Spirituality at Work in Entrepreneur-Led Business Organisations: a Multi-Faith Study

Abstract

The theory and practice of spirituality at work has been the subject of rapidly growing interest over the last two decades. The prevailing spirituality at work discourse within the management discipline has been primarily limited to a Christian-based inquiry into Western organisations. Occasionally, the importance of accommodating an interfaith and cross-cultural view of workplace spirituality has been proposed, but this has not, to date, generated any multifaith and non-Western empirical studies. This study provides the first empirical exploration of the enactment of entrepreneur workplace spirituality in a religiously plural and non-Western research setting. Although the findings are unique to the historical, geographical and cultural specificities of the participating Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, the findings dispel doubts by some observers that organisations can successfully accommodate diverse spiritual beliefs. This thesis explores the enactment of spirituality at work by comparing and contrasting thirteen interfaith case studies of Sri Lankan business entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs are drawn from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim religious traditions. These entrepreneurs have publicly acknowledged their spiritually-oriented approach to managing business organisations and have been identified by others in their communities as spiritual business leaders. The primary data for the study are in-depth interviews with the entrepreneurs, supplemented by documentary sources. No distinct faith-specific themes emerged in the conceptualisation of spirituality by the multifaith interview participants. Although each entrepreneur's outward practice of workplace spirituality conformed to his own religious tradition, these practices had one common aim: connecting with a transcendent and Ultimate reality - variously named as God, the Divine, Entity or Reality. The key similarities in the diverse spiritual practices adopted by entrepreneurs may well have led to the emergence of 'connection' as a common and central theme in their conceptualisation of spirituality. Cross-disciplinary research also points to connection as a common theme in the conceptualisation and experience of spirituality by individuals across different faith groups and cultures. This suggests that connection should become a key construct for spirituality at work researchers who are interested in transcending religion and culture. The enactment of a religion-based spirituality by the majority of the participants influenced the way they managed and led their organisations. The impact of this connection on the entrepreneur's approaches to leadership and decision-making was significant. The study suggests that, a frame of reference based on a connection with a transcendent and Ultimate reality is likely to be a source of inspiration, guidance and solace to the entrepreneur in managing and leading business organisations. The study further suggests that, in the enactment of spiritual leadership, role modelling appears to play a pivotal part. Moreover, ethical decision-making in organisations has the potential to improve when entrepreneurs make decisions within a transcendent frame of reference.