Research Collaboratories

Humanistic Research Collaboratories

The International Humanistic Management Association (IHMA) is proud to introduce its Humanistic Research Collaboratories—a global, practice-connected research ecosystem dedicated to advancing scholarship that helps organizations protect dignity and promote well-being.

Research into enabling organizations to preserve human and planetary flourishing is a cornerstone of IHMA’s scholarly community. Our Collaboratories connect IHMA members with broader scientific networks and expand the resources needed to engage in innovative joint research, as well as the dissemination and transfer of research results to academic audiences and business and policy communities.

The scope of our work extends from regional projects rooted in local realities to multinational collaborations that produce shared learning across contexts. A central priority is the nurturing of doctoral students worldwide through mentorship, collaborative inquiry, and opportunities to contribute to impactful scholarship.

IHMA Research Collaboratories convene scholars, policymakers, artists, scientists, and business professionals for rigorous dialogue and debate around focused topic areas. Each Collaboratory is designed to explore and develop innovative ideas, models, methods, and frameworks that can instill transformative change in business and society. We intentionally bring diverse perspectives into the same room—not to dilute rigor, but to strengthen it through multi-disciplinary inquiry, grounded evidence, and careful translation into practice.

What is a “Collaboratory”?

A Collaboratory is more than a research group. It is a structured research community that supports:

  • Shared research agendas and coordinated inquiry
  • Working groups to develop studies, frameworks, and publications
  • Convenings for sensemaking, peer review, and debate
  • Research-to-practice translation through tools, teaching resources, and executive-facing insights

We invite you to join a Collaboratory, contribute your expertise, propose a collaborative project, or partner with IHMA to support research that expands what is possible for organizations—and for the people and communities they touch.

Current Research Collaboratories

AI and Humanistic Management

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping workplaces, institutions, and everyday life. This Collaboratory explores how AI can be designed, governed, and deployed in ways that honor dignity, reduce harm, and support flourishing—rather than accelerating dehumanization, extraction, or inequality. We focus on dignity-centered AI practices, responsible governance, and real-world organizational examples that demonstrate what “humanistic AI” can look like in action.

Love and Organizing

In a time of fragmentation, burnout, and polarization, many organizations are searching for deeper sources of cohesion and resilience. This Collaboratory examines love as a serious organizing principle: not sentimentality, but a disciplined commitment to recognizing dignity, building trust, and sustaining communities of care. Together we explore conceptual foundations, measurement questions, and practical pathways for embedding love-based practices in leadership, culture, and institutional design.

Leadership for Human and Planetary Flourishing

The crises of our time demand leadership that can hold complexity, steward ecosystems, and act with moral clarity. This Collaboratory advances research on leadership models, capabilities, and education that support both human and planetary flourishing. We bring together scholarship and practice to explore regenerative approaches, dignity-centered decision-making, and the transformation of institutions toward long-term resilience and shared well-being.

Want to join and or propose an additional Collaboratory? Contact info@humanisticmanagement.international

Partners & Collaborators

IHMA advances dignity-centered, flourishing-oriented scholarship through a growing ecosystem of partners and collaborators—global institutions, research programs, education networks, universities, and business organizations. These relationships enable joint inquiry, co-convenings, shared learning infrastructures, and the translation of research into practice across sectors and regions.

Partnership listings indicate active collaboration on research, convenings, education, or knowledge exchange. They do not necessarily imply endorsement by either party.

Two professionals sharing a moment of laughter at work.
A group of six people collaborating around a table with documents.

How we collaborate

We typically collaborate through:

  • Field-building convenings (multi-stakeholder dialogues, workshops, symposia)
  • Research collaboration (joint projects, shared agendas, dissemination pathways)
  • Education innovation(faculty development, curriculum resources, learning communities)
  • Practice transfer(executive briefings, tools, cases, and applied insights)

Strategic field-building partners

These partnerships strengthen shared infrastructure for global sensemaking and practice-based experimentation.

  • Club of Rome — Convening and systems-level dialogue for civilizational renewal and long-term stewardship.
  • Presencing Institute — Practice-based learning and systems transformation at the intersection of awareness, leadership, and social innovation.

Research collaborators

These collaborations expand IHMA’s research capabilities and scholarly networks.

  • Academy of Management- Cooperative with the Social Issues in Management (SIM) Division to cocreate joint research across the globe
  • Harvard Human Flourishing Program — Cross-disciplinary research on the conditions and determinants of flourishing, with pathways for public scholarship and evidence-informed practice.