Workplace Spirituality: Making a Difference

Workplace spirituality is an emerging field of study and practice and this book asks the questions: Where have we been in the last ten years as a field and where should we be headed in the next ten years? The editors asked these questions of thought leaders from around the globe, leaders who represent different sectors, faith traditions, worldviews and organizational functions. This volume represents the best of current thinking about the state of the field of workplace spirituality and of what the future holds. There are four themes: (1) management themes such as leadership, ethics, change management, and diversity; (2) workplace spirituality in sectors such as health and wellbeing, policing and creative industries, (3) key issues that are emerging, such as self-spirituality, mindfulness, storytelling and the importance of nature, and (4) cutting edge epistemologies and methodologies including indigenous studies, relational ontology, ethnography, and psychodynamics. These articles were chosen to provoke new thinking, new research, and new practice in the field of workplace spirituality, with the goal of helping the field mature in the next decade.

Professor Yochanan Altman is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion and Founder and Chair of the International Association of Management, Spirituality & Religion. He is the series editor of the De Gruyter book series in Management, Spirituality & Religion (MSR). He is an ’elder’ of the Management, Spirituality & Religion Special Interest Group of the Academy of Management. Yochanan has authored/edited some 20 books and 150 articles and chapters in scholarly outlets.

Dr Judi Neal was a co-founder of the Management, Spirituality & Religion Special Interest Group of the Academy of Management in 2000 and is Chair of its ’elders’ committee. She is a founding board member of the International Association of Management, Spirituality and Religion and a founding board member of the Conscious Leadership Guild. Her Edgewalkers platform is one the leading paradigms in the field. Judi has authored/edited 8 books 28 journal articles on the topic and her 2013 Handbook of Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace is a key text in field.

Professor Wolfgang Mayrhofer is an Olympic silver medalist and Full Professor and Head of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Management and Organisational Behaviour, WU Vienna, the second largest business university in Europe and one of the top management departments in the world. A specialist in careers and international HRM, he has a longstanding interest in religions in a work/organization context. A prolific author, Wolfgang has authored/edited some 35 books and 200 academic articles and chapters.