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Flexible Work Organizations pp 89–102Cite as

Facilitating Workplace Spirituality: A Study of Organizational Values and Practices

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Part of the book series: Flexible Systems Management ((FLEXSYS))

Abstract

Organizational science is witnessing a substantial change by considering workplace spirituality as an organizational variable that affects employee behaviour and organizational performance (Ashmos and Duchon, J Manage Inquiry, 9(2):134–145, 2000). The central idea behind the integration of spirituality at the workplace is to facilitate employees’ experience of meaning, connectedness and purpose in their life, which has been found to affect employees’ work attitudes, job satisfaction, intention to leave and organizational commitment positively (Milliman et al., J Organ Change Manag, 16(4):426–447, 2003; Chawla and Guda, J Hum Values, 16(2):157–167, 2010). In this chapter, we analyze the practices and values adopted by three prominent organizations in India, to identify factors which facilitate workplace spirituality. Data highlights the role of spiritual climate and leadership support in facilitating the experience and development of spirituality at workplace. This chapter offers insights for researchers and practitioners (such as organization development experts) and suggests several future research possibilities to enrich our understanding of workplace spirituality (WPS).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ancient text book which is the source of Indian Hindu philosophy and is accepted to have universal appeal and has been acknowledged in corporate context (Sharma 1999).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Behavioral Lab, Sixth Floor, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Chitra Khari

  2. Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 507, Fifth Floor, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Shuchi Sinha

Authors
  1. Chitra Khari
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  2. Shuchi Sinha
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chitra Khari or Shuchi Sinha .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Sushil

  2. University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia

    Julia Connell

  3. Curtin Business School (CBS), Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    John Burgess

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Khari, C., Sinha, S. (2016). Facilitating Workplace Spirituality: A Study of Organizational Values and Practices. In: Sushil, Connell, J., Burgess, J. (eds) Flexible Work Organizations. Flexible Systems Management. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2834-9_6

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