Knut J. Ims is Professor emeritus in business ethics at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen, Norway from which he has a bachelor’s degree (1976) and a HAE (1979) degree. He obtained his PhD from the School of Economics and Legal Science, Gothenburg University, Sweden in 1987, and has been an active member of the business ethics faculty group of (CEMS) – Global Alliance for Management Education for two decades. He is Fellow of the European SPES Institute and has been visiting scholar at a number of universities (USA, Argentina, Europe). He has been a member of the committee for research misconduct at the University of Bergen, and is current member of the board of Center for Ethics and Economics at NHH (since 2001) and was member of the fair trade board of the municipality of Bergen. From 1985 he has annually presented his research at scientific conferences (From Hawaii to Corvinus, Oxford, Cambridge, Hong Kong, Pharo in Bhutan, Tel Aviv, Bologna and many more). He has published a number of book chapters and articles in a variety of international journals.
Hege T. Seglem holds a degree from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. She holds a Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) Certificate of Competence in teaching from her studies in mindfulness at Bangor University of Wales, Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice. She is also a certified Trained Teacher of Mindful Eating - Conscious Living. Hege worked 15 years in Equinor, an international energy company. She worked as consultant and leader, with responsibilities such as implementing values and code of conduct corporate-wide and working with safety, sustainability, and security in the supply chain. In last years Hege has been running her own company providing mindfulness training for business and the general public. She is a board member of the association for mindfulness teachers MBSR/MBCT in Norway.
This study explores under which circumstances mindfulness tools can contribute to prosperity and wellness in our (post)modern context – the Anthropocene, and understands mindfulness as awareness that arises through paying attention, “on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” as defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn (cf Kabat-Zinn, 2016). The new age with its new serious and radical challenges is characterized as a world much more inter-connected than earlier through social media and electronic networks that criss- cross the earth enabled by mega corporations. The transportation of goods, often globally, connects us in many ways, but also makes us vulnerable and interdependent in radical, new ways. Perhaps these massive, instant new ways of connecting globally and outwardly are also sources for disconnecting with ourselves and nature? The massive movement of people and objects together with an unprecedent high level of consumption have grave unintended consequences, leading to a convergence of crisis “in money, energy, education, health, water, soil, climate, politics and the environment....” (Eisenstein 2011 p xx).
We believe that the most pertinent problems in this new age are of systemic nature because of complex inter-connections between them. These problems must be solved from a holistic perspective. Our main question is: Can mindfulness be one of the solutions to grapple with these intertwined and serious problem-complexes? We will explore under which circumstances mindfulness may develop our awareness and change how we relate to nature and life, on micro and macro level, and how the practicing of mindfulness can be one of the gateways to challenge old perceptions, beliefs and behaviour towards a more sustainable way of living .
Mindfulness creates a space between stimuli and response, where more informed, conscious choices can be made, thus avoiding mindless automatic responses and reactions that may inflict harm on other people, surrounding nature and oneself. (Bonde et al. 2022, Hildebrandt and Stubberup 2012, Rosenberg 2004, Frankel 1959/1963, Schweitzer, 1955). The space between stimulus and response could be a space for connecting with values and intentions, for more conscious choices on what to do and how to act - either as leaders or co-workers. Mindfulness could support a pause from running mindlessly on old habits and autopilot, taking a pause: connecting with the present moment, and from this state raising why questions about intentions. Such questions could lead to more clear, responsible decisions that take into considerations the potential impact on and responsibility for stakeholders in organizations, society and all life on Earth.
SPJIMR's Centre for Wisdom in Leadership (CWIL) aims to supplement traditional leadership development approaches used by corporate learning and development professionals with wisdom traditions from the east and west. The Centre is part of a growing global network of leadership and wisdom centres, scholars, and practitioners. CWIL co-creates and disseminates new perspectives through blog articles, podcasts, training modules, retreats, and conferences.
S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), founded in 1981 in Mumbai, is a premier postgraduate management institute that has been named by the Financial Times Global Rankings as one of India's top two business schools, by Business Today as one of the country's top five business schools, and by the Positive Impact Rating, a Swiss association, as one of the top five business schools in the world in terms of social impact.
A component of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, India's pioneering educational foundation founded in 1938, SPJIMR provides a wide range of management programmes to both individuals and organisations. SPJIMR is an AICTE-approved Tier 1 MBA institute that is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA), UK.