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Discriminating Between ‘Meaningful Work’ and the ‘Management of Meaning’
Abstract
The interest in meaningful work has significantly increased over the last two decades. Much of␣the associated managerial research
has focused on researching ways to ‹provide and manage meaning’ through leadership or organizational culture. This stands
in sharp contrast with the literature of the humanities which suggests that meaningfulness does not need to be provided, as
the distinct feature of a human being is that␣he or she has an intrinsic ‹will to meaning’. The research that has been done
based on the humanistic paradigm has been quite fragmented. This article aims to address these gaps through an action research
project that actively involved participants in the process of affirming and uncovering the meaningfulness of their work. Our
findings contribute to current organizational scholarship and practice as they (a) enable scholars to clearly distinguish
‹meaningful work’ from ‹the management of mean- ing’, (b) bring together the various sources of meaningful work in one framework
and show their relationship with each other, (c) clearly show the importance of engaging with both the inspiration towards
the ideal as well as the often less than perfect self and the organizational reality in which meaning gets expressed and (d)
contribute to our understanding of how to engage individuals in conversations about meaningful work that are not prescriptive
or exclusive, but that also show where meanings are commonly held.
... The one-on-one social connection alongside the program's emphasis on reminiscing offered several elements conducive to highly meaningful work. Lips-Wiersma and Morris (2009) [46] provide a model to best understand the characteristics of meaningful work, and the Caching Memories Program achieves several of these markers. Specifically, the importance of unity with others and serving others are two main components outlined by Lips-Wiersma and Morris (2009) [46]. ...
... Lips-Wiersma and Morris (2009) [46] provide a model to best understand the characteristics of meaningful work, and the Caching Memories Program achieves several of these markers. Specifically, the importance of unity with others and serving others are two main components outlined by Lips-Wiersma and Morris (2009) [46]. Offering opportunities for meaningful social engagement fostered a sense of connection and belonging between the older adult Memory Holder and their college student Reminiscence Guide, which created a stronger bond between these age-disparate groups. ...
Loneliness is well documented as a major, yet preventable, risk factor for well-being among older adults that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly half of some countries’ older population experience loneliness, which significantly increases risks for dementia, heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety, hospitalization, and even hastened death. Utilizing socioemotional selectivity theory, the current study addresses. the inverse relationship between aging and social outlet availability by providing empirical data on the benefits of intergenerational programming. Data from adult–college student dyads who participated in a telephone reassurance program focused on reminiscence guiding were analyzed to determine outcomes of participation. Qualitative analyses revealed the emergence of themes surrounding familial/friendship bonds and self-discovery among adult participants and a rejuvenated appreciation for the little things in life as well as a sense of purpose from meaningful contributions among college student participants. Results are discussed in terms of continued growth and development during late adulthood and professional and personal growth among students. The psychologically and emotionally meaningful nature of quality intergenerational programs provides a platform for the formation of unique relationships to offset fractured social outlets during later life, providing protections against loneliness and work to establish unique relationships between disparate groups who otherwise may never have crossed paths.
... In this type of research, scholars explore objective work conditions, such as job design or leadership styles (Tan et al., 2023), and examine their impact on the perception of MW. There is also a great variety of research at the individual level that underscores the need for workers to collectively construct meanings, rather than having those meanings dictated by people in power (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). This kind of research places a great emphasis on the subjective experience of MW. ...
... The MW of teachers was related to interactions with colleagues in school, owing to frequent face-to-face communication, shared values, a sense of belonging (see Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009) and recognition (Kun & Gadanecz, 2022). The participants stated: 'There are after-work gatherings, they also unite the school team very much. ...
The collection of studies on meaningful work is still quite fragmented and lacks resumptive theoretical models that can be applied to various employment statuses. This article examines the meaningful work phenomenon for both employed and self-employed workers using qualitative data. Drawing on 16 in-depth semi-structured interviews with school teachers and self-employed private tutors in Russia, the analysis demonstrates the nature of meaningful work constructed by employment status. Different institutional frameworks form institutional legitimacy, professional community, the final product of work and the prestige of occupation. The article’s primary theoretical contribution is the development of a theoretical model that describes the multifaceted and impermanent nature of meaningful work. The practical implications include the revelation of prominent differences among workers having different employment statuses, which is a solid foundation for future attempts in conducting quantitative research.
... People have an innate need to experience their work as meaningful (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Yet, reasons beyond their control may challenge their pursuit of meaningfulness. ...
... Further, people's search for meaningfulness involves building synergies within and resolving tensions between the selfand other-focused sources of meaningfulness (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Synergies describe coexistences of different sources that amplify people's meaningfulness (Lips-Wiersma & Wright, 2012). ...
This study explores how refugees, i.e., people experiencing liminality due to career and life disruptions, make work-related meaningfulness, and it uncovers how they apply temporality in their meaningfulness-making. Analyzing 48 interviews of 24 refugees in Germany, the findings show how, post-migration, refugees faced two types of under-institutionalized liminal experiences challenging their meaningfulness – one concerning self-focused and one pertaining to other-focused sources of meaningfulness. To navigate these liminal experiences, refugees actively made meaningfulness. This was a temporal process, as refugees connected their past, present, and future. They drew on their past and present vocational experiences when moving toward their future vocational self, built on their past and acted in the present to secure present and future social connections, amplified synergies and resolved tensions in meaningfulness sources, and compensated unavailable meaningfulness sources with available ones. Based on our findings, we propose a model on how people make meaningfulness despite missing its main ingredients (i.e., a clear sense of self and social connections) and how under-institutionalized liminality can turn from a space devoid of meaningfulness into an agentic and creative space of meaningfulness-making. We contribute to meaningfulness, temporality, and liminality research.
... Therefore, as most people spend a large proportion of their lives at work, they do not only see it as a source of financial income but also for meaning in life, that is, workers "search for daily meaning as well as daily bread" [106]. Having a meaningful job that serves a higher purpose leads to higher job satisfaction [66,69,102] and well-being [5]. But meaningful work is not only beneficial or necessary on an individual level. ...
... It defines work meaningfulness on an individual level, as a psychological state that stems from the relationship from job characteristics of skill variety, task significance, task identity, and a number of outcomes. A more recent model by Lips-Wiersma and Morris [69] proposes four sources of meaningful work that not only stem from an individual level but also involve a more social perspective: 1) developing and becoming self, 2) unity with others, 3) expressing one's full potential, and 4) serving others. The Four major pathways to meaningful work framework by Rosso et al. [88] proposes similar sources: the self, others, the context, and the spiritual life, and further suggests seven mechanisms of meaningful work: self-efficacy, self-esteem, authenticity, purpose, transcendence, belongingness, and cultural/interpersonal sense-making. ...
Work is an important part of our lives-not only as a way to earn a living but as a crucial source for experiencing meaningfulness. The introduction of autonomous systems (or in the widest sense "artificial intelligence", AI) will fundamentally impact work practices. However, while most existing models of human-AI collaboration focus on performance goals, less is known about their potential influence on job satisfaction. In this paper, we present an online experiment in which we compared the perception of job meaningfulness and accountability in a human-AI collaboration across three interaction paradigms: Supervisory, Advisory, and Interactive. Our results showed that, unlike the common notion of supervisory control, people find their job more satisfying when they directly interact with the AI and are involved and remain accountable for action and decision-making. Introducing AI as a teammate in the interactive paradigm was associated with the highest job meaningfulness.
... Unsurprisingly, it is observed that positive workplace relationships are important in fostering meaningful work. Moreover, factors such as having a good work-life balance (Munn, 2013) or experiencing a sense of unity are shown to bring meaningfulness to work (Colbert et al., 2016;Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009). This category consequently relates to lateral-level interactions between individual coworkers and co-worker groups. ...
Purpose
Based on the well-known risks associated with deviating from established routines in primary healthcare and the positive consequences of upholding them, the purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the role of meaningfulness in the enactment of organizational routines.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on 24 semi-structured interviews with three different professional categories in primary healthcare in Sweden. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis on a latent level, combined with a two-factor model as sensitizing concepts.
Findings
Differences are identified between factors that reduce meaninglessness (called “sufficiency factors”) and those that enable meaningfulness (called “meaningfulness factors”). Nine sufficiency factors and six meaningfulness factors explain what makes organizational routines perceived as meaningful by the different professional groups. A two-factor matrix is developed that highlights the intricate challenges associated with routine enactment based on these factors.
Originality/value
The study is unique in that it is the first to integrate research on organizational routines and meaningfulness. However, understanding meaningful organizational routines is not only essential because it is an overlooked area in both of these two streams of research but also because of its clear, practical relevance in the primary healthcare setting.
... Previous research suggests that creativity can be an important pathway to meaning-making, especially in professional contexts (Kaufman, 2018). When people have more freedom to be creative at work, they find their work more purposeful (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Our research provides further support for the importance of creativity in the pursuit of meaning by observing that purpose reflection leads individuals to gravitate toward creative courses. ...
College students routinely use online course catalogs to explore a variety of academic offerings. Course catalogs may therefore be an effective place to encourage reflection on academic choices and interests. To test this, we embedded a psychological intervention in an online course catalog to encourage students to reflect on their purpose during course exploration. Results of a randomized field experiment with over 4,000 students at a large U.S. university show that a purpose intervention increased students' cognitive engagement in describing their interests, but reduced search activities. Students became more interested in courses related to creative arts and social change, but less in computer and data science. The findings demonstrate the malleability of students' interests during course exploration and suggest practical strategies to support purpose reflection and guide students toward deliberate exploration of their interests in higher education.
... The relevance of work meaningfulness is undeniable. Research consistently demonstrates its association with a multitude of benefits, including increased job satisfaction, higher engagement, reduced absenteeism, and lower turnover intentions (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009;Liu et al., 2023;Pratt and Ashforth, 2003). Meaningful work even translates into enhanced performance; employees who feel their work holds significance are more likely to go above and beyond, exhibiting greater creativity and innovation (Michaelson et al., 2014). ...
Introduction
This study examines the influence of teacher job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness on the psychological well-being of Chinese teachers. The focus is on understanding how these constructs contribute to teacher well-being through a mixed-methods approach.
Methods
A two-stage structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted using quantitative data collected from 406 in-service Chinese teachers. The study also incorporated a qualitative phase involving digital ethnography within online teaching communities to provide deeper insights into teachers’ experiences.
Results
The quantitative analysis revealed significant positive direct effects of job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness on psychological well-being, with work meaningfulness showing the strongest effect. The mediating role of work meaningfulness partially explained the relationships between job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and teacher well-being. The qualitative findings supported and expanded upon these results, emphasizing the role of a supportive school community and strong administrative leadership.
Discussion
The results suggest that enhancing job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness can significantly contribute to teachers’ psychological well-being. These findings provide actionable insights for school leaders and policymakers in the Chinese educational system to foster environments that promote teacher well-being.
... This "aesthetic loss of control" can result in feelings of alienation, where artists feel estranged from their creations, negatively affecting their job satisfaction and overall well-being (Michaelson et al., 2014;Pattakos & Dundon, 2017). The integration of AI in the creative process may lead to these experiences, undermining the artist's sense of purpose and fulfillment, which is closely tied to their ability to express their identity and values through their art (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Schwartz, 1982). ...
In an era of technological ubiquity, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping not only industries but also fundamental human experiences, including artistic creativity. Rooted in a Posthumanist theoretical framework, this research scrutinizes the intricate ethical and aesthetic challenges that artists confront in AI-enabled art creation, with a particular focus on a novel phenomenon we term 'aesthetic loss of control.’ This phenomenon bears significant implications for notions of authorship, copyright, and business ethics in the art industry. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, our study involves a six-month-long collaboration with 34 artists from diverse artistic and cultural milieus, facilitated by AI algorithms versed in an array of artistic styles. Through iterative cycles of human input and AI output, coupled with in-depth interviews, observational studies, and diary analyses, we meticulously document the artists’ experiences and their emerging doubts over authorship and creative control. Our findings illuminate the nuanced complexities surrounding this 'aesthetic loss of control,’ extending current discussions in business ethics by offering empirically grounded insights and recommendations for navigating these ethical dilemmas. The study not only contributes new theoretical perspectives to the discourse but also provides actionable ethical guidelines for stakeholders in the art industry's commercial ecosystem.
... Looking at the darker side of work meaningfulness, employees who find their work meaningful may end up working long, erratic hours that may affect their work-life balance and undermine their close relationships outside of work Oelberger, 2019). Although research results point to belonging and unity as core elements of meaningfulness (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Rosso et al., 2010), employees who experience work meaningfulness may feel a sense of belonging to the company. Nevertheless, other aspects of relatedness, such as collaboration, will not flourish without efficient and well-implemented processes, clearly defined roles, and a strategic road map. ...
While employees actively seek out workplaces that offer meaningful work experiences, the concept of meaningful work remains notably underexplored within the turnover literature. The present study addresses this gap by examining the role of work meaningfulness among knowledge workers and its direct and indirect effects on turnover intentions and job satisfaction through the lens of self-determination theory. Our findings show significant effects on turnover intentions and job satisfaction, with work meaningfulness emerging as a stronger predictor of job satisfaction, while still contributing to reducing turnover intentions. Most extant literature focuses on sources and ways to enhance work meaningfulness. We contribute to more recent research on its relationship with its outcomes especially the link with turnover intentions, offering insight into a relationship that has produced few, but conflicting,results.
... Scholars advocating a "worker-centric perspective" acknowledge employees' active role in shaping their sense of meaningfulness (De Boeck et al., 2019). Instead of being inherent to the job, meaningful work is viewed as something actively crafted by the employee (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009;Pratt and Ashforth, 2003). ...
Purpose
Meaningfulness at work means experience of work as important, satisfying and valuable. It is a key factor in promoting individual growth, strengthening the belief in one's own abilities and supporting a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization. In this paper, we explore managers' perceptions of meaningful work in the future, focusing on managers' talk about meaningful work and its promotion in their organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for the study consists of 25 stories of future working life collected from Finnish managers in spring 2022, using the empathy-based method.
Findings
From managers' stories of future working life, we identified two overarching perception categories of meaningful work: (1) Perceptions of contexts underlining the experience of meaningfulness: evolving technologies, developing expertise and demands and change in working life values and (2) Perceptions of management practices determining meaningful work: leader-centered, distant and technical management practice versus participatory and interactive management practice.
Originality/value
The research produces a new and detailed understanding of the ways in which managers talk about decreasing and increasing meaningfulness at work and management practices related to it. As the research is qualitative in nature and based on a small dataset, its results cannot be generalized. Instead, it strengthens and sharpens the previous understanding of meaningful work and the future of work.
... SRHRM contains various kinds of training and development practices, which not only aim to develop employees' socially responsible values but also make them aware of how their company contributes to the welfare of multiple stakeholders, such as beneficiaries (Shen & Benson, 2016;Zhang et al., 2021). These practices constitute caring and benevolent work conditions, which make employees perceive that their work is important and valuable, thus improving their work meaningfulness (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Consistent with these arguments, scholars have found that organizations with socially responsible values enhance employees' work meaningfulness (Brieger et al., 2020). ...
Extant studies have shown that socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) brings beneficial effects on employees’ work outcomes. However, little attention has been given to the effect of SRHRM on employee resilience from a balanced perspective. This study draws on conversation of resources theory to examine how and when SRHRM influences employee resilience from a balanced perspective. Using two scenario-based experiments and one multi-wave field study, results show that SRHRM can enhance employee resilience by increasing work meaningfulness, but it can also deplete employee resilience by draining resources. Moreover, organization-set performance goal weakens the positive relationship between SRHRM and employees’ work meaningfulness. Organization-set performance goal also magnifies the positive relationship between SRHRM and employees’ resource depletion. This study presents theoretical and practical implications on how organizations can precisely promote employee resilience.
... This reciprocal exchange of ethical behaviors between leaders and followers cultivates positive organizational conditions where employees feel connected to their work and motivated to contribute to the collective goals of the organization (Wang and Xu, 2019). By exemplifying ethical behavior and influencing those within the organization, ethical leaders create and promote an ethical organizational setting (Demirtas and Akdogan, 2015) where employees are likely to purse commendable objectives and actions, thereby contributing to an elevated sense of meaningfulness in their work (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009;May et al., 2014;Michaelson et al., 2014). ...
Purpose
Based on the theories of social learning, social exchange and social identity, this study aims to examine the impact of ethical leadership on organizational attractiveness and diversity-valuing behavior as well as the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness in the public healthcare sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Data in this study was collected from 545 nurses working in Palestinian hospitals. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results show positive effect of ethical leadership on organizational attractiveness and diversity-valuing behavior. The findings likewise support the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness on the focal relationships.
Originality/value
This study follows a more comprehensive and a multitheoretical approach and it uses a novel model in an underexamined setting, which is the nursing sector.
... The aim of meaningful work (EE4) is to overcome its opposite, namely, meaningless work (UC4). Although the meaninglessness of work and meaningfulness of work are-as previously discussed (UC4)-now understood broadly in the business ethics literature in terms of purpose, form and organisation (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Martela, 2023;Michaelson et al., 2013), emancipation in the nation-state, in practice, has traditionally taken a very specific approach towards meaningful work. ...
Academic and public debate is continuing about whether digital nomadism, a new Internet-enabled phenomenon in which digital workers adopt a neo-nomadic global lifestyle, represents ‘real’ emancipation for knowledge workers—or if it is, instead, the opposite. Based on a field study of digital nomadism, and accepting a pluralist approach to emancipation, we analyse the ‘emancipatory project(s)’ that digital nomads engage in. This analysis, following Weberian idealtypes, employs a tripartite structure: unsatisfactory conditions (what people want to overcome); emancipatory means (actions taken); and emancipatory ends (desired outcomes). We critically compare digital nomadism to the traditional descriptions of emancipatory projects in nation-state contexts, as found in prior literature, using the same analytical framework. Juxtaposing these idealtypes, we discuss similarities and differences and analyse their inherent assumptions, logics and ethical stances. We conclude that digital nomadism generates an emancipation that is very much ‘real’ for digital nomads, whose experience cannot be disregarded, but with a ‘postmodern’ ethos that is at odds with modernity and its ethos originating from the Enlightenment.
... Systems thinking can be linked to the value of harmony as a dynamic, generative process that seeks to balance and reconcile differences and conflicts through creativity and mutual transformation (Li 2014). Harmony can be achieved at three levels: within a person, between people, and in the relationship between people and nature (Mak et al. 2020). ...
This chapter, entitled “Critical review of the concept of the learning organization and the learning enterprise,” from the third part of the book Managing learning Enterprises, entitled “Possibilities of implementing the concept of a learning organization and enterprise,” analyzes Senge’s philosophy of learning organization from the aspect of learning disciplines with the aim of establishing that it is impossible to apply the original concept without considering and applying the missing link—spirituality or spiritual practice. Based on the literature review, the complementarity of spiritual practice with the learning organization disciplines is demonstrated with the aim of providing guidelines for applying the original concept of the learning organization based on the synergistic efforts of individuals dedicated to learning and spirituality. This chapter also answers the question of previous authors as to whether the learning organization is just a myth, as well as whether the learning organization is still alive. It also refutes the thesis that spiritual practice causes passivity; on the contrary, it supports the transcendental aspirations of learning individuals and learning organizations.
... Meaningfulness at work is an important factor driving the entrepreneur's perceived well-being (Stephan et al., 2020). Meaningful work requires autonomy, control, skill, and task significance (Hackman & Oldham, 1976), as well as personal expression and authenticity (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Rosso et al., 2010). African American and Black entrepreneurs tend to perceive working in their venture as more attractive and purposeful than working in a salaried job, as the business is a place where they can express their values and identity. ...
We focus on the role of racial identity in the entrepreneurial journey, its antecedents and expected outcomes. Building on entrepreneurial identity and racial identity literatures, we analyze 21 reflective interviews featuring African American and Black entrepreneurs leading successful businesses to develop a racial identity approach to entrepreneurship. Findings uncover that the relevance of racial identity, often perceived as a liability before embarking on entrepreneurial endeavors, triggers entrepreneurial action to escape racial segregation and discrimination. Within the context of the venture, racial identity manifests in two distinct ways: (a) through a value proposition and target market defined by racial centrality and ideology, showing how racial identity may be an asset; and conversely, (b) through racial salience when accessing resources, reflecting racial identity as liability. Creating a venture with a strong racial identity is an essential aspect of its racialized meaningfulness. The entrepreneur aims to provide a racial role model from the African American community to empower future generations and reinforce the perception of racial identity as a valuable asset. Our study challenges the notion of race-neutral entrepreneurship and supports that entrepreneurship is an emancipation mechanism for racial minorities.
... Hence, their meaningful work model, also known as the Comprehensive Meaningful Work Scale, is divided into four quadrants, namely 'developing and becoming self' (self/being), 'expressing self' (self/doing), 'unity with others' (others/being) and 'serving others' (others/doing). All four sources contribute to creating work meaningfulness across different generations and occupations (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009;Weeks and Schaffert, 2019). ...
The unstable employment trajectories and low wages of Chilean workers mean that the amount of savings accrued in pension funds are often insufficient to cope with the high costs of living in the country, compelling many older adults to remain in the labour market. Although financial need seems to be an important reason for post-retirement work in Chile, a national survey revealed that a majority of older workers would like to remain employed even if there were no economic need. Hence, this research aims at exploring the intrinsic work motivation of older Chilean adults beyond retirement age. This qualitative study is the second phase of mixed-methods research to analyse the factors influencing post-retirement work in Chile. A total of 32 in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with older workers in the formal labour market who were legally entitled to retire but continued being economically active in Santiago, Chile. The data are analysed using thematic analysis. We identify three main emerging themes, namely the meaning that work gives to life, future projects and post-retirement orientations, and work as the primary source of social interaction. The findings of this study provide valuable insight into intrinsic work motivation, highlighting important gender and occupational differences. It makes a significant contribution not only to the literature but also potentially to national policy makers as well as employers, indicating the need to adjust the labour market to the ageing workforce.
... Employees are also motivated to improve themselves to narrow the discrepancy (Kerr & Landauer, 2004). These potential opportunities for growth and development can increase employees' perceived work meaningfulness (Bailey et al., 2019;Fletcher, 2019;Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Second, the extreme novelty underscores that the methods to reach the goals is unknown (Sitkin et al., 2011), which requires employees to think out of the box and seek creative ways (Ahmadi et al., 2022;Hamel & Prahalad, 1993;Rousseau, 1997). ...
Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, we examine how and when stretch goals affect work effort and cheating behavior. We conduct an online experimental study (Study 1, N = 194) and a three-wave field study (Study 2, N = 298) to test our hypotheses. Results show that trait resilience moderates the relationship between stretch goals and work meaningfulness. When trait resilience of employees is high, stretch goals generate work meaningfulness, which in turn promotes work effort. Meanwhile, stretch goals are indirectly related to cheating behavior through emotional exhaustion. Moreover, trait resilience alleviates the link between stretch goals and emotional exhaustion and the indirect effect of stretch goals on cheating behavior through emotional exhaustion. The present study provides important theoretical and practical implications.
... The choice was due to the chosen conceptual model, which evaluates meaningful work by a psychological-humanist approach, bringing individuals as constructors of significance, who value their own work by asking themselves: why is it worth doing my job? Boeck et al., 2019;Both-Nwabuwe et al., 2017;Lepisto & Pratt, 2017;Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Lips-Wiersma & Wright, 2012;Martela & Pessi, 2018;May Martelaet al., 03;Rosso It should be noted that meaningful work is a phenomenon linked to individual experiences and therefore the meaning is flexible, since actions have multiple meanings and each individual can focus more on one action than on another in a particular way (Carton, 2018). Due to its breadth, to better understand this phenomenon, it is important to improve the ideas, the reasons and the underlying reasons. ...
Objective: This article explores the concept of meaningful work in a multifaceted context, focusing on the different social positions that act as leaders and the roles played by these leaders. The study, carried out with collaborators from Brazilian startups, adopts an exploratory qualitative approach, combined with descriptive elements to capture the essence of meaningful work from the perspective of participants. Thus, its goal was to investigate the relationships between social positions, leadership roles, and meaningful work experiences, providing insights for leaders, human resource managers, and professionals involved in startups. Method: Qualitative research involved interviews with collaborators from Brazilian startups, exploring significant work experiences. The study adopts a descriptive approach to present the essence of the phenomenon. Results and Conclusions: The results identified several social positions (manager, colleague, working group, family, etc.) and leadership roles (sensei mentor, inspirational example, etc.) that influence positively or negatively the significant work experiences. Leaders play crucial roles in promoting a meaningful work environment, impacting employees’ perception of the value and significance of their work activities. Research Implications: The insights in this study offer opportunities for executives, human resource managers and startup leaders to improve work environments by promoting more meaningful experiences for their employees. It also highlights the importance of developing leadership in organizations. Originality/Value: This study stands out by exploring the intersection between social positions, leadership roles and meaningful work. It contributes to the practical understanding of how different leaders and their functions influence the work experience, offering a valuable and original perspective in the context of Brazilian startups.
... Leadership approaches associated with employee experiences of meaningful work include transformational leadership, empowering leadership, and ethical leadership (Lysova et al., 2019). Studies on each of these leadership approaches indicate that, in general, leadership behaviors that facilitate employees' self-awareness and personal development, give autonomy, provide meaningful recognition, create a sense of unity, and connect everyday work to a larger other-centered purpose can create the conditions for meaningful work (Lysova et al., 2019;Frémeaux & Pavageau, 2020;Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). Also, a leader's integrity or "moral correctness" (as evidenced by espousing and enacting values like justice, fairness, equity, and dignity) can create a socio-moral climate which is linked to employee experiences of meaningful work (Demirtas et al., 2017). ...
... This is built on the 'workcentric perspective' on meaningful work, which suggests that work itself, rather than individual attributes, plays a key role in fostering meaningful work (De Boeck et al., 2019). However, this stream of research has been criticized for neglecting individuals' fundamental need for meaningful work (Bailey, 2017;Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009). ...
Although leadership is an important driver of employees' psychological well-being, questions remain as to how leaders' behaviors shape employees' thriving at work. The present study examines how individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation differently impact employees' vitality and learning (thriving at work) via different affective and cognitive routes. Using a serial mediation model, we propose that leaders exhibiting individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation behaviors are perceived by employees as warm and competent. These perceptions foster employees' affective and cognitive trust in their leaders, subsequently promoting vitality and learning. To correspond with our proposed mediation model, we adopted a study design that involved four waves of data collected from Indian managerial employees. The results support the serial mediation model. Our study provides a precise understanding of the psychological processes that facilitate employee thriving. It also provides insights for practitioners seeking to understand why employees thrive and explore strategies to promote their well-being.
... Work meaningfulness is experienced at the intersection of these two dimensions and may differ for individuals with respect to the degree they focus on self-expression or working with others as sources of meaningful work. Other-oriented work views generally broaden or expand the self for greater experiences of work meaningfulness (Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009;Rosso et al., 2010). Building on the work of Rosso et al. (2010), our proposed framework (Figure 1) illumines four psychosocial pathways toward meaningful work in the digital-era workspace: Self-agency, other-agency, self-communion and other-communion. ...
Orientation: The way people view and experience their work and workplaces is fundamental to the extent to which employees find meaning in work. Research that examines individuals’ views about the more turbulent and disruptive technology-enhanced work world seems to be scant.Research purpose: The present study sheds light on the extent to which individuals’ personal philosophy and Africanisation views on the work world inform pathways to meaningful work in the digital-era workspace.Research approach/design and method: The study applied a qualitative, grounded-theory research approach to inductively gain deeper insight into participants’ views of the digital era work world from their responses on an open-ended research questionnaire. A randomly chosen sample of (N = 486) undergraduate students participated in the study.Main findings: The findings illuminated four psychosocial pathways and their resources toward meaningful work in the digital-era workspace: Self-agency, other-agency, self-communion and other-communion.Practical/managerial implications: Employers and practitioners should explore strategies for enhancing work meaningfulness in today’s more turbulent technology-driven work world.Contribution/value-add: The study contributed an integrative model of psychosocial pathways and resources toward meaningful work in the digital workspace. The model informs practices for fostering meaningful work in technology-enhanced workspaces.
Penelitian ini bertujuan mengeskplorasi pengaruh gaya kepemimpinan transformasional terhadap kinerja karyawan, gaya kepemimpinan transformasional terhadap motivasi kerja, motivasi kerja terhadap kinerja karyawan, gaya kepemimpinan transformasional terhadap kinerja karyawan dengan motivasi sebagai mediasi,gaya kepemimpinan transformasional terhadap persepsi kebermaknaan kerja, dan persepsi kebermaknaan kerja terhadap motivasi kerja. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode survey yang menyebarkan kuesioner secara online kepada 325 orang karyawan yang bekerja pada bagian staf administrasi di kantor pusat industri manufaktur di wilayah DKI Jakarta. Responden penelitian ini dipilih dengan metode purposive sampling. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode Structural Equation Model (SEM). Dari hasil penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa gaya kepemimpinan transformasional tidak berpengaruh terhadap kinerja karyawan, gaya kepemimpinan transformasional berpengaruh terhadap motivasi kerja, motivasi kerja berpengaruh terhadap terhadap kinerja karyawan, gaya kepemimpinan transformasional memiliki pengaruh terhadap kinerja karyawan dengan motivasi sebagai mediasi, gaya kepemimpinan transformasional berpengaruh terhadap persepsi kebermaknaan kerja, persepsi kebermaknaan kerja berpengaruh terhadap motivasi kerja. Disarankan pada penelitian berikutnya dapat dilakukan analisis mengenai gaya kepemimpinan transformasional pada bidang atau sektor industri lain yang cakupan wilayahnya lebih luas. Kedua, dapat dilakukan penelitian lebih lanjut dengan melibatkan pekerja yang tidak hanya bekerja di kantor pusat sebagai pegawai administrasi tetapi juga melibatkan pekerja di bidang lain, seperti pegawai operasional lapangan di pabrik.
This study explores how Chinese Buddhist business owners navigate the intersection of their professional and religious identities and how this shapes their perceptions of career success. Through qualitative interviews with 31 Buddhist Chinese business owners, we introduce the concept of 'identity synchronisation' to explain how individuals manage multiple, potentially conflicting identities. Our findings reveal that participants maintain distinct yet mutually reinforcing professional and religious identities, leading to a holistic conceptualisation of career success encompassing both material achievements and spiritual fulfilment. This process of identity syn-chronisation influences ethical decision-making, leadership approaches, and definitions of success. Our analysis extends social identity theory by demonstrating how individuals actively synchro-nise seemingly disparate identities, challenging the notion that work and religious identities are inherently conflicting. The study contributes to understanding how religious identity shapes work experiences in diverse business contexts and offers insights for organisations supporting multiple identity expressions. It provides a foundation for exploring how diverse identities influence workplace dynamics in an increasingly globalised environment. ARTICLE HISTORY
Purpose
The rise of app-based work in the gig economy, particularly within the food delivery sector, challenges traditional employment paradigms and raises questions about the potential for achieving meaningful work experiences. This study explores whether such work can be considered meaningful for food delivery couriers in Poland.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopts a qualitative, case-study approach, conducting 30 in-depth interviews with food delivery couriers in Poland. The study investigates how these workers perceive the meaningfulness of their work, focusing on the interplay between subjective and organisational aspects of their work.
Findings
The findings reveal that despite the precarious nature of app-based work, couriers often find meaningful experiences through perceived autonomy, gamified control and the physical demands of their job. The study highlights the dual nature of app work, where the same elements that contribute to worker engagement and a sense of independence also perpetuate exploitation and job insecurity.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s reliance on a convenience sample of 30 interviews conducted via social media may not represent the broader population of food delivery couriers. Future research should expand the sample size and include a more diverse range of participants to improve generalisability.
Practical implications
The insights from this study can inform platform designers and policymakers to create more supportive environments for gig workers. Enhancing algorithmic transparency, providing better social protections and implementing fair gamification strategies can help mitigate the negative aspects of gig work and improve job satisfaction.
Social implications
The study underscores the need for regulatory changes to ensure minimum guaranteed earnings and health and safety provisions for gig workers. By fostering a supportive and transparent work environment, the gig economy can better contribute to worker well-being and social equity.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the limited body of literature on meaningful work within the gig economy, particularly focusing on food delivery couriers in Poland. It provides new insights into how workers create and perceive meaningful work in a highly digitised and algorithmically managed environment.
Drawing from the social learning theory (SLT), this study aims to examine the relationship between responsible leadership behavioral styles (RLBS) (instrumental and integrative) and employees' innovative work behaviors (IWBs). This study also examines the mediating role of meaningful work (MFW) and the moderating role of knowledge sharing (KS) in the relationship between RLBS and IWBs. Data were collected from 230 employees at different levels working in the public and private sectors. The SPSS PROCESS macros were used to analyze moderated mediation, mediation, and moderation results. All the hypothesized relationships are supported, except the mediating role of MFW in the relationship between integrative RLBS and IWBs, which is partially supported. The findings demonstrated that KS strengthens the instrumental and integrative RLBS' direct effect on MFW and its indirect effect on employees' IWBs. This paper provides a unique theoretical contribution to the effect of RLBS on IWBs in the organization. Instrumental (effective decision‐making and task orientation) and integrative (motivation and welfare orientation) RLBS would be helpful to industrial experts and academicians in creating an innovative work environment for employees in the organization.
This book is a first-of-its-kind critical interdisciplinary introduction to the economic, political, cultural, and technological dimensions of work and labor in the rapidly growing digital media and entertainment industries (DMEI). The book presents a comprehensive guide to understanding the key contexts, theories, methods, debates, and struggles surrounding work and labor in the DMEI. Packed with current examples and accessible research findings, the book highlights the changing conditions and experiences of work in the DMEI. It surveys the DMEI’s key sectors and occupations and considers the complex intersections between labor and social power relations of class, gender, and race, as well as tensions between creativity and commerce, freedom and control, meritocracy and hierarchy, and precarity and equity, diversity, and inclusivity. Chapters also explore how work in the DMEI is being reshaped by capitalism and corporations, government and policies, management, globalization, platforms, A.I., and worker collectives such as unions and cooperatives. This book is a critical introduction to this growing area of research, teaching, learning, life, labor, and organizing, with an eye to understanding work in the DMEI and changing it, for the better. Offering a broad overview of the field, this textbook is an indispensable resource for instructors, undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars.
The achievement of organizational environmental sustainability relies on voluntary employee green behavior (VEGB). While VEGB has received increasing attention from scholars, little attention has so far been paid to the effects on the actors who exhibit this behavior. The question of whether performing VEGB is an enriching or depleting experience for employees needs more exploration. To address the research gaps, we adopt an enrichment-based perspective, arguing that engaging in VEGB can enrich employees who perform it. Drawing from the worker-centric approach to work meaningfulness, we propose a theoretical framework to examine how engaging in VEGB daily can lead to greater benefits for certain employees. We conducted an experience sampling study involving 114 full-time employees. To test our hypotheses, we employed hierarchical linear modeling. Our findings show that engaging in VEGB is meaningful for employees with higher environmental commitment. Subsequently, the meaningfulness experienced through VEGB improves in-role and extra-role performance (self-reported job performance and helping behavior) on the following workday. We contribute to both employee pro-environmental behavior literature and work meaningfulness literature, and we discuss practical implications for both managers and employees.
Global social, ecological and economic crises are contributing to the need for meaningfulness in different spheres of life, including work, as an increasing concern to employees. However, the current understanding of meaningfulness is bound by its normativity and thus does not meet the uncertainty present in today’s work. We utilize the Levinasian concept of “the Other” to provide a non-normative conceptualization of meaningfulness in the context of corporate volunteering (CV) and empirically explore work meaningfulness in CV projects in Poland and Finland. We find work meaningfulness to arise from proximity to the Other and the otherness of the Other. Our study contributes to the discussion on meaningful work in the fields of business ethics and management studies through a non-normative reconceptualization of meaningfulness.
The cultural transformations experienced by the occidental world since the decade of 1960 led to a modification of the relationship that the teachers used to have with their educational profession. They went over from a vocation to a profession without further ado. This is the idea that François Dubet puts forward in his analysis of what he calls the “decline of the institution”. In this article, we started by considering this theory in order to put to the test its pertinence and to understand the relationship that the university teachers construct with their profession. By means of interviews in a private university, we demonstrate that what prevails is a conception and a relation with the teaching labor that can be assimilated with a vocational commitment based on a belief in a “missionary” dimension of university teaching.
Purpose
This study examines the role of meaningful work in mediating the relationship between employees’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovative behavior. This study further examines how co-worker support, both instrumental and emotional, moderates the meaningful work–innovative behavior relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing survey data from 355 employees in South Korea with a two-wave longitudinal design, path modeling with the M-plus PROCESS macro was performed to analyze the mediation and second-stage moderated mediation effects.
Findings
The results showed that the relationship between employee CSR perceptions and innovative behavior was mediated by meaningful work. Co-worker instrumental support strengthened the meaningful work–innovative behavior relationship, whereas co-worker emotional support had no significant moderating effect. The three-way interaction analysis indicated that the meaningful work–innovative behavior relationship was weakest when co-worker instrumental support was low. Additionally, instrumental support by co-workers moderated the indirect effect of CSR perceptions on innovative behavior via meaningful work.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the literature on CSR perceptions and meaningful work. Our focus on meaningful work as a key psychological mechanism provides insights into how and why employee CSR perceptions promote desirable outcomes including innovative behavior, an underexplored yet important outcome. Furthermore, by identifying co-worker instrumental support as a significant boundary condition, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the social context that promotes innovative behavior.
Learning as a central focus in the discourse on professional development is well grounded in the educational and professional development literature. Yet, despite this consensus, and significant research on how professionals learn, most professional development and continuing professional education (CPE) practices continue to focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. This paper provides an update and overview of adult education’s ongoing critique of and contributions to debates about the aims, structure, and purposes of continuing professional development and CPE. The author profiles a long-standing and continuing effort by educational scholars to reclaim this vital area of study and practice, in order to bring their learning focus as well as their critical questions to bear on it.
Those who find their work meaningful often need to be more committed. Over-commitment, in turn, frequently results in stress, personal conflicts, and burnout. Such over-commitment, in other words, leads to employees needing to take more care of themselves. This paper considers the prospects for meaningful self-care in the context of working time reduction. For this, we consider the case of the four-day workweek, asking employees of such organizations to explain how they make meaning out of their newly found time off. Conceptually, we rely upon the work of Michel Foucault, particularly his analysis of the care of the self. On its basis, we coded five self-care practices: (1) rest and recuperation, (2) professional and personal development, (3) domestic work, (4) balancing work, and (5) additional work. We conclude by highlighting the theoretical and practical implications of work reduction for the analytical, ethical, and practical pursuit of meaningful work.
Why do individuals find their work meaningful and what is the role of worthwhile contributions in this experience? We undertake an analysis of accounts related by individuals working as nurses, creative artists and lawyers in which they explain why they find their work meaningful. Drawing on the traditions of critical discourse and narrative analysis, and informed by French pragmatic sociology, we move beyond a focus on what is said to consider how accounts are structured in explanations of meaningfulness. We find meaningfulness to be discursively constituted in the judgement that work makes a worthwhile contribution to others or wider society. We add theoretically to the literature on meaningful work, first, by revealing worthwhile contributions to be a complex, three-fold evaluation comprising the value attached by the individual to their contribution, validation from others that aligns with the individual’s own evaluation concerning the worth of the contribution and the individual’s self-efficacy belief that they are able to make the contribution. Second, we build bridges between hitherto disconnected branches of the meaningful work literature grounded in positive psychology on the one hand and moral worth on the other by showing how judgements of worth are fundamental to the experience of meaningfulness.
This study aims to investigate the influence of self-awareness on students’ ethical compliance, examine the impact of self-integrity on students’ ethical compliance, explore the effect of self-regulation on students’ ethical compliance, and analyze the influence of ethics education on students’ ethical compliance. Additionally, the research investigates whether ethics education taught in schools or universities has a greater impact compared to an individual’s personality on students’ ethical compliance. The population in this study comprises students in Indonesia. Data collection involves distributing questionnaires through Google Forms, allowing one month for questionnaire completion. The study employs a significance level of 5% to examine the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable. The research findings demonstrate that self-awareness, self-integrity, self-regulation, and ethics education have significant influences on students’ ethical compliance. Furthermore, the study reveals that ethics education does not have a higher impact on students’ ethical compliance compared to the individual’s personality. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that students possess good self-awareness, high levels of self-integrity, and self-regulation, and understand the ethics education they receive, as this will help enhance students’ ethics compliance.
Despite the meaningfulness of one’s work being of crucial professional and personal importance, in HRD, it remains understudied. Employing narrative interviews, this research retrospectively explores the formation and transformation of the process of work’s meaningfulness. A sensemaking approach and the critical incident technique were applied. The data, collected during interviews with 16 HR managers, consisted of 37 critical incidents. This research contributes to the understanding of the dilemma of meaningfulness’ dual nature by showing how work meaningfulness can change through an exploration of the role of meaning mechanisms in the experience and dynamic formation of meaningful work. Furthermore, it augments our knowledge about how ambivalent, complex, and critical situations affect their work as meaningful. It presents possible scenarios and phases of this process. It also shows how a critical situation can lead to a re-evaluation of the sources of meaningfulness. It explores how the ambivalence and ambiguity inherent in HR managers’ role affects the meaningfulness of their work. The practical implication of the findings emphasises HRD professionals’ responsibility to monitor the extent to which employees experience their work to be meaningful and to intervene as needed, while the methodological implication is a further distinction between sensemaking and meaningfulness-making processes.
The teaching profession, intrinsically vocational, bestows upon its practitioners a deep sense of meaning and personal dedication. However, this personal commitment can be affected by the constant evolution of labour demands, exacerbated by the increasing technification of education. Both these needs, at a personal and organisational level, can lead to the development of emotional exhaustion, a psychological state manifesting with increased frequency in the educational sector. In this context, and referencing the job demands-resources model, we propose a model focused on the examination of the role according to the positive meaning in modulating emotional exhaustion. The research was conducted with a sample of 213 secondary school teachers in southern Spain, using a survey methodology. All data were analysed throughout the SPSS and Smart PLS statistical programs. The obtained results indicate that the presence of positive meaningful work has a negative impact on emotional exhaustion, technocomplexity and work-family conflict. Furthermore, the negative effect of positive meaning work on work-family conflict was stronger for teachers with greater experience. This study enhances the understanding of teacher well-being, suggesting the update of theoretical models to reflect current labour complexities, promoting managerial strategies and flexible policies to mitigate emotional exhaustion and foster a healthy working environment.
Purpose: The aim of this study is to test for a moderating role of employee participation in volunteering in links between employees' relationships with peers and supervisors, work meaningfulness (WM) and affective commitment (AC).
Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a survey conducted on a sample of 711 employees, both those involved and those non-involved in corporate volunteering (CV).
Findings: The results suggest that employee participation in CV strengthens the effects that employees' perceptions of positive relationships with peers and perceived supervisor support (PSS) have on employees' AC. Contrary to expectations, although participation in CV strengthens employees' sense of WM, it does not affect its links with other phenomena analyzed in this study.
Originality/value: CV is a fast-growing practice in corporate social responsibility. The reasons companies implement CV include the benefits they gain from it, such as positive effects on employee attitudes and behaviors. The paper contributes to the understanding of CV effects on employee attitudes and behaviors and builds a better business case for this CSR practice.
Justice in production is concerned with ensuring the benefits and burdens of work are distributed in a way that is reflective of persons' status as moral equals. While a variety of accounts of productive justice have been offered, insufficient attention has been paid to the distribution of work's benefits and burdens in the future. In this article, after granting for the sake of argument forecasts of widespread future technological unemployment, we consider the implications this has for egalitarian requirements of productive justice. We argue that in relation to all the benefits affiliated with work, other than undertaking social contribution, the technological replacement of work is unproblematic as these benefits could in principle be attained elsewhere. But because social contribution uniquely corresponds to work (when work is understood as more than a paid job), the normative assessment of technological unemployment will turn on the value that theories of justice give to contributive activity. We then argue that despite technological replacement being plainly beneficial insofar as it relieves persons from the burdens of work, such as dangerous work or drudgery, because the nature of care work makes it less susceptible to technological replacement, egalitarian concern will require the burdens of care work to be shared equally between individuals.
The occupational images associated with paid care work for older adults range from a job carried out by earthly angels to a form of stigmatized dirty work: This ambiguity makes maintaining a committed long-term care workforce challenging. Encouraging careworkers to view their work as meaningful has been touted as a potential solution. Moving beyond a purely subjective approach to meaningfulness, we explore how careworkers construe their work as meaningful and how relational others influence careworkers’ ability to speak about meaningfulness. Others’ messages matter, although their importance depends on relational others’ knowledge of care tasks and involvement in the care relationship. By documenting how others’ accounts both enhance and compromise careworkers’ ability to speak about meaningfulness and moments of meaninglessness, our study identifies sources of meaningfulness for careworkers, a socially essential workforce under-examined by meaningful work research, and extends meaningful work research in contexts where relationships are central to occupational identity.
Työn merkityksellisyys on tärkeäksi tunnustettu ja monilla eri tieteenaloilla tutkittu teema. Kuitenkaan, sen käsitteestä ei vallitse yksimielisyyttä. Tässä artikkeli tarkastellaan työn merkityksellisyyttä matkailualalla kontekstissa. Matkailuala on herkkä globaaleille ja esimerkiksi, pandemia iski alaan rajusti ja syvensi olemassa olevia haasteita, kuten ammattitaitoisen työvoiman puutetta ja matkailutyössä koettuja epäkohtia. Matkailutyön sosiaalisen vastuullisuuden teemoja ja merkityksellistä työtä on tutkittu vielä melko vähän. Tässä artikkelissa työn merkityksellisyyden kokemus pyritään nivomaan osaksi kestävää ja hyvää matkailutyötä. Artikkelin tavoitteena muodostaa yleiskatsaus merkityksellisestä työstä matkailualan tutkimuksessa käytävään keskusteluun ja antaa esimerkkejä nykyisistä kehittämishankkeista. Artikkeli pyrkii tarjoamaan yhteenvedon aiemmista tutkimuksista, ja tunnistamaan näkökohtia, jotka ovat saattaneet jäädä huomiotta, ja näin ollen edistämään ilmiön parempaa ymmärtämistä matkailutyön kontekstissa.
With the release of the Moominvalley (2019–) animated TV series, the Moomin characters have once again appeared on screens across the world. Whether this newest adaptation of Tove Jansson’s books and comic strips will initiate a new ‘Moomin boom’ remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the re-appearance of the Moomins in domestic (Finnish) and international media has sparked a resurgence of nostalgia among audiences already familiar with the characters. The present study examines what meanings are attributed to the Moomin stories and sites associated with them in the context of media-induced tourism. The study draws on seven English-language press articles featuring authors’ observations and reflections on their visits to places with connections to the Moomins and/or Tove Jansson in Finland. The personal importance of Jansson’s works and associated locations for these members of the audience is revealed through analysis of the notions of belonging and nostalgia in their accounts. On a wider sociocultural level, the findings demonstrate that values associated with Jansson’s texts are (re)negotiated in new contexts and found relevant in times of contemporary socioeconomic, political and environmental crises, and that it reflects in how places with connections to her and her works are viewed and experienced. The data further show that themes in the Moomin books are viewed in parallel to what is perceived as Finnish values, such as care for others, equality and respect for nature. Finland is also imagined as a fairytalesque land, both the home of the writer and even of the Moomins themselves.
This comprehensive review paper investigates the intricate relationships among workplace spirituality, organizational commitment, and well-being in the distinctive context of higher education institutions. With the overarching goal of cultivating a supportive and spiritually nurturing workplace environment, this study rigorously explores the presence and impact of spiritual support practices in higher education. Employing a systematic research methodology, 25 pertinent articles were meticulously selected from an initial pool of 130 publications, sourced from platforms such as “Google Scholar,” “Scopus,” “Web of Science,” and “Research Gate.” The discussion section critically examines the interplay between workplace spirituality and organizational commitment, underscoring the crucial distinction between organizational and personal spirituality. It further delves into the implications of workplace spirituality on the well-being of higher education professionals, particularly in light of the evolving challenges and opportunities within academia. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic is acknowledged as a transformative force that has highlighted the pivotal role of academic staff in distinguishing educational institutions. In conclusion, this review paper accentuates the transformative potential of workplace spirituality within the competitive academic landscape. It posits that workplace spirituality engenders positive outcomes for individuals, groups, and organizations, playing a pivotal role in enhancing overall effectiveness. The paper underscores the imperative for higher education institutions to nurture agile and motivated teaching staff, prioritizing their well-being and professional growth. By integrating spirituality into the academic milieu, institutions can foster healthier workspaces, attract and retain top-tier talent, and contribute significantly to the holistic development of their faculty members. In summary, this review paper offers a holistic perspective on optimizing the academic work environment by exploring the complex dynamics of workplace spirituality, organizational commitment, and well-being within higher education institutions.
We propose a new work design model, SMART work design, that identifies five higher order categories of work characteristics, including stimulating work characteristics (task variety, skill variety, information processing requirements, and problem‐solving requirements), mastery work characteristics (job feedback, feedback from others, and role clarity), autonomous work characteristics (decision‐making autonomy, timing autonomy, and method autonomy), relational work characteristics (social support, task significance, and beneficiary contact), and tolerable work characteristics (low levels of: role overload, work–home conflict, and role conflict). Higher order confirmatory factor analysis of working participants provided initial evidence of this structure (Study 1, N = 1107), which was replicated in an additional dataset (Study 2, time 1, N = 709). To provide further evidence, we examined Study 2 data across three waves ( N = 573) to show that each higher order factor at time 1 predicted time 3 job satisfaction either directly or via the theorized time 2 mediators (challenge appraisals, work meaningfulness, fulfillment of relatedness needs, and activated negative affect). In Study 3 ( N = 108), employees' scores on specific higher order variables correlated with leader ratings of performance in the expected ways. The SMART work design model provides a unique integrating and multidimensional theory of work design that extends beyond existing models. The model can be used to facilitate the synthesis of research knowledge and guide scholars and practitioners to diagnose and address contemporary work design challenges.
As change becomes a constant in organizational life, middle managers charged with interpreting, communicating, and implementing change often struggle for meaning. To explore change and managerial sensemaking, we conducted action research at the Danish Lego Company. Although largely absent from mainstream journals, action research offers exceptional access to and support of organizational sensemaking. Through collaborative intervention and reflection, we sought to help managers make sense of issues surfaced by a major restructuring. Results transform paradox from a label to a lens, contributing a process for working through paradox and explicating three organizational change aspects-paradoxes of performing, belonging, and organizing.
The authors argue that the secular and the sacred should be viewed not as mutually exclusive
but as interpenetrated. As the conventional anchors for spiritual strivings loosen
their grip, many work organizations appear increasingly willing to play the role of secular
religion. Secular religions offer transcendence through edifying cosmologies that address
fundamental questions about identity and meaning, without necessarily invoking a
supernatural power. Normative controls are used to instill faith in the often distant ends
of the organization and to sacralize the means through which the ends are pursued.
Founders may become deities of sorts; key insiders may become clergy; jobs, callings;
institutionalized processes, rituals; and failings, sins. However, because a secular religion
is only a claim to a system of meaning, it should inspire not only wonder but wariness.
The authors conclude that a certain ironic distance from such a religion may be
healthy for the individual.
Researchers asked 17 participants in a job-training program to describe their personal struggles following an economic restructuring. Examined through a critical theoretical lens, findings indicate that the learners enrolled in the program to reclaim security, dignity, meaningful work, and caring relationships. Program planners at community colleges are therefore urged to employ democratic program planning models, ask learners about their educational needs as they see them, and listen compassionately to their responses.
Over the last two decades, managerialism (Enteman, 1993) has become consolidated on multiple fronts. As a formula of governance, it has elaborated various vocabularies: the `audit society' (Power, 1997, 2007) has become entrenched in all types of organizations; surveillance methods (Lyon, 2001) have become increasingly dispersed and insidious; and — alongside —`new' concepts of subjectivity and the`self' are used to frame more intense regimes of self-discipline or what Tipton (1984) called `self-work'. These moves have been captured by Heelas (2002), Thrift (1997) and others in the term `soft capitalism'. In this article, we reflect upon this phenomenon by analysing some examples: `culture', `performativity', `knowledge' and `wellness'. Although they belong to a group often described as `fads' and `fashions' and dismissed as managerial `mumbo-jumbo', we suggest that their proliferation indicates a more stable cultural tendency of management discourses to capture subjectivity in its general agenda. We attempt to offer an historical-cultural interpretation from which this range of managerial concepts might be viewed. Our argument suggests that they have a certain cultural coherence that can be perhaps better glimpsed within a wider historical context. As a particular way in which managerialism frames its logic, analysing `soft capitalism' historically offers a reasonable basis for understanding the strength of its hard disciplinary edge as a regime of governance.
This article explores the nature of quality in action research practice. The origins and purposes of action research and its relation to social science methodology are reviewed. Action research is described in terms of four characteristic dimensions—worthwhile practical purposes, democracy and participation, many ways of knowing, and emergent developmental form—that present a broad range of criteria beyond those of the empirical research paradigm against which quality research might be judged. Recent debates concerning validity and quality in qualitative research are explored. It is argued that action research is characteristically full of choices, and the argument is made that quality in inquiry comes from awareness of and transparency about the choices available at each stage of the inquiry.
The author argues that the present mainstream writings on, and debates about "new" ideas of management and theories of organization, lack adequate theoretical assumptions and background. He proposes that those who question the future and efficiency of Western organizations need to rely more on a radical-humanistic and neo-Marxist conceptualization than on the functionalistic tradition. Therefore, management theorists and practitioners should integrate such a concept in order to better understand how to transform the passive-obedient Taylorist employee into an active-cooperative one. To achieve a truly renewed form of management, researchers must adopt a global view of humankind, in order to give workers a significant measure of control over their own environments and working conditions.
This paper presents the results of a participative psycho-biographical study that investigated the effect of spirituality on career behavior. This study shows that spirituality influences career purpose, sense-making and coherence. Spirituality was found to inspire four purposes of “developing and becoming self”, “unity with others”, “expressing self”, and “serving others”. Spirituality was also found to influence an ongoing process of sense-making through discovering, prioritizing and balancing the four purposes over a lifespan, in response to ongoing tensions between “being” and “doing” as well as “self- versus other-orientation”. Spirituality furthermore influences perceived career-coherence as individuals align their careers with perceived spiritual orderings outside of themselves. The paper concludes with suggestions for practice and future research.
The article subjects the assumptions and prescriptions of the ‘Corporate Culture’literature to critical scrutiny. the body of the article is devoted to teasing out the distinctive basis of its appeal compared with earlier management theory. It is seen to build upon earlier efforts (e.g.‘theory Y’) to constitute a self-disciplining form of employee subjectivity by asserting that ‘practical autonomy’is conditional upon the development of a strong corporate culture. the paper illuminates the dark side of this project by drawing attention to the subjugating and totalitarian implications of its excellence/ quality prescriptions. to this end, parallels are drawn with the philosophy of control favoured by the Party in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Specifically, the paper critiques the ‘doublethink’contention that autonomy can be realized in monocultural conditions that systematically constrain opportunities to wrestle with competing values standpoints and their associated life projects.
This article attempts to understand and develop the morality of everyday activities in organizations. Aristotle’s concept
of phronesis, practical wisdom, is utilized to describe the morality of the everyday work activities at two call centres of
an Australian insurance company. The ethnographic data suggests that ethical judgements at the lower level of the organization
are practical rather than theoretical; emergent rather than static; ambiguous rather than clear-cut; and particular rather
than universal. Ethical codes are of limited value here and it is argued that by developing phronesis members of the organization
can improve their capacity to deal with this ethical complexity.
Human dignity, the ability to establish a sense of self-worth and self-respect and to enjoy the respect of others, is necessary for a fully realized life. Working with dignity is a fundamental part of achieving a life well-lived, yet the workplace often poses challenging obstacles because of mismanagement or managerial abuse. Defending dignity and realizing self-respect through work are key to workers' well-being; insuring the dignity of employees is equally important for organizations as they attempt to make effective use of their human capital. In this book Randy Hodson, a sociologist of work and organizational behavior, applies ethnographic and statistical approaches to this topic, offering both a richly detailed, inside look at real examples of dignity in action, and a broader analysis of the pivotal role of dignity at work.
This article critically examines primary processes and effects of the so-called “new organizational culture” that is organized on the principles and practices of Total Quality Management (and its variations) and increasingly practiced in corporate organizations in the 1990s. The paper specifically analyzes the effects of the organizational cultural practices of “family” and “team” on the employee and discusses their role in corporate discipline, integration, and control. Data are drawn from field research conducted in a large multinational corporation and the analyses and interpretive propositions are informed by a critical social psychoanalytic perspective. The paper disputes the conventional view that the practices of the “new culture” and its purported reform of the hierarchical, specialized, conflict-ridden workplaces of traditional industrial organizations “empower” employees and provide “meaningful” relationships in the workplace. It is argued, on the contrary, that these new “designer” cultural practices serve as processes of regulation, discipline, and control of employee subject selves.
As usually understood, professional ethics consists of shared duties and episodic dilemmas: the responsibilities incumbent on all members of specific professions, together with the dilemmas that arise when these responsibilities conflict. This book challenges that "consensus paradigm", rethinking professional ethics to include personal commitments and ideals, including many not mandatory for all members of a profession. Taking these personal commitments seriously expands professional ethics to include neglected issues about moral psychology, character and the virtues, self-fulfillment and betrayal, and the interplay of private and professional life.
Preliminaries philosophy and alienation from phenomenolgy to existentialism "being-in-the-world" dualisms dissolved self and others modes of self-estrangement "Angst", death and absurdity existential freedom existentialism and ethics.
Robert Jackall's Moral Mazes offers an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness. Based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency, Moral Mazes takes the reader inside the intricate world of the corporation. Jackall reveals a world where hard work does not necessarily lead to success, but where sharp talk, self-promotion, powerful patrons, and sheer luck might. Cheerfully-bland public faces mask intense competition in this world where people hide their intentions, and accountability often depends on the ability to outrun mistakes. In this topsy-turvy world, managers must bring often unforgiving technology and always difficult people together to make money, an uncompromising task demanding continual compromises with conventional truths. Moral questions become merely practical concerns and issues of public relations. Sooner or later, managers find themselves wondering how to act in such a world and still maintain a sense of personal integrity. This brilliant, sometimes disturbing, often wildly funny study of corporate thinking, decision-making, and morality presents compelling real life stories of the men and women charged with running the businesses of America. It will interest anyone concerned with how big organizations actually function, or with the current moral malaise in our public life.
The burgeoning line of inquiry and integration of spirituality and management may very well be inspiring managers and scholars to embrace new “metaphysical foundations.” An infusion of spirituality into management necessitates inquiry into new ontological, epistemological, and teleological dimensions of research and practice. This article proposes a preliminary model of a theory of spiritually-informed management that integrates traditional and spiritual approaches to management. The model has three dimensions: (a) awareness: unconsciousness and consciousness; (b) change: translation and transformation; and (c) manifestation: temporal and perennial. The article concludes with an invitation to dialogue and some questions about future research issues: empirical testing of spiritual knowledge systems; unbounded world consciousness; enlightened stakeholder management, spiritually responsible business, and the spiritual transformation of management.
This article critically examines primaryprocesses and effects of the so-called neworganizational culture that is organized on theprinciples and practices of Total Quality Management(and its variations) and increasingly practiced incorporate organizations in the 1990s. The paperspecifically analyzes the effects of the organizationalcultural practices of family and"team" on the employee and discusses their role incorporate discipline, integration, and control. Data aredrawn from field research conducted in a largemultinational corporation and the analyses andinterpretive propositions are informed by a critical socialpsychoanalytic perspective. The paper disputes theconventional view that the practices of the "newculture" and its purported reform of thehierarchical, specialized, conflict-ridden workplaces oftraditional industrial organizationsempower employees and providemeaningful relationships in the workplace.It is argued, on the contrary, that these new designer culturalpractices serve as processes of regulation, discipline,and control of employee subject selves.
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the meaning of work. The study is concerned with eliciting work meanings of spiritually oriented individuals with a view of establishing whether there is a common agenda identifiable and whether spirituality influences work behavior. It was found that in spite of their diversity, all research participants desired to express spiritual life purposes of “developing and becoming self”, “unity with others”, “expressing self” and “serving others” in the workplace. A second finding is that they seek to balance these over time. Furthermore it was found that spirituality clearly influences work behavior as research participants make career transitions if they cannot express their spirituality. Lessons are explored for contemporary organizations interested in retaining spiritually oriented employees.
Widely divergent forms of action research are emerging to meet requirements of new organizational and social environments. Cases in this special issue are tangible examples of these innovative AR efforts. This article identifies key dimensions that cut through the cases and allow for comparison and contrast. These dimensions include (1) the system level of the charge target, (2) the degree of organization of the research setting, (3) the degree of openness of the AR process, (4) the goals and purpose of the research effort, and (5) the role of the researcher(s). Dimensions are used to locate cases and to support discussion of qualitative aspects that are crucial to understanding. Several general learnings derived from the dimensional analysis and discussion are described.
A burned-out female entrepreneur was treated using a psychodynamic existential approach. Psychodynamic theory contributed to this treatment approach idea that people choose an occupation that enables them to reenact significant childhood experiences. Existential theory contributed the idea that people attempt to find existential significance through their work. Burnout is assumed to result from a failure in the existential quest. This case demonstrates that when treating burnout, it is essential to address (a) Why, psychodynamically, did the individual choose the particular career and howwas it expected to provide existential significance? (b) Why does the individual feel a sense of failure in the existential quest, and how is this related to burnout? (c) What changes need to happen for the individual to have a sense of existential significance? In addition to demonstrating a treatment approach for burnout, the case contributes to the understanding of gender differences in burnout and the family dynamics of entrepreneurs.
This chapter seeks to show something of my version of the principles and practices of self-reflective inquiry. I firstly outline some of the attentional disciplines I use and aspire to. I then illustrate inquiry in action, drawing on my story of attending the American Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Chicago in August 1999. Through this material I explore themes of research as political process and as life process, and advocate paying attention to inquiry intentions. I see having some version of self-reflective practice as a necessary core for all inquiry. For example, anyone engaging in collaborative research needs robust, self-questioning, disciplines as their base. Inquiry requires attentional disciplines In this section I outline some of my disciplines of inquiry. These are open frames rather than rigid behaviour patterns. I seek to pursue them with soft rigour, determined and persistent, but not obsessive. Part of inquiring is making judgements about when to be focused and directed and when to be open, receptive. I have learnt about these practices from my own experience and deliberate development, and from working with postgraduate researchers on our programmes at the University of Bath (Marshall and Reason, 1998). Each person's inquiry approach will be distinctive, disciplines cannot be cloned or copied. Rather, each person must identify and craft their own qualities and practices. The questioning then becomes how to do them well, how to conduct them with quality and rigour appropriate to their forms, and how to articulate the inquiry processes and sense-making richly and non-defensively. All of the practices I discuss here can be used generatively, appropriately, or degeneratively, inappropriately. There are no objective standards for making such judgements and as the inquirer I cannot be fixed in my evaluation. I work with this questioning, seeking to develop my craft of inquiry and my abilities to notice, reflect on and adjust my approach. In this chapter I am not claiming that I always inquire well and skillfully.
The development of complexity theory in the natural sciences is described, and summarized in six principles of complex emergent wholes. It is suggested that complexity theory is leading biology toward a science of qualities based on participation and intuition. It is argued on metaphorical and epistemological grounds that these principles which describe the emergence of complex wholes can be applied to social and organizational life. The six principles are then applied to qualitative and action research practice, with a particular reference to co-operative inquiry, in order to provide principles for good practice and theoretical support for the nature of valid inquiry processes.
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on organizational spirituality in an effort to distil the importance of spirituality research and make the case for the “spiritual turn” in organization studies. The paper examines current arguments for and against spirituality in organizations. It suggests that despite dilemmas and controversies in the literature, spirituality research makes a significant contribution. Particularly, the benefit of taking the “spiritual turn” as a response to a crisis of meaning in organizations may be to better define the spaces of programmatic versus existential meaning making and to gain more insights into where organizational meaning making and existential, individual meaning can exist in their respective spaces. It is suggested that spirituality research may need to build on a variety of perspectives from critical management theories to discourse studies to protect existential meaning making as a lived and socially constructed experience. The paper develops some approaches for how this may be accomplished and discusses future directions of the “spiritual turn” in organizational studies.
Building on Kahn's (1990) ethnographic work, a field study in a U.S. Midwestern insurance company explored the determinants and mediating effects of three psychological conditions — meaningfulness, safety and availability — on employees' engagement in their work. Results from the revised theoretical framework revealed that all three psychological conditions exhibited significant positive relations with engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest relation. Job enrichment and work role fit were positively linked to psychological meaningfulness. Rewarding co-worker and supportive supervisor relations were positively associated with psychological safety, whereas adherence to co-worker norms and self-consciousness were negatively associated. Psychological availability was positively related to resources available and negatively related to participation in outside activities. Finally, the relations of job enrichment and work role fit with engagement were both fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. The association between adherence to co-worker norms and engagement was partially mediated by psychological safety. Theoretical and practical implications related to psychological engagement at work are discussed.
Being in the moment can either heighten self-awareness through observation and interpretation or result in temporary loss of self through experiences of flow. Patients who can flexibly shift between these self-perspectives benefit the most from treatment. When patients risk breaking away from their fixed patterns, they experience a greater sense of aliveness and engagement. Patients who focus too much on the past or too little on the present have problems being centered. Case studies and Antonioni's film Blowup (1966) illustrate how our lives take on renewed meaning through sustaining a present focus.
Spirituality is often explained in the nursing literature as the patient's quest to find meaning in life and in their experiences. This is most often described in an unlimited and unconditional way defined by whatever interpretations the person places upon it. This opens it to a variety of understandings, some of which may be negative and unhelpful in terms of what we usually consider to be spiritual well being. This discussion paper attempts to look beyond the generality of this idea to examine whether our concept of having meaning, if used in terms of spirituality, should be conditional on meanings which are actually to do with the depth of our being and not meanings which only give pleasure and satisfaction. The paper attempts to do this in two ways. First it explores the beliefs of Victor Frankl to ask the question whether having meaning alone is sufficient to provide spiritual comfort or whether the content of the particular beliefs associated with meaning, may matter. Frankl is often used as a source for the idea of spirituality being to do with meaning and in this paper Frankl's thought is explored in detail to see his own underlying beliefs which helped in his life experiences. Secondly, an understanding of 'meaning' as being conditioned by something "ultimate" described by Paul Tillich is explored. This would give nursing a more structured and purposeful approach to using the term 'meaning' in relation to spiritual care and in addition it would open up a way forward in terms of researching which particular meanings might be most helpful in illness and adversity.
Tolstoy’s Iván Ilých lies near death, regretting a terrible life but unaware of what he could have done differently while alive. Although motivated to work for all the wrong reasons–money, self-esteem, social acceptance, and escape from home–by all formal accounts he has been a highly responsible professional. This analysis of a work about work illustrates the relationship between meaningful work, professional responsibility, and meaningful life.