*When: April 19, Thu, 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
*Where: MH 230
Title:
Moral Minefields: Understanding Ethical Construction in the US Defense Industry
Abstract:
Within
the realm of organizational ethics, research efforts have largely been
directed towards the description and prescription of behaviors which
are deemed as “ethically positive”. However, little attention has been
given towards understanding how people construct their ethical
perspectives (individual and organizational). This paper attempts to
transcend the traditional sensemaking paradigm usually applied to
social and organizational processes and instead uses an interpretive
phenomenological approach towards understanding the psychology of
ethical construction. Data from the defence industry highlight how
workers separate ethical processes from ethical consequences and in
turn, the respective social and professional benefits that come from
doing so. Findings have implications for how the field of ethics both
frames and communicates the role of psychology in organizational
morality and highlights the value of data from samples often perceived
as ethically contentious.
