Building Sustainability on Deep Values through Mindfulness Nurturing

Citation

Bernal E, Edgar D & Burnes B (2018) Building Sustainability on Deep Values through Mindfulness Nurturing. Ecological Economics, 146, pp. 645-657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.12.003

Abstract
To effectively pursue sustainability, companies need to develop an awareness of the importance of social and environmental objectives in addition to economic. To achieve this, they need to promote a set of shared values in their strategy and cultural change which align global sustainability with organisational performance. To assist organisations with this process and thus identify and nurture their members’ underpinning values, we present the Organisational Presence Model including a Real Dialogue Methodology. We draw on Lewin’s participative approach to change and the deep concept of Mindfulness related to Buddhist precepts, while contributing with a way to initiate Mindfulness nurturing in business context, facilitating its acceptance and practice by organizational members. In our study case we find signs of positive effects of the model in sustainability pursuing. The new strategy has been built aligned with resulting values, that are also perceived by organizational members as inspirational, generating motivation and helping the effective communication that integrates the strategic objectives in the economic, social and environmental aspects.

Keywords
Mindfulness; Participation; Deep Values; Organisational Culture; Global Sustainability; Performance

Journal
Ecological Economics: Volume 146