Religion in Strategic Leadership: A Positivistic, Normative/Theological, and Strategic Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents positivistic, normative/theological, and strategic analyses of the application of religion to the practice of strategic leadership in business. It is argued that elements of religion can enrich several components of strategic leadership. Furthermore, it is argued that the question of whether religion ought to be applied involves the more basic question of whether there is a common basis or a meta-framework relating theological and normative analyses. Finally, because the strategic value of religion in strategic leadership involves varying costs and benefits, an optimal level of integration can be established by applying a cost/benefit analysis to a framework of four ways of relating religion to the business arena based on the degree of integration.

Spirituality and Strategic Leadership: The Influence of Spiritual Beliefs on Strategic Decision Making

“…These approaches have included the definition and measurement of spirituality (Ashar and Lane-Maher 2004;Ashmos and Duchon 2000;Lynn et al 2008;Reave 2005;Seidlitz et al 2002), spirituality and organizational change (Dehler and Welsh 1994;Milliman et al 1999;Mitroff and Denton 1999;WagnerMarsh and Conley 1999), spiritual leadership as a distinct leadership style (Fry, 2003;Fry et al 2005), the influence of spiritual belief on the leader's role (McCormick 1994;Nash and McLennan 2001;Parameshwar 2005;Worden 2005), and cautions against the misuse of spirituality (Elmes and Smith 2001;Goodier and Eisenberg 2006;Nadesan 1999;Tourish and Pennington 2002).…”

The Influence of Ethics Instruction, Religiosity, and Intelligence on Cheating Behavior

“…Issues related to the role of religion and spirituality in the context of business have received increasing attention in recent years (e.g., Graafland et al, 2006;Longenecker et al, 2004;Schwartz, 2006;Worden, 2005). Prior research indicates that religious training and beliefs have the potential to influence behavior by providing a framework to help distinguish between right and wrong (Kelley, 1972;Magill, 1992).…”

The Promise of a Managerial Values Approach to Corporate Philanthropy

“…When managers demonstrate integrity, i.e., when the managers' future behavior is predictable based on their past actions and words, the credibility of the managers is established (Simons, 1999(Simons, , 2002Worden, 2005). Managerial credibility is in turn necessary for the development of stakeholder commitment and trust between the two groups (Good, 1988;Whitener et al, 1998).…”