Patanjali presents an eightfold path of yoga within his sutras; consisting of eight general categories of yogic practices that an individual can perform to, ultimately ...
EXTENDING THEORY THROUGH EXPERIENCE: A FRAMEWORK FOR BUSINESS ETHICS FROM YOGA PATRICIA DOYLE CORNER Faculty of Business Auckland University of Technology Auckland, New Zealand, 1010 ABSTRACT The relationship between workplace spirituality and business ethics is extended by integrating the “yamas”, yoga’s guidelines for social interaction, with existing literature. I developed a theoretical framework that depicts relationships between spirituality and business ethics suggested by this integration. INTRODUCTION A theme emerging in the management literature is that workplace spirituality and business ethics are inextricably intertwined. However, existing research on this topic is predominantly theoretical (Jurkiewicz & Giacalone, 2004). Its application in real world organizations thus is limited despite the fact that conceptual treatments of workplace spirituality and ethics are thought provoking and begin to do what theory should do -- suggest plausible connections and relationships not yet glimpsed (Van Maanen et al., 2007). But, conceptualization needs to be matched with experience or empirical data in order to prevent theories from being remote from the phenomenon they intend to describe (Van de Ven & Johnson, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to provide an experiential framework as a basis for workplace spirituality thereby extending the theoretical research in this area into the realm of practice. The framework is from an ancient eastern spiritual tradition, yoga, and provides five practices that organization members enact in order to initiate and harmonize social connections and interactions. The Sanskrit word for these practices is yamas and they also provide a means for the practitioner to consciously witness or experience their own beliefs about and reactions to social interactions and connections. WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY AND BUSINESS ETHICS Workplace spirituality is most often defined as workers seeking connectedness in their work community and exploring their inner selves (Ashmos & Duchan, 2000, Gull and Doh, 2004). Researchers suggest that workplace spirituality and business ethics may be linked but they have only begun to consider what this linkage is and how it may unfold. Gull and Doh (2004) say that workplace spirituality helps stimulate the moral imaginations of its members who have to deal with thorny ethical issues. Stimulated moral imaginations are thought to lead to more ethical decisions being made regarding such thorny issues. Jackson (1999) states spirituality in organizations provides a basis for ethics by creating a depth of understanding that deepens a person’s sense of morality which then leads to more ethical behavior and decision making. Contributing to this discussion, the yamas provide a set of practices to enhance awareness of connectedness with others and with the broader social environment. These practices thus provide a useful framework to introduce experiential ideas to this theoretical notion of connectedness that is so strongly communicated in the literature on workplace spirituality.
YOGA AS PHILOSOPHY The word yoga in Western cultures conjures up images of physical postures for relaxing and limbering up the body. However, the postures are a very small part of the ancient philosophy and science that is yoga and interestingly, the postures are a relatively recent addition to the plethora of practices that constitutes this spiritual tradition. More ancient practices include meditation, mantra, chanting, codes for behavior, prescriptions for bodily cleanliness and acquisition of knowledge --- literally thousands of practices. The idea is that an individual, through the sustained practices of yoga, can transcend their personal likes and dislikes, pains and pleasures, successes and failures in order to achieve a permanent state of peace, joy, and selfless dedication to humanity (Satchidananda, 2004). This transformation is described by some masters as evolution wherein individual consciousness is transcended and merged with universal consciousness (Niranjanananda, 2002). Yoga offers a scientific approach for acquiring the mental discipline for controlling patterns of consciousness and achieving this transcendence (Satyananda, 1976). This yogic view of the human mind echoes Steingard’s (2005) view wherein the mind obfuscates a whole spectrum of human consciousness and spiritual potential. Yoga has a few texts that articulate its basic tenets. Arguably, one of the most important is the Yoga Sutras authored by the sage Patanjali. In English this title might be best translated as “Verses on Yoga” but the Sanskrit word “sutra” literally means thread. The Yoga Sutras thus are 196 verses that “thread” together the entire philosophy of yoga, according to Patanjali. The writing of the Yoga Sutras cannot be exactly determined but it is believed to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago. Patanjali presents an eightfold path of yoga within his sutras; consisting of eight general categories of yogic practices that an individual can perform to, ultimately, transcend individual consciousness and merge with universal consciousness. It is the first category of practices, known as the yamas, which are the focus of the present manuscript. The yamas are 5 in number and are designed to harmonize a person’s social interactions. Harmonized relationships are needed because any discordance here disturbs the mind (Satyananda, 1976). YAMAS AND BUSINESS ETHICS The yamas are 5 practices whereby social interactions can be harmonized so that a person’s actions towards others are consistent with the intrinsic “good” qualities of human nature. These practices are described in the below sections and must be enacted over a long time in order for an individual to gain an in-depth awareness of the self (Satyananda, 1976). Even novice practitioners however, will gain insight into subconscious patterns that are driving their behavior and shaping social interactions. It is these small insights gathered over time that provide the in depth self-awareness that is the realization of yoga. A table giving examples of how each yama can be demonstrated in the workplace is available from the author upon request. Ahimsa The first practice is ahimsa, often translated into English as “non-violence” and it entails a person having non-harmful intent in all actions. Ahmisa means absence of enmity towards other people, loving other people for the potential that resides within them (Satyananda, 1976). Practicing ahimsa can create ethical behavior in the workplace. An excellent example of a business leader who practices ahimsa is G. Narayana, formerly the executive chairman of Excel
Industries Pvt. Ltd., India, a highly respected manufacturer of environmentally friendly biopesticides and waste management processes. G. Narayana describes his leadership style as reaching the hearts of others through love; avoiding hurting others (Pruzan & Mikkelsen, 2007). Further, he speaks of always looking for the divine nature in others and working towards being responsible toward that divine nature in people and all living beings (Pruzan & Mikkelsen, 2007). His leadership style is clearly consistent with the first yama, ahimsa. Satya The second yama is satya or truth. Truth in what a person speaks is part of this but truth is also what we know to be correct when the rationalizations of the mind are stripped away. This practice of truth is encouraged for all interactions with others but is especially recommended for uncovering and acknowledging any fears or needs in ourselves that may unconsciously shape our interactions with others. This self-awareness aspect of satya seems particularly important to include in a framework of workplace spirituality. Satya requires a person to understand his or her personal desires and wants without the filter of personal ego or intellectual rationalization. In this way the practitioner can begin to know her authentic self and change behavior away from ego driven actions towards action more consistent with her intrinsic, positive nature. As a result, the practitioner and work colleagues suffer less from the harm that ego driven behavior often creates. Asteya Asteya is most often translated as honesty but most literally and simply it means not stealing others’ possessions. To practice asteya means to not cheat or manipulate for your own gain (Vivekananda, 2005). Also, it extends to not justifying our cheating or dishonesty or that of others through corporate rules/ policies that may allow us to do that or to hire expensive lawyers to exploit loopholes in corporate rules or societal laws that may allow such justification. Crucially for business, asteya means not stealing others’ ideas, inventions, or intellectual property. Given the importance of “not stealing” in personal interactions in the workplace and in relationships among businesses, asteya is a practice that extends our knowledge of what constitutes spirituality in the workplace and functions as a guideline for business ethics. Aparigraha This yama is generally translated as non-possessiveness. Yoga texts warn us to avoid becoming possessive not just of material goods but also of people in our lives, jobs, titles, roles, social positions, beliefs, and behavior patterns. The practice of aparigraha does not prevent us from caring for the people in our lives or taking care of our material possession but it cautions us against addiction to these things. Over time aparigraha helps a person identify possessive tendencies within the subconscious mind and draw these tendencies into consciousness where they can be witnessed and gradually let go of. In this fashion possessive behavior diminishes. Non-attachment to things is seen as a way to break down boundaries between the self and others, thereby becoming more interconnected with co-workers in our lives (Kernochan et al., 2007). Brahmacharya
The fifth and final yama is best translated as continence and can be thought of as continence in “desire states” (Vivekananda, 2005). This yama is often narrowly thought of as sexual continence but it is really broader and applies to all situations of emotional involvement, not just sexual involvement. A person practicing bramacharya would show discretion and discrimination in all activities leading to emotional involvement with others to avoid the stress that can result from the multiplicity of emotional connections. Brahmacharya is similar to practicing tough love on yourself; you may desire to flirt with your attractive colleague but you realize the complications and potential misunderstandings it could create so you don’t. Brahmacharya therefore serves as a contribution to literature on workplace spirituality in that it provides a practice whereby a person can explore their inner desire states and, through the avoidance of personal, emotional entanglements in the workplace can create appropriate, enduring connections with co-workers. YAMAS’ ROLE IN SPIRITUAL & ETHICAL BEHAVIOR The discussion of the yamas provided the background from which I derived a theoretical framework linking experiential practice to spiritual and ethical outcomes in organizations. This framework is depicted in Figure 1 and represents an initial attempt at conceptualizing relationships across these topics. The figure shows the key linkages that surfaced when integrating the yamas with the workplace spirituality literature. ------------------------------insert Figure 1 about here ------------------------------Figure 1 shows human consciousness in the first box, separated into what yoga philosophy sees as its components of consciousness, subconsciousness, and unconsciousness (Satyananda, 1976; Vivekananda, 2005). The “C” at the apex of the triangle represents the conscious mind or surface thought and perception about the world. It is this component of the conscious mind that would inform the workplace behavior of the spiritually unaware person. However, the second “behavior” box in the figure illustrates that a person can chose to enact the yamas and have these practices influence his or her behavior. The yamas are illustrated in the figure as behavior because they are practices that a spiritual aspirant enacts. In the absence of the yamas, behavior is informed only by consciousness (surface thought and perception of outside world) plus subconscious beliefs and patterns that a person remains unaware of. Following through the figure, behavior then produces spiritual outcomes. The spiritual outcomes included in the figure are the two most common elements of workplace spirituality expressed in the literature: feeling a connectedness with others and expanded self-awareness (Ashmos & Duchan, 2000; Gull & Doh, 2004). The arrow connecting the behavior box to the spiritual outcomes box suggests that behavior does influence the level of spirituality in any individual. In general, I contend that a person practicing the yamas would increase their feeling of connectedness to others and similarly, expand their self awareness. According to the figure, spiritual outcomes inform human consciousness (see feedback loop in Figure 1). This relationship was alluded to in the discussion of the yamas when I indicated that the practice of asteya (honesty, not stealing from others) leads people to understand that their previous acquisitive behavior came from insecurities buried at the subconscious level. However, consciousness has now expanded to include this knowledge of insecurities which was
previously reflected in the subconscious only. This new conscious knowledge can be used to inform future behavior. The arrow within the human consciousness box depicts this evolution or expansion of consciousness. According to yoga and other spiritual traditions, as self awareness and connectedness increase, a person’s consciousness grows so that it includes knowledge that was previously hidden from view in the subconscious. Also, enhanced spirituality improves ethical outcomes as shown in Figure 1 (see arrow connecting spiritual outcomes and ethical outcomes). This general relationship has been articulated in the workplace spirituality literature but specific spiritual constructs that may interact with particular ethical outcomes are scarce (Sheep, 2006). The framework thus includes the two most common spiritual elements identified across the workplace spirituality literature in the third box in the figure. Further, I extrapolated ethical outcomes from the business ethics/ workplace spirituality literature to include in the fourth box. These include: understanding of ethical problems (Gull & Doh, 2004; Jackson, 1999), creativity in ethical decision making (Gull & Doh, 2004), and ability to envision outcomes beyond the self (Jackson, 1999; Neck & Milliman, 1994; Mitroff, 2003). Tables that state specific propositions that can be tested from the presented framework are available from the author on request. CONCLUSION The further exploration of the relationships hypothesized is important for the field of management for two reasons. First, evidence accumulates showing that workers wish to be free to express their spiritual side in the workplace (Mitroff, 2003, Sheep, 2006). Workplace spirituality thus is a fact of organizational life and management researchers can help illuminate this phenomenon that managers increasingly have to deal with. Second, the link between workplace spirituality and business ethics appears poised to make a valuable contribution to emerging notions of success in management theory. Success is no longer seen as economic sustainability but also as social and environmental sustainability. I contend that research on the relationship between workplace spirituality and business ethics can extend our understanding of social sustainability and thereby enrich management theory and practice for the 21st century. REFERENCES Ashmos, D. & Duchon, D. 2000. Spirituality at work: A conceptualization and measure. Journal of Management Inquiry, 9: 134-145. Gull, G. & Doh, J. 2004. The “transmutation” of the organization: Toward a more spiritual workplace. Journal of Management Inquiry, 13: 128-139. Jackson, K. 1999. Spirituality as a foundation for freedom and creative imagination in international business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 19:61-70. Jurkiewicz, C., & Giacalone, R. 2004.A values framework for measuring the impact of workplace spirituality on organizational performance.Journal of Business Ethics,49: 129-142. Kernochan, R., McCormick, D., & White, J. 2007. Spirituality and the management teacher. Journal of Management Inquiry, 16(1): 61-75.
Mitroff, I. 2003. Do not promise religion under the guise of spirituality.Organization,10:375382. Neck, C. & Milliman, J. 1994. Thought self-leadership: Finding spiritual fulfilment in Organizational Life. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 9: 9-16. Niranjanananda, S. 2002. Yoga Darshan: Vision of the Yoga Upanishads. Munger,India:Yoga Publications Trust. Pruzan, P.&Mikkelsen, K. 2007.Leading from a spiritual basis.Asian Management Review,2(1);104-112, Satchidananda, S. 2004. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.Virginia,USA:Integral Yoga Publications. Satyananda, S. 1976. Four Chapters On Freedom: Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Munger, India: Yoga Publications Trust. Sheep, M. 2006. Nuturing the whole person: The ethics of workplace spirituality in a society of organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 66: 357-375. Steingard, D. 2005. Spiritually-informed management theory: toward profound possibilities for inquiry and transformation. Journal of Management Inquiry, 14: 227-241. Van de Ven, A. & Johnson, P. 2006. Knowledge for theory and practice. Academy of Management Review, 31: 802-821. Van Maanen, J., Sorensen, J., & Mitchell, T. 2007. The interplay between theory and method. Academy of Management Review, 32: 1145-1154. Vivekananda, R. 2005. Practical Yoga Psychology. Bihar, India: Yoga Publications Trust. Figure 1: Yamas ’ Role in Generating Spiritual and Ethical Workplace Behavior Human Consciousness
Behavior
Yam as
Spiritual Outcomes
Connectedness with others
Ethical Outcomes
Understanding of Ethical Problems
Unconscious Subconscious
Self
Workplace C*
awareness Ability to envision outcomes beyond self.
Behavior
*C signifies consciousness that can expand as ego from the subconscious into the conscious.
Creativity in Ethical decision making
-driven patterns and beliefs are surfaced
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