Concepts of health and well-being in managers: An organizational study

Global changes and new managerial challenges require new concepts of health and well-being in organizational contexts. In the South African context, health and well-being of managers have gained relevance in organizations and in management sciences. International organizations, in particular, attempt to address the increasing demand for health care and the delivery of health services to their managers. Careful and appropriate health management requires research to evaluate context-specific health concepts and strategies. The purpose and aim of this article is to assess managerial concepts on health and well-being that could be used by the organization to contribute to managerial well-being by implementing health promotion according to managerial needs. At the same time, this article contributes to salutogenetic health research that is very rare with regard to the South African organizational management research. This study is a multi-method research study conducted in a selected international organization in South Africa. However, in this article, selected qualitative findings will only be presented. This organizational study presents selected research findings on health concepts and strategies employed by managers. Findings demonstrate that the managerial concepts of health and strategies mainly refer to not only physical but also to mental and spiritual aspects, with a priority on physical health and well-being. The findings presented are based on qualitative research methods and their research criteria. This assessment serves as a foundation for new approaches to health management within the international work context in South Africa. It also contributes to a paradigm shift from pathogenetic to salutogenetic concepts of health and well-being within the South African organizational work context. The article produces new insights into the qualitative health concepts of South African managers and expatriates and contributes to promoting salutogenesis in organization within South Africa.