مقاله انگلیسی تحلیل پویایی های سیاسی و هویتی یک شیوه کنترل غالب
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Business ethics: ambiguous goals and politicization of control
Intergroup conflicts, domination and control
Intergroup conflicts: from Sherif (1966) to Tajfel and Turner (1979, 1986)
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Appendix A. Supplementary material
References
Abstract
This research studies the political and identity dynamics involved in the formation of a dominant mode of business ethics control. Through analysis of the ethical tool design process at five French multinationals, this empirical study reveals how business ethics is becoming legalized. This legalization is explained by a structure of domination that favours a legalistic approach, the diffusion of tools prepared by the legalistic designers, and a socio-cognitive identity strategy applied by the dominated group, the moralist designers. The individualization of responsibility is identified as a major risk associated with excessive legalization in business ethics.
Introduction
‘‘Many experts summarize ‘‘what happened” at Enron using two words, greed and arrogance. [...] What happened? It was a complete breakdown in moral values. But the scary part is that the breakdown was not done by outright intention but more by small steps in the wrong direction. [...] Being an ethical person is more than knowing right from wrong. It is having the fortitude to do right even when there is much at stake.” (Sherron Watkins, ex-vice-president, Enron, January 2007)1 The swiftness and scale of the Enron affair made such an impact that twenty years on, it is still a notorious example of an ethical scandal. Nobody can explain today exactly ‘‘what happened”, not even Sherron Watkins, the woman who blew the whistle on the company’s accounting malpractice. The underlying questions are important, particularly given that in 2000 – a year before the scandal – Enron had introduced a 64-page code of conduct, accompanied by a letter from its CEO Kenneth Lay.