Emerging in times of change: the value of compassion and altruism in business

Abstract

In recent years, a paradigm shift has been proposed in organizational sciences that includes a shift from self-centeredness to interconnectedness. This emerging management paradigm considers that employees are not only motivated by self-interest, but also by values centered on others, such as altruism and compassion for others. This alternative proposal suggests the need for a more humanistic perspective on management. Based on this approach, in this study we explore the consequences of compassion and altruism in the workplace to promote company performance, using organizational resilience as a mediating variable. To this end, we applied a structural equation model to a sample of highly innovative companies in different sectors. The results confirm that compassion at work leads to a climate based on altruism, which indirectly increases company performance through organizational resilience. This study takes a step forward in the organizational literature by revealing some benefits of promoting altruism and compassion in organizations.