Jason Kanov

Jason Kanov
Professor
Western Washington University
Jason.Kanov@wwu.edu
cbe.wwu.edu/people/kanovj

Related Research Interests

My research is rooted in the assumption that people matter. Organizational members are not resources or assets—they are whole human beings who have the basic right to be regarded and engaged with in ways that honor their fundamental dignity and promote their wellbeing. Much of my research and teaching builds on that assumption in examining everyday episodes of person-to-person connection and disconnection in work organizations and also the contextual factors that influence those episodes.

Much of my published research focuses on suffering and compassion in the workplace. I am particularly interested in studying how organizational members experience and express suffering, how everyday organizational realities contribute to members’ suffering, and how systemic inequities intersect with suffering (and compassion). A primary aim of this research is to ultimately identify ways of organizing that are more proactively and equitably compassionate for all.

Relevant Publications

  • Kanov, J., Powley, E. H., & Walshe, N. D. (2017). Is it ok to care?: How compassion falters and is courageously accomplished in the midst of uncertainty. Human Relations, 70(6): 751-777.
  • Lilius, J., Kanov, J., Dutton, J., & Maitlis, S. (2011). Compassion revealed: What we know about compassion at work (and where we need to know more). In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.) Handbook for Positive Organizational Scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Lilius, J. M., Worline, M. C., Dutton, J. E., Kanov, J. M., & Maitlis, S. (2011). Understanding compassion capability. Human Relations, 64(7), 873-899.
  • Lilius, J. M., Worline, M. C., Dutton, J. E., Kanov, J. M., Frost, P. J., & Maitlis, S. (2008). The contours and consequences of compassion at work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 193–218.
  • Dutton, J. E., Lilius, J. M., & Kanov, J. M. (2007). The transformative potential of compassion at work. In D. Cooperrider, R. Fry and S. Piderit, (Eds.), New Designs for Transformative Cooperation (p. 107-126). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
  • Frost, P. J., Dutton, J. E., Maitlis, S., Lilius, J. M., Kanov, J. M., & Worline, M. C. (2006). Seeing organizations differently: Three lenses on compassion. In C. Hardy, S. R. Clegg, T. B. Lawrence, & W. Nord (Eds.), The Handbook of Organization Studies (2nd ed., p. 843–866). London: Sage.
  • Kanov, J. M., Maitlis, S., Worline, M. C., Dutton, J. E., Frost, P. J., & Lilius, J. M. (2004). Compassion in organizational life. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 808-827.
  • Dutton, J. E., Frost, P. J., Worline, M. C., Lilius, J. M., & Kanov, J. M. (2002). Leading in Times of Trauma. Harvard Business Review, 80(1), 54-61.