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Prof. Thomas A Kochan

George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management
Professor of Work and Organization Studies

Primary DLC

MIT Sloan School of Management

MIT Room: E62-334
(617) 253-6689
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/directory/thomas-kochan
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Areas of Interest and Expertise

Airlines
Automotive Industry
Disrupted Work
Health Care
Hiring
Human Resource Management (Changing Workforce, Employment Relations, Diversity, Family Issues, Future of Work, Training Porgrams, Work/Family Issues, Work/Life Balance, Worker/Management Relations)
Industrial Relations (Collective Bargaining)
Labor Relations
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Public Policy
Regulatory Policy (Tri-Sector Collaboration)
Socially Responsible Business
Tri-Sector Collaboration
Unemployment
Global Airline Industry Program
Behavioral and Policy Sciences (BPS)

Research Summary

Thomas Kochan focuses on the need to update America's work and employment policies, institutions, and practices to catch up with a changing workforce and economy. His recent work calls attention to the challenges facing working families in meeting their responsibilities at work and at home and in their communities. Through empirical research, he demonstrates that fundamental changes in the quality of employee and labor-management relations are needed to address America's critical problems in industries ranging from health care, airlines, and manufacturing. His newest book is entitled, Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America (MIT press, September 2005).

Recent Work

  • Video

    2022-Manufacturing-Panel-Labor

    March 16, 2022Conference Video Duration: 43:24

    J.J. Laukaitis
    Program Director, MIT Corporate Relations
    Ben Armstrong
    Interim Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center
    Thomas Kochan
    George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management
    Professor, Work and Organization Studies

    Duane Graupman
    Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain, Xylem, Inc.

    Michael McDonnell
    Vice President - Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Amsted Rail

    4.29-21-Work-Future-Thomas-Kochan

    April 29, 2021Conference Video Duration: 29:22
    Thomas Kochan
    George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management
    Professor, Work and Organization Studies
    Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research

    12.15.20-Retail-Thomas-Kochan

    December 15, 2020Conference Video Duration: 36:1
    There is growing evidence that shaping work of the future to achieve a more broadly shared prosperity will require rebuilding worker voice and representation, rebalancing power in employment relations, and making fundamental changes in American labor and employment policies. As noted in the initial report of our MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future:

    “Although we are uncertain precisely what rules should govern worker representation in the United States, we are certain that the nearly ‘voiceless’ model the nation has embraced over the last four decades is out of balance.”

    2020 Thomas Kochan

    June 30, 2020Conference Video Duration: 36:20
    2020 Thomas Kochan

    J-WEL Overview

    March 27, 2018MIT Faculty Feature Duration: 9:48

    MIT J-WEL Overview

    Building a Future in Which Good Jobs Still Matter

    June 6, 2017MIT Faculty Feature Duration: 17:27

    Thomas Kochan
    George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management, Co-director Institute for Work and Employment Research

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