Journal Article


Organisational ethnography and religious organisations: The case of Quaker decision-making

Abstract

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.

Attached files

Authors

Burton, Nicholas
Koning, Juliette
Muers, Rachel

Oxford Brookes departments

Oxford Brookes Business School\Oxford Brookes Business School\Department of Business and Management

Dates

Year of publication: 2018
Date of RADAR deposit: 2018-07-02



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