The Five Paradoxes of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the special Issue ‘Meaningful Work: Prospects for the 21st Century’

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Five Paradoxes of Meaningful Work

T2 - Introduction to the special Issue ‘Meaningful Work: Prospects for the 21st Century’

AU - Bailey, Catherine

AU - Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein

AU - Madden, Adrian

AU - Yeoman, Ruth

AU - Thompson, Marc

AU - Chalofsky, Neal

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - In this introduction to the Journal of Management Studies Special Issue on Meaningful Work, we explain the imperative for a deeper understanding of meaningfulness within the context of the current sociopolitical environment, coupled with the growing use of organizational strategies aimed at ‘managing the soul’. Meaningful work remains a contested topic that has been the subject of attention in a wide range of disciplines. The focus of this Special Issue is the advancement of theory and evidence about the nature, causes, consequences, and processes of meaningful work. We summarize the contributions of each of the seven articles that comprise the Special Issue and, in particular, note their methodological and theoretical plurality. In conclusion, we set forth a future research agenda based on five fundamental paradoxes of meaningful work.

AB - In this introduction to the Journal of Management Studies Special Issue on Meaningful Work, we explain the imperative for a deeper understanding of meaningfulness within the context of the current sociopolitical environment, coupled with the growing use of organizational strategies aimed at ‘managing the soul’. Meaningful work remains a contested topic that has been the subject of attention in a wide range of disciplines. The focus of this Special Issue is the advancement of theory and evidence about the nature, causes, consequences, and processes of meaningful work. We summarize the contributions of each of the seven articles that comprise the Special Issue and, in particular, note their methodological and theoretical plurality. In conclusion, we set forth a future research agenda based on five fundamental paradoxes of meaningful work.

KW - employee engagement

KW - meaningful work

KW - paradox

KW - temporality

KW - volunteers

KW - worthy work

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85057520189&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/joms.12422

DO - 10.1111/joms.12422

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85057520189

SN - 0022-2380

VL - 56

SP - 481

EP - 499

JO - Journal of Management Studies

JF - Journal of Management Studies

IS - 3

ER -