Do compassionate firms outperform? The role of organizational learning

Pages717-734
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2019-0275
Published date10 February 2020
Date10 February 2020
AuthorJacob Guinot,Sandra Miralles,Alma Rodríguez-Sánchez,Ricardo Chiva
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law
Do compassionate firms
outperform? The role of
organizational learning
Jacob Guinot
Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I,
Castell
on, Spain
Sandra Miralles
Florida Universitaria, Valencia, Spain, and
Alma Rodr
ıguez-S
anchez and Ricardo Chiva
Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I,
Castell
on, Spain
Abstract
Purpose Based on a new management paradigm rooted on care and compassion, this study explores the
consequences of compassion at work on organizational learning and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the
research model by using data from two different samples.
Findings Results confirm that compassion increases firm performance through organizational learning
capability; however, compassion do not enhances directly firm performance.
Research limitations/implications The study findings indicate that when compassion is propagated
among organizational members, organizations are better able to learnso they obtain a competitive advantage
that is difficult to imitate and leads to higher firm performance.
Originality/value This study takes a step forward on literature by providing empirical evidence for a
promising area of management research such is compassion in organizations.
Keywords Compassion, Organizational learning, Firm performance, Compassion at work
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Workplaces can be hostile environments in which employees often experience pain and
suffering, which is pervasive and can dramatically impact the work environment and be
highly costly (Dutton et al., 2014;Lilius et al., 2008). Recognizing the negative consequences of
suffering in organizations, workplace compassion has been recently proposed as essential
way to alleviate this suffering in organizational settings, which in turn may improve
collective capabilities such organizational resilience, innovation, learning, and performance
(Worline and Dutton, 2017). Workplace compassion is defined as an interpersonal process
involving the noticing, feeling, sensemaking, and acting in a way that alleviates the suffering
of another person (Dutton et al., 2014).
In an increasingly interconnected, painful, and unequal world, compassion is considered
as timely and timeless since it is essential for human interrelating and responding tosuffering
(Kanov et al., 2004). Yet, since the system of capitalism and the pillar of self-interest have
dominated the business arena (George, 2014;Mel
e, 2012), companies have usually moved
away from encouraging love, care, and compassion in the workplace. Hence, values such as
domination, aggression, ambition, and competition continue to prevail in organizations.
Do
compassionate
firms
outperform?
717
Funding: The authors would like to thank the UJI Programmes (Ref. UJI-A2017-05; UJI-B2019-04;
UJI-A2019-22) for the financial support of this research.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 6 July 2019
Revised 22 October 2019
24 December 2019
Accepted 6 January 2020
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 42 No. 3, 2020
pp. 717-734
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2019-0275
Nevertheless, new scientific evidence about human motivation and behavior suggests that
compassion is a normal and pervasive way of interrelating at work (and beyond) (Dutton
et al., 2014). In accordance, a paradigm shift in management rooted on care and compassion
has been recently proposed, in contrast to self-interest theories (Rynes et al., 2012). This
alternative approach seeks moving away from theories based on self-interest motivation and
predominance of rationale over emotions in which management research typically has been
focused. In line with this new paradigm, academics have noted that suffering is a fact of life,
which requires a response by management research and practice since organizations may be
sites of pain and suffering but also places of healing, when caring and compassion are
displayed (Kanov et al., 2004;Frost et al., 2000).
Following this alternative paradigm, in the last few years, an emergent body of research
has theoretically supported that workplace compassion yields collective benefits like shared
positive emotions, greater collective commitment, lower turnover rates, customer retention,
and even better financial performance (Cameron et al., 2011;Dutton et al., 2006;Lilius et al.,
2008). Moreover, compassion has been also proposed as a collective capacity that cannot be
easily substituted or imitated and therefore be particularly advantageous over the long term
(Kanov et al., 2004;Lilius et al., 2011). In fact, an incipient body of organizational literature has
advocated for the workplace compassion and the examination of its consequences in
organizations (e.g., Atkins and Parker, 2012;Dutton et al., 2007;Frost et al., 2006;Lilius et al.,
2008). However, although most of the literature on compassion seems to agree that it has
important benefits for organizations, at least theoretically, implying that it promotes
organizational performance (Lilius et al., 2011), this topic has been largely neglected in
management field and only recently has begun to receive more attention by organizational
researchers. Moreover, although some quantitative studies have been conducted (i.e.,
Cameron et al., 2004;Lilius et al., 2008), most research on workplace compassion has consisted
mainly of theoretical studies. Consequently, academics called for more extensive empirical
research on the organizational consequences of compassion as a collective capability (Dutton
et al., 2014;George, 2014).
Accordingly, in this article, we aim to empirically examine the outcomes of compassion.
More specifically, we aim to test the direct effects of organizational compassion on firm
performance and indirect effects affecting such relationship as well. As compassion has been
suggested to encourage human-based collective capabilities such as learning, which
contribute to sustainable competitive advantage (Worline and Dutton, 2017), we propose that
organizational learning may mediate in the relationship between compassion and firm
performance. Hence, by revealing some of the consequences of compassion at work, we want
to take a step forward in the validation of the new management theories and practices based
on a compassionate approach. Moreover, since management research has often failed to see
organizations as human institutions with members who suffer, care, and respond to pain
(George, 2014;Rynes et al., 2012), examining the role of compassion in organizational life may
offer a more human and precise view of organizations, helping to fill a gap in the field of
organizational literature. To examine these relationships we have carried out two empirical
analyses on different samples.
After this introduction, we make a brief review of the concept of workplace compassion.
Then we review the theory of relations between the constructs of this research and propose
the hypotheses of the study. We then explain the methodology used in this research. Finally,
we provide the results of both empirical analysis and draw conclusions, profiling the
implications and limitations of our study and suggestions for future research.
Theoretical framework: compassion at work
The study on compassion is not something new. Disciplines such as religion, philosophy, and
sociology have been studying this phenomenon for more than 2,000 years. However, this
ER
42,3
718

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