IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02117521.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Formal and Informal Benevolence in a Profit-Oriented Context

Author

Listed:
  • Guillaume Mercier

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Ghislain Deslandes

    (ESCP Europe - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris)

Abstract

Faced with the disenchantment and disengagement expressed by their employees, business leaders are considering ways of incorporating more benevolence into managerial practices. Nevertheless, ‘benevolence'—care and concern for the well-being of others—has not yet been studied in an organizational profit-focused context. In this paper, we seek to investigate the emergence and practice of benevolence with an eye on profit and performance. We begin by investigating the main ethical approaches to benevolence—virtue ethical, utilitarian, and deontological. Then, based on an empirical study (in the context of an upward feedback system in a consulting firm), we identify two distinct types of benevolence. On the one hand, formal benevolence is defined and monitored by the organizational processes and actions of leaders; it is understood by all concerned to be bounded by organizational performance. On the other hand, informal benevolence exists at the margin of these processes, in interpersonal and discretionary relationships. We set out to analyze these two types of benevolence and the complementarity between them. We also discuss to what extent they can be managed, teasing out some implications for managers and some potential avenues for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillaume Mercier & Ghislain Deslandes, 2019. "Formal and Informal Benevolence in a Profit-Oriented Context," Post-Print hal-02117521, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02117521
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04108-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7523 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Alvesson, Mats & Empson, Laura, 2008. "The construction of organizational identity: Comparative case studies of consulting firms," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Scott Reynolds & Bradley Owens & Alex Rubenstein, 2012. "Moral Stress: Considering the Nature and Effects of Managerial Moral Uncertainty," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(4), pages 491-502, April.
    4. Mill, John Stuart, 2015. "On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199670802 edited by Philp, Mark & Rosen, Frederick.
    5. Constantin Blome & Antony Paulraj, 2013. "Ethical Climate and Purchasing Social Responsibility: A Benevolence Focus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 567-585, September.
    6. Baviera, Tomás & English, William & Guillén, Manuel, 2016. "The ‘Logic of Gift’: Inspiring Behavior in Organizations Beyond the Limits of Duty and Exchange," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 159-180, April.
    7. Guillaume Mercier & Ghislain Deslandes, 2017. "There are no Codes, Only Interpretations. Practical Wisdom and Hermeneutics in Monastic Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 781-794, November.
    8. repec:bla:econom:v:48:y:1981:i:189:p:1-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Michael Brown & Linda Treviño, 2014. "Do Role Models Matter? An Investigation of Role Modeling as an Antecedent of Perceived Ethical Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 587-598, July.
    10. Mike Thomas & Caroline Rowland, 2014. "Leadership, Pragmatism and Grace: A Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 99-111, August.
    11. Fahri Karakas & Emine Sarigollu, 2012. "Benevolent Leadership: Conceptualization and Construct Development," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 537-553, July.
    12. Norbert Alter, 2011. "Don, ingratitude et management : suicide et désengagement au travail," Post-Print halshs-00661768, HAL.
    13. Sally Maitlis & Hakan Ozcelik, 2004. "Toxic Decision Processes: A Study of Emotion and Organizational Decision Making," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 375-393, August.
    14. Fahri Karakas & Emine Sarigollu, 2013. "The Role of Leadership in Creating Virtuous and Compassionate Organizations: Narratives of Benevolent Leadership in an Anatolian Tiger," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 663-678, April.
    15. Alexandre Ardichvili & James Mitchell & Douglas Jondle, 2009. "Characteristics of Ethical Business Cultures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(4), pages 445-451, April.
    16. Simona Romani & Silvia Grappi & Richard Bagozzi, 2013. "Explaining Consumer Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Gratitude and Altruistic Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 193-206, May.
    17. Cecile Renouard, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Utilitarianism, and the Capabilities Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 85-97, January.
    18. Manuel Guillén & Ignacio Ferrero & W. Hoffman, 2015. "The Neglected Ethical and Spiritual Motivations in the Workplace," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 803-816, June.
    19. Kévin André & Sylvain Bureau & Arthur Gautier & Olivier Rubel, 2017. "Beyond the Opposition Between Altruism and Self-interest: Reciprocal Giving in Reward-Based Crowdfunding," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 313-332, December.
    20. Guglielmo Faldetta, 2011. "The Logic of Gift and Gratuitousness in Business Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 67-77, March.
    21. Derek Clark & Christian Riis, 2008. "Rational benevolence in small committees," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 139-146, March.
    22. Flore Bridoux & Régis Coeurderoy & Rodolphe Durand, 2011. "Heterogeneous Motives and the Collective Creation of Value," Post-Print hal-00632069, HAL.
    23. Domènec Melé & Antonio Argandoña & Carlos Sanchez-Runde, 2011. "Facing the Crisis: Toward a New Humanistic Synthesis for Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 1-4, March.
    24. Sandrine Frémeaux & Grant Michelson, 2011. "‘No Strings Attached’: Welcoming the Existential Gift in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 63-75, March.
    25. Norbert Alter, 2011. "Don, ingratitude et management. Suicide et désengagement au travail," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(2), pages 47-61.
    26. Sandrine Frémeaux & Grant Michelson, 2011. ""No Strings Attached": Welcoming the Existential Gift in Business," Post-Print hal-00797037, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martinez, Luisa M. & Pacheco, Natália & Ramos, Filipe R. & Bicho, Marta, 2023. "Would you try it again? Dual effects of customer mindfulness on service recovery," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Toledano, Nuria & Gonzalez-Sanz, Juan D., 2024. "Beyond the good and the right: Rethinking the ethics of academic entrepreneurship from a relational perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    3. Zhifeng Chen & Haiming Hang & Weisha Wang, 2024. "COVID-19 Policy Actions, Trust in Government and Tax Compliance Intentions: A Study of the British Self-Employment Income Support Scheme," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(2), pages 441-458, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kévin André & Sylvain Bureau & Arthur Gautier & Olivier Rubel, 2017. "Beyond the Opposition Between Altruism and Self-interest: Reciprocal Giving in Reward-Based Crowdfunding," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 313-332, December.
    2. Diego Arias Padilla & Xabier Barriola, 2023. "Can Gift-Giving Affect Team Performance?," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, April.
    3. Guglielmo Faldetta, 2022. "Forgiving the Unforgivable: The Possibility of the ‘Unconditional’ Forgiveness in the Workplace," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 91-103, September.
    4. Manuel Guillén & Ignacio Ferrero & W. Hoffman, 2015. "The Neglected Ethical and Spiritual Motivations in the Workplace," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 803-816, June.
    5. Christopher Chan & Subramaniam Ananthram, 2019. "Religion-Based Decision Making in Indian Multinationals: A Multi-faith Study of Ethical Virtues and Mindsets," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 651-677, May.
    6. Bénédicte de Peyrelongue & Olivier Masclef & Valérie Guillard, 2017. "The Need to Give Gratuitously: A Relevant Concept Anchored in Catholic Social Teaching to Envision the Consumer Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 739-755, November.
    7. Weipeng Lin & Jingjing Ma & Qi Zhang & Jenny Chen Li & Feng Jiang, 2018. "How is Benevolent Leadership Linked to Employee Creativity? The Mediating Role of Leader–Member Exchange and the Moderating Role of Power Distance Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1099-1115, November.
    8. Siti Subaryani Binti Zainol & Suhaili binti Mohd Hussin & Maisarah Syazwani binti Othman, 2016. "Determinants of Employee Engagement in Hotel Industry in Malaysia. A Theoretical Mode," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(3), pages 1-9, July.
    9. Sai Bhargavi Vedula & Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, 2024. "Mapping Spiritual Leadership: A Bibliometric Analysis and Synthesis of Past Milestones and Future Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(2), pages 301-328, January.
    10. Corentin Curchod & Jérémy Morales & Damien Talbot, 2015. "Des organisations sous pression. Quand la légitimité, l’identité et le sensemaking sont menacés," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(3), pages 11-21.
    11. Sigaud, Thomas, 2014. "Mobilités résidentielles et professionnelles des salariés en France : entreprises, marchés et territoires, une articulation en tension," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/14064 edited by Kirat, Thierry & Cusin, François.
    12. Sandrine Frémeaux & Grant Michelson & Christine Noël-Lemaitre, 2018. "Learning from Greek Philosophers: The Foundations and Structural Conditions of Ethical Training in Business Schools," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 231-243, November.
    13. Sandrine Frémeaux & Anouk Grevin & Roberta Sferrazzo, 2023. "Developing a Culture of Solidarity Through a Three-Step Virtuous Process: Lessons from Common Good-Oriented Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 89-105, November.
    14. María Helena Jaén & Ezequiel Reficco & Gabriel Berger, 2021. "Does Integrity Matter in BOP Ventures? The Role of Responsible Leadership in Inclusive Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 467-488, October.
    15. Berthoin Antal, Ariane & Debucquet, Gervaise & Frémeaux, Sandrine, 2018. "Meaningful work and artistic interventions in organizations: Conceptual development and empirical exploration," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 85, pages 375-385.
    16. Valérie Guillard & Céline del Bucchia, 2012. ""How About Giving My Things Away Over The Internet? " When Internet Makes It Easier To Give Things Away," Post-Print hal-00909262, HAL.
    17. Andrew Gustafson & Celeste Harvey, 2023. "From Profit to Purpose: The Distinctive Proposition of the Economy of Communion Approach," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 167-179, August.
    18. Ariane Berthoin Antal & Gervaise Debucquet & Sandrine Frémeaux, 2018. "Meaningful work and artistic interventions in organizations: Conceptual development and empirical exploration," Post-Print hal-03232781, HAL.
    19. Luu, Tuan, 2019. "Relationship between benevolent leadership and the well-being among employees with disabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 282-294.
    20. Sandrine Frémeaux & Grant Michelson, 2017. "The Common Good of the Firm and Humanistic Management: Conscious Capitalism and Economy of Communion," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 701-709, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02117521. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.