A meta-ethical perspective on organizational identity

David Oliver, Matthew Statler, Johan Roos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although much of the growing literature on organizational identity implicitly recognizes the normative nature of identity, the ethical implications of organizational identity work and talk have not yet been explored in depth. Working from a meta-ethical perspective, we claim that the dynamic, processual, and temporal activities recently associated with organizational identity always have an ethical dimension, whether "good" or "bad." In order to describe the ethical dimensions of organizational identity, we introduce the balance theory of practical wisdom as a theoretical framework, and connect this theory to existing organizational identity concepts. We present an empirical case focused on an international paint company to illustrate the relevance of this theory for empirical organizational identity research. Our intention is to expand existing theory by bringing an aspect of organizational identity that has been tangentially acknowledged to the forefront, and by identifying it as a fruitful avenue for future theory development as well as empirical research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-440
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume94
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Metaethics
  • Organizational identity
  • Practical wisdom

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