Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

Unit Description

Most business men and women who find satisfaction in their work understand intuitively that in accepting the business vocation they are answering a creative “calling” that is an expression of their God-given abilities.

This unit explores the relationship between business as a pivotal societal institution and spirituality, with a particular focus on the challenges of business leadership. The unit will explore questions such as: How is business leadership related to the idea of a calling? Why do successful leaders often derail if they lack personal integration? How is spirituality related to the achievement of personal integration? How do turbulent business environments affect spirituality? What special challenges for spirituality are posed by the power and wealth that accompany successful business leadership? What are the benefits of a more intense spiritual journey for the organisational leader and the organisations they manage?

The course will anchor the exploration of the relationship between business leadership and spirituality in the proliferating contemporary literature and research on this subject, as well as through classical theological thought. Learners will be exposed to traditional literature on spirituality and be encouraged to interpreting it in light of the challenges facing contemporary business environment. This course will inevitably touch on the lived experience of each participant’s quest for full personal integration in his/her business and organisational aspirations.

Teaching Strategies

The learning process consists of three phases: Reading, Residential, and Research. Each phase has a blend of individual and group learning, and subsequent phases build upon the learning of those that come before.

The first phase is a Reading phase, and lasts for 12 weeks. The learner, as part of a small cohort study group (3 to 5 members), is guided through a reading program to explore the current scholarship on the practice of “Integrating Private and Corporate Calling”.

Reading assignments are compiled with the help of the librarian, the educational technologist, and administrative support staff. Required weekly readings are posted to the unit website once a week for downloading, utilising Tabor Victoria’s Moodle platform.

Students are also required to read the prescribed textbooks in this phase.

During this first phase learners in cohort groups embark on a guided social inquiry, resulting in a research project . Hands-on research conducted in context by each participant allows him/her to gain an understanding of specific, emerging ministry concerns/questions encountered by persons working in business.

Second phase is a residential phase: Equipped with the reading and research, learners then undertake a Residential phase of 40 hours’ worth (one week, full-time) of residential study. During the residency, all cohort groups gather in business companies and/or organisations chosen because of a leader who is known as a thoughtful practitioner, and because the agency has a proven track record in “Integrating Private and Corporate Calling”.

In the third Phase students complete a personal theology in which issues related to “Integrating Private and Corporate Calling” are explored. Cohorts also plan and implement an intervention at a business company or organisation. The intervention is a professional presentation that summarises findings and proposes a number of ways the agency might go about addressing the emerging questions. The intervention invites thoughtful practitioners into theological reflection and constructive thinking about the concern and what might be done to begin addressing it. Following the intervention, the small cohort study group reflects upon and assesses their collaborative work.


Unit offerings

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.