Religion and Organization Theory

This review examines the 41st volume of Emerald's Research in the Sociology of Organizations series. It is a multiauthor collection reminiscent of Sacred Companies edited by Demerath et al. As with SC, this effort highlights an important yet understudied intersection—the interface between organizational and institutional theory and religion. While the previous tome was mostly written by and for religion scholars, this volume is produced by management scholars exploring religious organizational dynamics. Of two-dozen authors, just three (two sociologists, one theologian) work outside business schools or departments. It is thus a work that sociologists of religion may not be exposed to otherwise. This also means, in some cases, the treatment of religion is less nuanced than if approached by religion specialists. As with SC, this project argues that causality goes both ways: there are religious influences on organization and management theory (OMT), and OMT helps us to understand religious organizations. Bruno Dyck refers to the former endeavor as “God on management” or a “theology of management.” In the era of Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby, this approach is timely and welcome. The latter subject—applying OMT to religious organizations—is the likely draw for readers of this journal.

Epistemology · Hobby · Library science · Management · Political science · Religious belief · Religious organization · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Work (physics) · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development

• Religion and unproductive entrepreneurship

  Open Access•Yi Zhang, Chun Liu•European Journal of Political…•2021

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