The purpose of this report was to explore the degree to which academic staff worldwide havebeen satisfied with their work in higher education, and whether they have experienced a workenvironment conducive to creative and innovative output in teaching and research. Makinghigher education instrumental in increasing innovative output by marketisation, massification,performativity and accountability, is an explicit objective in the emerging global knowledgeeconomy. The premise underlying the study was that creative and innovative outputs areintrinsically tied to, and dependent upon, supportive and benevolent work environments. Theresearch was designed as a systematised literature review of 91 selected empirical articles andliterature reviews in multiple languages, published from 1996 until the present, representing34 countries on all continents. The analysis suggests that academics worldwide tend not tofare well under new public management, being the knowledge economy’s favoured tool ofcontrol and implementation. Contrary to expectation, however, neoliberal policies and newpublic management seem not necessarily need to be blamed for stress and workdissatisfaction. It would appear that it is rather the academic leadership and its managementwho have a key role in deciding the health and wellbeing of their staff.