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1 – 10 of 782Vishal Arghode, Ann Lathan, Meera Alagaraja, Kumaran Rajaram and Gary N. McLean
This paper aims to conceptualize and discuss empathic organizational culture and leadership along with organizational implications.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize and discuss empathic organizational culture and leadership along with organizational implications.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors reviewed literature to conceptualize empathic organizational culture and leadership. They referred to Hofstede’s organizational culture concept and studies on empathy to explore how leader–follower relationships are influenced by a leader’s empathic disposition.
Findings
Organizational leadership is instrumental in shaping employee performance. While work design, culture, peer support and resource accessibility are discernible, leadership style, control and others are covert. Leaders’ empathic attitudes and dispositions can positively influence organizational functions for improved performance. This review suggests that organizational culture should support growth, proper functioning and effective coordination between employees for improved organizational effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The authors conducted searches in leadership and management journals to help conceptualize leaders’ empathic disposition. Future researchers may explore other bodies of literature and the cultural demographic differences in exhibiting empathic leadership and its effectiveness. Researchers can explore how empathic culture relates to job motivation, satisfaction and commitment. The authors suggest that future research may explore how employees’ and supervisors’ behaviors and interactions can create an empathic organizational culture.
Practical implications
The authors identify the characteristics in an empathic leader to articulate the role of empathy in leadership. Alignment between person, group norms and organizational values is more important than the existence of culture.
Originality/value
Empathy is studied by researchers from various disciplines. Similarly, employee well-being has received attention from organizational researchers from many fields. However, researchers have given inadequate attention to conceptualizing an empathic organizational culture and its interrelationship with leadership. The authors offer a more positive perspective to the leader-member exchange (LMX) research by describing how leaders can sustain positive relationships with employees rather than the purely transactional exchanges that characterize LMX.
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Bramhani Rao and Sambashiva Rao Kunja
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between two sub-dimensions of a leader’s empathy (perspective-taking and empathic-concern) and successful…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between two sub-dimensions of a leader’s empathy (perspective-taking and empathic-concern) and successful authorization of idiosyncratic deals (developmental, location flexibility and schedule flexibility i-deals).
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was conducted on the cross-sectional data collected from 307 managers working in software development and support companies located in major cities in India.
Findings
While empathic-concern is positively related to successful authorization of both developmental and flexibility i-deals, perspective-taking related positively to authorization of developmental i-deals and showed no significant relationship with flexibility i-deals.
Research limitations/implications
The study reiterates the importance of empathy in modern workplaces and encourages managers to be conscious of their intelligence, as well as emotions, while participating in negotiations at the workplace.
Originality/value
The paper relates i-deals to sub-dimensions of empathy which is a previously unexplored antecedent to i-deals.
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Jared P. Collette and Suzanne H. Jones
This empirical quantitative research study aimed to test whether historical texts could activate empathic concern and perspective taking in a US History classroom with adolescent…
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical quantitative research study aimed to test whether historical texts could activate empathic concern and perspective taking in a US History classroom with adolescent students.
Design/methodology/approach
Eighth-grade participants (n = 227) were randomly assigned to read either a historical narrative text or a collection of primary documents, then participants self-reported a range of emotions and wrote a paragraph that was assessed for historical perspective taking.
Findings
Results indicated that for students randomly assigned to read the narrative text, empathic concern or compassion, was associated with higher historical perspective taking, even after controlling for literacy ability.
Research limitations/implications
All participants attended a single predominantly. White upper middle class middle school, and read either one narrative text or one collection of primary documents. Findings cannot be generalized to all students or all texts. The study design did not assess for a causal relationship of empathic concern and historical perspective taking.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates that empathic concern, when activated through a certain narrative text, can be associated with greater achievement on cognitive academic tasks such as writing a paragraph assessed for historical perspective taking. Furthermore, this study provides evidence that empathic concern should be a target emotion for students rather than a similar emotional experience as the person they are empathizing with.
Originality/value
Adolescents today appear to have lower levels of empathy than in the past. Empathy may be crucial for moral behavior. Research indicates that historical texts could potentially provide effective empathic interventions for adolescents. However, there are no published empirical quantitative research studies related to activating empathy for adolescents through literacy in a history classroom.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore whether distinctive modes (observation vs control) of presenting diverse content differentially influence users. To achieve this goal, The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether distinctive modes (observation vs control) of presenting diverse content differentially influence users. To achieve this goal, The authors first conceptualize empathy as social cognition and discuss the possible psychological mechanisms for divergent associations between observation-based media (i.e. video media) and control-based media (i.e. game media).
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 300 adults (150 females) participated in this study through an online survey.
Findings
Time spent with video media (television and film) was positively associated with empathy, which in turn was associated with enhanced social connectedness. However, time spent on game media (video games, computer games, and smartphone games) was negatively associated with empathy, which in turn was associated with inferior social connectedness.
Originality/value
While previous studies on the effects of media have focussed mainly on content, the present study focusses on the effects of mode. The mode-focussed approach presents evidence contradictory to the content-focussed approach.
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Gabriela Walker and Jeni Venker Weidenbenner
Empathy is part of what makes us human and humane, and it has become a core component of the Social Awareness competency of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) (CASEL, 2019). SEL…
Abstract
Purpose
Empathy is part of what makes us human and humane, and it has become a core component of the Social Awareness competency of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) (CASEL, 2019). SEL fosters the understanding of others’ emotions, is the basis of Theory of Mind skills and frames the development of empathy. The purpose of this paper is to trace the links between empathy development and social and emotional learning when using real versus virtual environments. Empathy is a uniquely human emotion facilitated by abstract thinking and language. Virtual play is a teaching tool for acquiring prosocial behaviors. And finally, human-mediated (traditional and virtual) play is most favorable for SEL growth. Recognition of emotions such as empathy and other socio-communication skills have been taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, technology can be a venue for acquiring empathy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative interpretive methodology to advocate for the use of technology with human mediation to teach Social and Emotional Learning skills, based on the premise that cognitive and social-emotional development occurs synergistically and mediated by speech and interaction with the environment.
Findings
Technology is best seen as an instrument of assessing and teaching socio-emotional skills, but not as the only means to an end, because what makes us human can only be taught within an ecology of human interaction in real-life situations.
Originality/value
This paper reviews previous research works (both empirical and theoretical) that bring to light the connection between socio-emotional development, specifically empathy development, and virtual environments.
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The purpose of the paper is to show that among business students, care ethics is a determinant for corporate social responsibility (CSR) perception and stakeholder inclusion.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to show that among business students, care ethics is a determinant for corporate social responsibility (CSR) perception and stakeholder inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted using a quantitative approach. The population for this study consisted of students from a leading French business school.
Findings
Stakeholder inclusion is related to care ethics among students. CSR perception is related to stakeholder perception. CSR perception is related to care ethics.
Research limitations/implications
Population sampled has cultural and curricula specificities. Further research should extend the findings to other populations.
Practical implications
If business schools want their students to implement CSR when they later become managers, they should build a bridge in the curriculum between business ethics education based on the care theory (“educare”) and CSR teaching.
Originality/value
Empirical exploration of the relationship between teaching CSR and teaching care ethics has not been undertaken. Relationship between care ethics and stakeholder theory has been addressed in the literature but only from a theoretical perspective and not from an empirical perspective.
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Charmine E.J. Härtel and Debra Panipucci
Just as a rotten apple makes other apples around it begin to decay, so too can people influence others within their vicinity, particularly in terms of destructive emotions and…
Abstract
Just as a rotten apple makes other apples around it begin to decay, so too can people influence others within their vicinity, particularly in terms of destructive emotions and behaviors. Trevino and Youngblood (1990) adopted the term ‘bad apples’ to describe individuals who engage in unethical behaviors and who also influence others to behave in a similar manner. In this chapter, the ‘bad apple’ metaphor is adopted to describe the employee whose actions and interactions create and maintain destructive faultlines and unethical exclusion behaviors that negatively impact the emotional well-being and effective and ethical performance of the team. In particular, the chapter examines the way in which ‘bad apples’ use destructive emotion management skills through the manipulation of emotional levers of others, what motivates them to do so and the implications it may have on management.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the parallels between the ethical concept of moral imagination and the psychoanalytical concept of active imagination. A model combining…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the parallels between the ethical concept of moral imagination and the psychoanalytical concept of active imagination. A model combining both concepts is then proposed and discussed. The paper argues that such synthesis is necessary to understand the process of moral deliberation, as well as to foster more consistent moral choices in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual, and builds upon relevant literature from the field of business ethics and analytical psychology.
Findings
Imagination is a thoroughly ambivalent concept, which can be used to pursue moral as well as immoral goals. Moral imagination is an important element influencing decision making, but its quality depends on the state of balance of the psyche. A sound and effective moral imagination must be grounded in a healthy psyche, and needs the assistance of active imagination (or other similar activities) to achieve this. Such inner work is especially necessary for leaders to clarify their moral values and capabilities.
Research limitations/implications
The Active and Moral Imagination (AMI) model proposed has not been empirically tested; therefore its implications are tentative at this stage. The paper does not discuss in detail other psychological activities which may be complementary to active imagination.
Practical implications
Managers and leaders should reflect on their own unconscious, so as to understand the deeper mechanisms influencing their decisions and behaviours.
Originality/value
The paper presents an interdisciplinary approach to the role of imagination in ethics.
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Keywords
The aim of the paper is to show that, among business students, care ethics is a determinant for CSR perception and stakeholder inclusion.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to show that, among business students, care ethics is a determinant for CSR perception and stakeholder inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted utilising a quantitative approach. The population for this study consisted of students from a leading French business school.
Findings
Stakeholder inclusion is related to care ethics among students. CSR perception is related to stakeholder perception. CSR perception is related to care ethics.
Research limitations/implications
Population sampled has cultural and curricula specificities. Further research should extend the findings to other populations.
Practical implications
If business schools want their students to implement CSR when they later become managers, they should build a bridge in the curriculum between business ethics education based on care theory (“educare”) and CSR teaching.
Originality/value
Empirical exploration of the relationship between teaching CSR and teaching care ethics has not been undertaken. Relationship between care ethics and stakeholder theory has been addressed in the literature but only from a theoretical perspective and not from an empirical perspective.
Details
Keywords
Carolyn Talbert-Johnson and Charles J. Russo
This chapter addresses changes in the reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB Act increases…
Abstract
This chapter addresses changes in the reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB Act increases both federal involvement in K-12 education and funding for this purpose. The Act targets poor students and academically weak schools by shifting funding formulas, requiring annual testing of students in grades three through eight; and makes school systems accountable by tracking test results, reporting to parents, and disaggregate tests results by sub-group factors. The goal is to eliminate the achievement gap between minority and white students. We discuss the process and the achievement of this goal.