Embedded ethics and reflexivity: narrating a charter of ethical experience

Abstract

We address the call to situate organizational codes of ethics in practice and local values rather than authoritarian forms of control. Our contribution lies in: (1) drawing on Ricoeur’s work on the capable human being to develop the idea of embedded ethics, which we argue is a form of lived ethics situated in how people understand and enact ethical values in specific contexts; and (2) illustrating, through an action research project carried out in a large Italian non-profit organization, how a hermeneutic-inspired narrative methodology can be used to develop an ethics charter situated in lived values. A hermeneutic approach to research recognizes that each research encounter is unique and co-created, therefore participant interpretations are important. The originality of our work centers around the novel narrative form and approach to developing an ethical charter based on embedded ethics. We conclude by suggesting that this approach to developing an ethical charter encompasses a form of orientational learning in which people come to understand a sense or feel for issues in their reflexive dialogue around narratives that surface and explore ethical tensions.

Uniqueness and Generalization in Organizational Psychology: Research as a Relational Practice

“…While we refer you to another paper ( Cunliffe and Ivaldi, 2020 ) regarding this case for a detailed analysis of the concept of embedding ethics in specific situations and the discussion of the findings acquired, in this contribution, we address the most relevant steps of the research, concerning the relational dimensions at stake. After a brief description of the context, we point out some key aspects in which research as a relational practice is highly solicited.…”

“…On one hand, there is the implicit assumption of a deterministic approach considering ethics as grounded in universal laws and principles that can be applied to every organizational context without any difference: The ethical codes become a collection of universal and theoretical values that, in the representation of the managers, can influence and determine the behaviors of the players. On the other hand, we have a perspective that sees ethics as a strongly contextual and situational aspect, open to different interpretations and processes based on self and group interests: the ethical codes become an ethical chart ( Cunliffe and Ivaldi, 2020 ) depicting situations and events that open the possibility of seeing and reflecting on what people do and of doing actions that are reasonable for all the organizational participants, achieving social and organizational practices actionable in the wider organizational context.…”

“…As a result, a large number of stories were collected, enabling the description of emblematic and diffuse ethical dimensions and contradictions to promote their acknowledgement and possible transformation. The collected stories and contradictions were used to create the ethical chart of practices, designed as a flexible document and thought as a practical tool useful to provide opportunities for people to question their actions and confront the critical aspects of their everyday behaviors ( Cunliffe and Ivaldi, 2020 ).…”

Care Ethics Management and Redesign Organization in the New Normal

“…This approach focuses on what Gherardi and Rodeschini (2016) calls the “doing” of care, a local focus on the social environment in which situated actions take place, rather than a universal and normative approach based on abstract claims. Therefore, the “ethics of care” is embedded ( Cunliffe and Ivaldi, 2021 ): behaviors that are embedded in managers’ work practices and that express how ethical values are acted out in everyday choices.…”

“…Managers’ narratives have been treated through an interpretive and hermeneutic approach where accounts rely on subtlety and sometimes taken-for-granted ideas about the nature of workplace relationships and responsibilities with others ( Scaratti et al, 2014 ; Filstad et al, 2019 ; Cunliffe and Ivaldi, 2021 ). We, therefore, collected multiple interpretations and values around “caring” issues that helped compose a multifaceted and nuanced picture of HRM efforts in the pandemic.…”