Sacred and Transcendental OD: Bricoluer of Strategic Suggestions for Knowledge-Based Consultants

Abstract: In the 21 st century, Organization Development (OD) is expected to awaken and grow the minds, hearts and spirits of managers and their organizations. We suggest sacred and transcendental approach for the above matter, in particular taking the wisdom of Sufism. OD then is being seen as a sacred sophialogical engagement with hikma as its base of action. Hikma is about putting/placing rightly thing at the right place in order for justices to prevail. It is also about taking actions of opposing stupidity and emotional disorders. Gulen noted that hikma begins with reflections, curiosity, understanding and zeal to study and search, and continues with obedience and worship, ending in spiritual pleasures and eternal happiness (saadah). A sophialogical engagement in the context OD is to bring practical wisdom (phronesis) as a moral goodness that connects knowledge and action. In enabling phronesis to be present, we suggest novelistic sacred inquiry is an instrument of practice. Meanwhile ta'wil is being proposed as the method of knowing/understanding data. Ta'wil is best described as a kind of Islamic hermeneutics. In ta'wil, spiritual and worldly experiences are utilized, and both exoteric and esoteric are considered. The basic aim of ta'wil is to cross the line of literal/exoteric meaning for a greater understanding/knowing beyond the sensual perceptions. We theorized two main axioms of ta'wil, namely active imagination and contemplation. Contextually, in this type of consultancy, consultants need to venture into nafsiology as part of their historicality of understanding. Nafsiology basically is a study that concerns with internal aspects of man. In this work we are emphasizing on nafs, qalb and ruh. In relation to the three compounds, being ghaflah (forgetfulness/heedlessness/neglectfulness) is considered as functional illness that needs to be rectified, and we recommend tazkiya as hikma of normality under the rubric of sacred learning action. As tazkiya is a work of an adult knower, we theorized three grammars of organizing, namely imagin.i.zation about the dynamics of order/disorder of the three compounds, reading and contemplating ayah (verbal and non-verbal signs) and eschatology as paradigm of living-life. Consultants in this regard must understand that the whole gamut mentioned above so far is to bring the desired future state of organizational well-being, saadah, within the reach of the acquired second. We present Gulenian dialogical Sufism as referential case study in the contemporary tradition

The sacred canopy: Narratives, stories and culture in a Malaysian organisation.

The starting point for this research is the importance of narrative in our life. Many scholars regard it as the organising principle by which people organise their experience in, knowledge about, and transaction in the social world. Indeed, authoring and co-authoring narratives have been cited as among the most important communicative actions in an organisation. This study adapts Fisher's (1987) narrative paradigm to explore how organisational members view their reality. Human beings in this view are seen as homo narrans --- both as storytellers and objects of storytelling. Narratives act as vehicles through which organisational members can offer definitions and explanations of their work life. They act as a metacode transmitting shared meaning. As a consequence, members establish definitional boundaries through which they judge and understand the situation at hand. Recognising the limitations of this paradigm, the analysis in this research study adds Pacanowsky's (1983) application of Geertz's (1973) cultural insights to organisational life. To Pacanowsky, organisational culture is the residue of employees' performances. To Geertz, such performances are an ensemble of texts.In summary, the following main perspectives informed this research: a) Human beings are storytellers b) Culture is the root metaphor of organisational life c) Organisational culture is a text d) A text must be read and interpreted in the meaning-making process.To reflect this theoretical perspective, hermeneutics was used as the method of inquiry. A series of in-depth interviews were conducted over time to gather data on the use and content of narratives within a Malaysian organisation, Palmyra.During a period of change, stories and narratives are often 'emotional' in nature. This is understandable as change brings a new arrangement of reality. At Palmyra, an organisation that deals primarily with language and literature, the narratives and stories revolved around what was called the 're-inventing programme'. Besides repositioning staff and offices, management aimed to 'bring religion back to the workplace' and this became an important agenda in the whole planned change. This approach to organisational change views change as a matter of body, mind and soul. The stability of nafs (the inner self) is regarded as important, and organisation is seen as a moral problem. This research shows how this approach can be understood in the light of the tawhidic paradigm. The implementation of the change programme brought many important undercurrents (shadows) to the fore, and these were reflected in the narratives, which emerged. Tribalism or parochialism was one of them. The organisation members who felt displaced responded through various means. Among others, they utilised the power of literature and hidden transcripts. Many ancient and classicaltexts were given new interpretations. Various forms of halus (refined and indirect) were identified as ways of communicating their unhappiness. While sharing many of the themes, which can be identified in European and American research on organisational change, these forms of resistance used methods and symbols, which were distinctively Malaysian. This research study makes a number of important contributions to organisational communication studies. In particular:1. It adds new knowledge to an understudied area in organisational communication, namely the analysis and significance of stories in the workplace.2. It also contributes to another underrepresented area of study, namely the religious aspects of organisational communication culture.3. It demonstrates the value of qualitative research methods in organisational communication studies in Malaysia, where previously quantitative methods have been dominant

Constructing war accounts in Malaysia / Che Mahzan Ahmad and Syafini Samsudin

With reference to the mediation, the 'accounted narrativised news' are expected to be interactively developed and modified (Cobb 1994) with the reality of the concerned life-world (Nasser 1983, Lendvai 1983, Wiio 1983, Karch 1983). In this reality, understanding and construction of news are related to contextualized or configured knowledge, which means a particular event is understood upon being located in a narrative sequence of the significant order of representation. The narrativised news in this regard is news that has been authored within a specific frame of reference and point of view. This work concerns the narrativised news about the Gulf War in 2003 as accounted in Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times. Utusan Malaysia is a leading Malay language newspaper in Malaysia while New Straits Times is the influential English language newspaper of the country

Towards adabic intercultural communication

The Islamic communication can be seen and studied through the teachings of the Quran and the exemplary practices of the prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Unfortunately it is yet to be noticed nor accepted mainly because of how Muslim scholars are unable to put communication into context and materialize it into a proper scholarly discipline in the ways that the western scholars have been able to do through their development of models, theories, ideas and even ethics for communication. This article attempts to fill in this gap in the study of Islamic communication by highlighting an area very relevant in this contemporary time that is intercultural communication. More than simply discussing about it, this article proposes an Islamic model that can expand the study of ICC by offering an alternative that can improve and even complement the existing approaches that are inherently secular and western-centric

Factors driving the intention to adopt a tobacco-free policy among employees in a public higher education institution

Due to their role as a centre of knowledge and character development, public higher education institutions serve as the best platform for emphasising health communication messages and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Higher educational institutions’ employees should have good physical and mental health to enable them to demonstrate good values to the students. Thus, the social cognitive theory (SCT) was specifically selected to take a close look at how a conducive environment and knowledge influence employees’ intention towards the tobacco-free policy. This study used the partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modelling (SEM) software to examine factors influencing the adoption of tobacco-free policy among employees in a Malaysian higher education institution. It also measured the impact of workplace health promotion on employees’ intention to comply with tobacco cessation regulations. Statistical results confirmed that all three constructs of employees’ environment, self-efficacy, and knowledge have a significant influence on employees’ intention to adopt the tobacco-free policy. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the effectiveness of higher education institutions’ tobacco-free policy in Malaysia. The findings are useful for policymakers, higher education institutions, and practitioners in enhancing tobacco cessation policy in Malaysia. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also included in this paper

An online story of electronics 1 (ELE232) utilizing MOOC / Norizan Ahmed ...[et al.]

An online platform for Electronics 1 (ELE232) course in UiTM Terengganu which contains fundamental knowledge of circuit theory is proposed. This platform is to introduce an online learning approach, to develop online assessments and to improve student’s skills plus their comprehensive ability onto topics related; a) theoretically; semiconductor material, b) practically; diode applications (i.e: calculation), and c) both theoretically and practically; BJTs and FETs.These are the main objectives in applying Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) into the learning course. With android and IOS system, MOOC’s technology helps teachers and learners in being responsive anytime and anywhere by sharing lessons’ videos, perform circuit activities and more along with some cool awesome features. The interactive and intriguing materials integrated in MOOC for ELE232 resulting in better understanding of the principle of electronics among students

Media and politics: a study among youth in Malaysia

Media have a tendency to shape youth’s opinion on politics and election. The exposure of youth to media is more likely to change their opinions towards political issues that are widely covered in the media. This paper discusses media usage patterns among youth in Malaysia and their particpation in politics and election. A study using focus groups with Malaysian youth was carried out in June 2015. The purpose of the study was to examine how media influence perception of youth in Malaysia in relation to politics and election. Using purposive sampling, the study employed focus group to examine how and why youth use media to understand about politics and election. Findings indicated that youth mostly rely on new rather than traditional media to get updated with political news. Facebook and whatsapp are among the two channels that they mainly utilised to gain information about politics