The paper examines unconventional spiritual practices of the post-Soviet Russian-speaking businesspeople and professionals. We develop an analytical framework for investigating social functions of business-related spiritual practices and illustrate its application to the analysis of organized and individual spiritual practices related to budgeting and finance; personnel management; and contractual/market domains. We argue that similarly to the conventual forms of spirituality and religiosity, business-related spiritual practices become more popular in the periods of economic instability and social dislocation. Yet, in addition to providing a phycological coping mechanism, business-related spiritual practices may also facilitate acceptance of social change; promote flexibility and opportunistic economic behaviors; and help shorten the time horizons of economic decision making. Our paper contributes to the exploration of the social, cultural, and ideational foundations of post-Soviet market economies and helps explain micro-economic choices faced by firms.
