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A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics
Drawing on the philosophy of existentialism, this thought-provoking Research Agenda questions and encourages deeper ethical thinking about organizational practices during this time of existential crisis. Rather than relying on prescriptive normative ethical theories, it advocates for ethical concerns to be addressed through intersubjective encounters.
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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.
Drawing on the philosophy of existentialism, this thought-provoking Research Agenda questions and encourages deeper ethical thinking about organizational practices during this time of existential crisis. Rather than relying on prescriptive normative ethical theories, it advocates for ethical concerns to be addressed through intersubjective encounters.
Chapters engage with diverse philosophical perspectives and illuminate their key ideas through literature, visual arts, and music, bringing forth situated truths that will resonate with and incite the reader to think and act critically to avoid perpetuating dehumanization, precarity, and mindlessness. The Research Agenda will ultimately inspire leaders and scholars to expand, rethink, practice, sustain, and transform organizations towards a future of flourishing for all stakeholders.
Integrating qualitative hermeneutics with existential philosophy, this discerning Research Agenda will offer students and scholars of organization studies, business ethics and leadership a unique perspective on organizational ethics.
Drawing on the philosophy of existentialism, this thought-provoking Research Agenda questions and encourages deeper ethical thinking about organizational practices during this time of existential crisis. Rather than relying on prescriptive normative ethical theories, it advocates for ethical concerns to be addressed through intersubjective encounters.
Chapters engage with diverse philosophical perspectives and illuminate their key ideas through literature, visual arts, and music, bringing forth situated truths that will resonate with and incite the reader to think and act critically to avoid perpetuating dehumanization, precarity, and mindlessness. The Research Agenda will ultimately inspire leaders and scholars to expand, rethink, practice, sustain, and transform organizations towards a future of flourishing for all stakeholders.
Integrating qualitative hermeneutics with existential philosophy, this discerning Research Agenda will offer students and scholars of organization studies, business ethics and leadership a unique perspective on organizational ethics.
Critical Acclaim
‘This edited collection reflects important debates in organizational ethics and provides comprehensive, critical, and creative responses that will help move the field forward. With such an innovative approach to the subject, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all colleagues, whether they are students, scholars or practicing leaders. There are significant insights for all.’
– Gareth Edwards, University of the West of England, UK
– Gareth Edwards, University of the West of England, UK
Contributors
Contributors: Ronald C. Arnett, Gregory R. Beabout, Danilo Boffa, Helet Botha, Jennifer L.S. Chandler, Joanne B. Ciulla, Barbara Jones Denison, Janie Harden Fritz, Rita A. Gardiner, Annette M. Holba, Jen Jones, Aaron K. Kerr, Donna Ladkin, Özüm Üçok-Sayrak, Brent C. Sleasman, Leah Tomkins
Contents
Contents:
Preface xvii
PART I EXPANDING HORIZONS OF SCHOLARSHIP
THROUGH INTERPRETIVE HERMENEUTICS
1 Expanding horizons: mythodology for interpretive
scholarship 3
Jen Jones
2 Aesop’s cautionary fables about the demos and
leadership 19
Joanne B. Ciulla
3 The ethics of faith and suspicion: reflections with
the philosophy of Ricoeur and the fiction of le Carré 33
Leah Tomkins
PART II RETHINKING ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
AND ACTION
4 How irony can inform whistleblowing: lessons
from Harriet Jacobs 49
Donna Ladkin
5 On bolstering the experience of moral agency:
Simone de Beauvoir and ethical decision-making
in organizations 63
Helet Botha
6 Giving up the good for the better: Dorothy Day’s
ethic of direct action 77
Barbara Jones Denison
PART III RESTORING SUBJECTIVITY IN
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIFICATION
7 Questioning large corporations: personalism and
localism for organizations too big to care 93
Gregory R. Beabout
8 Organizational ethics of Smith and Levinas:
sympathy and face countering precarity 107
Ronald C. Arnett
9 Examining “managing a diverse workforce” using
critical leadership theory and Fanon’s work can
reveal its colonialist practices 121
Jennifer L. S. Chandler
PART IV PRACTICING VIRTUE, PROFESSIONAL
CIVILITY, AND MINDFULNESS IN ORGANIZATIONS
10 Ethical existential leadership lessons from
Flannery O’Connor’s “The Lame Shall Enter First” 135
Janie Harden Fritz
11 “Everything is waiting for you”: a ventriloqual
view of organizational ethics, professional civility,
and the practice of attention 149
.züm Üçok-Sayrak
12 The integrally mindful organization: creating
interspaces for human flourishing 163
Annette M. Holba
PART V SUSTAINING ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH
SILENCE AND CARE
13 Thomas Merton’s love of silence and the
organization of creative responsibility 179
Aaron K. Kerr
14 Grounding sustainable organizations through an
ethics of care 191
Danilo Boffa
PART VI TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS IN TIMES OF CRISIS
15 Unmasking the problem in a pandemic age:
Arendt, Camus, and collective responsibility 207
Rita A. Gardiner
16 The Plague: invitation to transformation in an age
of absurdity 221
Brent C. Sleasman
Index
Preface xvii
PART I EXPANDING HORIZONS OF SCHOLARSHIP
THROUGH INTERPRETIVE HERMENEUTICS
1 Expanding horizons: mythodology for interpretive
scholarship 3
Jen Jones
2 Aesop’s cautionary fables about the demos and
leadership 19
Joanne B. Ciulla
3 The ethics of faith and suspicion: reflections with
the philosophy of Ricoeur and the fiction of le Carré 33
Leah Tomkins
PART II RETHINKING ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
AND ACTION
4 How irony can inform whistleblowing: lessons
from Harriet Jacobs 49
Donna Ladkin
5 On bolstering the experience of moral agency:
Simone de Beauvoir and ethical decision-making
in organizations 63
Helet Botha
6 Giving up the good for the better: Dorothy Day’s
ethic of direct action 77
Barbara Jones Denison
PART III RESTORING SUBJECTIVITY IN
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIFICATION
7 Questioning large corporations: personalism and
localism for organizations too big to care 93
Gregory R. Beabout
8 Organizational ethics of Smith and Levinas:
sympathy and face countering precarity 107
Ronald C. Arnett
9 Examining “managing a diverse workforce” using
critical leadership theory and Fanon’s work can
reveal its colonialist practices 121
Jennifer L. S. Chandler
PART IV PRACTICING VIRTUE, PROFESSIONAL
CIVILITY, AND MINDFULNESS IN ORGANIZATIONS
10 Ethical existential leadership lessons from
Flannery O’Connor’s “The Lame Shall Enter First” 135
Janie Harden Fritz
11 “Everything is waiting for you”: a ventriloqual
view of organizational ethics, professional civility,
and the practice of attention 149
.züm Üçok-Sayrak
12 The integrally mindful organization: creating
interspaces for human flourishing 163
Annette M. Holba
PART V SUSTAINING ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH
SILENCE AND CARE
13 Thomas Merton’s love of silence and the
organization of creative responsibility 179
Aaron K. Kerr
14 Grounding sustainable organizations through an
ethics of care 191
Danilo Boffa
PART VI TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS IN TIMES OF CRISIS
15 Unmasking the problem in a pandemic age:
Arendt, Camus, and collective responsibility 207
Rita A. Gardiner
16 The Plague: invitation to transformation in an age
of absurdity 221
Brent C. Sleasman
Index
