Buddhist Principles, Mindfulness with Organizational Management: A Conceptual Literature Review
SBDC Ratnayake
Received: 28 July 2026; Revised: 20 September 2026; Accepted: 26 September 2026; Published: 30 September 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.66074/K7X5B1C6V
Abstract
Modern organizations are increasingly confronted with issues surrounding ethical choices, employee welfare, accountable leadership, stakeholder interactions, and unpredictability. These advancements have sparked interest in management viewpoints that go beyond just efficiency and financial outcomes. Buddhist philosophy has garnered interest in this regard for its focus on ethical behavior, mindfulness, compassion, self-discipline, responsible living, and the appropriate use of resources. Buddhist teachings emerged from a philosophical and religious background instead of being developed as a structured management theory. Consequently, a direct correlation between Buddhist principles and modern management concepts could lead to conceptual and contextual misrepresentation. This research seeks to explore how certain Buddhist concepts can be linked to modern organizational leadership and management while maintaining their original Buddhist significance. The research employs a conceptual literature review and textual analysis of selected Buddhist canonical texts and pertinent management literature, drawn from library resources. A systematic conceptual mapping method was employed to explore the initial significance of each Buddhist principle, its foundational ethical or psychological mechanism, its potential connection with a modern management framework and the limits of that comparison. The analysis highlights the possible importance of mindfulness (sati) for managerial awareness and self-regulation, ethical conduct (sīla) for responsible leadership, loving-kindness (mettā) for compassionate and interpersonal leadership, equanimity (upekkhā) for balanced reactions, right livelihood (sammā-ājīva) for responsible business practices, and mutual employer-employee responsibilities for employee relations. Current studies also show growing interest in mindfulness within organizational and leadership research. The research finds that these connections ought to be viewed as conceptual and interpretive rather than as proof that Buddhism constitutes a modern management theory. The suggested framework offers a more careful foundation for linking Buddhist principles to organizational management while preserving their original philosophical and ethical context.
Keywords: Buddhism, Buddhist ethics, employee relations, leadership, mindfulness, organizational management, right livelihood
Author Information: Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), Sri Lanka; dasunr@apiit.lk
Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2026