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A Humanistic Perspective for Management Research: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being

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Abstract

Leading management scholars have long questioned the premises of management theory and practice (Gladwin et al. 1995; Hart 2005). Several societal and religious leaders like Pope Francis and his predecessors have given voice to many citizens around the globe who have been losing trust in the current economic and political systems as the number of societal challenges is increasing (Adams 2012; Edelman 2011). The leading academic institution of business school professors, the Academy of Management (AOM), claims to “foster [] a philosophy of management” that serves “the public’s interests” (AMJ Editors 1958). Yet, many scholars suggest that management scholarship has largely failed to contribute to the common good (Walsh et al. 2003). Already 20 years ago, AOM’s then president, Donald Hambrick, remarked about the lack of relevance of AOM’s work to society (Hambrick 1994). This tendency has been bemoaned with increasing frequency since (Aguinis and Pierce 2008; Hambrick 1994; Walsh et al. 2003), because very few contributions discuss profound and alternative managerial solutions to environmental degradation, the dangers of climate change, or increasing social inequities (Hahn et al. 2010; Hambrick 1994). This contribution is exploring reasons for why current management thought and practice is not in line with what many citizens expect and suggest. It also outlines a paradigmatic alternative to organizing and management: a humanistic paradigm that protects dignity and promotes well-being.

Some of this chapter is a reproduction of Pirson (2017): A Humanistic Perspective for Management Theory: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well Being, Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1–20

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  1. Fordham University, New York City, NY, USA

    Michael Pirson

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  1. Woodbury University, North Hills, CA, USA

    Satinder Dhiman

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Pirson, M. (2020). A Humanistic Perspective for Management Research: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being. In: Dhiman, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02470-3_44-1

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