An Exploratory Study Of The Assessment Process Of The Ethical Conduct Of Top Executives In The For-Profit And Nonprofit Sectors

Because this kind of study is filled with unique challenges from gaining direct access to an appropriate research sample to that of designing  an innovative survey that can be completed within strict time constraints, this research may be considered exploratory in nature.  Therefore, based on research findings derived from limited and constrained access to executive leadership in large publicly traded companies and their counterparts in the nonprofit sector, it was concluded that a very few organizations in either sector have a proactive ethics strategy or a formal approach to the assessment of leader ethics.  Correspondingly, whatever assessment process followed, the ethical criteria for assessing top executives focuses more on their behavior as individuals rather than those aspects having a systematic organizational impact on other subordinates

Spiritual capital theory: a grounded theory based analysis of SCT and its policy applications

Middlebrooks, Anthony E.Science and empiricism, the dominant explicators of reality, have long discarded religion and metaphysical perspective. This is changing and religion and spirituality are resurging as relevant research and policy topics. Spiritual capital presents itself as language, concept and theory to imagine and explain the dynamics between the worldly and otherworldly, and describe the constructive role religion and spirituality might play in our modern societies. It represents a conceptual framework which rationally unlocks the individual and societal value of religion and spirituality. Grand thinkers Adam Smith and Max Weber, as well as Adam Müller, are key pillars for understanding spiritual capital. These authors introduce a complex web of foundational ideas that underpin the modern trichotomous discourse explained as the individualist, structuralist and idealist narrative. Individualism “emphasizes the moral worth of the individual,”5 structuralism stresses “relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure”6 while idealism is manifestly normative and prioritizes “ideals, principles, values, and goals over concrete realities. Few contemporary authors have thus far attempted to reconcile these conflicting narratives, which implies an unsatisfactory definition of spiritual capital and its benefits. An exception is Rima’s spiritual capital theory (SCT). Rima’s multifaceted approach models spiritual capital raw materials, formation, investment and returns on investment. Shortcomings of Rima’s SCT stem from his normative perspective which positions spiritual capital as the “moral core for social and economic justice.” Consequently individualist and structuralist theoretical contributions remain underexplored in SCT. Rima’s methodological pluralism moves toward multilevel theory but remains a patchwork of ideas which do not seamlessly connect. As a new concept, spiritual capital benefits most when ideological perspectives and objectives remain suspended and research focuses on the “mechanics” of spiritual capital first. Conceptual gaps notwithstanding, spiritual capital proves its worth as concept and theory and catalyzes policy and other applications. While these applications are broad and disconnected for the time being, they demonstrate the validity of spiritual capital as a concept. Nevertheless, a lot more conceptualization and research work is needed to enhance understanding of spiritual capital as a concept and as a theory.University of Delaware, School of Public Policy and AdministrationPh.D