Abstract
This chapter explores the distinctive contributions of Phil Mirvis, an organizational psychologist who has skillfully fused radical humanism and organizational spirituality in what can be best described as a boundaryless career. The boundaryless label captures the character of his contributions that defy categorization as they seamlessly weave together theoretical imagination, research-oriented creativity, and practical ingenuity while integrating multiple epistemologies and methods, including within his ambit individual, group, and societal levels of functioning, in addition to attending to both the tangible and intangible dimensions of organizational functioning. After reviewing some dominant influences and defining moments that shaped his career, the chapter explores Mirvis’s contributions in five thematic dimensions of organizational life, namely (a) large-scale organizational change, (b) mergers and acquisitions, (c) the character of the workforce and workplace, (d) leadership development, and (e) the role of business in society. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Mirvis’s key insights and legacies that include but are not limited to his work on failures in OD work as opportunities for new understandings, his elaboration of learning journeys as an instrument of promoting emotional and spiritual self-actualization in business contexts and his amplification of the compatibility of organizational cultures as a determinant of success in mergers and acquisitions.
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Further Reading
Organization Change
Mirvis, P.H. (1988). Organization development: Part I – An evolutionary perspective. In R.W. Woodman and W.A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development (pp 1-58). v2. JAI Press.
Mirvis, P. H. (2006). Revolutions in OD: The new and new, new things. In J. Gallos (Ed.), Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. Jossey-Bass.
Mirvis, P. H. (2014). JABS at 50: Applied behavioral science and something more? Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 50(4), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886314549924
Mirvis, P. H. (2020). Reflections: US coronavirus crisis management--Learning from failure, Donald Trump and more. Journal of Change Management. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3599501.
Mirvis, P. H., Ayas, K., & Roth, G. (2003). To the desert and back: The story of one of the most dramatic business transformations on record. Jossey-Bass.
Mirvis, P. H., & Berg, D. N. (Eds.). (1977). Failures in organization development and change: Cases and essays for learning. Wiley Interscience.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Mirvis, P. H., & Marks, M. (2017). Co-researching and –doing M&A: Crossing the scholar-practitioner divide. In A. B. Shani & D. A. Noumai (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development. Emerald (Vol. 25, pp. 171–202).
Mirvis, P. H., & Marks, M. L.. (1991). Managing the merger. Prentice-Hall. (Republished by Beard Books, Frederick, Md.).
Workforce and Workplace
Kanter, D. L., & Mirvis, P. H. (1989). The cynical Americans: Living and working in an age of discontent and disillusion. Jossey-Bass.
Mirvis, P. H. (2020). From inequity to inclusive prosperity: The corporate role. Organization Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2020.100773.
Mirvis, P. H., & Hall, D. T. (1994). Psychological success and the boundaryless career. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15, 365–380. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030150406
Leadership Development and Consciousness Raising
Mirvis, P. H. (1994). Human Development or Depersonalization? The Company as Total Community. In F. W. HeubergerLaura & L. Nash (Eds.), A fatal embrace? Assessing holistic trends in human resources programs (pp. 127–142). Transaction Publishers.
Mirvis, P. H. (1996). Midlife as a consultant. In P. J. Frost & S. Taylor (Eds.), In Rhythms of Academic Life: Personal accounts of careers in Academia (pp. 358–369). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452231570.n37
Mirvis, P. H. (1997). Soul work’ in organizations. Organization Science, 8(2), 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.2.192
Mirvis, P. H. (2008). Executive development through consciousness raising experiences. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7(2), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMLE.2008.32712616
Mirvis, P. H., Ayas, K., & Grenfell-Gardner, J. Leadership as craft, crafting new leaders. Management & Business Review (in press).
Mirvis, P. H., & Gunning, W. L. (2006). Creating a community of leaders. Organizational Dynamics, 35(1), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2005.12.005
Role of Business in Society
Googins, B., Mirvis, P. H., & Rochlin, S. (2007). Beyond ‘good company’: Next generation corporate citizenship. Palgrave.
Mirvis, P. H. (1994). Environmentalism in progressive businesses. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(4), 82–100.
Mirvis, P. H. (2000). Transformation at Shell: Commerce and citizenship. Business and Society Review, 105(1), 63–84.
Mirvis, P. H. (2012). Employee engagement and CSR: Transactional, relational, and developmental approaches. California Management Review, 54(4), 93–117.
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Issues in Scholarship and Practice
Mirvis, P. H. (1980). The art of assessing the quality of work life. In E. Lawler, D. Nadler, & C. Cammann (Eds.), Organizational assessment (pp. 471–489). Wiley.
Mirvis, P. H. (1994). Human development or depersonalization? The company as total community. In F. Heuberger & L. Nash (Eds.), A fatal embrace? Assessing holistic trends in human resources programs. Transaction.
Mirvis, P. H. (1996). Midlife as a consultant. In P. J. Frost & M. S. Taylor (Eds.), Rhythms of academic life. Sage.
Mirvis, P. H. (2014). Mimicry, miserablism, and management education. Journal of Management Inquiry, 23, 439–442.
Mirvis, P. H.,& Lawler, E. E. (2011). Rigor and relevance in organizational research: Experiences, reflections, and a look ahead. In E. E. Lawler, S. Mohrman, et al. (Eds.), Doing research that is useful for theory and practice – 25 years later. Berrett-Koehler.
Mirvis, P. H., & Seashore, S. E. (1979). Being ethical in organizational research. American Psychologist, 34, 766–780.
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Thatchenkery, T., Srikantia, P. (2021). Mirvis, Philip: Fusing Radical Humanism and Organizational Spirituality in a Boundaryless Career. In: Szabla, D.B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38324-4_48
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