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This article reviews research published in secular management journals that examines what the world’s largest religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam) say about management. In terms of how religion informs management, the literature identifies two basic means: (1) written scriptures (e.g., Analects, Bible, Quran) and (2) experiential spiritual practices (e.g., prayer, mindfulness). In terms of what religion says about management, the emphasis tends to be either on (1) enhancing, or (2) liberating mainstream management. Studies based on scriptures typically either enhance or liberate management, whereas empirical research based on spiritual disciplines consistently point to liberation. Implications are discussed.

The authors investigate the pre-merger process, defined as the period between the announcement and completion of an M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deal. Specifically, the authors examine if the timing of the announcement in a merger wave affects whether or not the M&A deal is completed, and how long this pre-merger process takes. The authors conduct a textual analysis of the 150 largest abandoned M&A deals in the sample. From this, the authors find that competing bidders, regulatory concerns, and shareholder opposition from the acquirer are major roadblocks in the pre-merger process, and that these hurdles often occur jointly. Subsequently, the authors examine a sample of 2,802 announced M&As across four industry waves and find that M&A deals initiated earlier in a merger wave are more likely to be completed and are completed more speedily.

Consumption is a new central issue, globally, driven by more visible consumption concerns of citizens. For instance, entertainment and the environment rise as political issues, while workplace issues decline. To link individual choice with public and urban context, we outline a theory of consumption in specific propositions. They start with individual and personal influence characteristics in shopping and political decisions, then add socio/cultural characteristics. Three cultural types adapted from Elazar are Moralistic, Individualistic, and Traditional – which shift individual patterns. For instance moralistic persons favor more environmentally sensitive consumption, even boycotting cars, TV, and paper towels, backing green groups and parties. Such protest acts via personal consumption are ignored by many past theories. Individualists instead favor more conspicuous, status-oriented consumption, à la Veblen, or the modernism of Baudelaire and Benjamin. For traditionalists, consumption reinforces the past, via family antiques and homes, ritualized and less individualized. The three types help interpret differences in consumption politics by participants in different social movements, cities, and countries.

In the domestic credit market creditor and debtor rights are clearly defined. In contrast, sovereign debt repayment is largely contingent on the debtor government’s willingness to repay as enforcement of contracts at the international level is limited. In this chapter we explore different sources of sovereign debt crises as opportunistic and myopic behavior by debtor nations, over-consumption of imported goods, credit temptation by lenders eager to allocate savings surpluses, and unexpected consequences of initially seen appropriate policies. We explore how these factors have played out in the Euro-debt crisis and outline a framework for creditor responsibility to complement debtor self-restraint.