George Gotsis

Bio: George Gotsis is an academic researcher from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The author has contributed to research in topics: New Testament & Diversity (business). The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 30 publications receiving 780 citations. Previous affiliations of George Gotsis include American College of Greece.

Philosophical Foundations of Workplace Spirituality: A Critical Approach

Abstract: It is an undeniable reality that workplace spirituality has received growing attention during the last decade. This fact is attributable to many factors, socioeconomic, cultural and others [Hicks, D.A. 2003: Religion and the Workplace. Pluralism, Sprtituality, Leadership (Cambridge University press, Cambridge)]. However the field is full of obscurity and imprecision for the researcher, the practitioner, the organisational analyst and whoever attempts to systematically approach this relatively new inquiry field. This article attempts to provide a critical review of the literature on workplace spirituality by examining the underlying rationale of the main trends regarding spirit at Work and by negotiating their strengths and weaknesses. Current approaches to workplace spirituality are distinguished to the exploratory, contextual and the consequential, acontextual ones. Particular attention is given to ‚Respectful Pluralism’ proposed by Douglas Hicks, as it is suggested that this theoretical framework is the most well-founded, elaborated and systematic up to date. However, it is proposed that even ‚Respectful Pluralism’ fails to fully capture the complexity of such a multidimensional phenomenon as spirituality. Drawing on mainstream ethical and philosophical traditions (deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics) supporting alternative value-systems, it is suggested that a more inclusive and philosophically affluent framework needs to be developed. Finally, some propositions and thoughts are made towards this direction.

The Interrelationships between Entrepreneurship and Religion

Abstract: This article examines the interrelationships between religion and enterprise. The authors find that these are highly context-specific, and will vary markedly over time and social setting, mediated by other socio-cultural variables such as political structures and ideologies, and religious symbolism in the workplace. The individual elements making up an entrepreneur's belief matrix influence the entrepreneurial process. Where religious salience is high, entrepreneurs will tend to use religious criteria to inform their decision making, even if it harms their short-term commercial interests. Religious groups can also provide a resource for the generation of entrepreneurial social capital.

Ethical Considerations in Organizational Politics: Expanding the Perspective

Abstract: The aim of this study is to contribute to a conceptualization of organizational politics that underscores the possibility of developing positive political behavior at the workplace In this respect, we seek to provide a context of re-evaluating the normative foundations of organizational politics Normative issues are critically discussed in the context of mainstream ethical theories that illuminate the interaction of ethics and political behavior More specifically, it is argued that a deontological framework is of particular importance for the proper management of negative political behavior, whereas a virtue-ethics context can be employed so as to foster positive political behavior at the workplace Finally, the implications of this approach for organizational life and HRM processes and practices are taken into consideration

The role of servant leadership in fostering inclusive organizations

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative framework of servant leadership and employees’ perception of inclusion. The authors argue that servant leadership embodies an inclusive leadership philosophy that is in a position to facilitate feelings of belongingness and uniqueness among diverse employees. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model capturing the effect of servant leadership in shaping climates for inclusion, is developed. The authors elaborate on research streams focussing on climates for inclusion, and examine servant leadership as a potential predictor of inclusion. In this respect, the authors posit that inclusive practices mediate the servant leadership and inclusion relationship, while leaders’ inclusiveness beliefs moderate the servant leadership and inclusive practices relationship. Findings The model introduces mediating mechanisms that intervene in the indirect relationship between servant leadership and climates for inclusion. In so doing, the authors seek to identify how organizational practices supported through servant leadership behaviors address employee needs for belongingness and uniqueness. The model predicts multi-level beneficial outcomes for social identity groups. Practical implications The paper identifies a bundle of organizational practices facilitating employees’ perceptions of inclusion, by placing an emphasis on how servant leaders can enact and implement practices in view of attaining inclusiveness pursuits. Social implications Servant leadership is inclusive by empowering diverse employees and fostering equitable and more humane workplaces, as well as by being more sensitive to various societal expectations. Originality/value The paper is intended to explore precisely how servant leadership can help inclusive ideals to thrive in diverse work environments.

Ethical paradigms as potential foundations of diversity management initiatives in business organizations

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the elaboration of a comprehensive moral framework for designing and implementing diversity practices. In so doing, it employs distinct ethical theories that not only elevate respect for differences to an end, but also provide a set of principles, virtues or values conducive to the formation of an inclusive work environment. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review, in particular contributions critical to current implementations of diversity management, may provide the basis of a non-instrumental approach to diversity issues, allowing for an inclusive and participative workplace. The paper suggests that such an endeavor can be founded on the concepts of organizational virtue, care or human dignity alternatively. In this respect, a theoretical context demonstrating the very way these concepts influence and inform diversity issues, is elaborated, analyzed and properly discussed. Findings – Three distinct theoretical frameworks capturing the im...

In a Different Voice. Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA (Harvard University Press) 1982.

Abstract: Introduction 1. Woman's Place in Man's Life Cycle 2. Images of Relationship 3. Concepts of Self and Morality 4. Crisis and Transition 5. Women's Rights and Women's Judgment 6. Visions of Maturity References Index of Study Participants General Index

Economy and Society

Abstract: The four Visegrad states — Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (until 1993 Czechoslovakia) and Hungary — form a compact area between Germany and Austria in the west and the states of the former USSR in the east. They are bounded by the Baltic in the north and the Danube river in the south. They are cut by the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges, which divide Poland off from the other states. Poland is an extension of the North European plain and like the latter is drained by rivers that flow from south to north west — the Oder, the Vlatava and the Elbe, the Vistula and the Bug. The Danube is the great exception, flowing from its source eastward, turning through two 90-degree turns to end up in the Black Sea, forming the barrier and often the political frontier between central Europe and the Balkans. Hungary to the east of the Danube is also an open plain. The region is historically and culturally part of western Europe, but its eastern Marches now represents a vital strategic zone between Germany and the core of the European Union to the west and the Russian zone to the east.

Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion

Abstract: Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. By Rodney Stark and Roger Finke. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. 343 pp. $48.00 (cloth); $18.95 (paper). At a recent American Academy of Religion meeting, after a brilliant paper was presented on God and religious experience, the speaker was asked this question by an academic: "But how can you say these things in our postmodem, anti-enlightenment, pluralistic age?" Acts of Faith secures the thesis that not just talk about, but devout belief in, God is rational, widespread, and shows no sign of abating. For a vast number of well-educated, articulate human beings talk of God is not very difficult at all. Acts of Faith is an important treatment of the sociology of religious belief and should be considered required reading by anyone interested in the social standing and assessment of religion. It overturns the conventions of a great deal of earlier sociological inquiry into religion and stands as a model of clarity and rigor. Rodney Stark and Roger Finke begin by documenting the social and intellectual history of atheism, noting how history, sociology, and psychoanalysis have been employed to exhibit the irrationality of religious belief. They underscore how many of these projects have done little more than presup- pose the credulous nature of religion. There is something darkly humorous about the many techniques employed by "intellectuals" and social scientists to explain why religion persists and even grows amidst "modernity." Stark and Finke's analysis is devastating. From the outset through to the last chapter the writing is crisp and at times quite amusing. Here is a passage from the introduction, lamenting the fact that many sociologists focus their work on fringe religious groups: A coven of nine witches in Lund, Sweden, is far more apt to be the object of a case study than is, say, the Episcopal Church, with more than two million members. Some of this merely reflects that it is rather easier to get one's work published if the details are sufficiently lurid or if the group is previously undocumented. A recitation of Episcopalian theology and excerpts from the Book of Common Prayer will not arouse nearly the interest (prurient or otherwise) than can be generated by tales of blondes upon the altar and sexual contacts with animals (p. 19). Stark and Finke have written a text that abounds in technical case studies, while at the same time giving us a book that is a pleasure to read. The introduction and first three chapters alone are a tour de force. They expose the blatant inadequacy of sociological work that reads religious belief as pathology or flagrant irrationality. They challenge the thesis of impending, virtually inevitable secularization, for instance, in part by refuting the claim that in the distant past almost everyone was religious. …

The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global

Abstract: The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global. By Virginia Held. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 220p. $45. In her latest book, Virginia Held elaborates on themes from previously published articles to explicate and defend the ethics of care. For those unfamiliar with this well-developed tendency of feminist thought, she reviews its evolution from the 1980s writings of Sara Ruddick, Carol Gilligan, and Nel Noddings to the more recent work of theorists including, among many others, Eva Kittay, Annette Baier, Joan Tronto, and Selma Sevenhuijsen. Held also underlines the differences between the ethics of care and dominant moral and political perspectives, including Kantian universalism, utilitarianism, liberal contract theory, and virtue theory. She proposes that care is, compared with justice, the more basic value, on the grounds that society can exist without the latter but not without the former. She recommends that men and women participate equally in care activities; that care infuse citizen as well as familial relations; and that society beat back the imperializing thrust of the market ethos and the conflict-mongering thrust of the militarized state to improve the well-being of children, the elderly, the sick and disabled, the community, culture, the environment, and deprived regions of the world.