Organizational Compassion: A Relational Approach

Organizational compassion provides a multitude of benefits at individual, team and organizational levels. These encompass heightened positive affect, trust, engagement, loyalty, performance, resilience, and recovery. This important book provides an accessible yet scholarly overview of key academic findings and theories on organizational compassion. It equips readers with tools for reflection, awakening and practical application of compassion within the workplace across dyadic, team and organizational contexts. Historically, compassion work has been largely unacknowledged in official organizational discourse. Yet, wherever there are human beings, there will be suffering; where there is human suffering, one can often find human responses infused with kindness and compassion. This observation holds true across industries, professions, and communities. The book explores the complexities of organizational compassion, analyzing the factors that enhance organizational compassion capabilities, as well as those that make compassion falter and fail. The primary aim of this book is to foster the cultivation of organizational compassion by providing a provocative, stimulating and engaging foray into the academic study of organizational compassion for readers, ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate and executive students, as well as reflective practitioners. In a world marked by suffering and challenges, a research-based understanding and fostering of compassion at work, offers a path towards a better future.

Ace Volkmann Simpson is a researcher, consultatnt and trainer at the Center for Compassion Studies, New York. Previously he held the postion of Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, where he was also co-director of the Centre for Compassionate Leadership. His research focuses on positive organizational practices including humility, love, psychological safety, paradox transcendence and leadership, with a particular focus on cultivating compassion within workplace environments.

Miguel Pina e Cunha is the Fundação Amélia de Mello Professor at Nova SBE, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal). He studies different dimensions of organizing and organizations, using the lens of paradox.

Stewart Clegg is Professor at the University of Sydney in the School of Project Management and the John Grill Institute for Project Leadership. He is recognised for his work in sociology, politics and power relations, organisation studies and project management, to all of which he has contributed substantially over his career, having published in many of the leading journals.

Arménio Rego is a Professor at Católica Porto Business School, Portugal, and member of the Business Research Unit (ISCTE-IUL, Portugal).

Marco Berti is Associate Professor at Nova SBE, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal). He became a full time academic after a 20+ years international career as a management consultant. Marco’s main research focus are the study of organizational tensions, power dynamics and the creation of socially sustainable organizations.