At present it is implicitly or explicitly recognized that various paradoxes surface in the application of spirituality in the management field. In this article, instead of acknowledging this and moving on to provide clarity, I articulate and stay with the paradoxes inherent in the area of study. Management education that engages with contradictions, shadow sides, and tensions is important as it assists students to understand the complex nature of spirituality itself, and the ambiguous work environment in which it is enacted. It is also consistent with the early developmental stage of this new field of scholarship. This article addresses the paradoxes of appropriate ends and means, of authenticity, of unity, and of definition. Three interrelated means of engaging with paradox are suggested as pedagogical tools to enhance self-awareness as well as theoretical understanding in relation to management and spirituality.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aumann, J. (1980). Spiritual theology. London: Sheed and Ward.
2.
Bartunek, J. M., & Moch, M. K. (1994). Third-orderorganizational change and the western mystical tradition. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(1), 24-41.
3.
Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York: Free Press.
4.
Beder, S. (2000). Selling the work ethic, from puritan pulpit to corporate PR. London: Zed Books.
5.
Benner, D. (1988). Psychotherapy and spiritual quest. MI: Baker Books.
6.
Biberman, J., & Whittey, M. (1997). A postmodern spiritual future for work. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10(2), 130-188.
7.
Burgess, N. J. (1996). Looking into the depths: Dimensions of spirituality in New Zealand short story. Orewa, NZ: Colcom.
8.
Cavanagh, G. F. (1999). Spirituality for managers: Context and critique. Journal of Organizational Change, 12, 186-199.
9.
Conger, J. A. (Ed.). (1994). Spirit at work: Discovering spirituality in leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
10.
Dale, E. S. (1991). Bringing heaven down to earth: A practical spirituality of work. New York: Peter Lang.
11.
Dehler, G. E., & Welsh, M. A. (1994). Spirituality and organizational transformation, implications for the new management paradigm. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 6, 17-26.
12.
Evans, P. (1997). A duality-based prospective for strategic human resource management. In Research and Theory in SHRM: An agenda for the 21st century: [Working paper]. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
13.
Evans, P., & Doz, Y. (1992).Dualities: A paradigm for human resource and organizational developmentin complex multinationals.In P. Evans, Y. Doz,& A. Laurent(Eds.), Human resource management in international firms: Change, globalisation,innovation. London: MacMillan.
14.
Ford, J. D., & Ford, L. W. (1994). Logics of identity, contradiction, and attraction in change. Academy of Management Review, 19, 756-795.
15.
Fornaciari, C., & Lund Dean, K. (2001). Making the quantum leap: Lessons from physics on studying spirituality and religion in organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
16.
Fournier, V., & Grey, C. (2000).At the critical moment:Conditionsand prospectfor critical management studies. Human Relations, 53(1), 7-32.
17.
Frost, P., & Egri, C. P. (1994). The shamanic perspective on organizational change and development. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(1), 7-23.
18.
Hampden Turner, C. M. (1990). Corporate culture: From vicious to virtuous circles. London: Hutchinson/Economist Books.
19.
Handy, C. (1994). The empty raincoat, making sense of the future. London: Arrow Books
20.
Harlos, K. P. (2000). Toward a spiritual pedagogy: Meaning, practice, and applications in management education. Journal of Management Education, 24(5), 612-627.
21.
Hawley, J. (1993). Reawakening the spirit in work. San Francisco, New York: Berrett-Koehler.
22.
Hayes, S. C. (1984). Making sense of spirituality. Behaviorism, 12(2), 99-110.
23.
Henson, G. (1991). Towards a spiritual perspective on behaviour at work, Management Education & Development, 22(3), 201-207.
24.
Jung, C. G. (1933). Modern man in search of a soul. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
25.
Kahnweiler, W., & Otte, F. L. (1997). In search of the soul of HRD. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 8(2), 171-181.
26.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1980). Organizational paradoxes, clinical approaches to management. New York: Tavistock.
27.
King, S., & Nicol, D. M. (1999). Organizational enhancement through recognition of individual spirituality: Reflections of Jacques and Jung. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12, 234-242.
28.
Konz, G. N. P., & Ryan, F. X. (1999). Maintaining an organizational spirituality: No easy task. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12, 200-210.
29.
Laszlo, E. (2001). Macroshift: Navigating the transformation to a sustainable world. San Francisco: Berret-Koehler
30.
Lee, M. (1991). Spirituality in organisations: Empowerment and purpose. Management Education & Development, 22(3), 221-226.
31.
Lewis, M. W. (2000). Exploring paradox: Toward a more comprehensive guide. Academy of Management Review, 25(4), 760-776.
32.
Lips-Wiersma, M. S. (2002). The influence of spiritual “meaning-making” on career behavior. Journal of Management Development, 21(7), 497-520.
33.
Louis, M. R. (1994). In the manner of friends: Learning form Quaker practice for organizational renewal. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(1), 42-60.
34.
Lyotard, J. E. (1984). The postmodern condition. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
35.
Maclagan, P. (1991). “Having” and “being” in organisations. Management Education & Development, 22(3), 234-241.
36.
Maynard, B. H., & Mehrtens, S. E. (1993). The fourth wave: Business in the 21st century. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
37.
McKenzie, J. (1996). Paradox, the next strategic dimension, using conflict to re-energize your business. London: McGraw-Hill.
38.
McLean, J. M. (1994). Dimensions in spirituality. Oxford, UK: George Ronald.
39.
Merrens, M., & Garret, J. (1975). The protestant ethic scale as a predictor of repetitive work performance. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance, 25, 419-440.
40.
Milliman, J., Ferguson, J., Trickett, D., & Condemi, B. (1999). Spirit and community at Southwest Airlines: An investigation of a spiritual values-based model. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12(3), 221-233.
41.
Mingers, J. (2000). What is it to be critical? Teaching a critical approach to management undergraduates. Management Learning, 31(2), 219-237.
42.
Mitroff, I. I., & Denton, E. A. (1999). A spiritual audit of corporate America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
43.
Mitroff, I. I., & Linstone, H. (1993). The unbound mind: Breaking the chains of traditional business thinking. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
44.
Moore, T. (1994). Care of the soul, a guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life. New York: Harper Perennial.
45.
Nakhjavani, B. (1990). Asking questions, a challenge to fundamentalism. Oxford, UK: George Ronald.
46.
Neal, J. A., Bergmann, B. M., & Banner, D. (1999). Spiritual perspectives on individual, organizational and societal transformation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12, 175-185.
47.
Neck, C. P., & Milliman, J. F. (1994). Through self-leadership, finding spiritual fulfilment in organizational life. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 9(6), 9-16.
Osterberg, R. (1993). Corporte renaissance, business as an adventure in human development. Mill Valley, CA: Nataraj Publishing.
50.
Peters, T. J., & Waterman,R. H. (1982). In search of excellence: Lessons from America’s best run companies. New York: Harper & Row.
51.
Porth, S. J., McCall, J., & Bausch, T. A. (1999). Spiritual themes of the “Learning organization.” Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12, 211-220.
52.
Quinn, R. E. (1988). Beyond rational management: Mastering the paradoxes and competing demands of high performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
53.
Quinn, R. E., Kahn, J. A., & Mandl, M. J. (1994). Perspectives on organizational change: Exploring movement at the interface. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The status of science (pp. 109-133). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
54.
Ray, C. A. (1986). Corporate culture: The last frontier of control? Journal of Management Studies, 23, 287-297.
55.
Rothenberg, A. (1979). The emerging goddess. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
56.
Samuels, A. (1998). And if not now, when’spirituality, psychotherapy, politics. Psychodynamic Counseling, 4, 349-365.
57.
Schneider, K. J. (1990). The paradoxical self: Toward an understanding of our contradictory nature. New York: Insight Books.
58.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.
59.
Thorpe, D. (Ed.). (1998). Work and the life of the spirit. San Francisco: Mercury House.
60.
Vaill, P. B. (1991, August 3-7). The inherent spirituality of organizations. Paper prepared for the Academy Of Management meeting, Miami Beach, FL.
61.
Wilmott, H. (1993).Strengthis ignorance; slavery is freedom:Managingculture in modern organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 40(4), 515-552.
