Creating a Nonviolent Culture in a Modern Organization

Publisher Marketing: Increasing violence amongst youth in society, burn-out as a widespread disease and scandals in companies are only some of the headlines which appear regularly in the news media. Politics scarcely seems to have any success in fighting violence and injustice in society and in the world. The thesis here suggests that people do not have to wait for a savior such as a politician but that everyone can contribute to a less violent, more peaceful and just world. It will be demonstrated that organizations have an enormous influence on society and this book deals with the possibilities which an organization has to contribute to a less violent culture. By the term "organization" all forms of organized groups of people who come together for a certain purpose are meant, for example schools, clubs, public social aids and others, whilst we mainly concentrate on companies in our research. The intention is to focus particularly on the issues related to the theme of creating a nonviolent culture in the workplace. In the first part on culture, we deal with several questions regarding culture, including such fundamental questions as What is organizational culture?, What are the dimensions of culture? and is it possible to in fluence it and if yes, how does it work? In the second part, we take a look at the terms violence and nonviolence and a survey of how these aspects occur in society and organizations is made. The third part is the largest and deals with the qualities of leadership and with the organizational conditions which are necessary to create a nonviolent culture. We hope it will become clearer to the reader that nonviolence is not a strategy or a formula to be used. It can appear very different in different situations. There are component elements which can promote it and there are certain principles that cannot be violated if one wishes to establish true nonviolence. Nevertheless, there is no one patent formula nor one exclusively correct way of creating a nonviolent culture. It requires considerable creativity and endurance to create it and can take a variety of forms. Contributor Bio:  Engelking, Stephen A Stephen Arthur Engelking grew up in England with an English mother and a Texan Father. He studied education and theology at London University. These studies brought him into contact with Hugh Schonfield and he worked with him on his vision of a new society based on equity and justice. Another of his associates was the entrepreneur and inventor of flexible working hours, Willi Haller who founded a time recording company called Interflex where he became materials manager. Later he founded his own electronics company. He also founded the Arun and Sunanda Gandhi Educational Institute in Germany together with Arun Gandhi whilst at a conference in Nepal as a delegate from the International Leadership and Business Society of which he is chairman. Today he is a lecturer of strategic management, entrepreneurship and marketing amongst students from a wide variety of universities in both English and German and as well as having a degree in Religious Studies, carries an MBA and is a fellow of both the Chartered Management Institute and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He is also a council member of the historical Sack Family Foundation, which means travel and interaction with the most interesting people across the globe from all walks of life. He has written and published a number of books including: The Beans and the Dreams - Strategic Management from an International and Holistic Perspective, Marketing for a Better World: A Holistic Approach to International Marketing, Creating a Nonviolent Culture in a Modern Organization, Educating for Business in a Global Society: The Strategic relevance of Cooperative Education for Germany's Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, A Life for Mankind: The Biography of Hugh Joseph Schonfield. He is managing trustee of the Hugh and Helene Schonfield World Service Trust and has republished many works from Hugh Schonfield and Wilhelm Haller.