In an increasingly fast-paced work environment filled with distractions, an overabundance of information, and complex decision making, scholars and practitioners alike have begun to recognize the need to slow down and direct attention to the present moment. As such, the study and implementation of mindfulness in the workplace has received growing attention in recent years. This body of work, however, is preoccupied with the outcomes of individual- and collective-level mindfulness, largely ignoring mindfulness as brought into workplace interactions and relationships. In this study, we take a qualitative, grounded theory approach wherein we put forth and unpack a model of interpersonal mindfulness infusion: the process whereby individuals instill their mindfulness into their workplace interactions and relationships. We further distinguish between formal and informal and self- and other-focused mindfulness practices. We show how these practices underlie the mindfulness infusion process and can enhance workplace interactions and relationships. In doing so, we contribute to the organizational literature on mindfulness and positive relationships at work.

No abstract

Social activists sometimes engage in a form of workplace activism that involves using their employer organization as an unofficial platform to communicate social issue messages to external stakeholders. This type of activism follows a different logic from that of more-familiar citizen activism, in which citizens directly target society and its institutions, and that of organizational-change activism, in which employees aim to influence their employer organization. This article develops and tests theory to understand this phenomenon of organization-as-platform activism, using the National Football League “Take a Knee” employee athlete protests as an empirical context. Drawing on past research on social movements and employee activism, we offer a theoretical comparison of these three forms of activism—citizen, organizational-change, and organization-as-platform—to conceptually distinguish them and to theorize factors that uniquely predict the occurrence of platform activism. We find evidence of predictors associated with the attributes of the organizational platform and those of the intended stakeholder audience. Organization-as-platform activism is associated with the accessibility and openness of the organizational platform for messaging use, the visibility of the organizational platform for message transmission, and the receptivity of the targeted stakeholder audience. As employees increasingly bring their non-work identities and beliefs into the workplace, our findings invite new research on the outcomes of platform activism for organizations, the implications of such activism for organizational stakeholder strategy, and the relation between platform activism and employee prosocial voice.

From a sensemaking perspective, organizational change is typically portrayed as being planned and driven by executives at the top of the organization, usually in response to external (environmental) pressures. We argue that because of dramatically changing workplace dynamics (i.e., characteristics of a new generation of employees, new technologies, and powerful new communication platforms), change is more likely to be influenced and initiated by employees at the bottom of the organization than ever before. The types and processes of change stemming from the bottom are likely to be qualitatively different from traditionally studied top-down changes. After reviewing the current state of the sensemaking/sensegiving literature on organizational change and organizational identity change, as well as addressing these new workplace trends, we discuss the process and put forth a model of “upside-down” organizational change. Our model draws upon and contributes to the literatures on sensemaking, sensegiving, organizational identity change and strategic change.

No abstract