Katalin Illes and Christiane Vogell
The paper aims to analyse organisational values from a personal perspective. The purpose was to explore how employees learn about corporate values and how they relate to these…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to analyse organisational values from a personal perspective. The purpose was to explore how employees learn about corporate values and how they relate to these values. The motivation has been one of discovery of current practices in businesses, with a strong focus on corporate values and their effects on employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors offer a review of the key definitions and main theoretical frameworks of values. Four case studies provide empirical data to establish some understanding of how values are identified and the extent to which they are translated into behaviours and attitudes in the workplace. The paper combines an overview of literature on values and semi-constructed telephone interviews with 26 interviewees from four organisations about corporate and individual values.
Findings
Values are positively related to, and central to the concept of the self, and are distinct from norms. Both the literature review and the multiple case studies’ empirical findings suggest that values are worth striving for and successful embedding of them requires a “culture of sharing”. Without the culture of sharing corporate values will not penetrate the organisation or have any meaningful impact on behaviour.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the importance of considering corporate values from a personal perspective. Organisations wanting to strengthen corporate values need to engage in conversations about values regularly across the organisation. Leaders need to be part of these discussions without dominating or forcefully influencing them.
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László Zsolnai and Katalin Illes
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation of spirituality and creativity in business context.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation of spirituality and creativity in business context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents practical examples of spiritual-based creative business models in different faith traditions (Hinduism, Christianity and Anthroposophy).
Findings
Spirituality and a deep sense of connectedness are essential to enhance creativity and care in business. Spirituality creates free space and openness to allow the future to emerge organically. It creates a distance between the self and the pressures of the market and the routines of business and daily life. This distance is a necessary condition for developing creative, ethical and responsible solutions to the complex challenges around us.
Originality/value
Spiritually inspired creative business models overcome the instrumental rationality and materialistic orientation of today’s business management which produces large scale ecological, social and ethical “ills.” The paper shows that alternative business management practices need a spiritual foundation to be more creative and caring.
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Katalin Illes and Laszlo Zsolnai
This paper aims to argue that there is a strong imbalance in business education between providing abstract, rational concepts and opportunities for personal growth. Introducing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to argue that there is a strong imbalance in business education between providing abstract, rational concepts and opportunities for personal growth. Introducing spirituality in business education seems to be desirable if we want to prepare students for the complexities and challenges of the workplace today.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper gives an example of how techniques from voice and drama therapy can be used for enabling students to look beyond the rational and the material.
Findings
By engaging with their “true self”, students may discover dormant qualities in themselves and start to find their purpose, meaning and spirituality.
Originality/value
The paper shows that by introducing some new approaches in business education, we can provide opportunities for students to connect their rational thoughts with conscience and the “true self”. When students make an integrated use of our mental, emotional and spiritual resources, they are better equipped to make complex decisions and behave ethically in the workplace and in their personal lives.
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Katalin Illes and Howard Harris
Our focus is on the use of narrative in ethics education in organisations. The effectiveness of stories as a basis for executive education and organisational development has been…
Abstract
Our focus is on the use of narrative in ethics education in organisations. The effectiveness of stories as a basis for executive education and organisational development has been described in other chapters in this book and elsewhere. Many writers provide examples linking stories and ethics, but the examples are drawn most often from overtly ethical stories. We offer a more expansive and inclusive view, suggesting that all stories are valuable for teaching ethics. We use Booker’s (2004) finding that all stories belong to one of seven basic plots – overcoming the monster; rags to riches; the quest; voyage and return; comedy; tragedy; and rebirth – to show that no major category of narrative need be omitted from those which can provide examples or links to the development of virtue in organisations. We provide examples of how stories can be used to encourage the development of specific virtues including courage, integrity, hope, inquisitiveness, humour and prudence. Six further aspects are considered – whether only moral stories are useful, the value of complexity, the benefit of familiarity, stories of failure, the selection of appropriate stories and whether non-fiction can be included.