Workplace spirituality, contested meaning, and the culture of organization

Brad S. Long · Jean Helms Mills

92 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Organizational Change Management

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Workplace Spirituality and Leadership Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Management and Organizational Studies

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.

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References

1996Sensemaking in Organizations 2005Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking 1999Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook 1986Images of Organization 1983Concepts of Culture and Organizational Analysis 1940Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive 1985Organizational Culture and Leadership: A Dynamic View 1982Leadership: The Management of Meaning

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