The scientific knowledge structure of happiness management in the business sphere: an exploratory bibliometric review

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this research is to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the academic literature indexed in the Core Collection of the Web of Science (WoS) on happiness management in companies during the period between 2000 and 2022. In particular, the variables used to keep the scientific production under study are as follows: (1) time evolution, (2) publication format, (3) categories, (4) authors, (5) institutions, (6) journals, (7) publishers and (8) countries. Design/methodology/approach – To carry out the analysis, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology is followed, using the WoS database for data collection and VosViewer to create the network maps. Findings – The results show, among other aspects, the accelerated growth rate of the scientific production studied since 2017, the use of publications in articles as the main format for disseminating research results, the relevance of the business category as the area of study in which most of the scientific production examined falls as well as the predominant role of the publishers Emerald, Springer and Elsevier in the publication of scientific documents on the subject under analysis. Originality/value – There are different reasons that justify the originality of the study. First, the research advances the understanding of the academic literature on happiness management at the corporate level. Second, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no previous bibliometric studies that have addressed this topic. Third, the research analyses the literature under analysis from the first record to the year 2022, assuming an update of the previous narrative and systematic reviews carried out on the subject studied.