Jitnisa RoenjunMark SpeeceLeela TiangsoongnernCollege of Management Mahidol UniversityDhurakij Pundit UniversitySmall Business Owner & Independent Researcher2022-08-042022-08-042021-10-01Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility. Vol.30, No.4 (2021), 818-83126946424269464162-s2.0-85112033411https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/75826The role of spirituality in management is of growing interest, not least because it is closely related to business ethics, and, thus, how businesses treat customers and employees. The topic, however, still needs some conceptual development, as well as empirical research, especially outside Western, Christian contexts. This qualitative research examines spirituality among women small business owners in Thailand. These women follow Kuan Im bodhisattva, a Buddhist role model teaching compassion and morality. In Jackson's terminology, this is an example of an Eastern, practice-oriented approach to ethics rather than (in his view) the somewhat theoretical wisdom-oriented approach common in the West. The nature of their spirituality and their treatment of customers and employees maps strongly to a servant leadership style. Servant leadership has occasionally been proposed as the style most closely associated with spirituality. In this context, it seems to be thoroughly intertwined, and highly concerned with ethical treatment of others.Mahidol UniversityArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and AccountingEconomics, Econometrics and FinanceEnvironmental ScienceConference PaperSCOPUS10.1111/beer.12375