Understanding Humanistic Management

Enhancing the work engagement of frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of affective commitment and perceived organizational support

BACKGROUND

Overload and anxiety were common phenomena among frontline nurses during the pandemic. Understanding the potential pathway for fostering engagement in high-stress working conditions can provide evidence of targeted intervention to facilitate nurses' well-being and safety practices. This study aims to investigate the level of nurses' work engagement during nucleic acid collection tasks in the COVID-19 pandemic and identify its potential antecedents.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was adopted. A sample of 824 nurses who engaged in nucleic acid collection tasks completed an online self-report questionnaire between 1 March and 31 May 2022. Descriptive and path analyses were utilized to analyse the interrelationships among anxiety, perceived workload, affective commitment, perceived organizational support and work engagement. This study was conducted and reported under the guidelines for Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology.

RESULTS

The results showed that frontline nurses engaged in such tasks reported high levels of anxiety and task load and low levels of work engagement. Path analysis identified anxiety symptoms, perceived workload, perceived organizational support, and affective commitment as associated with work engagement, and among these factors, perceived organizational support and affective commitment played key roles in mediating the relationship of anxiety, workload and work engagement in high-stress working conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Affective commitment and perceived organizational support were associated with frontline nurses' level of work engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic; these two variables might explain how engagement is generated in high-anxiety and high-workload situations. When healthcare organizations give more attention to frontline nurses' physical and psychological conditions and are able to innovatively motivate affective commitment and facilitate organizational support, nurses' work engagement in high-level tasks may increase, thus enhancing work safety and personal well-being.

Evaluating Spiritual Leadership Coherence at a Professional Services Company as a Way to Drive Connectedness and Well-Being in Organizations

In these challenging times, connectedness has become more necessary than ever before. Meanwhile, research in organizations highlighted the importance of entrainment, a process of synchronizing rhythms over time that drives connectedness within, between, and across rhythmic activities. It is also suggested that an inner life and spiritual leadership coherence can play a key role in this process, out of which spiritual well-being emerges. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the conditions for entrainment through the revised model of spiritual leadership at a professional services company that employs multiple teams simultaneously, as presented by Sandra & Nandram (Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion 17(4):316–332, 2020). It verifies if inner life and spiritual leadership coherence are jointly sufficient to foster the emergence of spiritual well-being, both at the individual and at the group level. Next, it seeks to understand how teams differ on these variables. To generate a more holistic insight, it uses an explanatory sequential research design as mixed methods approach, integrating and comparing quantitative data from eighty-six participants across fourteen teams with qualitative data from five team leaders. The findings support that inner life and spiritual leadership coherence can be usefully deployed in a consistent way to understand the emergence of spiritual well-being through entrainment. It further supports that developing personal spiritual leadership directly influences the level of spiritual leadership of the group to which the individual belongs. Finally, better performing teams pay more attention to inner life practices, while taking care of their team members.

Effects of Service Quality Characteristics of Neighborhood Sports Facilities on User Satisfaction and Reuse Intention of the Elderly during the COVID-19 Pandemic

PURPOSE

this study aimed to examine the user satisfaction and reuse intention of the elderly for neighborhood sports facilities in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

this study surveyed 386 Korean elderly individuals aged ≥ 65 years, who were users of neighborhood sports facilities, from 1 May to 31 August 2022. A total of 386 questionnaires were used for data analysis, which was carried out using SPSS 23.0 statistical software. Descriptive statistics of the mean, standard deviation, and frequency distribution were used at the descriptive level. Moreover, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe's post hoc pair-wise comparison analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis were used at the inferential level. The significance level of these tests was considered for less than 0.05.

RESULTS

the mechanistic and humanistic service factors of neighborhood sports facilities affected user satisfaction and reuse intention. Furthermore, user satisfaction of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive effect on reuse intention.

CONCLUSION

this study confirmed that the service quality characteristics of neighborhood sports facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive effect on user satisfaction and intention to continue to exercise among the elderly.

“Power of words”: impact, concerns and applications of nonviolent communication training

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program on nonviolent communication (NVC) and assess its impact, concerns and applicability to the context of work. This study also focuses on the factors that influence the retention and application of the skills acquired during the training after three months of completion of the program.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a qualitative approach. Purposive sampling was used, and 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted to study the impact of an NVC training program titled “Power of words”. Thematic analysis based on Kirkpatrick’s model of training evaluation was used to arrive at the findings.

Findings

NVC training was found to have created a sustainable shift in perspective and behaviour of the participants; however, the learning and application of the NVC skills were found to be dependent on individual and contextual factors. The role of the facilitator was found to be crucial in creating safe spaces that were essential for open sharing and effective practice. NVC was found to be easier to apply to contexts of personal relationships; however, in a work context, it holds immense scope to create both organisational- and employee-level outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

This study has implications for developing theory on NVC and its consequences to humanistic management and employee thriving.

Practical implications

This study has implications for developing theory on NVC and its consequences for humanistic management and employee thriving. This study has practical implications for humanising communication at work and also has implications for leaders, managers, coaches, counsellors, HR professionals and OD professionals, to improve employee or client experiences. This study also has implications for the potential community development.

Social implications

This study also has implications for the potential community development as a consequence of NVC training.

Originality/value

The research on the application of NVC training to context of work is very limited, and also, there is very limited research on both the effectiveness of online training and the retention and application of the learning after three months of completion of the program. This study fills these gaps.

Striving for Organizational Impact through Individual Impact: A Humanistic Management Approach Involving Social Work Supervisors

In today's era of new public management, respecting the dignity and worth of social workers in organizational management poses a challenge to social work agencies. This research explores whether individual self-actualization can be integrated with organizational development by using a humanistic management approach. Authors sampled 672 supervisors from Chinese social work agencies. A structural equation model was built and tested to examine the relationships between four latent variables: (1) professional competence (PC), (2) organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), (3) individual impact, and (4) organizational impact, taking into account the moderating effect of professional associations. The results indicate that individual impact is a mediator between supervisors' PC/OCBs and organizational impact. Meanwhile, professional associations play a moderating role in the relationship between supervisors' PC and organizational impact. Findings provide the basis for a humanistic management strategy for social work agencies that focuses on the individual impact of key people to maximize organizational impact. Moreover, professional associations should strengthen the link between individual impact and organizational impact.

Navigating the Ethically Complex and Controversial World of College Athletics: A Humanistic Leadership Approach to Student Athlete Well-Being

The college athletics environment within the USA is ethically complex and often controversial. From an academic standpoint, athletes are often viewed as a privileged class receiving undue benefit. Yet closer inspection reveals that student athletes are at risk psychologically, physically, and intellectually in ways that undermine development and flourishing. This reality stands in troubling contrast to the prosocial, virtue-based goals expressed by university mission statements. Given the role of sport in many university business models, college athletics invites scrutiny from a business ethics standpoint. Using a humanistic leadership perspective (Pirson in: Humanistic management: protecting dignity and promoting well-being, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017), we organize our analysis around three challenges facing the college athletics system: (1) navigating the tension between claiming college athletes are amateurs rather than professionals; (2) defining the ethical edge between winning and winning fairly; and (3) moderating the insatiable drive to win while protecting student athlete well-being. We then articulate three strategies for successfully addressing these challenges: leadership role modeling, putting structural supports in place and holding people accountable. We argue that humanistic leadership and a 'balanced motivational drive mindset' (Lawrence and Nohria in: J Bus Ethics 128:383-394, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2090-2; Pirson 2017) could help move college athletics from an economistic model toward a more humanistic model that prioritizes the dignity and well-being of its participants, particularly student athletes.

Unpleasant Memories on the Web in Employment Relations: A Ricoeurian Approach

Cybervetting has become common practice in personnel decision-making processes of organizations. While it represents a quick and inexpensive way of obtaining additional information on employees and applicants, it gives rise to a variety of legal and ethical concerns. To limit companies’ access to personal information, a right to be forgotten has been introduced by the European jurisprudence. By discussing the notion of forgetting from the perspective of French hermeneutic philosopher Paul Ricoeur, the present article demonstrates that both, companies and employees, would be harmed if access to online information on applicants and current employees would be denied. Consistent with a Humanistic Management approach that promotes human dignity and flourishing in the workplace, this article proposes guidance for the responsible handling of unpleasant online memories in personnel decision-making processes, thereby following Ricoeur’s notion of forgetting as “kept in reserve”. Enabling applicants and employees to take a qualified stand on their past is more beneficial to both sides than a right to be forgotten that is questionable in several respects.

Enhancing tourism education: The contribution of humanistic management

The tourism industry is a significant driver of the global economy and impacts societies all over the world that are currently experiencing radical change. Responding to these changes requires economic paradigms and educational systems based on new foundations. Humanistic tourism proposes a values-based disciplinary perspective for tourism at the intersection between humanistic and tourism management, and is rooted in human dignity and societal wellbeing. Integrating humanistic management principles into higher education tourism management programs, and changing the nature of what is taught and how, would benefit students, future managers and all stakeholders. This paper aims at improving higher education tourism programs by combining humanistic management education and the Tourism Education Futures Initiative’s (TEFI) values-based tourism education. It draws on an integrated Humanistic Tourism Education framework to help develop future tourism managers’ skills and abilities to adopt alternative leadership models within the sector and to foster critical and responsible tourism thinking and practice. With best-practice examples from three universities in three different countries, this study illustrates new pedagogical approaches and proposes recommendations for implementing humanistic tourism management in higher education with the aim of training ethical and responsible managers equipped with an awareness of the social, cultural, and environmental challenges – and possible solutions to these – in their respective destinations.

Ubuntu Philosophy as a Humanistic–Existential Framework for the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ubuntu has been identified by several scholars as a philosophy that provides a framework to fight health disasters such as COVID-19. Ubuntu refers to the African worldview of seeing oneself through others. It refers to the pattern of interconnectedness between people in the form of a philosophy or worldview. Ubuntu explores concerns about cosmic and global context of life. This article stipulates that Ubuntu can provide ways to deal with challenges that emerge with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ubuntu fosters the integrated components of humanity as it appreciates the biological, psychosocial, spiritual, and environmental aspects of life. The article explores several themes such as self-awareness and societal responsibility, holism, spirituality, health promotion, food security, social justice and human rights, generosity, sharing, and teamwork. Others have advanced that Ubuntu is a philosophy to adopt in the fight against epidemics, and we seek to broaden the debate by exploring Ubuntu axiological and ontological humanistic–existential themes. Finally, the article calls for the adoption of Ubuntu philosophy in psychological and social work interventions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responsible Leadership and the Reflective CEO: Resolving Stakeholder Conflict by Imagining What Could be done

In light of grand societal challenges, most recently the global Covid-19 pandemic, there is a call for research on responsible leadership. While significant advances have been made in recent years towards a better understanding of the concept, a gap exists in the understanding of responsible leadership in emerging countries, specifically how leaders resolve prevalent moral dilemmas. Following Werhane (1999), we use moral imagination as an analytical approach to analyze a dilemmatic stakeholder conflict (between indigenous communities in rural India and an emerging market multinational enterprise headquartered in the same country) through the lense of different responsible leadership mindsets and in light of different ethical principles and moral background theories. Based on this analysis, we arrive at a tentative moral judgement, concluding that the instrumental approach is morally inferior and recommending the integrative approach as the morally superior choice. In the subsequent discussion-focussed on what "could" (instead of "should") be done, we apply the integrative script and use moral imagination as a pathway for generating morally justifiable solutions. Through this analysis, we provide novel insights on how to apply an integrative responsible leadership approach to a stakeholder conflict situation, using the single case study to expand the responsible leadership discussion to emerging markets.

Occupational burnout among active physiotherapists working in clinical hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in south-eastern Poland

BACKGROUND

Occupational burnout, which is more and more commonly encountered among medical professionals and investigated by researchers worldwide, may in particular affect health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to assess the risk of occupational burnout among physiotherapists working actively in clinical hospitals in south-eastern Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

The level of burnout among the studied physiotherapists was assessed using the Polish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory by Maslach (MBI). The study was conducted from 20 March to 3 May, 2020 among physiotherapists working professionally during the COVID-19 pandemic in the south east of Poland, during which time health services related to therapeutic rehabilitation were suspended. The study was conducted among 1,540 physiotherapists with a license to practice who worked in clinical departments. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 106 physiotherapists were qualified for the study.

RESULTS

The current findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic physiotherapists present high burnout rates in all three dimensions: EE (Mean 32.31; CI 29.47-35.15); DP (Mean 16.25; CI 14.48-18.03); PA (Mean 26.25; CI 24.41-28.10). As for gender-related effects, higher burnout rates were observed in the male workers, compared to the females, in all three domains: EE (Men: Mean 34.70; CI 29.90-39.50 -Women: Mean 31.03; CI 27.45-34.60); DP (Men: Mean 18.78; CI 15.98-21.59 -Women: Mean 14.90; CI 12.64-17.16) and PA (Men: Mean 24.54; CI 21.32-27.76 -Women: Mean 27.17; CI 24.90-29.44). The highest burnout rates, presented by the physiotherapists working in the profession for more than 20 years, were identified in the domain of EE (Mean: 35.30; CI 30.51-40.10) and in those with 10-15 years of experience, in the domains of DP (Mean: 18.31; CI 14.89-21.73) and PA (Mean: 23.97; CI 20.13-27.81). The highest rate of occupational burnout, reflected by the scores in all three domains (EE, DP, PA), was identified in Department I -Intensive Care and Anaesthesiology Department: EE - (Mean: 40.89, CI 35.27-46.52); DP - (Mean: 21.39, CI 17.90-24.88); and PA - (Mean: 23.07, CI 20.04-26.10), compared to the other departments. The subjects who rarely participated in courses or training programs showed the highest burnout rates (EE- Mean: 33.55, CI 29.33-37.77; DP- Mean: 16.71, CI 13.99-19.43; PA- Mean: 25.45, CI 22.47-28.43).

CONCLUSIONS

Occupational burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic is noticeable among physiotherapists working in clinical departments. The current findings show high burnout rates in all three domains: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA). A comparative analysis of these findings with reference to related studies published before the pandemic shows that the burnout rates among physiotherapists may have significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given the scarcity of scientific evidence related to this specific problem in Poland and worldwide, it is necessary to continue research in occupational burnout affecting physiotherapists, particularly during the second wave of the pandemic, in order to gain a better understanding of the possible effects of social isolation and greater personal work-related health risks on the mental health of these medical professionals.

Building Sustainable Rural Communities through Indigenous Social Enterprises: A Humanistic Approach

This article follows a humanistic management approach to analyze how indigenous social enterprises contribute to building sustainable rural communities. To this end, I first explore the process of how these entities were formed and developed the necessary capabilities to generate such outcomes. Then, I examine the strategies indigenous social enterprises create to engage in value creation activities with the community and their main outcomes. Such outcomes are finally classified by the problems they addressed according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since one of the gaps in the literature indicates a lack of studies that relate specific SDGs with the outcomes of social enterprises in developing countries. This article follows a qualitative approach, a case study research strategy, and uses semi-structured interviews as the main data collection instrument. Evidence from four cases of indigenous social enterprises in Latin America suggests that these entities originate as a result of a major crisis that affects the dignity of the individuals and compromises the socio-economic dynamics of the communities. Second, local leadership urges a response that takes the form of a social enterprise that follows local principles and governance and pursues dignity protection, sustainability, and cultural reaffirmation. As a result, the communities have increased their levels of well-being and sustainability, linked to SDGs such as good health, decent work, reduced inequalities, public infrastructure, sustainable communities, and partnerships for the goals. This article also sheds light on how a humanistic management approach can contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of social enterprises, as these humanistic principles and practices seem to be naturally promoted by social entrepreneurs.

Humanistic leadership in a Chinese context

Purpose

Through three case studies, the authors aim to examine how Confucian humanistic philosophy can be applied to leadership practices and show how it is possible to practice humanistic leadership in the Chinese context.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use case studies of three exemplary humanistic leaders and the companies they lead to describe their leadership practices and influence on others and their companies.

Findings

The authors identify three common elements that connect their observations to an emerging scholarly conceptualization of humanistic leadership and develop a framework of Confucian humanistic leadership consisting of five attributes. The cases the authors studied suggest that the five attributes should be understood as being mutually reinforcing and acting in concert, rather than each acting independently of the others. The authors found that there is inherent consistency and connection between the core values of Confucianism and humanistic leadership.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the leadership literature, specifically the emerging literature on humanistic leadership, by introducing a framework for Confucian humanistic leadership. While much of the extant literature on humanistic leadership has been conceptual, the study shows how it is possible to practice humanistic leadership in the Chinese context by drawing on the foundation provided by Confucian humanistic philosophy. The findings also contribute to humanistic leadership research by providing important insights into specific capabilities that can help put the principles of humanistic leadership into practice, but that have not been considered to date.

COVID and the Common Good

This article examines the nature of individual goods, pubic goods, and the common good in the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID). 'Common' in 'common good' is what applies to all persons without exception, and 'good' is what contributes to human flourishing. The common good is regarded as the communion of persons in good living. Addressing the relationship between the economy and society, it is proposed that the marketplace subsists within society. Acknowledging that we are deeply connected, the article employs the philosophies of MacIntyre, Maritain and Sandel to highlight the importance of reciprocity, relationships, and generosity as characteristics of the common good. Two narratives in the public discourse are observed in these COVID days - one characterised by fear and selfishness, the other by hope and generosity. The author recognises that this pandemic can be conceived as a 'wicked' problem in a 'volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous' world, and implications for leaders and citizens in managing COVID are suggested.

Humanistic leadership in the Tata group: the synergy in personal values, organisational strategy and national cultural ethos

Purpose

To identify the characteristic features of humanistic leadership in the Tata group in India, and to explicate the key facilitating factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Narrative case-study inquiry via semi-structured interviews with top management leaders and middle managers, and secondary sources of information.

Findings

The top leaders of the Tata companies emphasised the following values and leadership experience: (1) Adherence to the founder's philosophy and the basic core values, (2) Leadership with Trust, (3) Community as the key purpose of the enterprise, (4) Senior leaders as mentors and role-models, (5) Abiding by the ethical code of conduct, (6) Employee-focus and (7) Tacit alignment with Indian cultural values. These resonated with the humanistic leadership tenets. Based on the literature the authors also identified that in Tata leadership, there is an amalgamation of personal values (humata, hukhta, hvarshta: good thought, word and deed) and national cultural ethos (dharma, karma and jnana: emphasis on duty-bound action and knowledge). These leadership values are conveyed and institutionalised in the organisation via strategic initiatives such as the Tata Trusts, Tata Business Excellence Model, Tata Code of Conduct. This synergy of personal values, national cultural ethos and organisational strategy makes Tata group realise the humanistic leadership objectives, while achieving business targets.

Research limitations/implications

The thematic analysis of interview data provides a contextualised understanding of how humanistic leadership gets realised at both the individual behavioural level, as well as at the broader organisational strategic level. This provides inputs to building the theory of humanistic leadership.

Practical implications

By unravelling the factors that facilitate the realisation of humanistic leadership in the Tata group, the authors provide an exemplar for other organisations and business leaders to draw insights from.

Social implications

Humanistic leadership, oriented towards upliftment of community and society, and not just profit maximisation, is critical to creating a more sustainable and peaceful world.

Originality/value

This is one of first studies that conceptualises the Tata leadership from the humanistic perspective. The theoretical insights are of basic and applied use.

Humanistic leadership in the UAE context

Purpose

The main intention of this paper is to understand humanistic leadership through an eminent leader representing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) culture. The authors identified a prominent humanistic leader of a well-known private university in Dubai as an example, analyzing his leadership approach from a humanistic lens and demonstrating humanistic leadership characteristics linked to the cultural roots.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is designed as a single case to examine how humanistic leadership behaviors and practices are applied in an organization and how they are connected to the UAE culture. The leader and his seven followers are interviewed by using semi-structured forms, and inductive conventional content analysis was utilized to identify common themes and concepts related to humanistic leadership traits in the UAE.

Findings

The paper highlights ten themes named humility, respect, care, fairness, transparency, well-being orientation, generosity, family focus and will with humanistic determination. These themes coincide with the various well-accepted humanistic literature theories and are also aligned with salient Islamic values and the existing humanistic leadership theories. A humanistic leadership description is provided to show the implications to the UAE context.

Research limitations/implications

This study only focuses on a single higher education institution, and further studies need to be conducted to reach a generalization.

Practical implications

The paper offers an alternative humanistic leadership for government departments, semi private and private companies to create an organizational culture where those values are flourished and creating an awareness in youth leadership programs to include humanistic leadership principles that will eventually increase social welfare.

Originality/value

This study provides an insight into humanistic leadership phenomenon by giving a contextual example from the UAE. As there has been no attempt to link humanistic leadership to the UAE culture, the findings of this paper will contribute to cross-cultural leadership research.

Humanistic leadership in Thailand: a mix of indigenous and global aspects using a cross-cultural perspective

Purpose

To explore how leadership behavior in Thailand relates to humanistic leadership through indigenous and cross-cultural lenses.

Design/methodology/approach

Analogically based and semi-structured interviews were used. The primary focus was on factors associated with expatriate success in leading Thais in a Thai context. As such, the main sample included 24 expatriates. Two local Thai leaders were also interviewed. Qualitative interviews were analyzed inductively using NVivo.

Findings

Five interrelated themes emerged from the data: guiding, bridging, emotionally supporting, socializing and indirectly communicating. These themes relate to Asian holistic thinking, Thai culture and humanistic management. Evidence for humanistic leadership was found, albeit in culture-specific ways.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers may benefit from studying local, indigenous leadership practices and determining if and how they fit etic concepts such as humanistic leadership. Limitations of this study include a small sample from only one country.

Practical implications

To be successful, leaders should engage in humanistic leadership practices that fit the Thai context. Human resource departments may wish to focus their talent recruitment, selection and development on these behaviors.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the nascent literature on humanistic leadership by providing an indigenous as well as cross-cultural lens to understanding humanistic leadership in the context of Thailand.

Systematic Review of Sustainable-Development-Goal Deployment in Business Schools

In 2015, more than 190 countries pledged to meet by 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 that aim to ensure sustainable global social and economic development, and to strengthen universal peace. Public institutions, businesses, organizations and individuals are all called upon to contribute to this challenge. Focusing on business schools (BSs), and the potential impact they have on graduates, we ask what they are doing for the deployment of these objectives. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of the literature related to SDGs and business schools in the WOS, SCOPUS and ERIC databases. A multi-stage exclusion process resulted in 16 documents for review. The findings of this study provide key information on the role that business schools have to play in achieving SDGs and the ways in which they can be incorporated into their activity: from more in-depth actions linked to creating awareness, questioning current paradigms, fostering cooperation and interdisciplinarity with stakeholders, and working on coherence; to more specific interventions such as creating student associations, incorporating new teaching methodologies or increasing students’ participation in extracurricular activities. In addition, this study also allows us to identify gaps in the literature, giving ideas on necessary future lines of research.

How Does Reciprocity Affect Undergraduate Student Orientation towards Stakeholders?

Nowadays, students are more aware of the impact of companies on their stakeholders and the need for properly handling their expectations to operationalize corporate social responsibility. Nevertheless, little is known about how certain individual traits may relate to their stance on the issue. This exploratory research contributes to stakeholder theory by analysing the effect of the individual’s decision-making process, including the consideration of their social preferences, on their orientation toward stakeholder management. Here, we draw upon a theoretical model for resource-allocation decision-making consisting of reciprocal and non-reciprocal components. Our data, from undergraduate students enrolled in different degrees, were collected through a questionnaire and two social within-subject experiments (ultimatum and dictator games). Thus, our results show that the presence of a reciprocal component when decisions are made is positively linked to an instrumental orientation toward stakeholders. In addition, a greater non-reciprocal component in the decision-making process corresponds to a more normative orientation.

Promoting a positive work experience for South African domestic workers

Orientation: Domestic work remains a main source of employment for many South African women. Despite legislation directed at protecting the rights of South African domestic workers, research indicates that many still experience marginalisation and a sense of powerlessness. This prompts a need to understand the factors that could enhance a positive work experience for domestic workers.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that contribute to a positive work experience for domestic workers in South Africa.Motivation: Because of limited work opportunities and a lack of access to finance and education in South Africa, domestic work will continue to provide a source of employment in the future. It is thus important to implement strategies to enhance the positive nature of the domestic work experience.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative design, utilising a semi-structured interview format for data collection purposes, was utilised. The sample comprised seven domestic workers and seven employers of domestic workers.Main findings: Thematic analyses extracted job security, wages, working conditions and the relationship with employer as the most important considerations for domestic workers. Employers of domestic workers highlighted compliance with legislation, perceiving the employee as part of the family, retirement planning and respect as important factors.Practical/managerial implications: It is proposed that employers purposefully comply with the relevant legislation to promote feelings of job security, and that domestic workers are educated in the legal requirements surrounding domestic work. Employers are further encouraged to establish open and trust-based relationships characterised by respect and consider the need for post-retirement provision. The importance of education and training in professionalising the domestic work sector is raised.Contribution/value-add: The results of this study contribute to promoting the value and status of domestic work by providing a voice for marginalised employees and promoting a humanistic and positive work experience.

Valero’s “Enterprise Politics”: a model of humanistic management and corporate governance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present and interpret the “Enterprise Politics Model (EPM)” developed by Professor Antonio Valero, Founder and first Dean of IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from a careful reading of Valero’s writings in their original context and some developments of these by his followers, this paper systematically presents and discusses the key ideas of Valero’s model for management and corporate governance.

Findings

The main features of Valero’s philosophy of the firm and of senior management can be summarized in four points: the firm as a community of persons; the firm as an intermediate social institution serving the common good of society; the different nature of political and technical practice, which leads senior management to exercise practical reason – not only science or technique, and at the same time a kind of political art, or wisdom; and the role and responsibility of entrepreneurs and top management. Valero emphasizes the political nature of management and, from a practical perspective, suggests a global analysis based on four big areas of governance: business activity, managing structure, institutional configuration, and professional community. He makes his model applicable by developing “political procedures”.

Research limitations/implications

Valero’s “EPM” is an original humanistic approach to management and corporate governance, with implications to business education. Valero’s contributions were based on his business and teaching experience and in a deep humanistic background, but adopted an intuitive outlook and need further conceptual development, actualization to contemporary business context and empirical research on the relationship between this model and performance.

Practical implications

Valero’s “EPM” is a practically oriented humanistic approach to management and corporate governance which can be a realistic alternative to conventional, and often criticized, approaches to management and corporate governance. In fact, it has already been successfully applied in several companies.

Social implications

In a context of growing discontent toward capitalism and the role of business in society, the “EPM” – discussed in this paper – shows how business might be run and organized to be socially responsible, contributing to the common good and respecting individual rights and flourishing.

Originality/value

The paper discusses, systematizes and interprets an innovative way of understanding management and corporate governance.