The conceptualization of humanistic management: A literature review and qualitative research

The Humanistic Management, which places human dignity at the center and positions human beings as ends rather than seeing them as a means, has become an increasingly prominent management paradigm in recent years. This study seeks to answer how the humanistic management approach is conceptualized in the literature, which thematic topics it is developed through, and how its position within the field of business and management - organization is structured. In this context, the aim of this research is to reveal the trends in theory and practice and to fill the gap in the Turkish literature, by systematically examining the humanistic management approach through academic publications in the Humanistic Management Journal (HMJ). In addition, this study aims to serve as a guide for possible future academic studies and researches. As this study aims to deeply examine both the theoretical and practical dimensions of the humanistic management literature, a qualitative research approach was adopted and literature review and descriptive content analysis methods based on systematic document analysis were used. The primary data source of the study consists of 190 articles published between 2016 and 2025 in the HMJ, selected through purposive sampling. A data set was created in an MS Excel file by the researcher, and the coding process, which was done manually one by one without using any software, took over 800 hours. The analyses revealed that the majority of the studies are theoretical/conceptual, with a stronger focus on theory rather than practice, and that the literature is still in the process of development. The humanistic management approach is generally shaped around concepts of human dignity, ethics, systems thinking, sustainability, common good, leadership, and corporate social responsibility, all rooted in a new understanding of the economics. Additionally, within the field of management and organization, concepts focused on ethics, sustainability, responsibility, and human-centered management form the backbone of this approach.