Spirituality has entered organizational discourse through the back door and is now sitting in the drawing room awaiting a proper welcome. There is much speculation as to why spirituality is emerging as a dominant organizational concern. One possible explanation is the process of social diffusion; that is, as I in my tribal paints and feathers rub shoulders with you in your wool tweed jacket, I get covered with bits and pieces of wool, and you come away smeared with earthen paint and feathers. As people of the world meet to do business, we discover that our varied ways of working are grounded in quite different worldviews. As Americans seek to understand Japanese business strategy, they and themselves drawn into a study of Japanese martial arts. As Western businesses market and sell their products in other countries, they and themselves face to face with people for whom spirituality is an integral daily practice. As we attempt to sell Levis 501 jeans, McDonald’s hamburgers, and Gerber’s baby foods worldwide, we get more in the trade than simply dollars. Doing business around the world has opened the door to spirituality as a business practice because for many of the world’s people, there is no separation of spirituality from life and work. Read More
Source: Spirituality as a Global Organizing Potential: Published by Reflections, Vol. 3, No. 3, (Spring 2002): 76-85. Print. Diana Whitney, Ph.D