Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T17:16:18.346Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of religion-based workplace spirituality on business leaders' decision-making: An inter-faith study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Mario Fernando  and
Brad Jackson
Mario Fernando
Affiliation:
School of Management and Marketing, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Brad Jackson
Affiliation:
Centre for the Study of Leadership, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The paper reports the findings of thirteen interviews with prominent Sri Lankan business leaders drawn from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim religious traditions. The in-depth interviews with the leaders were supplemented by documentary sources. When the leaders were asked why they engaged in religion-based workplace spirituality, their responses were often associated with decision-making. Although they had an array of management tools with which to deal with day-to-day management situations, they all indicated that, in ‘difficult’ moments, these tools needed to be complemented by processes by which they connected with the ultimate – variously identified as the transcendent reality, god, or truth that is more powerful, better, and good. The outcomes of decisions, both good and bad, were usually attributed to that connecting experience. The findings suggest that religion plays a significant role in influencing the judgment, emotional and motivational qualities of Sri Lankan leaders' decision-making – in that a frame of reference based on a connection with a transcendent and ultimate reality is likely to be a source of solace, guidance, and inspiration to leaders' critical decision-making.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , June 2006 , pp. 23 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the European Group of Organisation Studies Colloquium, Berlin, 2005.

References

Arasaratnam, S (1964) Ceylon, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Asian Tribune (2005) Sri Lanka crosses US$1,000 per capita mark, accessed at http://www.asian-tribune.com/show_news.php?id=l4297 on 23 February 2006.Google Scholar
Baesler, E (2001) The prayer of the Holy Name in eastern and western spiritual traditions: A theoretical, cross-cultural, and intercultural prayer dialogue, Journal of Ecumenical Studies 38(2/3): 196–217.Google Scholar
Barnett, J and Karson, M (1987) Personal values and business decisions: An exploratory investigation, Journal of Business Ethics 6(5): 371–83.Google Scholar
Batten, J, Hettihewa, S and Mellor, R (1999) Factors affecting ethical management: Comparing a developed and a developing economy, Journal of Business Ethics 19(1): 51–60.Google Scholar
Bazerman, M (2002) Judgment in Managerial Decision-Making, John Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Beazley, H (1998) Meaning and Measurement of Spirituality in Organisational Settings: Development of a Spirituality Assessment Scale (Honesty, Humility, Service to Others). Dissertation abstract, The George Washington University, Washington.Google Scholar
Beyer, J (1981) Ideologies, values, and decision-making in organizations, in Nystrom, PC and Starbuck, WH (Eds), Handbook of Organizational Design, Vol 2, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Burke, L and Miller, M (1999) Taking the mystery out of intuitive decision making, The Academy of Management Executive 13(4): 91–100.Google Scholar
Burkhart, L (2001) Spirituality and religiousness: Differentiating the diagnoses through a review of the nursing literature, Nursing Diagnosis 2(2): 45–54.Google Scholar
Carter, JR (1979) Religiousness of Sri Lanka, Marga, Colombo.Google Scholar
Chandrakumara, A and Sparrow, P (2004) Work orientation as an element of national culture and its impact on HRM policy-practice design choices: Lessons from Sri Lanka, International Journal of Manpower 25(6): 564–89.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K (2002) Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis, in Gubrium, J and Holstein, J (Eds), Handbook of Interview Research, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Daft, R (2001) Organization Theory and Design, Southwestern, Cincinnati.Google Scholar
Dent, E, Higgins, E and Wharff, D (2005) Spirituality and leadership: An empirical review of definitions, distinctions, and embedded assumptions, The Leadership Quarterly 16(5): 625–53.Google Scholar
Easterby-Smith, M, Thorpe, R and Lowe, A (1991) Management Research, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Elliott, CB (1938) The Real Ceylon, Caves, Ceylon.Google Scholar
Fernando, M (2004) Spirituality at Work in Entrepreneur-Led Business Organisations: A Multi-Faith Study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Fritzsche, D (1991) A model of decision-making incorporating ethical values, Journal of Business Ethics 10(11): 841–53.Google Scholar
Fry, L (2003) Toward a theory of spiritual leadership, The Leadership Quarterly 14 (6): 693–727.Google Scholar
Fry, L (2005) Toward a theory of ethical and spiritual well-being, and corporate social responsibility through spiritual leadership, in Giacalone, RA, Jurkiewicz, CL and Dunn, C (Eds), Positive Psychology in Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, Information Age Publishing, Greenwich.Google Scholar
Giacalone, RA and Jurkiewicz, CL (2003) Toward a science of workplace spirituality, in Giacalone, RA and Jurkiewicz, CL (Eds), Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance, M E Sharp, New York.Google Scholar
Giacalone, R, Jurkiewicz, C and Fry, L (2005) From advocacy to science: The next steps in workplace spirituality research, in Paloutzian, R and Park, C (Eds), Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Guilford Press, New York, NY.Google Scholar
Gibbons, P (2000) Spirituality at work: Definitions, measures, assumptions, and validity claims. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada.Google Scholar
Goddard, N (1995) The fourth dimension: Conceptualisation of spirituality. Dissertation abstract, University of Alberta.Google Scholar
Gombrich, R and Obeyesekere, G (1988) Buddhism Transformed: Religious Change in Sri Lanka, Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Harrison, E (1999) The Managerial Decision-Making Process, 5th Edn, Houghton Miffin, Boston.Google Scholar
Hicks, D (2002) Spirituality and religious diversity in the workplace: Implications for leadership, The Leadership Quarterly 13(4): 379–396.Google Scholar
Huitt, W (1999) Conation as an important factor of mind, Educational Psychology Interactive, accessed at http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/conation.html on 4 June 2005.Google Scholar
Hunt, S and Vitell, S (1993) The general theory of marketing ethics: A retrospective and revision, in Smith, NC and Quelch, JA (Eds) Ethics in Marketing, Homewood, Irvin IL.Google Scholar
Jones, A (1997) Balasuriya's ideas on Asia's future jolt the single-path Vatican view, National Catholic Reporter 33(16): 9–11.Google Scholar
Joseph, M (2002) Leaders and Spirituality: A Case Study. Doctoral dissertation, University of Surrey, United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Korac-Kakabadse, N, Kouzmin, A and Kakabadse, A (2002) Spirituality and leadership praxis, Journal of Managerial Psychology 17(3): 165–82.Google Scholar
Kriger, M and Seng, Y (2005) Leadership with inner meaning: A contingency theory of leadership based on the worldviews of five religions, The Leadership (Quarterly 16(5): 771–806.Google Scholar
Kriger, M and Hanson, B (1999) A value-based paradigm for creating truly healthy organisations, Journal of Organisational Change Management 12(4): 302–17.Google Scholar
Longenecker, JG, McKinney and Moore, CW (2004) Religious intensity, evangelical Christianity, and business ethics: An empirical study, Journal of Business Ethics 55: 373–86.Google Scholar
Miles, M and Huberman, M (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Mitroff, I and Denton, E (1999) A study of spirituality in the workplace, Sloan Management Review 40(4): 83–92.Google Scholar
Nanayakkara, G (1997) Some reflections of Buddhism on morality in business and management, Sri Lankan Journal of Management 2(3): 217–232.Google Scholar
Newberg, A, D'Aquili, E and Rause, V (2001) Why God Wont Go Away, Ballantine, New York.Google Scholar
Niles, F S (1994) The work ethic in Australia and Sri Lanka, The Journal of Social Psychology 134(1): 55–60.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, G (1975) Sinhala Buddhist identity in Ceylon, in De Vos, G and Romanucci-Ross, L (Eds) Ethnic Identity: Cultural Continuities and Change, California: Mayfield Publishing.Google Scholar
Paloutzian, R and Park, C (2005) (Eds) Handbook of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Guilford Press, New York.Google Scholar
Parry, K and Proctor-Thomson, S (2002) Perceived integrity of transformational leaders in organisational settings, Journal of Business Ethics 35(2): 75–97.Google Scholar
Patton, M (2002) Qualitative Evaluation Methods, Sage CA.Google Scholar
Pellebon, D and Anderson, S (1999) Understanding the life issues of spiritually-based clients, Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services 80(3): 229–238.Google Scholar
Perera, T and Buddhadasa, S (1992) Characteristics of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs: How valid is the Schumpeterian model? Paper presented to the Postgraduate Institute of Management Conference on Management Studies, Colombo.Google Scholar
Piedmont, R and Leach, M (2002) Cross-cultural generalizability of the spiritual transcendence scale in India – Spirituality as a universal aspect of human experience, American Behavioral Scientist 45(12): 1888–902.Google Scholar
Ranasinghe, S (1996a) Work centrality and job satisfaction: Applicability of the protestant work ethic in the Sri Lankan context, Sri Lankan Journal of Management 1(1): 19–36.Google Scholar
Ranasinghe, S (1996b) Entrepreneurship education and training in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Journal of Management 1(3): 262–277.Google Scholar
Rose, S (2001) Is the term ‘spirituality’ a word that everyone uses, but nobody knows what anyone means by it? Journal of Contemporary Religion 16(2): 193–208.Google Scholar
Seale, C (2000) The Quality of Qualitative Research, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Shakun, M (1999) Consciousness, spirituality and right decision/negotiation in purposeful complex adaptive systems, Group Decision and Negotiation 8: 1–15.Google Scholar
Shakun, M (2001) Unbounded rationality, Group Decision and Negotiation 10: 97–118.Google Scholar
Simon, H (1955) A behavioural mode of rational choice, Quarterly Journal of Economics 66: 99–118.Google Scholar
Simon, H (1956) Rational choice and the structure of the environment, Psychological Review 63: 129–38.Google Scholar
Simon, H (1978) Rationality as a process and product of thought, American Economic Review 68(2): 1–16.Google Scholar
Singhapakdi, A, Salyachivin, S, Virakul, B and Veeray-angkur, V (2000) Some important factors underlying ethical decision-making of managers in Thailand, Journal of Business Ethics 27(3): 271–85.Google Scholar
Smart, N (1989) The World Religions: Old Traditions and Modern Transformations, Cambridge University Press, London.Google Scholar
Smart, N (1991) The Religious Experience, MacMillan, New York.Google Scholar
Snyder, CR and Lopez, J (2001) (Eds) Handbook of Positive Psychology, Oxford, New York.Google Scholar
Sperry, L (1997) Leadership dynamics: Character and character structure in executives, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 49(4): 268–80.Google Scholar
Steele, S (2000) Christian insight meditation: A test case on interreligious spirituality, Buddhist-Christian Studies, 20.Google Scholar
Strauss, A and Corbin, J (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Strauss, A and Corbin, J (1994) Grounded theory methodology: An overview, in Lincoln, Y and Denzin, N (Eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, Sage CA.Google Scholar
Tambiah, SJ (1986) Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Teasdale, W (1997) The interspiritual age: Practical mysticism for the third millennium, Journal of Ecumenical Studies 34(1): 74–92.Google Scholar
Vivekananda, S (1893) Paper on Hinduism, world parliament of religions, delivered on 19 September 1893, accessed at http://www.itihaas.com/modern/vivek-speech3.html on 16 February 2004.Google Scholar
Walker, S (1987) (Ed) Speaking of Silence: Christians and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way, Paulist Press, New York.Google Scholar
Weick, K (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing, Addison-Wesley, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Weick, K (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations, Sage, California.Google Scholar
Wheat, L (1991) Development of a Scale for the Measurement of Human Spirituality. Dissertation abstract, University of Maryland.Google Scholar
Whittington, JL, Pitts, TM, Kageler, WV and Goodwin, VL (2005) Legacy leadership: The leadership wisdom of the Apostle Paul, The Leadership Quarterly 16(5): 749–770.Google Scholar
Zinnebauer, BJ and Paragament, KL (2005) Religiousness and spirituality, in Paloutzian, R & Park, C (Eds), Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Guilford Press, New York.Google Scholar