Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations


Book Description

How can application of a positive lens to understanding social change and organizations enrich and elaborate theory and practice? This is the core question that inspired this book. It is a question that brought together a diverse and talented group of researchers interested in change and organizations in different problem domains (sustainability, healthcare, and poverty alleviation). The contributors to this book bring different theoretical lenses to the question of social change and organizations. Some are anchored in more macro accounts of how and why social change processes occur, while others approach the question from a more psychological or social psychological perspective. Many of the chapters in the book travel across levels of analyses, making their accounts of social change good examples of multi-level theorizing. Some scholars are practiced and immersed in thinking about organizational phenomena through a positive lens; for others it was a total adventure in trying on a new set of glasses. However, connecting all contributing authors was an excitement and willingness to explore new insights and new angles on how to explain and cultivate social change within or across organizations. This edited volume will be of interest to an international community who seek to understand how organizations and people can generate positive outcomes for society. Students and researchers in organizational behavior, management, positive psychology, leadership and corporate responsibility will find this book of interest.







Positive Organizational Scholarship


Book Description

Scholarship establishes a new field of study in the organizational sciences. Just as positive psychology focuses on exploring optimal individual psychological states rather than pathological ones, Positive Organizational Scholarship focuses attention on optimal organizational states --- the dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster resiliency in employees, make healing, restoration, and reconciliation possible, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance. While the concept of positive organizational scholarship encompasses the examination of typical and even dysfunctional patterns of behavior, it emphasizes positive deviance from expected patterns. Positive Organizational Scholarship examines the enablers, motivations, and effects associated with remarkably positive phenomena --- how they are facilitated, why they work, how they can be identified, and how researchers and managers can capitalize on them. The contributors do not adopt one particular theory or framework but draw from the full spectrum of organizational theories to understand, explain, and predict the occurrence, causes, and consequences of positivity. Positive Organizational Scholarship rigorously seeks to understand what represents the best of the human condition based on scholarly research and theory. This book invites organizational scholars to build upon and extend the positive organizational phenomena being examined. It provides the definitional, theoretical, and empirical foundations for what will become a cumulative body of enduring work.




How to Be a Positive Leader


Book Description

"The field of positive leadership continues to expand. Building on the practical tools and philosophy in Kim Cameron's books (including Positive Leadership, over 30,000 copies sold), this edited volume brings the best research from fourteen scholars and translates it into plain English for organizations"--




Positive Organizing in a Global Society


Book Description

This book unites the latest research in diversity, inclusion, and positive organizational scholarship (POS), to investigate diversity and inclusion dynamics in social systems. Comprised of succinct chapters from thought leaders in the field, this book covers both micro- and macro-levels of analysis, covering topics such as authenticity, mentorship, intersectional identity work, positive deviance, resilience, resource cultivation and utilization, boundary-spanning leadership, strengths-based development, positive workplace interventions to promote well-being, inclusive strategic planning, and the role of diversity in innovation.




Research in Organizational Change and Development


Book Description

Volume 27 continues the diversity and inclusivity of the Research in Organizational Change and Development series through insightful, thought provoking chapters with new conceptual insights and robust empirical studies. This volume includes contributions from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and United States.




Managing Inter-Organizational Collaborations


Book Description

This volume contains two Open Access chapters. Volume 64 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations takes stock of research on processes of inter-organizational collaboration and explores new topics that call for inquiry.




Organizational Hybridity


Book Description

This book contains Open Access chapters This volume integrates and redirects research on organizational hybridity, the mixing of logics, forms, and identities that do not conventionally go together. It sets a foundation for continued analytical rigor and real-world relevance.




The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Climate and Culture


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Climate and Culture presents the breadth of topics from Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior through the lenses of organizational climate and culture. The Handbook reveals in great detail how in both research and practice climate and culture reciprocally influence each other. The details reveal the many practices that organizations use to acquire, develop, manage, motivate, lead, and treat employees both at home and in the multinational settings that characterize contemporary organizations. Chapter authors are both expert in their fields of research and also represent current climate and culture practice in five national and international companies (3M, McDonald's, the Mayo Clinic, PepsiCo and Tata). In addition, new approaches to the collection and analysis of climate and culture data are presented as well as new thinking about organizational change from an integrated climate and culture paradigm. No other compendium integrates climate and culture thinking like this Handbook does and no other compendium presents both an up-to-date review of the theory and research on the many facets of climate and culture as well as contemporary practice. The Handbook takes a climate and culture vantage point on micro approaches to human issues at work (recruitment and hiring, training and performance management, motivation and fairness) as well as organizational processes (teams, leadership, careers, communication), and it also explicates the fact that these are lodged within firms that function in larger national and international contexts.




Vedanta Philosophy of Management vol- 2


Book Description

Vedanta Philosophy of Management is the modern need of the changing world order in these days of technological innovation and gigantic size of business organizations. Keeping in mind the objectives of sustainable development goals (SDGs) five Chapters are devoted in this volume, to increase human competency building, enhance capabilities, and to bring in creativity to strengthen human living parameters in terms of Vedanta management thought and the Vedic work practices. Chapter 1 deals with “Introduction to Vedanta Management Thought” to understand the framework of Vedanta management and to find-out the means and ways for human resource development (HRD) potentials through Vedanta philosophy, along with backdrop analysis of business process reengineering (BPR) paradigms in confining issues pertaining to organizational effectiveness as well as environmental sustainability. Effective leadership qualities are narrated in sparkling manner to strengthen managerial professional ethics, administrative excellence building norms, bring in positive social change in terms of Vedic work ethics and code of conduct. Hence, this Chapter enlightens on various postulates of global development initiatives through Vedanta practices of management to finding out the true nature of management and its significance in the present day changing world order in scientific temper of thought. Applications of Vedanta knowledge in organizational activities are synthesized with the Vedic work principles to uplift human beings from pathetic social sufferings. As such, quality circle fundamental issues are stressed with equanimity of work and equipoise nature of performance for supplementing human growth related paradigms in ‘path-goal’ relativity approach. Chapter 2 deals with “Vedanta Management and Theory of Work” to work-out judicious relationship between organizational activities and human development strategies in relation to organizational dynamicity, managerial vision of work, etc. with goal directed initiatives. As such, this Chapter especially considers the Vedanta principles of management with the Vedic rules of work practices, in coagulating tools and techniques of human dynamic behavioral postulates for enhancing human competencies building to commensurate transformational social change with transcendental approach. Hence, theory of work is given special priority in organizational activities in terms of Vedanta mission, to incorporate management practices in regard to human existential freedom of living. Chapter 3 deals with “Vedanta Management and Theory of Knowledge” and furnishes the principles of human creative innovational thought for illuminating production function related activities, to enlarge organizational effectiveness in terms of theory of knowledge and managerial excellence building process. Here, universal brotherhood has been considered sincerely for exposition of the fundamental rules of Vedanta management in realities of management, to eradicate social poverty with interface between managerial knowledge and values of work. It has provided a paradigm shift of knowledge to social emancipation process of human beings for world class citizenship in terms of administrative skills. Thus, this Chapter provides a new managerial perspective on international understanding with human cooperative endeavors; so that Vedanta management helps to match resources in matchless way to reduce gaps between haves and have-nots, for bringing human solvency as well as salvation of life. Chapter 4, analyzes “Vedanta Management and Theory of Devotion” to relate organizational work ethics with leadership qualities in bringing world unity, social integrity and human self-sufficiency. Thus, this Chapter elaborates the issues of the integral concept of humanity in relation to work and knowledge as the pyramid of social reconstruction, in confining organizational work ethics to areas of radical social reconstruction through devotional qualities of modern organizational leaders, and therefore, human growth and social sustainability is explained in relativity approach to amplify the reasons for increasing human capacity building with devotional managerial qualities at organizational structure, to enrich the pillars of modern organizations. As a whole, this Chapter is attempted to discuss primarily qualities of devotion in management and its necessity for attaining the goal of organizational work efficiency. Thus, this Chapter has established relativity between work and devotion to uproot the principles of Vedanta in management, so as to know clearly the devotional practice of work philosophy in bringing universal peace and eternal concept of human living through Vedanta management techniques. Thus, managerial guidelines are provided for effective organizational rolling in making pious social journey with knowledge-base intercepts towards the existential autonomy of humankind. Chapter 5 discusses on “Vedanta Management for International Understanding” to reflect international cooperative business environment with the help of management vision. It explains analytically the fundamental thoughts of financial solvency through Vedanta techniques of derivative management system. This Chapter further deals with international human cooperation building measures in terms of Vedanta system of management, to enumerate various business policies at international level. Technological upgrading principles and practices at international level have been found to be the corner-stone of Vedanta management process, and therefore, we have exemplified with decisive factors – how to choose technology at the present set-up of the world business changing scenario for human empowerment, in bringing world equilibrium at economic frontiers. Accordingly, we have analyzed the reinventing policies of Vedanta management for international production quality enhancement program in realizing the goal of service delivery mechanisms of the global organizations. Enrichment of intellectual property for managerial value addition to the society has essentially been occupied important place in our discourses through Vedanta management objectives, for the purpose of valuable studies on international market driven competitive advantages as well as price mechanism behavioral prudence to global business environment of international organizations, for which administrative effectiveness has been put forward as proactive goal of managerial guidance at international standard, to illuminate the picture of good governance philosophy. All the Chapters have been interpreted in scientific manner with appropriate examples for confining human development related postulates in relativistic assumptions of sound organizational structure. Vedanta management ideologies are thus enumerated to uproot the ultimate goal of human society. Focus on the Vedanta techniques on overall study reveals – how managerial effectiveness will be enhanced through ‘path-goal’ relational approach of management, to augment scientific viewpoint on matters like, organizational strategy, social dynamicity and human capacity building for the purpose of world peace, global tranquility and human existential freedom of living. The volume is the first and new one as an innovative technique of social business reengineering process for creative managerial guidance to the effective cause of development of human resources as well as leadership goal of organizational life-style, in the changing phase of technological society and global order of the twenty-first century.