Reframing Organizations 3 rd ed Chapter 19 Reframing

Reframing Organizations, 3 rd ed.

Chapter 19 Reframing Ethics and Spirit

Reframing Ethics and Spirit n Soul and Spirit in Organizations n The Factory: Excellence and Authorship n The Family: Caring and Love n The Jungle: Justice and Power n The Temple: Faith and Significance

Soul and Spirit in Organizations n Organizational soul: bedrock sense of identity, clarity about core ideology and values n Core ideology emphasizing “more than profits” key to highly successful firms (Collins and Porras, 1994) n Enron n Rapid shift from pipelines to deal-making produced enormous growth -- for a while n In the process, Enron lost a sense of core identity and values (“lots of smart people, but no wise people”) n Merck n Core purpose: not profit but “preserve and improve human life” n Developed and gave away river blindness drug

Table 19. 1: Reframing Ethics Frame Metaphor Organizational Leadership Ethic Contribution Structural Factory Excellence Authorship Human Extended Resource family Caring Love Political Jungle Justice Power Symbolic Temple `Faith Significance

Conclusion n Organizational ethics ultimately need to be rooted in soul n Modern organizations suffer a crisis of meaning and moral authority n Leaders need to hold and model values like excellence, caring, justice, faith