Kim Cameron became interested in Positive Organizational Scholarship as a result of a decade of studying the consequences of organizational downsizing. Organizations characterized by virtuous practices—such as forgiveness, compassion, integrity, trust, optimism, kindness—tended to avoid the declining performance associated with downsizing. Observing this effect led to a variety of empirical studies on the relationships between organizational virtuousness and organizational performance. This research has been funded by the Templeton Foundation and by corporations. Reports of the work have appeared in a variety of books—such as Positive Leadership, Making the Impossible Possible, and Practicing Positive Leadership—and in a variety of academic journals and book chapters.
