The Impact of Mindfulness and Relational Systems on Psychosocial Understanding and Management in Organizations

Call for papers for: Journal of Managerial Psychology

Submissions open: Jan 5, 2022

Submission deadline: April 5, 2022

Guest Editors:

William Y. Degbey, william.degbey@utu.fi (University of Turku, Finland)

Shlomo Tarba, s.tarba@bham.ac.uk (University of Birmingham, UK)

David B. Zoogah, zoogahd@xavier.edu (Xavier University, USA)

Abraham Carmeli, avic@tauex.tau.ac.il (Tel-Aviv University, Israel)

Sir Cary Cooper, cary.cooper@manchester.ac.uk (University of Manchester, UK)

Background and Objectives of Special Issue:

The increasingly uncertain and turbulent environments foreshadowed by a raging Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, migration crisis, increased organizational restructuring, rapid and disruptive technological advances, intense competition, and globalization have intensified the call for employees’ developing receptive attention to and awareness of present events i.e. mindfulness (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007; Haun, Nübold, & Bauer, 2018; Hülsheger, Walkowiak, & Thommes, 2018) and the building of high-quality relational systems, such as strong relational attachments (Ehrhardt & Ragins, 2019) within the work milieu. This certainly can safeguard against threats posed by present and future events, job demands, as well as unanticipated organizational changes (e.g., job retrenchment) and policies (e.g., preference for young workers or so-called millennials). Moreover, these changes have also increasingly shifted the responsibility of human functioning and well-being from organizations to employees (McCauley & Hezlett, 2001; Zoogah, 2010). Yet, while mindfulness and relational systems represent fundamental parts of human functioning and well-being in contemporary private, public and nongovernmental organizations, we know little about when, why and how the two constructs can jointly and interactively advance psychological and social understanding and impact of management in organizations.

For example, on the one hand, previous research has emphasized the role of mindfulness in enhancing positive outcomes in important life domains, such as high-quality interpersonal relationships and social interactions (Brown et al., 2007; Good et al., 2016), safeguarding against conflict and social undermining (Yu, & Zellmer-Bruhn, 2018), innovative work behavior (Montani, Vandenberghe, Khedhaouria, & Courcy, 2020), romantic relationships (Carson, Carson, Gil, & Baucom, 2007), emotional regulation (Molina, & O'Shea, 2020), and felt sense of relatedness and interpersonal closeness (Brown & Kasser, 2005; Brown & Ryan, 2003). In addition, scholars have revealed support for the relevance of mindfulness to important components of interpersonal relationships in general, including emotional intelligence (e.g., Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003), which in turn has positive association with empathic perspective taking and social skills, marital partner satisfaction, and cooperative response patterns (Schutte et al., 2001). Further, some scholars call for studies on how mindfulness supports social connectedness (Brown et al., 2007). With respect to the latter, preliminary evidence for example shows that mindfulness can inoculate against the distress usually experienced when that connectedness is lost due to social exclusion (Allen & Knight, 2005).

On the other hand, research has long emphasized that all human systems are relational (Schein, 1993), but can be significantly damaged by crises—even long after a particular crisis ceased—as they disrupt and affect system members’ connections, networks, and attachments (Kahn et al., 2013). Yet we understand very little about how in crises situations dimensions of relational systems, such as cohesion, flexibility and communication (Olson, 2000) and/or processes of relational systems such as attachment, joint problem-solving, communication and mutuality (Wynne, 1984) can interact with mindfulness to generate positive or cope with/minimize negative outcomes in work settings. For example, recent studies point to the demands or effects of international/global health emergencies, such as the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 Ebola virus, and the possible means to facilitate interventions (e.g. Rigotti, De Cuyper & Sekiguchi, 2020; Rudolph et al., 2020; Wright, Meyer, Reay & Staggs, 2020). Besides the global health crisis, other emergencies including the crisis of migrants (see, for example, a recent issue by Pécoud, 2020) crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe and Latin Americans struggling to enter the USA, as well as the rise of nationalist movements across many countries in Europe, have strong implications for migrants and ethnic minorities in terms of workplace diversity and inclusiveness. In view of that, mindfulness and supportive relational systems at the individual, team or organizational levels can shine light on managerially relevant, social, and psychological understanding to foster inclusive organizations and workplace diversity for migrants and ethnic minorities to flourish.

In this special issue, we seek mainly to advance the empirical significance of the joint and interactive role of mindfulness and relational systems in organizations by studying when, why, and how different types mindfulness (i.e. trait, state and social mindfulness) and dimensions of relational systems (i.e. cohesion, flexibility and communication) foster positive outcomes in work settings e.g. team resilience (Degbey & Einola, 2019), employee retention (Degbey, Rodgers, Kromah, & Weber, 2020), employee innovative behavior (Wang, Meng & Cai, 2019), employee work engagement (Conte, Aasen, Jacobson, O’Loughlin & Toroslu, 2019), organizational identification (Pepple & Davies, 2019), work–home enrichment and thriving (Carmeli & Russo, 2016), as well as minimize negative outcomes in organizations e.g. victimization at work (Dadaboyev, Park & Ahn, 2019), employee career regret (Budjanovcanin, Rodrigues & Guest, 2019), abusive supervision (Shen, Yang, He & Wu, 2019), and unethical pro-organizational behavior (Xu & Lv, 2018). Further, we seek to bring together scholars of organizational behavior, management, HR strategy and practitioners to submit only empirical (qualitative or quantitative) papers that align with the aim of JMP.

Themes for the Special Issue:

We seek submissions that provide empirical contributions on mindfulness and relational systems to broaden the psychological and social understanding and impact of management in organizations. Submissions that pertain to the themes below are welcome for this Special Issue, although this is not an exhaustive list.

• The role of mindfulness and relational systems in fostering authentic, servant, ethical or transformational leadership in organizations.
• The role of mindfulness and relational systems in addressing employee career regret, abusive supervision, employee perceived relative deprivation and victimization at work.
• The role of mindfulness and relational systems for developing employee perceived work-life balance and work-family enrichment.
• The role of mindfulness and relational systems on interpersonal exchange processes, such as leader-member exchange (LMX), LMX congruence, and team-member exchange (TMX).
• The role of mindfulness and relational systems on fit (organization and job) perceptions and work engagement
• The role of mindfulness and relational systems in fostering individual or team resilience in work settings
• Role of mindfulness and relational systems on employee job performance withdrawal behaviors
• Mindfulness- and relational systems- enhancing work engagement, thriving at work, meaning of work and well-being among employees
• Leader humor styles that explain why and how relationships mindfully attach employees and supervisors to the workplace
• The value of relational systems and mindfulness in fostering positive outcomes in inter-organizational encounters, such as mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances, and joint ventures
• When and/or how can mindfulness and relational systems impact employee knowledge hiding?
• As current empirical insights on mindfulness have largely focused on mindfulness training to advance employees’ knowledge, skills and ability, what human resource (HR) empirical interventions informed by mindfulness and relational systems can affect employees’ motivation and opportunity to engage in knowledge sharing or transfer?
• The dark side or limit of mindfulness and relational systems on employee thriving and positive work behaviors.

The above list is neither exhaustive nor exclusive; we encourage authors to explore other themes that are relevant to the overall aim of the Special Issue and JMP.

References:

Allen, N. B., & Knight, W. (2005). Mindfulness, compassion for self, and compassion for others. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Conceptualizations, research and use in psychotherapy (pp. 239-262). New York: Routledge.

Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), 27-45.

Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822.

Brown, K. W., & Kasser, T. (2005). Are psychological and ecological well-being compatible? The role of values, mindfulness, and lifestyle. Social Indicators Research, 74(2), 349-368.

Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18(4), 211-237.

Budjanovcanin, A., Rodrigues, R. & Guest, D. (2019). A career with a heart: exploring occupational regret, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(3), 156-169.

Carmeli, A., & Russo, M. (2016). The power of micro-moves in cultivating regardful relationships: Implications for work–home enrichment and thriving. Human Resource Management Review, 26(2), 112-124.

Carson, J. W., Carson, K. M., Gil, K. M., & Baucom, D. H. (2007). Self‐expansion as a mediator of relationship improvements in a mindfulness intervention. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 33(4), 517-528.

Conte, J.M., Aasen, B., Jacobson, C., O’Loughlin, C. & Toroslu, L. (2019), Investigating relationships among polychronicity, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, and work engagement, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(7), 459-473.

Dadaboyev, S., Park, J., & Ahn, S. I. (2019). Dark sides of self-efficacy and task interdependence: victimization. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(6), 386-400.

Degbey, W. Y., & Einola, K. (2019). Resilience in Virtual Teams: Developing the Capacity to Bounce Back. Applied Psychology - An International Review. Advance online publication, https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12220, 1-37.

Degbey, W.Y., Rodgers, P., Kromah, M.D., & Weber, Y. (2020). The impact of psychological ownership on employee retention in mergers and acquisitions, Human Resource Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100745, 1-16

Ehrhardt, K., & Ragins, B. R. (2019). Relational attachment at work: A complementary fit perspective on the role of relationships in organizational life. Academy of Management Journal, 62(1), 248-282.

Good, D.J., Lyddy, C.J., Glomb, T.M., Bono, J.E., Brown, K.W., Duffy, M.K., Baer, R.A., Brewer, J.A. and Lazar, S.W., (2016). Contemplating mindfulness at work: An integrative review. Journal of Management, 42(1), 114-142.

Haun, V. C., Nübold, A., & Bauer, A. G. (2018). Being mindful at work and at home: Buffering effects in the stressor–detachment model. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(2), 385-410.

Hülsheger, U. R., Walkowiak, A., & Thommes, M. S. (2018). How can mindfulness be promoted? Workload and recovery experiences as antecedents of daily fluctuations in mindfulness. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(2), 261-284.

Kahn, W. A., Barton, M. A., & Fellows, S. (2013). Organizational crises and the disturbance of relational systems. Academy of Management Review, 38(3), 377-396.

McCauley, C., & Hezlett, S. (2001). Individual development in the workplace. In N. Anderson, D. Ones, H. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (pp. 313–335). London, England: Sage.

Molina, A., & O'Shea, D. (2020). Mindful emotion regulation, savouring and proactive behaviour: The role of supervisor justice. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 69(1), 148-175.

Montani, F., Vandenberghe, C., Khedhaouria, A., & Courcy, F. (2020). Examining the inverted U-shaped relationship between workload and innovative work behavior: The role of work engagement and mindfulness. Human Relations, 73(1), 59-93.

Olson, D. H. (2000). Circumplex model of marital and family systems. Journal of Family Therapy, 22, 144-167.

Pécoud, A. (2020). Death at the Border: Revisiting the Debate in Light of the Euro-Mediterranean Migration Crisis. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(4), 379-388.

Pepple, D.G. & Davies, E.M.M. (2019). Co-worker social support and organisational identification: does ethnic self-identification matter? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(8), 573-586

Rigotti, T., De Cuyper, N., & Sekiguchi, T. (2020). The Corona Crisis: What Can We Learn from Earlier Studies in Applied Psychology? Applied Psychology - An International Review. Advance online publication:  https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12265

Rudolph, C.W., Allan, B., Clark, M., Hertel, G., Hirschi, A., Kunze, F., Shockley, K., Shoss, M., Sonnentag, S., & Zacher, H. (2020). Pandemics: Implications for Research and Practice in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice. Preprint DOI: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/k8us2

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Schutte, N.S., Malouff, J.M., Bobik, C., Coston, T.D., Greeson, C., Jedlicka, C., Rhodes, E. & Wendorf, G., (2001). Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. The Journal of Social Psychology, 141(4), 523-536.

Shen, C., Yang, J., He, P. & Wu, Y.J. (2019). How does abusive supervision restrict employees’ feedback-seeking behavior?, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(8), 546-559.

Wang, Z., Meng, L. & Cai, S. (2019). Servant leadership and innovative behavior: a moderated mediation, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(8), 505-518.

Wright, A. L., Meyer, A. D., Reay, T., & Staggs, J. (2020). Maintaining places of social inclusion: Ebola and the emergency department. Administrative Science Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839220916401, 1-44

Wynne, L. C. (1984). The epigenesis of relational systems: A model for understanding family development. Family Process, 23(3), 297-318.

Xu, T. & Lv, Z. (2018). HPWS and unethical pro-organizational behavior: a moderated mediation model, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 33(3), 265-278.

Zoogah, D.B. (2010). Why Should I Be Left Behind? Employees’ Perceived Relative Deprivation and Participation in Development Activities. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95 (1), 159 –173.

Yu, L., & Zellmer-Bruhn, M. (2018). Introducing team mindfulness and considering its safeguard role against conflict transformation and social undermining. Academy of Management Journal, 61(1), 324-347.

Guest editors biographical notes:

William Y. Degbey, PhD, is a lecturer of International Business at the Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland, william.degbey@utu.fi. He has also held a visiting scholar position at Stanford University, USA and an ERASMUS position at Linnaeus University, Sweden. His work has been published in leading academic journals, such as Applied Psychology, Human Resource Management Review, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, among others, and as chapters in edited books. In addition, he has guest editorial experience at Thunderbird International Business Review.

Shlomo Tarba is a Chair (Full Professor) of Strategy & International Business at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, s.tarba@bham.ac.uk. Prof. Tarba is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of British Journal of Management starting from January 2021. He has served as a guest-editor for the special issues at the leading journals such as Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management (US), International Journal of HRM, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Long Range Planning, California Management Review, and others. Prof. Tarba has published over 55 articles in premier refereed academic journals in strategy, international business, human resource management, and organizational behavior areas such as Journal of Management (SAGE), British Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Relations, Human Resource Management (US), Academy of Management Perspectives, Group & Organization Management, Human Resource Management Review, and others. One of his paper has been selected and published in Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management (USA) in 2006.

Baniyelme David Zoogah, Associate Professor of Management at Xavier University, Cincinnati, United States of America, Zoogahd@xavier.edu. Dr Zoogah has published over 30 refereed journal articles in major leading journals including Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Perspectives, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, and Africa Journal of Management. He has also written over twenty book chapters, co-edited one book, edited 1 book, and authored three books (1 forthcoming). He has also co-edited special issues in several academic journals.

Abraham Carmeli is a professor of strategy and management in Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management, Israel, avic@tauex.tau.ac.il. His interests and expertise center on CEOs and top management teams, BODs, building intangible-based competitive advantages, leading for creativity and innovation, learning and knowledge creation processes, crisis management and restructuring, and creating work environments for people to thrive and flourish. Prof. Carmeli's papers have been published in Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Relations, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management Review, International Journal of HRM, California Management Review, and others.

Sir Cary L. Cooper is 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK. Prof. Cooper is the author/editor of over 120 books (on resilience, mergers and acquisitions, etc.) and over 400 scholarly articles. He is currently Founding Editor of Journal of Organizational Behavior and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance.  He served as a guest editor for special issues at Journal of Management Studies, Human Resource Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, and others. Prof. Cooper's work has been published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Executive, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management Studies, Human Resource Management, Human Relations, British Journal of Management, Management Learning, Management International Review, and others. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences. Professor Cooper is past President of the British Academy of Management and one of the first UK based Fellows of the US Academy of Management (AOM). In 2001, he was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List. In June 2014 he was awarded a Knighthood for his services to social science.