Revitalizing the Humanistic Enterprise: A Grounded Theory of Enchantment in Organizations

Abstract

Through an inductive study of the Maison Hermès, a global company devoted to humanistic principles and practices, we develop theory on why and how an organization cultivates vitality. Over the 18 months we spent there, we witnessed Hermès managers and members striving to navigate the tension between their devotion to a locally rooted artisanal ethos and the demands of global growth and the financial markets. It was an extreme case of a humanistic organization seemingly thriving in an instrumental industry, which allowed us to discern the significance of vitality for a humanistic enterprise. Taking a systems psychodynamic approach to our fieldwork and theorizing, we uncovered a process of enchantment that underpins the cultivation of vitality, and makes work, relations, and places become ‘more than’ means to instrumental ends. The process encompasses aesthetic experiences and meaningful practices. The former, we theorized, invoke regression, pulling members’ consciousness inwards, towards embodied pleasures in the present. The latter evoke development, turning consciousness outwards, towards a purpose unfolding towards the future. Our theory orients the current humanistic turn in organization studies towards the understanding and organization of vitality. And in so doing, it contributes to and bridges the literatures on meaningful work and organizational aesthetics. (Co-authored with Preeti Varma)