De kwaliteit van leven als maatschappelijke doelstelling: over wijn, oude en nieuwe zakken

This contribution concerns "Quality of Life" (QOL) and its uses in the context of professional organizations. In search for "the" QOL, the position of Net Gross Income as the most widely used indicator of societal progress is under discussion. There are parallels with the literature on subjective wellbeing to monitor QOL. Already in the 1970ies there was the social indicators movement which called for other (social) indicators to assess QOL. Another point of discussion is about whether assessment of QOL should be based on either objective or subjective indicators.
This contribution looks into the concept of QOL as it is currently operationalized by international organizations such as the OECD. In current duscussions we see diverse elements from the past that reappear, in that respect there is older wine reappearing in sometimes new barrels.
Besides a description of global frameworks, we plea for integrating managerial concerns into these models.

Pursuing QOL seems a valid goal for all, its role as a societal goal needs to be looked into.