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Aesthetic Rationality in Organizations: Toward Developing a Sensibility for Sustainibility

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Shrivastava

    (Concordia University [Montreal], ICN Business School)

  • Günter Schumacher

    (ICN Business School, CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine)

  • David Wasieleski

    (ICN Business School, Duquesne University [Pittsburgh])

  • Marko Tasic

    (UB - Université de Bordeaux)

Abstract

This article explains the coexistence and interaction of aesthetic experience and moral value systems of decision makers in organizations. For this purpose, we develop the concept of "aesthetic rationality," which is described as a type of value-oriented rationality that serves to encourage sustainable behavior in organizations, and to complete the commonly held, "instrumentally rational" view of organizations. We show that organizations regularly exhibit not only an instrumental rationality but also an "aesthetic rationality," which is manifested in their products and processes. We describe aesthetics, its underlying moral values, its evolutionary roots, and its links to virtue ethics as a basis for defining the concept of aesthetic rationality. We examine its links with human resources, organizational design, and other organizational elements. We examine these implications, identify how an aesthetic-driven ethic provides a potential for sustainable behavior in organizations, and suggest new directions for organizational research.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Shrivastava & Günter Schumacher & David Wasieleski & Marko Tasic, 2017. "Aesthetic Rationality in Organizations: Toward Developing a Sensibility for Sustainibility," Post-Print hal-01515126, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01515126
    DOI: 10.1177/0021886317697971
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01515126
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christa Breum Amhøj, 2019. "Sustainability as an ecology of learning, thinking and acting: Using the World Health Organization’s six P’s as an action-research intervention to create public value with multiple bottom lines," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(5), pages 439-455, August.
    2. Poonam Arora & Gwendolyn A. Tedeschi & Janet L. Rovenpor, 2018. "Broadening the Frame around Sustainability with Holistic Language: Mandela and Invictus," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 233-251, December.
    3. Joseph McManus, 2021. "Emotions and Ethical Decision Making at Work: Organizational Norms, Emotional Dogs, and the Rational Tales They Tell Themselves and Others," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 153-168, February.
    4. Poula Helth, 2019. "Aesthetic-based competences lead to a sustainable learning practice," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(6), pages 607-617, September.
    5. Peschl, Markus F. & Kerschbaum, Clemens, 2023. "The Power of Aesthetic Alignment in Future-Oriented Organisations: The Case of Patagonia," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2023), Hybrid Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Hybrid Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 4-6 September, 2023, pages 387-399, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    6. Dennis A. Kopf & Maxwell K. Hsu, 2021. "Game Theory, Tourism and Land Ethics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-13, July.

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