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The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of employee state of mind through the lens of Conservation of Resources Theory, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness for employee productivity.

A survey consisting of previously validated instruments was administered to alumni of an MBA program, with 321 responses received from fully employed participants. The relationships among constructs were tested using partial least squares path modeling.

The effect of Work–Life Integration on Perceived Productivity in both groups of employees is fully mediated by Work Mindfulness. Interestingly, perceived Productivity of “negatively-minded” employees was driven by support and resources provided by their employers, but “positively-minded” employees did not require such support to boost their productivity.

Mindfulness has the potential to be beneficial in the workplace during periods of stress. Our results found that state of mind of individuals is an important construct to identify, particularly for those experiencing negative affect. For both groups, mindfulness mediated the results, suggesting actively incorporating mindfulness practices and training could be beneficial particularly for those with low levels of positive affect.

As one of the five major dimensions of service quality, empathy has been and continues to be regarded as a requirement for a successful service encounter. This paper focuses on the highly customer-centric service industry of health care. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the potential negative effects of empathy on both the physician and the patient.

Building on an in-depth review of literature and well-established service quality models, the authors propose a new model for understanding the complex role of physician empathy in the physician–patient encounter. The trait, emotional intelligence (EI), is presented as a moderator for physician empathy levels.

The Health Care Optimal Physician Empathy (HOPE) model enables further characterization and analysis of the tradeoffs between patient satisfaction and physician burnout and determining when empathy optimally works to the benefit of both the physician and the patient to maximize service quality. The HOPE model provides a systematic way to understand and determine the appropriate level of physician empathy that results in optimal outcomes for both physicians and their patients by demonstrating the tradeoffs between physician burnout and patient satisfaction.

The authors highlight the potential detrimental effects on physicians themselves, and, in turn, on service quality. The theoretical and practical implications in this paper provide insights into the development and implementation of empathy-focused interventions and best practices to optimize service quality in the physician–patient interaction. The HOPE model is the first of its kind in shedding light on the manifestation of physician empathy.