Abstract
While there is a growing interest in workplace spirituality, much of that focus excludes religion even though the vast majority of people are affiliated with a religious tradition. Attempts to bring one’s “whole self” to work can be problematic for those who are religious because of concerns of offense or proselytizing. This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of a group of 15 professional employees who were personally religious while also remaining open to religious pluralism in the workplace. This group was largely Christian, and was chosen from participants in leadership seminars and graduate courses in the United States. Analysis revealed four different postures used by participants to express openness toward religious difference. These approaches are described in detail, and the implications of these finding for the advancement of pluralism in the workplace are considered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arkoubi, K. A. (2013). The Islamic faith: Implications for business management. In J. Neal (Ed.), Handbook of faith and spirituality in the workplace: Emerging research and practice (pp. 103–118). New York: Springer.
Bennett, M. (1993). Toward ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In R. M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience (2nd ed., pp. 21–71). Yarmouth: Intercultural Press.
Bennett, M. F. (2009). Religious and spiritual diversity in the workplace. In M. A. Moodian (Ed.), Contemporary leadership and intercultural competence: Exploring the cross-cultural dynamics within organizations (pp. 45–59). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Cash, K. C., & Gray, G. R. (2000). A framework for accommodating religion and spirituality in the workplace. Academy of Management Executive, 14(3), 124–133.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Dent, E. B., Higgins, M. E., & Wharff, D. M. (2005). Spirituality and leadership: an empirical review of definitions, distinctions, and embedded assumptions. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 625–653.
Fernando, M., & Jackson, B. (2006). The influence of religion-based workplace spirituality on business leaders’ decision making: an inter-faith study. Journal of Management & Organization, 12, 23–39.
Gotsis, G., & Kortezi, Z. (2008). Philosophical foundations of workplace spirituality: a critical approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 78, 575–600.
Hammer, M. (2012). The intercultural development inventory: a new frontier on assessment and development of intercultural competence. In M. Vande Berg, R. M. Paide, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad (5th ed., pp. 115–136). Sterling: Stylus Publishing.
Hammer, M. R., & Bennett, M. J. (1998). The intercultural development inventory (IDI) manual. Portland: Intercultural Communications Institute.
Hammer, M., Bennett, M., & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: the intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 421–443.
Hatch, J. A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in educational settings. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hicks, D. (2002). Spiritual and religious diversity in the workplace; implications for leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 379–396.
Hicks, D. (2003). Religion and the workplace: Pluralism, spirituality, leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Karakas, F. (2010). Spirituality and performance in organizations: a literature review. Journal of Business Ethics, 94, 89–106.
Kelly, E. P. (2008). Accommodating religious expression in the workplace. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 20, 45–56.
Kim, D., McCalman, D., & Fisher, D. (2012). The sacred/secular divide and the Christian worldview. Journal of Business Ethics, 109, 203–208.
King, J. E. (2008). (Dis)missing the obvious: will mainstream management research ever take religion seriously? Journal of Management Inquiry, 17, 214–224.
King, J. E., Bell, M. P., & Lawrence, E. (2009). Religion as an aspect of workplace diversity: an examination of the US context and a call for international research. Journal of Management Spirituality & Religion, 6, 43–57.
Krahnke, K., & Hoffman, L. (2002). The rise of religion and spirituality in the workplace: employee’s rights and employer’s accommodations. The Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 3(3), 277–285.
Lewis, J. S., & Geroy, G. D. (2000). Employee spirituality in the workplace: a cross-cultural view for the management of spiritual employees. Journal of Management Education, 24, 682–694.
Lips-Wiersma, M., & Mills, C. (2002). Coming out of the closet: negotiating spiritual expression in the workplace. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 183–202.
Lips-Wiersma, M., Lund Dean, K., & Fornaciari, C. J. (2009). Theorizing the dark side of the workplace spirituality movement. Journal of Management Inquiry, 18, 288–300.
Lynn, M. L., Naughton, M. J., & VanderVeen, S. (2009). Faith at work scale (FAW): justification, development, and validation of a measure of Judaeo-Christian religion in the workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 227–243.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing qualitative research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
MAXqda (2007) Computer software. Margurg, Germany: VERBI Software.
Mitroff, I., & Denton, E. (1999). A spiritual audit of corporate America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Nash, L., & McLennan, S. (2001). Church on sunday, work on monday; the challenge of fusing Christian values with business life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Neal, J. (2013). Faith and spirituality in the workplace: Emerging research and practice. In J. Neal (Ed.), Handbook of faith and spirituality in the workplace: Emerging research and practice (pp. 3–18). New York: Springer.
Paige, R. M. (Ed.). (2003). Special Training Section Issue. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27(4).
Paige, R. M., Jacobs-Cassuto, M., Yershova, Y. A., & DeJaeghere, J. (2003). Assessing intercultural sensitivity: An empirical analysis of the hammer and Bennett intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 467–486.
Pew Research Center. (2008). U.S. religious landscape survey: Religious affiliation: Diverse and dynamic. Retrieved January 16, 2014 from http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf.
Pew Research Center. (2012). The global religious landscape: A report on the size and distribution of the world’s major religious groups as of 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2013 from http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-full.pdf.
Pio, E., Waddock, S., Mangaliso, M., McIntosh, M., Spiller, C., Takeda, H., et al. (2013). Pipeline to the future: Seeking wisdom in indigenous, eastern, and western traditions. In J. Neal (Ed.), Handbook of faith and spirituality in the workplace: Emerging research and practice (pp. 195–219). New York: Springer.
Rudin, J. P., & Harshman, E. (2004). Keeping the faith but losing in court: legal implications of proselytizing in the workplace. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 16, 105–112.
White, R. D., Jr. (2003). Drawing the line: Religion and spirituality in the workplace. In R. A. Giacalone & C. L. Jurkiewicz (Eds.), Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance (pp. 244–256). Armonk: M.E. Sharpe.
Worden, S. (2005). Religion in strategic leadership: a positivistic, normative/theological, and strategic analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 57, 221–239.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Phipps, K.A., Matkin, G.S. Same Direction, Different Paths: a Phenomenological Study of Employees who are Religious yet Open to Religious Pluralism. Employ Respons Rights J 26, 279–295 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-014-9241-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-014-9241-6