Positive Organizational Scholarship: Organisational …...latent in most systems” (Cameron et al., 2003, p.11), as well as the “heliotropic” principle, which assumes “that

Positive Organizational Scholarship: Organisational Processes, the foundation for employee development and

well-being Page 1 of 11

Positive Organizational Scholarship: Organisational

Processes, the foundation for employee development

and well-being

Judith Coulson-Geissmann

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23383.42407

The importance of “Positive Organizational Scholarship” Processes and

Leadership as a Foundation for employee development and well-being

This chapter examines the importance of POS Processes as the foundation for sustainable

employee and team interventions (Quinn, 2016), leading to employee development and

wellbeing. We define the term well-being in this chapter according to the cross-cultural

review of Martin Seligman's PERMA theory (2011) of well-being describing a multi-

dimensional approach to define flourishing in life. “The PERMA constructs include Positive

emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment” (Khaw & Kern,

2014).

If organisations are successful in developing strategic approaches that promote positive

experiences and actions, such as altruism and employee wellbeing, evidence shows that

both individual employees and the organisations that employ them will thrive and prosper

over the long term (Cameron et al., 2003; Abid, Ijaz, Butt, Farooqi & Rehmat, 2018).

Positive Psychology intervention at work research has heavily focussed on Positive

Organisational Behavior (POB) and positive individual attributes (Snyder & Lopez, 2009) and

positive leadership (Cameron, 2012).

It has neglected the importance of positive organisational practices as a framework, and a

statement of intent and purpose that allows for a positive organisational culture (Driskill,

2018) — leading to a sustainable growing ground for positive organisational leadership and

change management, positive human resource practices and POB.

Positive organisational culture has a nudging impact on individual behaviour, encourages

collective efficacy beliefs and innovativeness as well as it can improve an organisation's

bottom line and increase tangible and intangible resources through brand recognition.

The trust in Positive Organisational Processes has direct and indirect implications for

organisational stakeholders (Schnackenberg & Tomlinson, 2016). For the purpose of this

chapter we define organisational stakeholders as follows: “A person, group or organisation

that has interest or concern in an organisation.

Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organisation's actions, objectives and

policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees,

government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the

community from which the business draws its resources” (stakeholder.

BusinessDictionary.com, 2019)



Content:

1. Brief Introduction to “Positive Organizational Scholarship”

2. “Positive Organizational Processes”: The Framework

3. Organisational Identity & Organisational (Cultural) Symbolism

4. Collective Efficacy & Resourcefulness

5. Design of Work & Mindful Organising

6. Organisational Energy & Innovation

7. Expansion to “Positive Organisational Scholarship”: Possible Interdisciplinary

Collaborations

Brief Introduction to “Positive Organizational Scholarship”

“Positive Organizational Scholarship” (POS) is an “umbrella concept”, developed by Kim

Cameron in 2002. Together with his colleagues Robert Quinn and Jane Dutton, Cameron

set out to research what factors lead to exceptional positive organisational outcomes.

(Cameron, Dutton & Quinn, 2003). Cameron’s approach to POS is based on the belief that

the “desire to improve the human condition is universal and that the capacity to do so is

latent in most systems” (Cameron et al., 2003, p.11), as well as the “heliotropic” principle,

which assumes “that all living beings tend to lean towards life-giving positive energy and

away from negative energy” (Cameron, 2003, p.4).

Since then, theoretical and empirical research on POS has focused their attention on the

generative dynamics in organisations that promote:

• positive individual attributes

• human strengths and virtues

• positive emotions and relationships

• individual and organisational resiliency

• individual and organisational flourishing

• extraordinary individual and organisational performance

• having a positive lens on problems and challenges

• adopting an abundance approach

POS enables these dynamics with implementing:

• positive human resource practices

• positive organisational processes

• positive leadership and change management

• expansions to positive organisational scholarship



Positive Organisational Processes – The Framework This section highlights POS organisation-level processes that set the framework in which a

positive organisational culture and leadership can promote, develop, and nurture

individual attributes (POB) (Geue, 2018) and positive human resource practices that lead to

positive employee development and well-being.

Organisational Identity and Organisational (Cultural) Symbolism

Organisational identity is the understanding of who the organisation is, what qualities define

the organisation and differentiate it from others (Harquail & Brickson, 2012; Balmer &

Burghausen, 2015)

The POS perspective on organisational identity focusses on ways that organisations might

direct their collective energy and power toward the flourishing of their stakeholders

(Duttion & Sonnenshein, 2008) as well the environment they operate in (Ruepert et al.,

2016). An organisational identity defines, organises, and directs the focus and actions of

organisational leadership, while helping to define, orient, motivate, and generate positive

development and well-being outcomes for all involved (Ponting, 2019).



Organisational identity is often described, communicated, and recognisable through

organisational (cultural) symbols. Organisational symbolism refers to an identifiable story,

action, object, symbol or language that convey an abstract meaning to organisational

stakeholders (Fuller, 2008), and can enrich collective virtues, strengths and capabilities in

organisations (Glynn & Watkiss 2012).

Research has identified three mechanisms that have the generative potency of symbols to

enlarge collective capacities and enable positive outcomes (Spreitzer et al., 2005) such as

resourcefulness, resilience, vitality and thriving in organisations (Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn,

2003; Hatch 2018).

Organisational symbols can be functional (Gioia, Thomas, Clark, & Chittipeddi, 1994) or

expressive (Ashforth, 1985). When they are collectively shared, they can create a common

sense of organisational identity and reality (Ashforth, 1985). Symbols can act as powerful,

conscious, or unconscious influencers (Ansell, 1997) of organisational collective efficacy

and resourcefulness.

Examples of Organisational Identity and Organisational (Cultural) Symbolism being used in

applications to enhance employee development and well-being: Workplace Wellness

Program Branding, Reward & Benefit Program Branding, Anti Sexual Harassment, Equality, or

Diversity campaigns



Collective Efficacy and Resourcefulness The term collective efficacy relevant to POS and positive organisational practice refers to

the process by which a sense of community, social networks, and institutional leadership,

capabilities, and resources are mobilised to enhance employees development and well-

being inside and outside an organisation.

Collective efficacy “fosters groups motivational commitment to their missions, resilience to

adversity, and performance accomplishments” (Bandura, 2000, p.75).

Collective efficacy beliefs foster positive deviance (Spreitzer & Sonenshein, 2004), are

potent predictors of successful organisational performance (Walumbwa et al., 2004), and

can encourage decisions to create and improve health-related resources (Avanzi et al.,

2015), eliminate environmental hazards to health (Goddard & Salloum, 2011), increase pro-

environmental intentions (Jugert et al., 2016), and promote communication and

collaboration among co-workers (Fearon, McLaughlin & Morris, 2013).

Resources in organisations are tangible or intangible assets that are available or owned

(Wang, 2009).

Resourcing and resource dynamics are relevant to POS as they influence the ability to

recognise and evaluate opportunities, make decisions and take actions toward a specific

outcome enhancing employee development and well-being (Feldman & Worline, 2011).

Tangible and intangible resources are inter-connected and preferably develop and grow

together, leading to increased flourishing, creativity and innovativeness, job satisfaction

(Bakker & Demerouti, 2007), positive relationships and increased subjective well-being.

Examples of Collective Efficacy and Resourcefulness being used in applications to

enhance employee development and well-being: Facility and office design, Ergonomic

work-stations, community rooms, childcare facilities



Design of Work and Mindful Organising Job design refers to the structure, management of and tasks as well as content in the

workplace. Current studies in job design focus on job characteristics, such as role problems,

autonomy, and feedback. (Van den Broeck & Parker, 2017).Over the previous years, job

design has evolved from the main focus on productivity and efficiency to motivational job

designs, like the social approach toward work (Parker, Morgeson & Johns, 2017)

POS literature and research related to job design is looking at five positive outcomes of

which three are direct indicators of employee psychological wellbeing: “satisfaction with

the job, satisfaction with opportunities to grow and develop at work, internal work

motivation” (Oldham, 2012, p652) Two outcomes reflect on positive action (practices):

creativity, and altruism (Loi et al., 2011; Güntert, 2015).

Three examples of applied models promoting the POS approach to the design of work and

focusing on employee well-being and development as crucial outcomes are:

These individual positive outcomes have a positive affect (Martela, Ryan & Steger, 2018) on

team cooperation and performance, subjective well-being (Diener, Oishi & Tay, 2018) as

well as life-work balance (Powell, Greenhaus, Allen & Johnson, 2019).

Congruous with the POS focus on positively deviant performance (Haskins, 2018), mindful

organising includes a set of social processes that promote the performance of high-

reliability organisations (HROs) (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2007; Agwu, Labib & Hadleigh-Dunn,

2019).

Mindful organising (Vogus, 2011) focuses on the process that cultivates stakeholders

collective ability to be present in the here‐and‐now, act with wisdom and compassion, and

to notice unexpected events (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2007) and correct errors (Brummans, 2017),

leading to a lower work waste, increased work ethic, safety (Enya, Dempsey & Pillay, 2018),

and well-being (Morganson, Rotch & Christie, 2015).



For the focus of employee development and well-being, a model for mindful organising

could be the APA approach to a “Psychologically Healthy Workplace” (Grawitch &

Ballard, 2016).

Examples of Design of Work and Mindful Organising being used in applications to enhance

employee development and well-being: Flexible work hours and holidays, gender inclusive

employment policies, coaching mentoring and leadership development

Organisational energy and Innovation Job design refers to the structure, management of and tasks as well as content in the

workplace. Organisational energy broadly refers to organisational practices, that mobilise

human potential (physical, mental and emotional energy) in a collective unit like a team,

department or organisation. (Vogel & Bruch 2012). Leading to increased competitiveness,

engagement, resilience, and health, safety and well-being.

As energy is a renewable resource (Dutton, 2003; Schwartz, 2007), the focus on individual

and collective energy management has gained increased interest.



Current research includes “multiple disciplines (psychology, sociology, organisation

behaviour, network science) and levels of analysis: micro (individual level emotional

energy), meso (dyadic or relational energy), and macro (group emotion, energy

networks)” (Baker, 2019, p.373).

Business innovation is the process of translating an idea into a product, service or expression

that creates value for an organisational stakeholder. Innovativeness, (DeGraff & Nathan-

Roberts, 2013) involves the deliberate application of information, imagination, resources

and initiative to create or enhance an idea that is replicable at an economical cost and

offers a greater or different value than already available.

Within POS, the research looks at different levels of initiating, and dimensions that guide

innovativeness and encourages a constructive, positive thought process and discussion

with looking at competing values that thrive innovation.



Innovation is a form of positive deviance (Spreitzer & Sonenshein 2004), nurtured by a

positive organisational culture (Riivari & Lämsä, 2019) and enabled by positive deviant

leadership (Chan

2018). Innovativeness allows for sustainable organisational growth (Kodama, 2018) and

competitiveness in an ever faster changing and adapting market; leading to employee

development opportunities, workplace learning (Lundkvist & Gustavsson, 2018), increased

engagement, and job satisfaction (Høyrup, 2010).

Examples of Organisational energy and Innovation being used in applications to enhance

employee development and well-being: Employee committees or task forces, Continuing

education courses, Efforts to help employees develop a healthy lifestyle

Expanding Positive Organizational Scholarship – Possible

Interdisciplinary Collaborations In this part, we explore the relationship between “Positive Organisational Scholarship” (POS)

and areas of other interdisciplinary scholarly interests related to “organisational behaviour”

and practices that are supporting employee development and well-being.

Environment & Organisational Sustainability Practices Sustainability and (POS), are both grounded within the core concept of flourishing. “Positive

Organisational Scholarship” is concerned with “conditions that foster flourishing at the

individual, workgroup, and organisational levels” (Dutton & Glynn, 2008).



Sustainability holds “the possibility that human and other life will flourish on the planet

forever” (Ehrenfeld, 2008, p. 6).

There is interdisciplinary evidence of increased population interest in environmentally-

friendly (Sheth, Sethia & Srinivas, 2011) and ethical consumer interest and behaviour as well

as sustainable and environmentally friendly organisational practices (Trautwein &

Lindenmeier, 2019) that have a positive impact on organisations tangible and intangible

resources brand recognition (organisational identity) (Long & Lin, 2018), need for

innovativeness, mindful organising and workplace design (Hoffman & Haigh, 2011).

What makes an increased scholarly POS focus on “Environment and Organisational

Sustainability Practices” a natural and organic fit and could open the door to collaborate

with scholars based in consumer or behaviour psychology and the environmental sciences.

Employee Health Promotion & Building Cultures of Health

Organisations and institutions face a growing economic (Grossmeier et al., 2016)

Population Health challenge (Lopez et al., 2006) with an increasing need for mental and

emotional disease prevention (Rehm & Shield, 2019) and health promotion. POS can help

to build cultures of health by making a shift from addressing “deficit gaps” to instead

addressing “abundance gaps” (Chan, 2018).

While research shows that cultural differentiation is needed in the delivery of health

promotion and disease prevention interventions (Dickerson, 2018), POS processes and

practices as explained in this chapter, support the interdisciplinary and global approach to

population health (Nash, Fabius, Skoufalos & Clarke, 2015) and workplace wellness

strategies (Sorensen et al., 2018).

With the increased interest of positive psychology scholars in the somatopsychic side to

flourishing (Hefferon, 2013), there is room for collaboration between POS scholars and their

peers in public health, consumer, occupational and behavioural psychology as well as

behavioural economics.

Conclusion and Critical Thoughts

This chapter briefly reviewed eight Positive Organisational Processes (Practices), initially

outlined by the Oxford Handbook of Positive Organisational Scholarship (Cameron &

Spreitzer, 2011), based on the research published before 2012. The aim was to visualise that

“strategic culture is the all-encompassing milieu through which behaviour is mediated”

(Longhurst, 2018). Throughout the chapter, we reviewed the processes, pointed out how

these process could be employed in an organisational strategy, and contribute to

promoting positive experiences, emotions and actions (development), such as altruism and

employee wellbeing, and added findings from more recent research. Additionally, we

explored two more aspects of life-giving and life-enhancing research, into which POS could

expand and possibly collaborate with other schools of thought. Adding value to

organisations adopting a Positive Organisational Scholarship approach in the future.

Critique of Positive Psychology (PP) structures and interventions is pointing out that PP is a

science that is focusing on individuals while overlooking social contexts (Becker & Marecek,

2008), and is developed by the privileged for first-world applications, with a limited cross-

cultural mindset.



In this chapter, we have looked at POS and PP research in general related to employee

development and well-being, that has been written and reviewed by a wide range of

people with different cultural backgrounds and processes have been applied in different

cultural and social settings. (Kim, Doiron, Warren & Donaldson, 2018). Furthermore, POS is a

great example of how PP interventions and applications can be placed within an

organisational or institutional context to enhance collective well-being and development.

There is arguably a larger ratio of scholars interested in and research been done, on

individuals in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. The hope is that with

increased interest in building coaching cultures in organisations and institutions

(Ladyshewskyn & Taplin, 2018) that might change soon.

Documents

Positive Organizational Scholarship: Organisational …...latent in most systems” (Cameron et al., 2003, p.11), as well as the “heliotropic” principle, which assumes “that