Defining Relational Dimensions of Spiritual Influence for Management Research and Practice

Abstract

In management research, the impact of spirituality and its positive influence on organizational outcomes has been studied from many aspects of management practice. The result has been a non-delineated, cross-sectional view of spiritual guidance in creating healthy individual and business outcomes. Unfortunately, the limited focus on spiritual well-being has not encouraged research that considers the full range of outcomes from various dimensions of spirituality. Such focus has not considered the influence of adverse spiritual intent or made distinctions between divine and human forms of spirituality that create uncertainty and lack of trust in spiritual and religious guidance. Considering these limitations, this conceptual research shares a dimensionality of spiritual discernment derived from the current literature on spirituality in management and discusses the limitations of each within the context of developing spiritual capital and spiritual intelligence. This paper presents both divine and human relationships in framing this model and suggests the need to better understand the bounded nature of spirituality under dark or human influence. The outcome from this work is the development of a Relational Models Theory of Spirituality (RMTS) framework to guide management research in creating an ontological perspective around the nature and intent of spiritual relationships and to encourage seeking third-person spirituality as an unbiased, higher form of Spiritual guidance.