期刊名称：Purushartha: A Journal of Management Ethics and Spirituality
印刷版ISSN：0975-024X
出版年度：2012
卷号：4
期号：2
语种：English
出版社：Purushartha: A Journal of Management Ethics and Spirituality
摘要：Every civilization has a hidden code – a set of rules or principles that run through all its activities programming the behavior of millions and spreading across the planet like a wave. Driven by 'Spiritual Consciousness' this 21st century is witnessing a new wave of civilization whose last bastion is the workplace. This expression of 'spiritual consciousness' at the workplace is being called 'Workplace Spirituality and also 'Organizational Fourth Wave'. A review of the manifestation of 'workplace spirituality' reveals that businesses are using spirituality more as a tool to address motivation and productivity issues, rather than as a scaffold to bring about a cultural change in business thinking and behaviour. Restricting spirituality to only the metaphysical dimension of life is one common error that we make. The Indian philosophy is the oldest living tradition and its ethos centers around the dynamics of improving life. It is based on the principle of oneness in creation and integrates the spiritual and physical dimensions of human existence through righteousness (Dharma). Wealth creation is considered to be one of the main goals of life; hence, religion and business have always co-existed and are responsible for all human growth and evolution in the Indian tradition. The geneses of the 21st century phenomenon 'Workplace Spirituality' rests in the West of the late 1900s. Rooted in business economics, science and religion, it is an attempt to accommodate the expression of 'spiritual consciousness' in the workplace in accordance to the demands of the emerging 'The Fourth Wave' of economic development (Fahey, 2007). Since 1990s, the divide between man's inner (spiritual) world and his outer (physical) world created in the West is ceasing to exist and the last bastion of this integration is the workplace (Neal & Biberman, 2003). Though, 'workplace spirituality' is apparently a Western need, an aftermath of the Western exclusive philosophy (separateness between physical and supraphysical), in contrast to the Eastern inclusive philosophy (oneness between physical and supra-physical), still it would be unwise on the part of the East to ignore the same. In today's world where the geographical and political trade barriers have crumbled and the skyway has shrunk the world into a global village, 'Workplace Spirituality' has a global implication due to the enormous economic and industrial influence that the West holds over the East and world politics. `Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow,' says Sri Krishna in the Gita, and there is no doubt that the West has played a key role in industrializing the world and ushering in the 'Second Wave' (economics) mindset. Thus it can be said that 'Workplace Spirituality' is a part of the emerging civilization wherein 'human consciousness' is the prime mover and integrator of life.
