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Growing as a Person: FromBefriending the Self to Befriendingthe Other Growing as a person often entails a long journey from befriending the self to befriending the other. This journey may be depicted in terms of a wide spectrum that consists of numerous states of awareness. One pole of the spectrum is an extreme form of self-absorption, while the other pole is an expansive sense of being other-oriented. There are three broad ranges of awareness on this spectrum: befriending the self, befriending others largely within one’s community and befriending others beyond one’s community. Personal growth is an ongoing task and challenge, in order that higher ranges of this spectrum may gradually characterize the general state of one’s consciousness. For this to happen, there is need for adequate situational or contextual grounds for growth to thrive, as well as the need for personal discernment, so that higher levels of awareness are experienced at a greater frequency, intensity and duration.

In his recent encounter with the delegates of the 36 General Congregation of the Jesuits, Pope Francis reiterated the hopes his predecessors had placed in the Society, when he told his Jesuit companions: “the Church needs you, counts on you and continues to turn to you with confidence, particularly to reach the geographical and spiritual places where others do not reach, or find it difficult to reach.” Where exactly may these places be, “where others do not reach”? Where are these frontier mission areas which are difficult to reach? It is clear from the Pope’s words that t hese frontiers are not merely geographical but also spiritual. In fact, these frontiers involve three primary aspects of human life: the intellectual, affective and spiritual. I will focus on three such frontiers where Jesuits have been present, continue to be present, and need to be present: the frontiers of the mind, the heart and the spirit. &nbsp

In his magnum opus Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre provides us with a detailed phenomenological analysis of the tenuous features of the human existential situation, and the vexatious contours of human relationships. One of his claims is that a vast majority of human attitudes and relationships are founded on what he called “bad faith.” Sartre provides several examples of “bad faith,” in order to substantiate his claim that this disposition is widely prevalent in society. However, there is a methodological as well as programmatic problem with this claim. Sartre is not methodologically clear and consistent in his demonstration of “bad faith,” as there are several ambiguities and inconsistencies in his presentation and argumentation. More fundamentally, it seems that while Being and Nothingness is an attempt to highlight the features of false consciousness which governs human attitudes and relations, in his subsequent works Sartre himself alludes to more authentic modes of human relations as well as fulfilling modes of “being-with-others”—modes which transcend the somewhat narrow and pessimistic presentation of “bad faith” as constitutive of the human predicament in Being and Nothingness.

Cultivating a global mentality is a contemporary need with a view to the formation of good habits or virtues necessary for co-existence in the present situation of globalization. Rather than providing a critique of globalization in terms of whether it is leading towards integral development or not (a method more suited along the lines of a deontological or teleological ethics), the author has preferred to adopt an approach more in keeping with virtue ethics. Accordingly, he has focused on the cultiva-­ tion of key virtues which are not only necessary to survive in this new age of globalization, but also to flourish in such a world. Furthermore, the cultivation of these virtues is with a view to guiding the processes of development along more salubrious lines. The virtues chosen are the following: dialogical plural­ ism, creative visualization, collaborative solidarity, transnational responsibility and pro-active optimism. A basic theme which underlies the discussion is the role of religion in this contempo­- rary situation, and how religion has the power to cultivate these virtues so as to flourish within such a world and also to guide such a world towards integral personal and social development. &nbsp

“The whole in a nutshell!” That is Frontiers of management research abroad. To expose Indian readers to management research abroad we present in this feature jargon free summaries of recent research published in some of the world's leading management journals. These capsule summaries would, we hope, induce the enthusiastic readers to still wider reading. And also,to contribute to this feature themselves. Readers are requested to give detailed information regarding the article condensed such as its publication details, etc., to Professor Sarnir Barua.

This study is an exploration of the organizational design of voluntary organizations in India. The focus of the study was to understand what configurations of characteristics are associated with different policy stances of an altruistic or change oriented nature. The starting point of this study was the development of an a-priori conceptual framework which postulated that organizational policies towards society vary along two basic dimensions, namely, altruistic orientation and social change orientation. Combinations of low and high orientations along these dimensions yielded a typology of four ideal type organizations. The conceptual framework drew up hypothetical profiles of the organizational design characteristics of the ideal types. This study sought empirical support for the conceptual framework. The study was confined to voluntary nonprofit organizations in India. Using a mix of interviews. Observation, Questionnaire surveys and secondary data obtained in the course of field visits. Data were collected from five selected voluntary organizations which represented different extreme types in the conceptual framework. These organizations were compared with respect to their environmental, management style, organizational structure. Organizational climate. And member motivation variables. In addition, a mailed questionnaire survey elicited data on the organizational characteristics of 59 other voluntary organizations. The data were analyzed to examine the effects of altruism and change orientation on other design variables. Regression analysis was . also carried out to find out what influence the internal organizational design variables had on organizational altruism or change orientation. Factor analysis was used to uncover other possible dimensions to explain variations in the design of socially oriented organizations. Comparative analysis of case study evidence and the results of the questionnaire survey indicated that an altruistic organization tends to enact an environment which is diverse and restrictive, whereas the change oriented organization enacts a turbulent one. The analysis also indicated that the more altruistic the organization's stance with respect to society. The more participative. Flexible. Risk—taking and professional is likely to be its management style; the less likely is its structure to emphasize hierarchy. Control and information systems and formalization. the more affiliative and the less dependence oriented would its climate tend to be, and the greater would be the extrinsic reward satisfaction of its members. With respect to change orientation. the more change oriented the organization‘: stance, the more turbulent is its environment likely to be, the more. Risk taking and flexible is likely to be the style of its management, the less differentiated would its structure be and the less would the structure emphasize hierarchy, formalization, and centralization. The more affiliative and the less dependence oriented would its climate tend to be. Regression analysis conducted to examine the effect of internal organizational factors on the organization’: social policy orientation indicated that the primary explanatory variables in high altruism are a flexible. Risk taking management and a less formal. Organic organizational structure. In the case of change orientation, only risk taking emerged as a primary explanatory variable. Factor analysis of the 59-organization data led to the discovery of two new dimensions underlying organizational differences ‘in the case of voluntary organizations 1 the structural purposive – missionary dimension and the professional - collegial dimension. These two dimensions were used to construct a fresh typology of voluntary organizations and a framework to explain the design characteristics of ideal types. The study suggests some new hypotheses for future research and discusses the implications of the findings for the design and management of strategic, socially relevant organizations.