اسلام و مدیریت منابع انسانی (HRM)

ABSTRACT Introduction: Islam and human resource management

Until recently, the potential association between religious beliefs, management practices and organisational outcomes has been conspicuously ignored in the mainstream management research. Despite the fact that over 80 per cent of people worldwide report that religion constitutes an important part of their daily life (Sedikides, 2010), much of the research in business and management has considered organisations as a religion neutral sphere, and as a result religion was not deemed worthy of study. This is due in part to the scepticism that religion has any significant impact on how individuals behave at the workplace. Matiaske and Gro¨zinger (2010, p. 5) note that by considering organisation a “neutral sphere”, members of organisations are expected to shed their “religious ideas upon passing through the “factory gate”- or at least outside the organisation”. In addition to the scepticism about the role of religion in the management of organisations, scholars that have examined management practices across cultures, where there is greater religious diversity, subsumed religion as part of national cultures. Hofstede (1997, p. 16) argues that culture precedes religion and puts it:

[. . .] religious affiliation by itself is less culturally relevant than is often assumed if we trace the religious histories of countries, then the religion a population has embraced along with the version of that religion seem to have been a result of previously existing cultural value patterns as much as a cause of cultural differences.

As a result of framing religion as a subset of national culture, the extant literature on cross-cultural management downplayed the role of religion. For instance, there is an extensive body of research on the impact of rituals and ceremonies in Japanese organisations, but very little research is carried out on the impact of religious rituals such as group prayers on organisational outcomes.

However, in the wake of what has been variously referred to as a religious (re)awakening, the subject of religiosity and religion has recently come to the forefront of management and organisational research. The increasing interest management scholars have shown in religion and management recently is a reflection of the growing evidence affirming that religious beliefs and values have significant direct and indirect effects on a wide range of behaviours in the workplace including job satisfaction (King and Williamson, 2005), leadership styles and effectiveness (Reave, 2005), ethical behaviour at the workplace (Weaver and Agle, 2002), as well as legal challenges to deal with religious diversity in the workplace (Morgan, 2005) and on employment practices (Budhwar and Fadzil, 2000).

The recent explosion of interest in the association between religion and management is also reflected in the increasing number of articles published on the relationship between religion, management and organisational performance in both academic outlets (e.g. Garcia-Zamor, 2003; Mitroff and Denton, 1999), and business media (Gunther, 2001; Symonds, 2005). We are also witnessing an increasing institutional support in the form of dedicated journals, special issues and interest groups in key learned societies. To accommodate the recent interest in this growing field of research, several new journals have been launched to address the issue of religion and spirituality in organisations. For instance the recently launched Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion journal focuses specifically on the role of religion and spirituality in shaping aspects of organising and managing resources and people in organisations. Also, recently a number of scholarly journals commissioned special issues on the theme of religiosity in organisations (e.g. Matiaske and Gro¨zinger, 2010; Sedikides, 2010). Other signs of recognition include the establishment of the Management, Spirituality and Religion (MSR) special interest group at the Academy of Management, which had 649 active members by March 2010. The formal domain of MSR is to “study the relationship and relevance of spirituality and religion in management and organisations”. Its major topics include applications of particular religions to work, management/leadership, and organisation. This special issue focuses on Islam and human resource management (HRM).