Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000Research was conducted to empirically demonstrate the relationships between personal meaning, calling and organizational commitment in the context of spiritual leadership. Wong's…
Abstract
Research was conducted to empirically demonstrate the relationships between personal meaning, calling and organizational commitment in the context of spiritual leadership. Wong's Personal Meaning Profile was used to establish the various sources of personal meaning and identify those that predict calling. The results showed significant positive correlations between self‐transcendent personal meaning and calling. Further, calling was also positively correlated with organizational commitment and contrasted with work‐as‐job as a predictor of commitment. The study suggests that not all sources of personal meaning are predictive of calling, and that calling mediates the relationship between self‐transcendent personal meaning and organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Details
Keywords
Satinder Dhiman and Joan Marques
The purpose of this paper is to present the experiences and findings of a university course in workplace spirituality in a time and stage where corporate greed and organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the experiences and findings of a university course in workplace spirituality in a time and stage where corporate greed and organizational instability run rampant.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed workshop dialogues and reviewed of participants' findings on corporations as well as their own changed perceptions.
Findings
There are some interesting common factors in corporations that perform according to spiritual guidelines and a highly interactive program on organizational analysis contributes tremendously to the levels of responsibility and awareness of participants.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations to the research are: the population used for data was limited, as it consisted of business and management students at the MBA level; and the findings were only gathered from one cohort, and might provide increased themes when extended over multiple courses in multiple semesters. Future research could apply this study on other populations for a greater foundation in findings.
Practical implications
Organizations that adhere to the spiritual mindset are more successful, have happier employees, and are more aware of their environmental responsibilities.
Originality/value
The paper shows that in these times when corporate greed, dishonesty, and environmental neglect have been exposed so dramatically, courses on workplace spirituality are of high importance and lead to valuable insights for immediate and non‐immediate stakeholders.
Details
Keywords
Empirical research in spirituality and religion in work (SRW) offers special challenges in construct conceptualization, operationalization, and data analysis. For this special…
Abstract
Empirical research in spirituality and religion in work (SRW) offers special challenges in construct conceptualization, operationalization, and data analysis. For this special research methods issue, accomplished researcher and SRW champion Ian I. Mitroff shares his thoughts, criticisms, and models for current research as well as his hopes for SRW's empirical future. Mitroff, co‐author of the most prominent empirical SRW study to date (Mitroff, I.I. and Denton, E.A., A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace, Jossey‐Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1999), holds trans‐disciplinarily grounded views of how SRW researchers need to overcome methodological impasses to stay interesting and relevant. This article contains excerpts from three recent interviews with Mitroff about the current and future states of SRW research, and how such research can move forward with integrity and respect for SRW's special subject matter.
Details
Keywords
Brad S. Long and Jean Helms Mills
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing critiques of workplace spirituality and organizational culture. The paper links the two by problematising definitions of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing critiques of workplace spirituality and organizational culture. The paper links the two by problematising definitions of workplace spirituality that employ a “culture approach” to change, in which the construct is limited to a set of values that gives particular meaning to the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
Properties of Weick's sensemaking model combined with a critical sensemaking approach are used to analyze texts in order to show how a spiritual culture may shape the actions of its members by serving as an implicit form of managerial control.
Findings
The paper reveals how some texts, Mitroff and Denton's, in particular, advocate workplace spirituality as necessary for organizations and the individuals who work in them to prosper. Simultaneously, such texts may imply a form of pastoral power, the purpose of which is to re‐affirm a positive self‐image, due to the cueing effects of language that is voiced in specific contexts.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that a cultural approach to understanding workplace spirituality influences how people can make sense of the organization in which they are members. The potential inordinate reverence of work and one's contribution toward enhanced organizational performance is of interest to all members of organizations because it highlights how control is achieved.
Originality/value
The paper offers some insights into the conditions that promulgate the linkage between work and spiritual fulfilment, and it promotes the continuing development of critical spirituality in organizations in order to overcome the potential managerial instrumentality that is highlighted in this paper.
Details
Keywords
Jonathan Smith and Andrew Malcolm
Managers in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) carry responsibility for achieving government targets on the provision of quality care and service to patients. The demands on…
Abstract
Managers in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) carry responsibility for achieving government targets on the provision of quality care and service to patients. The demands on managers to achieve these targets is significant in itself, but are often multiplied because of having to cope with the conflicting pressures of an organisation that operates with a ‘business’ focus, yet is essentially a caring body that is service‐oriented at heart. These two areas of business and service are not naturally compatible and can create tension. Leaders are expected to bridge the two with ease, with little preparation on how to cope with the conflict that these two paradigms can create.This paper, detailing the authors' work with managers in an NHS acute trust, provides unique insights into ways of dealing with the tensions and challenges that leaders experience. The authors argue that a holistic approach to leadership is required to enable this tension to be managed effectively, which considers the physical, mental and spiritual. Of these three elements it is the spiritual dimension that is the most contentious, difficult and most often avoided aspect to leadership and the authors also found this in their work with this NHS acute trust. The paper introduces a model that highlights the three elements to the holistic approach, and goes on to use it in an analysis of the situation faced by managers. The analysis highlights the importance of balance and need for including more consideration of the spiritual dimension in leaders' activities.
Details
Keywords
The concept of “Workplace Spirituality (WPS)” in the field of management has gained great interest in the last decade, especially due to its connection with profitability. There…
Abstract
The concept of “Workplace Spirituality (WPS)” in the field of management has gained great interest in the last decade, especially due to its connection with profitability. There has been a rapid increase in research related to the topic. It is assumed that employees who spend a significant part of their time at work are willing to satisfy their spiritual needs at the workplace. Such unprecedented challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic have posed many difficulties for organizations to remain agile, develop and grow, and innovate to survive. At this very moment, the importance and meaning of WPS for managers appear to have increased even more. Workplace spirituality is related to motivation, belongingness, and loyalty, and the pandemic seems to have created significant issues concerning these topics with employees. Employees have been forced to work from home due to prolonged restrictions and have faced difficulties in returning to work post-pandemic. Workplace spirituality has the potential to help employees stay motivated in their work, increase their job performance, enhance job satisfaction, and improve their mental health during this difficult period. Organizations can support their employees by implementing different practices to develop workplace spirituality. In this article, approaches to satisfy the spiritual needs of employees post-pandemic, and the efforts of workplaces to meet these needs, are examined with insights from theoretical and practical life.
Details
Keywords
Fevziye Bekar and M. Ferhat Özbek
Today, changing business systems, especially the COVID-19 epidemic, and the rapid development of technology have brought the phenomenon of spirituality to a new point. Cyber…
Abstract
Today, changing business systems, especially the COVID-19 epidemic, and the rapid development of technology have brought the phenomenon of spirituality to a new point. Cyber spirituality and dataism are also starting to become the focus of attention in this field. This situation also affects the issue of spirituality in the workplace. While the subject of spirituality in the workplace keeps up with innovations and expands in the literature, the relationship between religion and spirituality continues to be discussed and examined. For this reason, this study aims primarily to explain the relationship between the concept of religion and spirituality. In light of current developments, it is to mention the place of spirituality in the workplace between these two concepts.
Details
Keywords
In a world teeming with concurrent processes and associated chaos, organizational working procedures have adapted to new trends; employees must keep up with everything while…
Abstract
In a world teeming with concurrent processes and associated chaos, organizational working procedures have adapted to new trends; employees must keep up with everything while maintaining their mental health. Spirituality lends a person's life significance. Spirituality in the workplace can both physically and psychologically engage employees. Spirituality in the workplace is reflected in the organizational culture, which is founded on fundamental values such as trust, honesty, appreciation, innovation, care, respect, and loyalty. Workplace spirituality encompasses the pursuit of one's ultimate purpose in life, the development of a solid connection to colleagues and other people associated with work, and the consistency or alignment between one's fundamental beliefs and the organization's values. To have a competitive advantage and attract the best personnel, an organization's working environment must be based on strong ethical and spiritual values such as compassion, integrity, respect, harmony, trust, teamwork, and forgiveness, among others.
Details
Keywords
Joan Marques, Satinder Kumar Dhiman and Jerry Biberman
The purpose of this paper is to review the implementation of two strategies that are actually un-teachable yet highly effective in higher education: meditation and storytelling…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the implementation of two strategies that are actually un-teachable yet highly effective in higher education: meditation and storytelling.
Design/methodology/approach
Specifically focussing on workplace spirituality as a movement from corporate workers, and consequently, also a teaching topic in management education, the paper first indicates some problems faced in today's world, and relates these to the need for facilitating college courses in more compelling and comprehensive ways.
Findings
Spirituality and spiritual concepts can involve emotional and other non-cognitive experiences which cannot be taught using traditional teaching approaches such as reading and lecture. Specific approaches, such as meditation and storytelling are useful for teaching spirituality and spiritual concepts in a business school classroom setting. These two strategies provide an opportunity for students to reflect on their experiences and to become more self-aware.
Practical implications
Using the practical strategies discussed in this paper in management classes turns out to be a positive experience for both the course facilitators and the students.
Originality/value
Reflecting on the overhaul attempts of management education in universities, even those with the prestige of Harvard and Stanford, the authors discuss some interesting strategies that can help management educators take their course experiences and the results attained to the next level.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether the organizational spirituality (OS) also called for spiritually-based organization (SBO) concept continues to be, in fact, a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether the organizational spirituality (OS) also called for spiritually-based organization (SBO) concept continues to be, in fact, a source of refreshing ideas to the organizational studies.
Design/methodology/approach
Regarding that OS is a theme that does not pertain to the scientific mainstream, the criteria to select valuable work were broader. On this basis, this literature review focused on a set of distinct sources: empirical and theoretical-conceptual papers (i.e. peer-reviewed), books, book chapters and doctoral dissertations. The material should be written in English and matched specifically the terms “spiritually-based organization,” “organizational spirituality” and “spiritual organization” in the websites of prominent scientific publications such as Google Scholar, EBSCO, Emerald, Sage and Elsevier. The premise was to portray an ample overview about what the scientific research has been yielded on this topic covering the period of 23 years (i.e. 1999–2022).
Findings
Data revealed that a large portion of the scholarly work of OS has been largely published in journals of modest factor impact or in books/book chapters. Such evidence indicates that OS definitively is not embraced by the scientific mainstream, despite the relevance of this topic. Further, it appears that the study, research and writings about SBOs, despite their positive effects and features, do not draw the attention of the majority of academic community. As a result, this field of knowledge has been characterized by scant work. This conclusion sounds somewhat astonishing considering that companies strongly driven by financial and economic concerns have proved not to be useful to humankind well-being and the planet.
Originality/value
This review sought to concentrate only on scholarly work that could bring something noteworthy to the debate of the OS concept. By the same token, other related concepts such as workplace spirituality and spirituality in the workplace, which have been properly explored, were not approached here. The author surmises that such path may account for somewhat the reduced number of work found about this topic, despite the fact this review drew on Google Scholar as well.
Details