Call for Papers 

Gerd Grözinger, Flensburg Universität and Wenzel Matiaske, Helmut-Schmidt-Universität 

Special Issue: Religion and the ‘Organisational Man’ 

Organisations in Western countries are often seen as neutral ground, where both political convictions and personal religious beliefs are best left outside. However, neither do the accompanying cultural wars always automatically stop at the gates nor may the usual strategy to suppress spiritual expressions among employees and asking for commitment at the same time be the best way to deal with such challenges. 

The special edition and the connected workshop want to discuss how individual spirituality and societal efficiency are currently intertwined. We are especially interested in answers to questions like: 

• Ethnically diverse workforces bring usually also diverse belief systems with it. What are the new conflict lines and where are successful solution strategies? 
• Spirituality is more than formal religion and many see the more informal side on the rise. Do we really observe such a trend to ‘private religions’ empirically and what are the effects in the economic life, e.g. fo ‘trust’? 
• But in many modern Western countries many people are at least indifferent towards religion. How ethical elements of mission statements are then argumentative grounded and how is the compliance practically secured?
• Modern management techniques often seem very eclectic and like to include diverse spiritual elements. What do we know about the dissemination, what about the success?
• The ‘Organisation Man’ is increasingly female. Do we observe a gender gap in the dealing with religion on the workplace, and what is the effect? 
• Communicative openness seems to be a very general key to a sustainable organisational flourishing. Under which conditions is religion threatening such openness? 
• The ultimate worldly goal of human action may be ‘happiness’. How is this connected with the spiritual/religious side on the one hand and the organisational commitment to economic efficiency on the other?