Gods Are Still in Business - Introduction to the Symposium: God and Management

Excerpt

The relationship between God and management is mostly discussed in terms of the application of religious principles and virtues to business. This is regularly covered by studies in various areas of business ethics, leadership, and human resources, but little has been done to study the implications for management of the wide variety of theological, ontological, metaphysical, and epistemological perspectives on God. This is precisely the theoretical gap the symposium “God and Management” aims to reduce by contributing to a corpus of literature parallel to mainstream discussions of embedding spirituality and faith in business ethics. The authors of the articles in this symposium propose to take a step back from the practical implications of faith in business, with the aim of presenting a more general and abstract understanding of the philosophical and theological implications of religion in management. The key questions formulated in the call for papers made by Mark Dibben and Graham K. Henning for the 2017 Philosophy of Mangement Conference were: What role does God play in a managerial choice? If there is a role, what are its influences on or what is its confluence with the managerial choice? Is God’s existence essential or relevant to management? The articles selected are intended to stimulate discussions about theism, its meaning, and influences on management theories and practices. …