EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Managing religion at work: a necessary distinction between words and deeds. A multiple case study of the postures facing religious expression in French organizations

Hugo Gaillard ()
Additional contact information
Hugo Gaillard: ARGUMans - Laboratoire de recherche en gestion Le Mans Université - UM - Le Mans Université

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Purpose : Religious expression at work (REW) has a unique place in France. The authors studied the perception of the postures of four organizations in the face of this phenomenon, focusing on the gap between official posture and the posture applied by managers. Design/methodology/approach : Using a qualitative approach, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews (40), observation periods and documentary analysis within four organizations. This multiple embedded case study was undertaken in four different firms in France: an international private firm, a public organization, and two small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with original models of REW management. Findings : A distinction between aligned and non-aligned postures emerged. There was a lack of alignment in only two of the four organizations, and this alignment concerned only two units of analysis: prayer on break and wearing religious symbols. Several extrinsic factors were identified in this lack of alignment between the official posture and the posture actually applied by managers: the form of REW, the religion concerned and whether it had minority status in the country, the degree of clarity of the official posture, the degree of formalization of the official posture, the size and scope of the company, the degree of awareness of managers and their teams, the degree of involvement of leaders in the definition and implementation of the posture, and the purpose of the official posture. Research limitations/implications : This research provides a sensitive understanding of religious expression at work and shows that alignment is sought specifically for each form of REW. The distinction between official posture and applied posture is highlighted through the study of perceptions. In addition, this study enables the identification of factors that influence the alignment of official and operational postures. Practical implications : These results call for clarity of the official posture and for it to be defended by leaders, provision of meaning to postures by raising awareness among intermediate hierarchical lines, understanding of the applicable legal framework to transpose it to the local level, and analysis of unaligned forms of REW to build a strong, shared posture. Originality/value : This study, which was carried out within a specific French context, concerns areas that have received little attention or have not been studied at all to date, such as REW in SMEs or in the public sector, and demonstrates for the first time the distinction between official postures and effective postures.

Keywords: religious expression at work (REW); regulatory postures; forms of religious expression; aligned postures; multiple case study; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-04-22
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03501142v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Employee Relations, 2022, 44 (4), pp.744-763. ⟨10.1108/ER-02-2021-0053⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-03501142v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03501142

DOI: 10.1108/ER-02-2021-0053

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03501142