Integration of Religion in Workplace

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, worldwide religious adherence is estimated to be at 80%, but is predicted to increase to 85% by 2050 (Johnson, 2010), indicating the presence of religion will be an ever-increasing reality. However, for some, religious belief and expression is thought to have no place in organizational life, and should be marginalized in the workplace (Mitroff, 2003). Yet any such directive may not be serviceable since numerous religious traditions have specific teaching and directives regarding the integration of faith into the adherent’s workplace. For example, Judaism stresses a commitment to help heal the world (Tikkun olam); Catholicism has several modern papal encyclicals that guide laity in their work; Islam retains usury teachings that forbid charging of interest (Riba) and also accent the theme of stewardship (Khalifa). Non-Abrahamic traditions also guide practices and attitudes toward work, such as Hinduism that prescribes the type of work based on who a person is (Purusha) and working in accordance with universal order (Dharma) (Ewest & Miller, 2017). In actuality, for many, religion is an important part of their personal identity formation (Emmons, 2003), is used in sense making (Weick, 1995), provides a deep sense of personal purpose (Park, 2005) and acts as an ethical foundation (Conroy & Emerson, 2004).

In response to this reality there is an emerging field of research which recognizes the presence of religion in the workplace (Hicks, 2003), identifies religion as a social force (Inglehart & Welzel, 2010) and understands religion as a complex formative reality in the lives of workers compelling organizations to engage with religious employees (Miller & Ewest, 2015; Syed, et al, 2017). Moreover, research demonstrates that adherents to religious faith, do integrate their faith beliefs and practices into the workplace (Ewest, 2018).

This special issue considers how individuals of various world religions integrate religious beliefs and practices into the workplace. Papers will consider the integration of faith at the individual, organizational, and societal levels (Ewest & Miller, 2017; Ewest, 2018). Both qualitative, quantitative and theoretical papers will be welcomed. Submissions should provide a synopsis of religious beliefs and practices within the introduction of each submitted paper and a robust literature review.

References

Conroy, S. J., & Emerson, T. L. (2004). Business ethics and religion: Religiosity as a predictor of ethical awareness among students. Journal of business ethics, 50(4), 383-396.

Ewest, T (2018). Faith and Work: Christian Perspectives, Research and Insights into the Movement. Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, North Carolina

Ewest, T. & Miller, D  (2017). Spirituality at the workplace. In: Poff DC, Michalos AC (eds.) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer International Publishing (in press).

Hicks, D. A. (2003). Religion and the workplace: Pluralism, spirituality, leadership. Cambridge University Press.

Inglehart, R., & Welzel, C. (2010). The WVS cultural map of the world. World Values Survey,

http://www. worldvaluessurvey. org/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_54 (consulté le 29 octobre 2012).

Johnson, T. (2010). A statistical approach to the world’s religions adherents, 2000-2015. CE.

In J.G. Melton & M. Bauman (Eds), Religions of The World: A Comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices (Vol. 1, pp. lv-lix), Santa Barbara, CA.

Miller, D. W., & Ewest, T. (2015). A new framework for analyzing organizational workplace

religion and spirituality. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 12(4), 305-328.

Park, C. L. (2005). Religion and meaning. Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality, 2, 357-379.

Syed, J.  Klarsfeld, A.,  Wambura Ngunjiri, F.  Härtel, C., Charmine E. J. (2017) Religious Diversity in the Workplace Cambridge University Press,

Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Prof. Dr. Timothy G Ewest
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Religion in the Workplace
• Workplace Theology
• Faith at Work