Beyond the Stalemate of Economics versus Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Discourse of the Organizational Self
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to advance research on CSR beyond the stalemate of economic versus ethical models by providing an alternative perspective integrating existing views and allowing for more shared dialog and research in the field. It is suggested that we move beyond making a normative case for ethical models and practices of CSR by moving beyond the question of how to manage organizational self-interest toward the question of how accurate current conceptions of the organizational self seem to be. Specifically, it is proposed that CSR is not a question of how self-interested the corporation should be, but how this self is defined. Economic and ethical models of CSR are not models of opposition but exist on a continuum between egoic and post-egoic, illusory and authentic conceptions of the organizational self. This means that moving from one to the other is not a question of adopting different paradigms but rather of moving from illusion and dysfunction to authenticity and functionality, from pathology to health. Copyright Springer 2006Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal Journal of Business Ethics.
Volume (Year): 66 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 (07)
Pages: 337-356
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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=100281
Related research
Keywords: corporate social responsibility; economic and ethical models; economic; egoic and post-egoic approaches; narratives; organizational self; psychoanalysis;References
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Ziva Sharp & Nurit Zaidman, 2010. "Strategization of CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 51-71, April.
- Eleanor O’Higgins, 2010. "Corporations, Civil Society, and Stakeholders: An Organizational Conceptualization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 157-176, June.
- Terry Beckman & Alison Colwell & Peggy Cunningham, 2009. "The Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Chile: The Importance of Authenticity and Social Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 191-206, March.
- Caroline D. Ditlev-Simonsen, 2010. "From corporate social responsibility awareness to action?," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 6(3), pages 452-468, October.
- Michael Behnam & Andreas Rasche, 2009. "‘Are Strategists from Mars and Ethicists from Venus?’ – Strategizing as Ethical Reflection," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 79-88, January.
- Andrew Yuengert, 2011. "Economics and Interdisciplinary Exchange in Catholic Social Teaching and “Caritas in Veritate”," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 41-54, March.
- Jeanne Liedtka, 2008. "Strategy Making and the Search for Authenticity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 237-248, June.
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