2. Reframing Ethics and Spirit
Soul and Spirit in Organizations
The Factory: Excellence and Authorship
The Family: Caring and Love
The Jungle: Justice and Power
The Temple: Faith and Significance
3. Soul and Spirit in Organizations
Organizational soul: bedrock sense of identity, clarity
about core ideology and values
Core ideology emphasizing “more than profits” key to
highly successful firms (Collins and Porras, 1994)
Enron
Rapid shift from pipelines to deal-making produced
enormous growth -- for a while
In the process, Enron lost a sense of core identity and
values (“lots of smart people, but no wise people”)
Merck
Core purpose: not profit but “preserve and improve
human life”
Developed and gave away river blindness drug
4. Table 19.1:
Reframing Ethics
Metaphor Organizational
Ethic
Leadership
Contribution
Factory Excellence Authorship
Extended
family
Caring Love
Jungle Justice Power
Temple `Faith Significance
Frame
Structural
Human
Resource
Political
Symbolic
5. Conclusion
Organizational ethics ultimately need to be
rooted in soul
Modern organizations suffer a crisis of
meaning and moral authority
Leaders need to hold and model values like
excellence, caring, justice, faith
6. Conclusion
Organizational ethics ultimately need to be
rooted in soul
Modern organizations suffer a crisis of
meaning and moral authority
Leaders need to hold and model values like
excellence, caring, justice, faith