Call For Papers:
The Positive Psychology of Sustainable Enterprise
David Cooperrider and Ron Fry
The Journal of Corporate Citizenship is pleased to invite you to submit a paper for a special issue of the JCC on "The Positive Psychology of Sustainable Enterprise."
In a world where just about every corporation is going green, and where many have found that building a better world and building a stronger business go hand in hand (Porter and Kramer, 2011; Prahalad, 2007; Cooperrider and Fry, 2009) it is time to explore the impact of sustainability on the workforce, that is, how the quest for sustainable value affects the human side of enterprise.
This special issue posits that sustainability might well be the most important human resource opportunity of the 21st century-and that when people work on building a sustainable world they too are poised to flourish in ways that propels innovation, builds cooperative capacity and relationships, and elevates business performance as well as people's experience of purpose, meaning and value. Sustainable value and shared well-being might well work both ways and raises an important exploration: what is the link the link between sustainability or the flourishing of the Earth, with the flourishing of organizations and human performance? How might the "scholarship of the positive" in human systems shed light on this important but under-researched dynamic? Why, and how, might the quest for sustainable value bring out the best in people and organizational dynamics?
Of special interest to the editors is to forge an academic and practical link between the domain of sustainability and the science of human strengths-what's known as the rapidly spreading field of positive psychology (Seligman, 2011; Layard 2006, Deiner, et. Al 2009). Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. This field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves and others, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. Positive Psychology has three central concerns: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions (Cameron, Dutton and Quinn, 2003) Understanding positive emotions entails the study of contentment with the past, happiness in the present, and hope for the future (Fredrickson, 2009). Understanding positive individual traits consists of the study of the strengths and virtues, such as the capacity for love and work, courage, compassion, resilience, creativity, curiosity, integrity, self-knowledge, justice and wisdom (Peterson and Seligman, 2008). Understanding positive institutions entails the study of how organizations can become vehicles for the elevation, magnification, and refraction of our highest human strengths into the world (Cooperrider and Godwin, 2011)
In today's highly competitive global economy, building human strengths and fostering resilience and well-being at the personal and organizational levels are more important now than ever before. At the same time virtually every major management book on sustainability points to the observation that sustainability, especially when it is embedded and not "bolted on" (Laszlo and Zhexembayeva, 2011) turns on workforces, invites more ethical behavior, strengthens organizational identity, builds stakeholder bonds, ignites the entrepreneurial opportunity-seeking, and leads to high engagement where people bring their best to the workplace and beyond.
The Positive Psychology of Sustainable Enterprise seeks to open new vistas in understanding and practice. Special emphasis will be given to explanatory frameworks, vivid illustration, studies of impacts and results, new and empowering practical methods, and work that opens the doorway to long term cross-fertilization between the science of positive psychology and the domain of sustainable enterprise.
Submission: papers should be submitted by....
Amy, also: might you have a couple other people that you feel I should connect with on this--people that might want to write on this topic? Please email me at David.cooperrider@case.edu
References
Cameron, K. S., Dutton, J. E., Quinn, R.E. (2003). Foundations of positive organizational
scholarship. In K. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R.E. Quinn (Eds.) Positive organizational
scholarship (pp. 3-13). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Cooperrider, D. and Fry, R. (2010) Design Inspired Corporate Citizenship. Journal of Corporate Citizenship. Spring 2010, 37, pp 3-6.
Cooperrider, D. and Godwin, L. (2011) Positive Organization Development: Innovation-inspired Change in an Economy and Ecology of Strength.
The Appreciative Inquiry Commons, Case Western Reserve University http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/comment.cfm
Diener, E., Hilliwell, J., Lucas, R., Schimmack, U., (2009) Well-being and Public Policy (2009) with New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking research reveals how to embrace
the hidden strength of positive emotions, overcome negativity, and thrive. New York,
NY: Crown.
Layard, R. (2006) Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London, England: Penguin Press.
Laszlo, C. and Zhexembayeva, N. (2011) Embedded Sustainability. London, England: Greenleaf Ltd.
Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and
Classification. Washington, DC: APA Press and Oxford University Press.
Porter, M., & Kramer, M. (2011) Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb. 2011.
Prahlad, CK (2007) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Wharton School Press
Seligman, M. (2011) Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. New York, NY: Free Press.
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Andrew J. Hoffman
Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise
Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise
University of Michigan
701 Tappan Street, R4472
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: 734.763.9455
Fax: 734.764.2555
Email: ajhoff@umich.edu
Twitter: @HoffmanAndy
Web: http://www.andrewhoffman.net/
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