The 21st century is also challenging the human race to balance one’s life and one’s society and one’s nation as avenues for hedonism and distraction abound. How can one think about spirituality? How can one integrate spiritual aspect in one’s life or in one’s working life or both? Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences at O.P. Jindal Global University and Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) is organizing a Conference on “Spirituality and Management – From Model to Application 2020” for two days during 6-7 March 2020 at O.P. Jindal Global University’s campus at Sonipat in Haryana near India’s national capital New Delhi.
“We live in unprecedented times. Global social transition and cultural transformation, associated with a continuous techno-scientific revolution demarcates the definitive arrival of Anthropocene. These developments undeniably open promising prospects for global human flourishing. However, they also question the foundations of human existence, bringing threats of global warming, biological or nuclear warfare, and the elimination of liberty by helicopter states. Can these threats be managed? Do they require the usual managerial approach which characterizes professionalism today? Or does that approach, instead, contribute to the rise of global threats once it does not incorporate forms of spirituality, that is, of a contemplative attitude of attention, meditation, mindufulness, and others, all originating in a broadened self?” notes a press note released by the organizers.
“Rather than managing global threats, we had better integrate spirituality into the core of our professional lives, including political leadership, workspace, environmental and economic administration, besides others.
“Why would the application of spirituality in professional life be needed to resolve global challenges? Because one cannot adequately deal with a problem while staying on the same level of thinking on which the problem was first created. While one could argue that climate change and neo-totalitarian threats to liberty were produced by isolated and struggling egos, one could equally say that an extended, more global human identity is required to overcome conflicts of interests and ensure a coordinated action for the sake of common wellbeing.
“A sustainable business model can be possible only if its foundations is rooted in following business ethics. Anything that lacks value will not be a long-term prospect. With the rapid changes being experienced in the different walks of life, particularly the workplaces, individuals experience extreme stress and lack quality-of-life. Interestingly, human life is not just hedonic in nature but is more eudaimonic. It is about the search for meaning, purpose, inter-connectedness, and growth. This is where spirituality helps management retain its essence for long-term and sustainable goals.
“Spirituality, understood as the development of an extended, all-encompassing self, transcending limitations of everyday reality, brings together individual and common human identity. This transformed and extended self is necessary to overcome challenges, put up by a purely egoistic use of revolutionary technologies, power claims of neo-authoritarian regimes, and profit-driven roots of the current climate crisis.”
Emphasis at the conference will be integrating spirituality and management, and to cover a variety of interrelated subjects such as:
- Meaning and conceptual clarification: spirituality, management and leadership
- Spirituality in the workplace
- Spirituality, self-management and health-management
- Corporate management and spirituality
- Articulating and explaining the factors that determine workplace or core values
- Incorporating spirituality at the level of family, society, corporation and nation
- What are the challenges of integrating spirituality into workplace?
- How can one overcome them?
- Which methods and strategies to integrate spirituality into workplace can be applied?
An institute or an organization or a university can nominate 4-5 scholars, academicians, researchers and practitioners who might be interested in attending this conference. The conference aims to address the possibilities for integrating spirituality and management which would cover a variety of inter-related subjects.
ABOUT JINDAL INSTITUTE OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES (JIBS):
Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS), is an inter-disciplinary research-driven Institute with three research centers namely Center for Victimology and Psychological Studies, Centre for Leadership and Change and Centre for Community Mental Health. Institute engages in critical research, publications, knowledge creation, capacity building, and training programs. Since its inception five years ago, JIBS has achieved milestones in research (72 publications: 13 books, 31 book chapters and 28 Journal Publications) and community development initiatives (over 30,000 school leaders, teachers, school counsellors, students and parents and 10,000 Government officials and private sector employees from top management have been trained).
ABOUT O. P. JINDAL GLOBAL UNIVERSITY (JGU):
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has been ranked by QS in the global top 150 amongst all young universities that are under 50 years of age. Also, this makes JGU the only private university, the youngest, and the only university to focus solely on social sciences, arts and humanities from India to be featured in the QS Young University Rankings 2020.
For more information, you can contact Professor (Dr.) Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director
Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (www.jibs.edu.in) at O. P. Jindal Global University (www.jgu.edu.in) on +91 130 4091818 or email: drspsahni@jgu.edu.in