Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in Organizational Change Processes

Several theories exist on how managers think aboutethical responsibilities in a business environment.Some stress the economic way of thinking and explainwhy there is no space for moral reasoning in abusiness environment. Others claim that in a businessenvironment also moral considerations can play a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of value-based management
Authors: Nijhof, André (Author) ; Fisscher, Olaf (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Proquest 1997
In: International journal of value-based management
Year: 1997, Volume: 10, Issue: 2, Pages: 173-192
Further subjects:B principled and pragmatic approach
B responsible decision making
B moral policies
B ethical dilemmas
B Business Ethics
B Organizational Change
B field of tension
B reconcile different responsibilities
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Several theories exist on how managers think aboutethical responsibilities in a business environment.Some stress the economic way of thinking and explainwhy there is no space for moral reasoning in abusiness environment. Others claim that in a businessenvironment also moral considerations can play animportant role. In this article, we will explore theway managers have actually dealt with potentialdilemmas in organizational change processes,especially changes with drastic consequences foremployees. Do managers consider moral arguments? Dothey feel a moral responsibility towards theiremployees? And in what way do they include a moralresponsibility in the decision process and itsoutcomes? These questions were investigated throughcase studies in two organisations and interviews withsix managers in other companies. The framework whichis used in the research will be described and the mainresults of the field-research will be presented. Wedid find that managers actually strived to some extentfor fair and morally responsible solutions in dilemmasituations, but in another way then we expectedbeforehand. Managers did not base their acting onmoral arguments. Instead they used a more pragmaticapproach wherein acting in a morally responsible wayis based on strategic arguments, such as the positiveeffects for the organisation in the long run.
ISSN:1572-8528
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of value-based management
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1023/A:1007785021932