the humanistic management network
TRANSCRIPT
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1632024
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS
The Humanistic Management Network – An Introduction Heiko Spitzeck Michael Pirson Ernst Von Kimakowitz Claus Dierksmeier
Working Paper
2010-005 Copyright © 2010 by Heiko Spitzeck, Michael Pirson, Ernst Von Kimakowitz, and Claus Dierksmeier Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holders. Copies of working papers are available from the authors.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1632024
The Humanistic Management Network 1
The Humanistic Management Network
HEIKO SPITZECK Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility Cranfield School of Management Cranfield University Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL United Kingdom Phone: +44 1234 751122 [email protected] MICHAEL PIRSON Graduate School of Business, Fordham University, 1790 Broadway 1147, New York, NY, U.S.A. [email protected] ERNST VON KIMAKOWITZ Humanistic Management Network CLAUS DIERKSMEIER Stonehill College
The Humanistic Management Network The Humanistic Management Network is an international, interdisciplinary, and independent network that promotes the development of an economic system in service of human dignity and well-being. We are cooperating with scholars, practitioners, and policy makers across the world to promote the idea of a ‘life-conducive’ economic system. With over 200 members and partner organizations across the world (official chapters exist in Brazil, Columbia, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States), we believe in the power of change through dialogue and insight. We subscribe to the following positions The Humanistic Management Network defends human dignity in face of its vulnerability. The dignity of the human being lies in its capacity to define autonomously the purpose of its existence. Since human autonomy realizes itself through social cooperation, economic relations and business activities can either foster or obstruct human life and well-being. Against the widespread objectification of human subjects into human resources, against the common instrumentalization of human being into human capital and a mere means for profit, we uphold human dignity as a principle of all economic activity.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1632024
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In business as well as in society, respect for human dignity demands respect for human freedom. Collective decision-making, in corporations just as in governments, should hence be based on free and equal deliberation, participation or representation of all affected parties. Concerns of legitimacy must, in economics like in politics, precede questions of expediency. While acknowledging the important role of market economies for human development in general, the Humanistic Management Network criticizes the solely quantitative metrics which hitherto defined managerial and economic success. To promote life-conducive market activities we promote qualitative evaluation criteria for business and economics that focus on the human dignity of every woman and every man. Therefore, humanistic management is fundamentally a concept of management that upholds the unconditional human dignity of every woman and man within an economic context (Melé, 2003, 2009; Pirson & Lawrence, 2010; Spitzeck, Pirson, Amann, Khan, & von Kimakowitz, 2009). To advance this agenda the Humanistic Management Network encourages the collaboration of researchers across disciplinary boundaries as well as across practice and policy making. The book “Humanism in Business” (Spitzeck et al., 2009) published by Cambridge University Press provides the groundwork of the network and involves contributions from philosophy (Nida-Rümelin, 2009), economics (Sen, 2009), organizational psychology (Peus & Frey, 2009) as well as social entrepreneurship (Yunus, 2009) to name just a few. Following from this groundwork is a book series on “Humanism in Business” published by Palgrave Macmillan. Book Series on Humanism in Business In order to collectively present knowledge about humanism in business and to encourage collaboration between researchers we are currently editing a book series with Palgrave Macmillan. In chronological order the current publications include:
1. Humanistic Management in Practice (von Kimakowitz, Pirson, Spitzeck, Dierksmeier, & Amann, 2010) presents a variety of case studies of humanistic management. Instead of focussing on corporate misconduct the selected cases present business activities around the globe which are conducted well in line with what is ethically justifiable and some even exceed in ensuring that their business is aligned with societal aims. Coordinator is Ernst von Kimakowitz, [email protected]
2. Humanistic Management Education is outlining the current criticisms levelled at management education and presenting potential humanistic alternatives. Collaborators present their takes on the future of management education and evaluate the current state of affairs, as well as identify the levers for future change. A conference with a similar topic has been co-organized by the Humanistic Management Network and
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some of the thoughts presented will be featured in the volume as well. Coordinator is Michael Pirson, [email protected]
3. Humanistic Ethics in the Age of Globality is unearthing the religious and cultural foundations of humanistic ethics. While traditional and conventional mores are typically unreflective about the intercultural validity of their highly embedded values, it is the prerogative of philosophy to be conscious thereof and to elaborate the conditions of the possibility for cross-contextual truths. In that vein, the history of philosophy is being re-read as an essay in advancing a universalistic approach to humanistic ethic. Coordinator is Claus Dierksmeier, [email protected]
4. Banking with Integrity – The Winners of the Financial Crisis? is a collection of case studies of banks who did financially well during the crisis. The book analyzes the patterns which made this market success possible in the first place. Coordinator is Heiko Spitzeck, [email protected]
5. World Humanism takes up the theme that in today’s era of increasing globalization, companies are confronted with differing value systems in the countries where they operate. Multinationals have learned - often the hard way - how critical it is to understand these diverse cultural sensitivities for conducting successful business. In order to foster this understanding the book examines the nature and occurrence of humanistic management practices within businesses and other organizations across the world. It also aims to determine whether a common underlying theme of humanistic management occurs across cultures, and can thus serve as a basis for value management on a global level. Coordinators are Shiban Khan, [email protected] and Adrian Henriques, [email protected]
6. Humanistic Management in Caritas in Veritate – is a book following from the the IESE Symposium “Facing the Crisis: Towards a New Humanisitc Synthesis”. Pope Benedictus published a new Encyclical titled “Caritas in Veritate”, unfolding the position of Catholic Social Teaching on questions of economic justice in the age of globalization. While resting upon central tenets of the Christian faith, the document aims, at the same time, to be relevant also to readers from different religious creeds or with an agnostic and atheistic worldview. Coordinator is Claus Dierksmeier, [email protected]
The Humanistic Management Network welcomes new ideas and book proposals to be added to this list of initial activities. Conferences To gather around common research interests and to exchange ideas our network organizes or co-organizes conferences.
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1. Academcy of Management Conference – The Humanistic Management Network organized symposia and caucuses at the yearly Academy of Management conference with topics examining alternative paradigms, alternative objective functions and ways to address the major crises in business. The next AoM Conference will be held in Montreal, Canada from the 6.-10. August 2010 and we invite you to attend our caucus. We are open for suggestions on future activities and look forward to partner with anyone interested.
2. IESE Symposium - On a biannual basis IESE Business School in Barcelona organizes an international Symposium on Business, Ethics and Society focussing on humanistic management. The 2010 Symposium took place between the 13.-15. of May 2010 and will be followed by another in 2012.
3. The MBA under Siege, Reimagining Management Education – hosted by Fordham University’s Graduate School in New York and sponsored by Aspen as well as the United Nations PRME initiative looked at specifically MBA education which has been in the line of fire. Scholars and external observers alike blamed business schools to educate the wrong people in the wrong ways, paving the way for a slew of irresponsible management practices. Many business schools are under pressure and react with seemingly cosmetic changes to their curriculum. If the critics are right, however, it is time to reevaluate MBA education more seriously. This conference took place in New York on the 11. of May 2010 and featured speakers such as Henry Mintzberg, Michael Jensen, Ed Freeman and Rakesh Khurana.
4. ACACIA 2010 – The ACACIA conference brings together leading researchers in Central and South America and its 2010 topic focussed on the role of management sciences in social development. The conference was hosted by the Chair for Humanistic Management at the Technologico de Monterrey Business School (ITESM-EGADE) in Mexico featuring speakers such as Omar Aktouf (Aktouf & Holford, 2009) and Heiko Spitzeck.
An open invitation The Humanistic Management Network is open to new members, book and conference proposals as well as any other ideas on how to promote the development of an economic system in service of human dignity and wellbeing. Please get in touch at [email protected]
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References: Aktouf, O., & Holford, W. D. (2009). The implications of humanism for
business studies. In H. Spitzeck, M. Pirson, W. Amann, S. Khan & E. von Kimakowitz (Eds.), Humanism in Business (pp. 101-122). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Melé, D. (2003). The Challenge of Humanistic Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(1), 77-88.
Melé, D. (2009). Editorial Introduction: Towards a More Humanistic Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(3), 413-416.
Nida-Rümelin, J. (2009). Philosophical Grounds of Humanism in Economics. In H. Spitzeck, M. Pirson, W. Amann, S. Khan & E. von Kimakowitz (Eds.), Humanism in Business (pp. 15-25). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peus, C., & Frey, D. (2009). Humanism at work: crucial organizational cultures and leadership principles. In H. Spitzeck, M. Pirson, W. Amann, S. Khan & E. von Kimakowitz (Eds.), Humanism in Business (pp. 260-277). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pirson, M., & Lawrence, P. (2010). Humanism in Business – Towards a Paradigm Shift? Journal of Business Ethics, 93(4), 553-565.
Sen, A. K. (2009). Development as freedom: individual freedom as a social commitment. In H. Spitzeck, M. Pirson, W. Amann, S. Khan & E. von Kimakowitz (Eds.), Humanism in Business (pp. 156-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M., Amann, W., Khan, S., & von Kimakowitz, E. (Eds.). (2009). Humanism in Business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
von Kimakowitz, E., Pirson, M., Spitzeck, H., Dierksmeier, C., & Amann, W. (Eds.). (2010). Humanistic Management in Practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Yunus, M. (2009). Social business entrepreneurs are the solution. In H. Spitzeck, M. Pirson, W. Amann, S. Khan & E. von Kimakowitz (Eds.), Humanism in Business (pp. 402-412). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.