Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

Bisk College of Business

First Advisor

Emily Martinez-Vogt

Second Advisor

Darrell Norman Burrell

Third Advisor

Lars Hansen

Fourth Advisor

David Wilder

Abstract

Spirituality as an important component of American workplace success is a phenomenon only better understood during the past two decades. Until now, little research has been done to understand workplace spirituality in the human resource context of employee retention and engagement. The pioneering study with a focus on workplace spirituality led by Mitroff and Denton (1999a) signaled a theoretical and empirical convergence highlighting spiritual practice influence on organizational outcomes (Benefiel, Fry, & Geigle, 2014). The inclusion of spirituality in the workplace is an avenue to more fully engage workers who wish to express themselves at work, resulting in their deeper investment in work (Mitroff & Denton, 1999a). The theoretical frameworks of human capital theory (Becker, 1993) and organizational commitment theory (Meyer & Allen, 1991) formed the foundation of the study. Multiple case study analysis (Stake, 2006) was utilized to study 13 employees across three for-profit Central Florida workplaces. Findings indicated commonality in workplace spirituality experiences positively affecting outcomes, with key results concerning (1) Engagement, retention and spirituality, (2) Ethical core as an integral component, (3) Camaraderie and interpersonal connection, (4) Customer care and commitment, and (5) Community involvement.

Comments

Copyright held by author.

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