVID-19.

Students also build their soft skills through immersive international experiences. When students live and study in other countries, they not only develop a greater awareness of other cultures, but they also engage in intense reflection on their own backgrounds and biases. This leads them to develop resilience, adaptability, and global perspectives—all of which are crucial in today’s interconnected world.

The Impact of GenAI

Storytelling entered a new era when ChatGPT became publicly available in the fall of 2022, and business professors quickly began looking for ways to incorporate it into their teaching and research activities. For instance, many have experimented with generating content in styles ranging from Shakespeare to Kant. Others are using GenAI to create content for audiences at various technical levels or to try to analyze vast datasets to uncover patterns that elude humans.

However, there’s a need for caution. AI’s algorithmic process is frequently referred to as a “black box” because we cannot explicitly explain how the software learns or makes its decisions. This means it creates narratives from models that lack transparency or interpretability. If results cannot be validated, leaders need to be skeptical about using some analyses and stories in their strategic decision-making.

We must integrate principles of ethical AI usage into the curriculum and teach students how to incorporate complex models into the storytelling process.

To address this problem, QTEM instructors train students in a variety of Explainable AI (XAI) methods and examine why decision trees and linear models might sometimes be preferable to complex black box methods. For example, in industries such as finance and healthcare, regulatory compliance calls for transparency in decision-making processes.

At QTEM schools, students gain an understanding of the trade-offs in model performance and levels of transparency. Through quizzes, coding exercises, real-life examples, and hands-on projects, students learn how to work with model decisions, make hypotheses on the available data, and validate these hypotheses against empirical findings. Through presentations, workshops, collaborative projects, and case studies, students develop their ability to convey complex concepts to diverse audiences.

Across higher education, we must integrate principles of ethical AI usage into the curriculum and teach students how to incorporate complex models into the storytelling process. As instructors, when we experiment with these rapidly advancing tools, we must display transparency and hold open dialogues with students if we hope to positively influence their behaviors and mindsets.

The Need for Evolution

The business landscape is continuously evolving, and the skills required to succeed are evolving as well. To navigate a world often described as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), executives must possess both technical prowess and soft skills.

At business schools, we must take a holistic approach to education. Our goal is to ensure our graduates will have both technical and AI abilities so they can be innovative leaders who are prepared and able to drive meaningful change in their organizations and industries.

Experiencing Germany and France through a Masters Network 

Mumbai girl Sakshi Prajapati’s keenness to gain more indepth knowledge about core finance and economics led her to Goethe University Frankfurt and EDHEC Business School in Nice.

Sakshi Prajapati, MSc Money and Finance student at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, also studied MSc Financial Engineering at EDHEC Business School in Nice, France through the Quantitative Techniques for Economics & Management (QTEM) Masters Network. Here she recounts her journey of studying In the financial hub of Frankfurt and doing an exchange semester in Nice.

Excerpts from her anecdotal experience

I was born and raised in Mumbai, which is also where l pursued my undergraduate education, earning a Bachelor of Commerce from the HR college or Commerce and Economics, Mumbai University.
After graduating, I started working for a multinational company that provides insurance services in the actuarial valuation department.

However, I wanted to gain more in-depth knowledge about core finance and economics. hence, started exploring master’s programmes in Germany. Many Indian students, particularly those with engineering backgrounds, often end up in Germany; more so than those from other backgrounds, such as management or business.

This is part of the reason I chose Germany for my business education as it is an unconventional choice for an Indian business student, while also giving me access to the rest of Europe. I am now pursuing an MSc in Money and Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt.

The city of Frankfurt is known globally as one of the most important financial centres of the European continent, home to the headquarters of several major banks. This offers a valuable network when it comes to business, education, and work, and exposure to individuals for mentorship or guidance.

Although I was already an international student In Germany, I still wanted to do an exchange semester abroad elsewhere. This led me to QTEM as an option for a study abroad experience. QTEM is an intemational masters network win a number of partner business schools around the world, as well as academic partners including Cartier and Amazon. Goethe University Frankfurt was already a partner with QTEM, so I was able to complete my QTEM experience by studying at the EDHEC Business School in Nice, France. I am interested in the culture of the South of France and wanted to learn more about different parts or Europe. As part or the QTEM orocramme. students must undertake highly quantitative or semi-quantitative courses during their exchange semesters. This is particularly beneficial in today’s data-driven world. Additionally, through the Global Business Analytics Challenge which is part of the QTEM experience, students are able to not only learn various programming languages but also develop the essential soft skills needed in enhancing one’s career.

My QTEM experience was more than just a study exchange; I was not just going abroad, studying, and coming back. I felt part of a community and network and was able to engage with other like-minded students from around the worid. It is more like being part of a family, connecting you with people in QTEM who are there to help you in every aspect. The network is also looking to develop further in other continents and find a good academic partner in India.

Language not a barrier

If you are considering Germany for higher education, It is important to know what language your course is being offered in. It onered in German, you will or course need some level of language proficiency. However, at least in Frankfurt itself, language isn’t a huge barrier as most people are also fluent in English. If offered in German, you will or course need some level of language proficiency. However, at least in Frankfurt itself, language isn’t a huge barrier as most people are also fluent in English. I would also recommend practising independent learning. In India, the education system is  more steered towards rote learning. In Germany, there is greater emphasis on independent learning and developing your own approach to teaching yourself, rather than learning everything from somebody else. To be honest, I personally love everything about Frankfurt so far. I think part of that for me is the skyline; it reminds me of Mumbai because, while other German cities are more traditional, Frankfurt is more modern.

Nice semester

I was excited to study the courses at EDHEC since the finance programmes offered by the school are highly ranked. I had to face some challenges related to accommodation and getting a French study visa in due time. Eventually, I was able to get a rental offer from one of the student dorms. Not being able to speak French was another major hurdle in the day-to-day tasks. However, the people in Nice were usually very helpful and were aware of the fact that, most often, one could be a tourist or an international student.

Due to a good transport network, I was able to travel to some of the most prominent tourist locations in the French Riviera. I had some of the most memorable trips and experiences with the friends I made during my exchange semester. The amalgamation of various aspects like the beach, sunsets, food, people, and culture in Nice really made it a worthwile experience.

I am keen to explore opportunities in other cities throughout Europe, but for now, my plan is to stay in Frankfurt to gain more work experience and develoo knowledge and skills in my chosen field.