Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Creating Positive Impact: The Power Of Greater Purpose And Consciousness Of Connectedness, Joseph Leah, Chris Laszlo

Engaged Management ReView

As the idea of business as a positive force in society continues to grow, we ask: Under what conditions do business leaders transform their companies into organizations that create positive value for all stakeholders, generate above-average economic returns, and serve personal well-being, community health, a fair and inclusive society, and a thriving natural environment?

This study aims to explore the underlying factors and motivations of business as a force for good, and to identify practical guidance for business leaders wishing to create a positive impact through their organizations. Our prior research led us to hypothesize that a leader’s mindset—or consciousness—is …

Practicing Sacred Encounters: A Narrative Analysis Of Relational, Spiritual, And Nursing Leadership, Margaret Woodrow Mark

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This research examined one large health system that has, through a stated mission outcome that every encounter is a sacred encounter, sought to enhance relationships occurring within the health care environment. Seeking to understand the lived experience of sacred encounters through the lens of nurse leaders in one acute care hospital settings this study examined how nurse leaders experienced their leadership role in realizing sacred encounters. Participants were defined as nurse leaders from one hospital setting and included nurse managers, directors and one vice president. A narrative thematic analysis framed by situational analysis was the method of inquiry. Data was …

A Case For Spiritual Change Readiness: A Correlational Study, Wanita Nicole Mercer

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate whether a relationship existed between spirit at work and attitudes towards organizational change among adults working in various industries. The Spirit at Work Scale (SAWS) measured the independent variable and the Attitudes Towards Organizational Change (ATOC) scale measured the dependent variable. Four factors (engaging work, sense of community, mystical experience, and spiritual connection) measured spirit at work. Three factors (cynical attitudes, fearful attitudes, and accepting attitudes) measured attitudes towards organizational change. Three hundred and ten responses were collected via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk online workforce and analyzed. A Pearson’s correlation test …

Self Efficacy Of African American Women In Leadership Roles, Varil Deloise Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Little research has focused on developing female African American leaders. A mixed methods study examined the influence of conservation of resources (COR) and locus of control (LOC) on the self-efficacy (SE) of 26 female African American leaders. It also explored the role of mentoring and spirituality in leadership development for a subset of 5 participants. Data were obtained using a demographic questionnaire, the General SE Scale, the COR Evaluation Gain scale, and the LOC Assessment, along with transcribed responses to mentoring and spirituality interview questions. Pearson correlations run between age, education, and income, as well as COR, LOC, and SE …

Spirituality And Leadership: Integrating Spirituality As A Developmental Approach Of Improving Overall Leader Effectiveness, George Gregory Houston

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The role of leadership continues to be a consistent topic of discussion whether you are considering the seminal work of Stogdill (1974), Burns (1978), Kouzes and Posner (1995), or Van Hooser's (2013) Leaders Ought to Know, one of Amazon's 2013 Top Ten Leadership books. A consistent question in leader development circles is-how can leaders be more effective in their role given the current state of leadership? One dimension of leadership development that is often overshadowed, downplayed, minimized, or completely ignored is the concept of spirituality. If the spiritual development of individual leaders can be integrated with other accepted leadership …

Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change …

The Mediating Effects Of Job Engagement Between Spirituality At Work And Performance, Eileen Pei Shan Lai

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This research study explores the mediating role that work engagement plays between spirituality at work and performance. Spirituality at work is measured by four dimensions of meaningful work, having a sense of community, alignment with corporate values and having an inner life. Work engagement is recognized to comprise of physical, emotional and cognitive engagement (Kahn, 1990). Performance, on the other hand, refers to in-role behaviours, organizational citizenship behaviours – individuals ("OCB – I"), organizational citizenship behaviours – organizations ("OCB – O") and employee creativity.

My main contribution to the management, spirituality and religion (MSR) scholarship is the extension of the …

Spirituality And Subjective Well-Being: Empirical Evidences For A New Domain In The Personal Well-Being Index, Eduardo Wills-Herrera

Eduardo Wills-Herrera

Subjective well-being explores the evaluations, both positive and negative, of how people experience their lives. Research in the field inquires how people perceive their well-being in different settings, including different cultures, regions and cities. A large number of different measures have been designed to capture subjective well-being. One of the most used SWB measure is the Personal Well-being Index (PWI), an evaluation of life developed by Cummins et al [(2003). Social Indicators Research, 64, 159–190] which proposes that satisfaction with life consists of seven different life-domains. Theoretical considerations of the contribution of spirituality and religiosity to life satisfaction, from a …

Organizational Trauma: A Phenomenological Study Of Leaders In Traumatized Organizations, Shana D. Lynn Hormann

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

While some organizations die when trauma erupts, others do not succumb. They live and even thrive. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1. To learn from leaders their perspectives about key conditions that allow organizations to withstand and heal from organizational trauma; and, 2. To inform practice about building and strengthening these conditions in organizations. Participants were leaders who led their organizations during an organizational trauma or who came into programs after the trauma occurred to facilitate recovery. Nine executive directors for sexual assault programs participated in this hermeneutic phenomenological study, sharing their experiences and reflections. Two composite depictions …

Indoctrination, Diversity, And Teaching About Spirituality And Religion In The Workplace, Donald W. Mccormmick

Organization Management Journal

The author reflects on his experience and discusses problems in teaching a course about spirituality and religion in the workplace. Sometimes indoctrination happens when professors treat their own spiritual ideology as the truth, or they require students to engage in religious practices in class. Indoctrination is teaching people “to accept a system of thought uncritically.” The management education literature has little to say about indoctrination. Indoctrination can be avoided by (1) ensuring informed consent, (2) designing learning activities for students from all spiritual perspectives, (3) teaching about the topic (instead of taking the “how to” approach), (4) presenting diverse spiritual …

Spirituality: A Way To Alternate Subjectivity?, Mihaela Kelemen, Tuomo Peltonen

Organization Management Journal

This paper emphasizes the contribution of Michel Foucault and Pierre Hadot to discussions of workplace spirituality. It is argued that their understanding of spirituality differs significantly from the mainstream management contributions: they view spirituality as a distinct form of post-modern subjectivity in organizations and regard the subject as continuous flow emerging and being constructed not so much at the crossroad of institutions and macro-structures but from within, with the help of self-formation practices. We term the latter spirituality and argue, firstly, that there are strong (albeit controversial) connections between spiritual practices, the history of Christianity, and the philosophy of antiquity. …