The Role of Good Corporate Culture and SelfRegulation in the Virtuous Organization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/wmj9z324Keywords:
Good Organizational Culture, Human Excellence, Self-Regulation, Virtuous OrganizationAbstract
This paper investigates the role of good organizational culture together with self-regulation as ways to cultivate the character of members of the organization, emphasizing the process of personal moral character development. To achieve this objective, this paper starts by discussing whistle-blowing practices in some organizations, especially business organizations, that have displayed employees’ courage in speaking up about misconduct in their organizations. Two case studies were employed, both cases in the USA and the UK, in relation to an alert to the necessity for ethical awareness by corporations. From the case studies, this paper found that sometimes an employee’s character can be a bulwark of integrity against an environment of practices that involve wrongdoing, and this can lead employees to feel they have no option but to be whistleblowers if the organization does not fulfil its moral responsibilities. Thus, in this paper, the role or function of good corporate culture in shaping the moral development of employees is discussed in relation to the idea of a virtuous organization. At the end, this paper argues that human excellence through self-regulation can be a basis for good organizational culture by presenting moral conduct.
Downloads
References
[1] Alvesson, M., and Berg, P.O. (1992). Corporate Culture and Organizational Symbolism. Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter & Co.
[2] Annas, J. (2011). Intelligent Virtue. Oxford University Press. UK.
[3] Arjoon, S. (2007). Ethical Decision-Making: A Case for the Triple Font Theory. Journal of Business
Ethics, Vol. 71 (4): 395 – 410.
[4] Bertland, A. (2009). Virtue Ethics in Business and the Capabilities Approach. Journal of Business Ethics,
84: 25–32.
[5] Brewer, T. (2005). Virtues We Can Share: Friendship and Aristotelian Ethical Theory. Ethics, Vol. 115
(4): 721 – 758.
[6] Boyd, G. N., and Taylor, R. R. (1998). A Development Approach to the Examination of Friendship in
Leader-Follower Relationships. The Leadership Quarterly, 9(1):1-25
[7] Chun, R. (2005). Ethical Character and Virtue of Organizations: An Empirical Assessment and Strategic
Implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 57: 269 – 284.
[8] Cooper, J. M. (1977). Friendship and the Good in Aristotle. The Philosophy Review, Vol. 86 (3): 290 – 315.
[9] Darwall,L. S. (2003). Deontology. Wiley-Blackwell.
[10] Deal, E. T., and Kennedy, A. A. (1982).Corporate Culture: the Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Perseus
Book Publishing, LLc.
[11] Driver, J. (2001). Uneasy Virtue. Cambridge University Press. UK.
[12] Foot, P. (1978). Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy. Oxford University Press.
[13] Goodpaster, K. E. (2000). Conscience and Its Counterfeits in Organizational Life: A New Interpretation of
the Naturalistic Fallacy. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10 (1): 189 – 201.
[14] Gowri, A. (2007). On Corporate Virtue. Journal of Business Ethics, 70: 391 – 400.
[15] Grey, C. (2013). A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying
Organisations. SAGE Publications Ltd, London.
[16] Hartman, E. M. (2011). Virtue, Profit, and the Separation Thesis: An Aristotle View. Journal of Business
Ethics, 99: 5 – 7.
[17] Irwin, T. H. (1988). Aristotle’s First Principles. Claredon Press. Oxford.
[18] Jones, G. R. (1995). Organizational Theory: Text and Cases. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
USA.
[19] Jubb, P.B. (1999). Whistleblowing: A Restrictive Definition and Interpretation. Journal of Business
Ethics, 21 (1):77-94.
[20] Martin, J. [1992] Cultures in Organizations: Three Perspectives, New York: Oxford University Press, cited
in Ogbonna, E. and Wilkinson, B. [2003] “The false promise of organizational culture change: A Case
Study of Middle Managers in Grocery Retailing‟, Journal of Management Studies, 40, 1151-1178.
[21] Macintyre, A. (1981). After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd. London.
[22] Mele, D. (2010). Practical Wisdom in Managerial Decision Making. Journal of Management Development,
29 (7); 637 – 645.
[23] Mele, D. (2012). The Firm as a “Community of Persons”: A Pillar of Humanistic Business Ethos. Journal
Business Ethics, 106; 89 - 101.
[24] Moberg, D. J. (1997).Virtuous Peers in Work Organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 7 (1): 67 – 85.
[25] Moore, G. (1999). Corporate Moral Agency: Review and Implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 21: 329
– 343.
[26] Moore, G. (2005). Corporate Character: Modern Virtue Ethics and the Virtuous Corporation. Business
Ethics Quarterly, 15 (4): 659 – 685.
[27] Moore, G., and Beadle, R. (2006). In search of Organizational Virtue in Business: Agents, Goods,
Practices, Institutions and Environments. Organization Studies, 27 (3): 369 – 389.
[28] Nussbaum, C. M. (2001). Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge University
Press.
[29] Payne, S. L. (2011). Managing for Organizational Integrity. Harvard Business Review, March – April
Issue.
[30] Pedersen, S. J., and Sorensen, S. J. (1989). Organisational Cultures in Theory and Practice.Brookfield,
Avebury, USA.
[31] Sherman, N. (1987). Aristotle on Friendship and the Shared Life. Philosophy and Phenomenological
Research, Vol. 47 (4): 589 – 613.
[32] Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. John Wiley & sons, Inc. San Francisco,
USA.
[33] Schuldt, K. (2000). Taming the Corporate Monster: An Aristotelian Approach to Corporate Virtue.
Business Ethics Quarterly, 10 (3): 711 – 723.
[34] Sekerka, L. E., Bagozzi, R. P., and Charnigo, R. (2009). Facing Ethical Challenges in the Workplace:
Conceptualizing and Measuring Professional Moral Courage. Journal of Business Ethics, 89: 565 - 579.
[35] Solomon, R. (2003). Victims of Circumtances? A Defense and Virtue Ethics in Business. Business Ethics
Quarterly, 13 (1): 43 – 62.
[36] Swanton, C. Virtue Ethics: A Pluralistic View. New York: Oxford University Press,2003.
[37] Weaver, G. R. (2006). Virtue in Organizations: Moral Identity as a Foundation for Moral Agency.
Organization studies, 27 (3): 341 – 368.
[38] Whetstone, J, T. (2001). How Virtue Fits within Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 33 (2):
101 – 114.
[39] Whetstone, J. T. (2003).The Language of Managerial Excellence: Virtues as Understood and Applied.
Journal of Business Ethics 44: 343–357.
[40] Whetstone, J. T. (2005). A Framework for Organisational Virtue: the Interrelationship of Mission, Culture
and Leadership. Business Ethics: A European Review, 14 (4): 367 – 378.
[41] White, N. (1999). Conflicting Parts of Happiness in Aristotle’s Ethics. Ethics, Vol. 105 (2): 258 – 283.
[42] Zagzebski, L, T. (1996). Virtue of the Mind: An Inquiry into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical
Foundations of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press. UK
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
