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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Marjolein Lips‐Wiersma

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the meaning of work. The study is concerned with eliciting work meanings of spiritually oriented individuals…

1831

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the meaning of work. The study is concerned with eliciting work meanings of spiritually oriented individuals with a view of establishing whether there is a common agenda identifiable and whether spirituality influences work behavior. It was found that in spite of their diversity, all research participants desired to express spiritual life purposes of “developing and becoming self”, “unity with others”, “expressing self” and “serving others” in the workplace. A second finding is that they seek to balance these over time. Furthermore it was found that spirituality clearly influences work behavior as research participants make career transitions if they cannot express their spirituality. Lessons are explored for contemporary organizations interested in retaining spiritually oriented employees.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 7 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2021

Daniel Eduardo Jones, Paloma Dulbecco and Santiago L. Cunial

The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the role that sexuality plays in faith-based programs for the prevention and care of problematic drug use.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the role that sexuality plays in faith-based programs for the prevention and care of problematic drug use.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts 25 semi-structured interviews with institutional staff and another 31 with people undergoing treatment in spiritual and religious drug rehabilitation programs in Argentina.

Findings

First, within these therapeutic devices, different sexual experiences are considered initial catalysts for drug use. Also, within these institutions, certain morally condemned sexual behaviors are seen as associated with consumption. Second, these institutions establish diverse rules and recommendations about intimate relationships for people in recovery to improve the outcome of treatments. Third, therapeutic institutions produce gender stereotypes related to the sexuality of drug users. Fourth, institutions assume heterosexuality within their target populations, thereby reinforcing the heteronormative frameworks of these therapeutic interventions.

Research limitations/implications

This is a small qualitative study conducted in Argentina. Although its results cannot be generalized, they serve as a preliminary empirical input to analyze drug treatment programs in the country and other regions of the world.

Originality/value

This study addresses the relationships between problematic drug use, rehabilitation and sexuality from the perspectives of both professionals and men and women who consume drugs. This paper adopts a critical perspective on gender and sexual diversity to analyze how therapeutic institutions reproduce certain gender stereotypes and heteronormativity. In doing so, the research intends to contribute to discussions that can lead to more comprehensive policies regarding problematic drug use.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Knut J. Ims and Laszlo Zsolnai

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main reasons for social innovations to be successful in developing countries.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main reasons for social innovations to be successful in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, four famous cases of social innovation are studied and contrasted in the following dimensions: goals, means and skills/resources needed by the user.

Findings

Exemplary social innovations do not have profit as their primary objective but emphasize social, spiritual and humanitarian goals such as minimizing suffering, empowering people and strengthening local communities.

Originality/value

The paper shows that sensitivity to local culture and an ethos for serving the common good are preconditions of successful and lasting social innovations by business.

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2023

Badrinarayan Shankar Pawar

This paper reviews 18 workplace spirituality scales developed over a period of 23 years from year 2000 to early 2023. The objective is to provide inputs which can guide future…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper reviews 18 workplace spirituality scales developed over a period of 23 years from year 2000 to early 2023. The objective is to provide inputs which can guide future researchers in choosing an existing appropriate workplace spirituality scale and in adopting sound scale development procedures for the development of new workplace spirituality scales.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper outlines the need for and importance of carrying out a review of workplace spirituality scales. Thereafter, it carries out a review of each of the 18 workplace spirituality scales. It describes 10 overall limitations of the collective set of workplace spirituality scales. Finally, five future research directions are outlined.

Findings

The review indicates that most of the workplace spirituality scales have limitations associated with them. The collective set of workplace spirituality scales also has several overall limitations.

Research limitations/implications

The review suggests that workplace spirituality researchers need to exercise caution in choosing an appropriate existing workplace spirituality scale for their research. The review also provides directions for the future research for developing more adequate workplace spirituality scales.

Practical implications

The inputs from this review will contribute to improve the practice of workplace spirituality research.

Social implications

As workplace spirituality can make organizations more beneficial for employees and the society, this review's contribution to improving workplace spirituality research has an indirect social significance.

Originality/value

This is, to the author's knowledge, the first comprehensive review of 18 workplace spirituality scales developed over a period of 23 years from year 2000 to 2023.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 June 2020

Sabre Cherkowski, Benjamin Kutsyuruba and Keith Walker

The purpose of this multiyear research study is to examine leadership in K-12 schools using a positive organizational perspective to understand how to foster, support and…

1566

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this multiyear research study is to examine leadership in K-12 schools using a positive organizational perspective to understand how to foster, support and encourage flourishing in schools. In this article, the authors describe the lived experiences of a small group of principals and vice-principals in K-12 schools describing how they have experienced flourishing in their work.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was carried out using a qualitative, phenomenological approach to examine the lived, concrete and situated experiences of a small sample of school administrators (N = 9) in two school districts in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Data were collected through individual interviews that were designed to be appreciative in nature. These lasted between 60 and 90 min, were recorded and transcribed. The interview data were deductively and inductively analyzed and arranged into themes that demonstrate the key components of positive leadership for flourishing in schools, derived from these participants' experiences.

Findings

Building on and extending their findings that school administrators feel a sense of flourishing when they focus on their work from the values of purpose, passion and play, the authors found that a fourth value, presence, was important for these participants to experience well-being at work. Principals’ sense of well-being was strongly related to the notion of balance in their work and life, which helped them address potential stress and ill-being. Findings suggest that a strengths-based, positive approach to school leadership offers an alternative perspective for supporting and encouraging well-being at work.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of this research include the small sample size and the appreciative focus with which the data were collected that meant that participants were providing their experiences from a positive perspective. This article offers a complementary perspective for researching well-being in schools, from a positive, strengths-based approach to examining the work of administrators.

Practical implications

The authors offer insights into the work of school leaders from an appreciative, strengths-based perspective on understandings and practices that may be useful to principals and vice-principals who wish to enhance their workplace well-being. The authors suggest that administrators can learn to craft their work in ways that highlight existing well-being conditions toward amplifying and sustaining well-being. Working from four animating values for flourishing seemed to promote well-being for this small sample of administrators within the existing challenges and complexities of their work.

Originality/value

This article offers examples of lived experiences of principal and vice-principal well-being that highlight what happens when school leaders attend to their work from a positive, appreciative, strength-based perspective. This research perspective is an additional source of knowledge about well-being in schools complementing the existing research on well-being from a stress management and reduction perspective.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 58 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 July 2020

Ying Zhang and Fu Yang

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee innovative behavior by testing the mediating role of autonomous motivation…

1930

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee innovative behavior by testing the mediating role of autonomous motivation and the moderating role of employee power distance orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

The author predicted an indirect relationship between spiritual leadership and employee innovative behavior via autonomous motivation. Also, the author predicted the positive effect of spiritual leadership on employee innovative behavior will be stronger when employee power distance orientation is high. Hypotheses are tested with data gathered from 174 participants.

Findings

Results showed that spiritual leadership was positively related to employee innovative behavior via autonomous motivation. And, the positive relationship between spiritual leadership and autonomous motivation was stronger when employee power distance orientation was high. Furthermore, the indirect effect of autonomous motivation was stronger when employee power distance orientation was high.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a new theoretical perspective – self-determination theory – to test how and when spiritual leadership enhances employee innovative behavior by suggesting autonomous motivation as a mediator and employee power distance orientation as a boundary condition.

Practical implications

The results of this research provide suggestions for leaders to adopt spiritual leadership as well as enhance interactions between them and employees to increase employee innovative behavior.

Originality/value

This study highlights the moderating role of employee power distance orientation and uses self-determination theory to examine how and when spiritual leadership plays a positive role.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 50 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Gábor Kovács

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the core operating values of Catholic and Buddhist entrepreneurs.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the core operating values of Catholic and Buddhist entrepreneurs.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is an empirical investigation of the value-orientations of Catholic and Buddhist entrepreneurs in Hungary. By applying qualitative content analysis, document analysis and qualitative comparative analysis, the study presents the distinctive spiritual values in business.

Findings

Regardless of their different approach, Catholic and Buddhist value-orientations are implemented in the same value-dimensions that are: the ontological conceptions, procedural aspects, and the other-directedness of business activities.

Social implications

The findings substantiate the understanding of the behavior and the motivations of spiritually value-oriented entrepreneurs, furthermore Catholic and Buddhist values may serve as inspirations of genuine ethical behavior in business. By promoting these values a more ethical, more sustainable economic framework can be established.

Originality/value

Spiritual values are studied by comparing the value-orientations of Catholic and Buddhist entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the study explores Catholic social teaching and Buddhist economics, and their practical implementation in a comparative way.

Abstract

Details

Running, Identity and Meaning
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-367-0

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2022

Tien Dung Luu

The main aim of this study is to examine a moderated–mediated model empirically to understand whether and how spiritual leadership (SL) affects corporate social entrepreneurial…

Abstract

Purpose

The main aim of this study is to examine a moderated–mediated model empirically to understand whether and how spiritual leadership (SL) affects corporate social entrepreneurial orientation (SEO) with the role of workplace spirituality (WS).

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a sample of 524 key role employees at 76 four–five-star hotels and tourism firms in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam, using a partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM).

Findings

SL of social entrepreneurs can vigorously promote corporate SEO's formation and development, with WS's mediating role.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates how SL and WS can help organisations achieve higher corporate SEO levels in contradictory empirical evidence and a lack of theoretical framework.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 43 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2011

Jay R. Tombaugh, Clifton Mayfield and Roger Durand

This study aims to provide preliminary evidence for a new conceptualization and measure of workplace spirituality labeled spiritual expression at work (SEW). While the extant…

2304

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to provide preliminary evidence for a new conceptualization and measure of workplace spirituality labeled spiritual expression at work (SEW). While the extant literature focuses on the fulfillment of workers' spiritual needs, spiritual expression refers to the impact of personal spirituality on the everyday thoughts, behaviors and interactions of employees.

Design/methodology/approach

A pilot study (n=92) included item generation and an exploratory factor analysis of the five‐item SEW scale (SEWS). The primary validation study (n=348) consisted of: performing a confirmatory factor analysis of the SEWS; comparing the SEWS with other spirituality measures, including two measures of personal spirituality and two measures of values‐based workplace spirituality; psychometrically assessing the convergent, discriminant and predictive validity of the SEWS; and examining the correlations and regression results between the SEWS and the comparison measures.

Findings

The SEWS showed acceptable psychometric properties across both samples, and the results support the convergent, discriminate and predictive validities of the SEW construct.

Research limitations/implications

This study is subject to the typical limitations of cross‐sectional research. However, meaningful results were obtained across two samples.

Practical implications

These results suggest workers may express their spirituality regardless of their perceptions of the spiritual nature of the organization. In doing so, personal spirituality may impact important personal and organizational outcomes.

Originality/value

This study moves beyond existing research by showing a new way to assess workplace spirituality.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

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