RT Article
T1 Leadership Manipulation and Ethics in Storytelling
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 116
IS 2
SP 415
OP 431
A1 Auvinen, Tommi P.
A1 Lämsä, Anna-Maija
A1 Sintonen, Teppo
A1 Takala, Tuomo
A2 Lämsä, Anna-Maija
A2 Sintonen, Teppo
A2 Takala, Tuomo
LA English
YR 2013
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785648543
AB This article focuses on exerting influence in leadership, namely manipulation in storytelling. Manipulation is usually considered an unethical approach to leadership. We will argue that manipulation is a more complex phenomenon than just an unethical way of acting in leadership. We will demonstrate through an empirical qualitative study that there are various types of manipulation through storytelling. This article makes a contribution to the literature on manipulation through leadership storytelling, offering a more systematic empirical analysis and a more nuanced view of the topic than previously existed by outlining how managers engage in manipulative storytelling and what kind of ethics they link to their manipulation in leadership. Four types of manipulation in storytelling are identified in the study: humorous, pseudo-participative, seductive and pseudo-empathetic. From an ethical perspective, we will show that manipulation is not always self-evidently reprehensible. We will conclude that the dominant ethical justification for manipulation stems from its consequences.
K1 Social Constructionism
K1 Narration
K1 Narrative
K1 Storytelling
K1 Manipulation
K1 Unethical
K1 Ethics
K1 Leadership
DO 10.1007/s10551-012-1454-8