How should we study the management practices of religious organizations to do justice to their distinctive religious motivations and traditions? In this paper, we articulate how a specific research approach – organizational ethnography – may enable a deeper understanding of religious and/or spiritual organizational practice. We approach our methodological research questions by engaging with the literature on the distinctive decisionmaking practices of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), commonly known as the Quaker business method. Having shown that the Quaker business method destabilizes a simple binary between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ and between believers and non-believers, we bring the theory and practice of organizational ethnography into conversation with Quaker accounts of decision-making. We conclude with pathways for future research in the space this destabilization creates.
Burton, NicholasKoning, JulietteMuers, Rachel
Oxford Brookes Business School\Oxford Brookes Business School\Department of Business and Management
Year of publication: 2018Date of RADAR deposit: 2018-07-02
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