The Humanistic Management Network Meeting held in Kraków in October 2022 brought together a variety of scholars, practitioners, and thought leaders from around the world to engage in meaningful discussions centred on fostering human-centred approaches within the realm of management. The event provided a platform for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and advancing humanistic management principles.

The mission of the Humanistic Management Network is to encourage, promote, and support economic activities and business conduct that will change the paradigm from economic views of market activity towards a humanistic approach, which was the main topic of the Humanistic Management Network Meeting in Kraków.

The series of lectures and workshops were organized thanks to the fund from the Priority Research Area Heritage under the program Excellence Initiative – Research University at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow:

1. Humanistic Management: Towards a More Equitable and More Sustainable Planet, lecture by Dr. Ernst von Kimakowitz (Switzerland) – 24^th October 2022

Before the meeting of the members of the humanistic management network officially began, students of the Institute of Culture of the Jagiellonian University had the opportunity to listen to an introductory lecture given by Ernst von Kimakowitz is co-­founder and leads the Humanistic Management Network and Humanistic Management Centre and is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. In this lecture he outlined the notion of Humanistic Management as an anchor for reflection that can support businesses in rising to the task of strengthening its positive impact toward a more equitable and sustainable planet.

2. FlourishingAI Workshop by Carlos Largacha Martinez (Colombia) – 25^th October 2022

The workshop was organized for employees of the Cultural Center of Norwidline introductory meeting was held, during which modern humanistic management was discussed, the skillful building of a well-connected community, and the need to strengthen soft skills. argacha-Martínez also introduced the idea of further activities. Carlos Largacha Martinez is a social futurologist who designs and develops social inventions using quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence. He has been leading the start-up FlourishingAI, linking humanistic and ethical leadership with NLP-natural language processing.

A week later, the first stationary workshop meeting took place in the cultural centre. The tasks in which employees were involved helped to understand the importance of good communication and deepen it within the institution. Culture Center C. K. Norwid is the first European cultural institution trained by dr. Carlos Largach-Martínez, who flew to Krakow from Colombia, at the invitation of the Jagiellonian University. The workshop organized for the needs of employees of cultural institutions was an expression of the implementation of the “third mission” by the University and the strengthening of cooperation with the socio-economic environment.

3. Visiting Jagiellonian University Museum & Integration Meeting – 26t^h October 2022

The guests had a unique opportunity to visit the Collegium Maius, the oldest building of Jagiellonian University dating back to the 14^th century, and get to know the history of the oldest Polish university. The museum is located in Kraków Old Town, so participants of the HMN Meeting saw the delightful part of the city, and tried traditional Polish cuisine.

4. Visiting UBUlab – 27^th October 2022

UBUlab is a laboratory of creative programming at the Jagiellonian University. The guests saw the wide range of retro hardware, experienced the VR space, and get to know more about recent UBUlab’s researches.

5. Humanistic Management Governance Sessions – 26^th / 28^th October 2022

The meeting in Krakow was also an excellent opportunity to talk about the most important issues related to the further functioning of the network. The deliberations were held in the presence of network members present in Krakow, but also those who joined us virtually (e.g. from China, Japan, Qatar or the Netherlands). We talked mainly about the organizational structure, division of duties and plans for the future. One of the topics was also the publication of the book Humanistic Management in Public Sector published in the Humanism in Business Series by Palgrave Macmillan.

6. ON GROUNDED THEORY Case study about Purposeful Businesses in Kenya and Colombia, lecture and workshop by Dr. Carlos Largacha Martinez (Colombia) – 26^th / 28^th October 2022

During 2018-2019, Dr Carlos Largacha Martinez led a qualitative research funded by the IRDC (Canada) and AcademiaB (Latin America) to explore what kind of impact has B-Corps and/or purpose-driven businesses from the Global South on women and youth. This workshop with the support of some Colombian researchers (virtual) from University Areandina presented why they selected a qualitative approach, specifically Grounded Theory (content analysis), and how they designed, structured, and developed the research. Dr Martinez presented the results of the research and how he used a software tool to analyse all the interviews done with eight women founders in Colombia and Kenya and one male CEO. Students and employees of the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University took part in the lecture and workshop.

7. Humanistic Management Case Research Workshop, workshop by Prof. Shiv K. Tripathi (India) – 27^th October 2022

Prof. Shiv K. Tripathi has two and half decades of experience in teaching, research, and higher education management. Currently, he is serving as vice Chancellor of Atmiya University, India. He also leads Humanistic Management Network India Chapter. Through the workshop, the issues and strategies for the effective development of teaching cases in different learning contexts were collectively explored.Among the groups consisted of scholars all over the world, there were two students’ groups which presented their vision of what could be done to improve the learning system.

8. One humanistic management, various future-oriented areas of application + Q&A session by Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi (Nigeria), Dr. Malwina Popio?ek (Poland), Aura Mbolela (South Africa) – 27^th October 2022

During this meeting, various applications of humanistic perspectives to organizational practices today and possibly in the future were discussed. Guests presented the latest results of their research on the following topics:

1) (Dis)information management as a challenge for the future, Dr. Malwina Popio?ek (Poland) – a member of the Faculty of Management and Social Communication at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, who works as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Culture;

2) Humanistic Perspectives to Location-Based Glg-work, Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi (Nigeria), Associate Professor, holds a degree in Law from the University of Ibadan, an LLM from the University of Strathclyde, and MBA and PhD degrees from Pan-Atlantic University. She currently teaches business ethics, managerial anthropology, self-leadership, and sustainability management at the Lagos Business School. She is also the academic director of the School’s Senior Management Programme;

3) Humanistic Component of Organisation – Wide Change Management, Aura Mbolela (South Africa) – she holds a Master’s degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the University of Cape Town, where she also worked in a teaching and research capacity. Aura is currently working as a senior principal change management consultant for IQbusiness.

The Humanistic Management Network Meeting in Kraków, held in October 2022, emerged as a significant gathering that promoted the principles of human-centred approaches within the field of management. The event not only showcased the growing interest in fostering ethical and people-focused business practices but also provided a platform for stakeholders to collectively envision a future where businesses prioritize the well-being of employees, ethical decision-making, and sustainability. As the participants left, they carried with them a renewed sense of purpose and a commitment to championing humanistic management principles in their respective spheres of influence.

Report author: Anna Ilyina

Gallery pictures: Maria Pieniazek