We are pleased to invite you to participate in the World Congress on “Spirituality and Creativity in Management: Challenges for the future” to be held in Barcelona on April 23rd, 24th, and 25th 2015.
This first World Congress encompasses the 4th IAMSR Conference on Management and Spirituality, of which the three previous editions were held in Vienna (Austria), Bangalore (India) and Lourdes (France).
Our primary goals are to bring spirituality (aided and/or fuelled by creativity) to the forefront of management research and practice, and to create a meaningful and inspiring experience for all attendees.
The congress is general in scope. In order to foster greater depth of discussion, the presentations will be organised in various themes that will feature, among others, world-renown speakers, a global Senior Executive panel and delivery of academic papers.
The Congress will be two and a half days long. A ‘meet the editor’ session with our media panel, along with opportunities for spiritual practices and social engagements that embody the theme will be part of the programme and both a Doctoral Workshop and practice-oriented Professional Development Workshops (PDW) will be part of the Congress.
It is only fitting that the Congress is held in Barcelona and begins on April 23rd. Barcelona is a thriving city, rated as the fourth-most creative after San Francisco, London, and New York. Furthermore, April 23rd is a special holiday in Catalonia, Spain called “St. George’s Day” (Sant Jordi (Catalan)), celebrating the patron-saint of the Catalans. On this day men traditionally present their female relatives with roses, and relatives and lovers present each other with books. Many book and rose markets are set up all over town where cultural events, such as book signings and readings, are taking place, which give this day a very inspiring and festive feel.
We invite paper submissions and professional development workshop (PDW) proposals that contribute to advancing knowledge creation and professional practice in the multiple dimensions of spirituality and creativity in management from academic, practical, artistic, cultural and/or psychological points of view. We encourage submissions from management scholars, leadership scholars, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, religious scholars, artists, creativity and innovation scholars, philosophers, organizational leaders, and consultants who wish to bring rigor and relevance to this important and rapidly growing field.
A sample list of possible submission themes may include:
- How may spirituality be manifested in management practice?
- How may academics and practitioners help to develop spirituality and creativity in management?
- How may spirituality in the workplace be conceptualized, measured, modeled, taught, and/or trained?
- How may academics and practitioners address the spiritual needs and different faiths of people within organizations and educational programs?
- How do we develop the spiritual life of people within multi-cultural organizations?
- How may an organization develop a spiritual and creative identity?
- How to develop an approach to provide positive critique on spiritual-leadership initiatives?
- How may the self-help literature be utilized in developing leadership, leaders, and spirituality?
- What is the role of technology and the virtual world in harnessing (or harming) spirituality in management?
- How may art be used as an expression for spirituality in management?
- Does spirituality engender creativity for spirituality in management?
- What are the connections, if any, between leadership and spirituality?
- How can we teach spirituality in management schools and leadership programs?
- How can spirituality be learned and/or developed?
- What is the research agenda on spirituality and creativity in management?
- What examples of organizational and individual cases for benchmarking the practice of spirituality in organizations?
- What evidence-based practices and outcomes of spirituality in management and in organizations are available?
- How may spirituality serve as a foundation for nurturing purpose (for both people and organizations?)
- How may spiritual engagement serve as a critique on conventional approaches to business?
- Is spiritual commitment (beliefs, values, practice) relevant to personal and organizational performance?
- What is the relationship between spiritual leadership and management and service?
- What is the relationship between spirituality and decision making?
- How do we bring spirituality into leadership and human resource decisions? Should organizations be looking for smart people or wise people?
- Creativity in spirituality and in organizations: does creativity have the same meaning and purpose in each of these two fields?
- Spiritual practices and the temporal and spatial spiritual correlates in organizations
- The business case of spirituality in business versus the moral case and the personal/developmental/well-being case
- Spiritual practices and spiritual spaces in management education: does it make sense? And how to do that?
- Spirituality in personal development and in professional development: Are they related? Are they similar or different?
- Spirituality in management: the critical approach - reductionism, instrumentality and contemporary Capitalism.
Spirituality in management: New Age versus a faith based approach.
The themes listed represent only a sample for reference.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions will be evaluated by members of the Congress Scientific Committee, subject to a traditional, blind review process.
- Submissions need to be in English (maximum 10 pages, 1 ½ space, comprehensive and sufficient content to enable adequate review)
- A maximum of two submissions will be allowed by the same author.
- If a submission is accepted, the author (or one of the co-authors) must be registered for the Congress
Academic Paper Submission Link (EasyChair)
Academic Paper submission deadline is October 20th 2014.
Selected Paper notification will be done by December 1st 2014.
* A special issue in the Routledge Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion (JMSR) with the theme Spirituality and Creativity in Management, edited by S.L. Dolan, Anne Gombault and Kristine Kawamura, will be produced after the Congress. Submission to the (JMSR) special issue is separate from the Congress, but the theme is linked and therefore it is strongly encouraged to present at the Congress should you be thinking about submitting to the special issue.