RELIGIOSITY AND MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING: A LATENT CONFLICT OR A SOURCE OF CONSISTENT VALUES?

Iustin-Cornel Petre and Kamer-Ainur Aivaz
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Iustin-Cornel Petre: Ovidius University of Constanța, Romania
Kamer-Ainur Aivaz: Ovidius University of Constanța, Romania

Studies in Business and Economics, 2025, vol. 20, issue 2, 218-237

Abstract: This study explores the relationship between religiosity and managerial decision-making, starting from the fundamental question: is religion a disruptive factor in the economic logic of decision-making, or can it be a stable source of value consistency in business management? In a socio-cultural context such as Romania's, where religion continues to play a major role in defining identity, investigating this relationship becomes not only relevant from a sociological point of view, but also necessary for understanding the subtle mechanisms that influence organizational culture and professional ethics. The study is based on the analysis of data provided by the World Values Survey (WVS), using quantitative methods of descriptive analysis and classification through cluster analysis. The dimensions investigated include religious beliefs (belief in God, heaven, hell, the afterlife), frequency of religious practices, attitudes toward religious pluralism and the relationship between religion and science, as well as the subjective meanings attributed to religion (ethical vs. ritualistic, oriented toward the afterlife or the present). The results indicate the existence of two main types of religiosity: a traditionalist, normative, and exclusivist type, which can influence managerial behavior through an ethics based on authority and conformity; and a flexible, secularized type, which shares the ideas of secular humanism and favors moral autonomy and critical thinking in the professional context. The originality of the study lies in the integration of religiosity into an applied framework of organizational interpretation, providing a valuable contribution to the literature on ethical leadership, managerial decision-making, and value management in organizations. Religion is thus approached not only as a spiritual phenomenon, but as a latent determinant of decision-making culture in business.

Keywords: religiosity; decision-making; Two Step cluster analysis; World Values Survey(WVS) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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