Philosophy, training and spirituality: a longitudinal, empirical study

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze whether Chinese philosophy can have positive results in long‐term training.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examined its effect based on Kirkpatrick's model. The qualitative data were the interviews, observations, and documents from 2004 to 2012. The quantitative data included three questionnaires for the employees and the customers distributed in 2005, 2006, and from 2009 to 2011, with 3,601 valid ones in total.FindingsThe results show that using Chinese philosophy as training content can increase trainees' training motivation. In addition, better training motivation can bring positive reaction, learning, and motivation for transfer. Second, at the individual level, Chinese philosophy can increase the employees' motivation for transfer and workplace spirituality. Third, at the organizational level, it shows an enhancement of service quality (SQ).Practical implicationsFirst, human resource (HR) practices can take the country's cultural features into account and do not necessarily have to adopt Western management theories and practices. Second, the “best practice” can be a useful reference for HR managers in the Chinese organizational context. Finally, the training contents are not necessarily about knowledge or skills. For the service industries with intensive interaction with customers, enhancing work attitude can further increase SQ.Originality/valueFirst, Chinese philosophy involves the concepts of business management. Second, this longitudinal research pointed out that Chinese philosophy can enhance employees' workplace spirituality; and further, it enhanced the SQ. Third, the training evaluation result is more comprehensive for it includes individual level and organizational level.