- England, United Kingdom
Kevin Morrell
Cranfield University, School of Management, Faculty Member
In the Anthropocene, humanity faces a pressing question: ‘what should we do?’ Here we are interested in the underlying sense and reference of the normative ‘should’ as it applies to ethics with respect to different actors. To excavate... more
In the Anthropocene, humanity faces a pressing question: ‘what should we do?’ Here we are interested in the underlying sense and reference of the normative ‘should’ as it applies to ethics with respect to different actors. To excavate ‘should’, we unearth the foundations of three conventional groupings of normative ethical systems: Mill’s utilitarianism, Kantian deontological ethics and Aristotelian virtue ethics. Each provides a normative basis for saying what humans ‘should’ do. We draw on specific examples from the private sector to argue that debates on the role of ethics in business are dominated by consequentialist and deontological accounts which, while essential, entail certain limitations regarding the realities of this new geological epoch. Identifying the comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics enables us to develop new insights and suggestions for ethics in the Anthropocene. We identify three distinctive features of Aristotelian virtue ethics: (i) a focus on a...
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Research Interests: Sociology and Leadership
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Extant research has identified numerous causes for multinational enterprises (MNE) tax avoidance and formulated a variety of remedial policy solutions. Yet despite being consistently decried as societally unfair, these contested practices... more
Extant research has identified numerous causes for multinational enterprises (MNE) tax avoidance and formulated a variety of remedial policy solutions. Yet despite being consistently decried as societally unfair, these contested practices persist. We reveal the conflicting and complementary ideologies and worldviews that reside in the background of MNE tax avoidance policy deliberations. Analysis of primary interviews with accounting and tax regulatory agencies, Members of the UK Parliament, and public hearings with MNE representatives, shows these different groups draw on four different discourses: globalism, idealism, pragmatism and shareholder interest. These exist in what we show to be a kind of precarious truce that allows these contested practices to continue in the face of robust critique. Prospects for taxing MNEs are enhanced if legislators, civil servants and regulators can draw more coherently on the discourse of idealism because this is most resistant to the logic of the...
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We combine Lefebvre and Speech Act Theory to analyse the state's response to large-scale public disorder across English cities in August 2011. Drawing on parliamentary debate, Select Committee test...
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To examine the current approach to leadership development in the English National Health Service (NHS) and consider its implications for nursing. To stimulate debate about the nature of leadership development in a range of health care... more
To examine the current approach to leadership development in the English National Health Service (NHS) and consider its implications for nursing. To stimulate debate about the nature of leadership development in a range of health care settings. Good leadership is central to the provision of high quality nursing care. This has focussed attention on the leadership development of nurses and other health care staff. It has been a key policy concern in the English NHS of late and fostered the growth of leadership development programmes founded on competency based approaches. This is a policy review informed by the concept of episteme. Relevant policy documents and related literature. Using Foucault's concept of episteme, leadership development policy is examined in context and a 'counter narrative' developed to demonstrate that current approaches are rooted in competency based accounts which constitute a limited, yet dominant narrative. Leadership takes many forms and varies ...
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Research Interests: Marketing, Sociology, Narrative, Evidence Based Practice, Locke, and 11 moreMichel Foucault, John Locke, Narrative Analysis, Narrative Theory, Foucault (Research Methodology), Foucault power/knowledge - discourse, Business and Management, Evidence based horse management, Foucault Archaeology Geneology Method, British Journal of Management, and Foucault
ABSTRACT We re-examine the so-called “replication problem” in sociology—a scarcity of published studies dedicated to reproducing findings from prior research. We do this in part by considering the larger epistemological traditions of the... more
ABSTRACT We re-examine the so-called “replication problem” in sociology—a scarcity of published studies dedicated to reproducing findings from prior research. We do this in part by considering the larger epistemological traditions of the natural sciences and humanities. We make three primary arguments: that (1) replication studies are more prevalent than is commonly perceived, (2) calls for and discussions of replication do not attend enough to issues of theory, and (3) we should reconsider as a discipline how we evaluate replications. In developing this third argument, we draw on the concept of episteme, discussing two epistemes that concurrently exist in sociology: the scientific project and the aesthetic object. The former overlaps with approaches to knowledge growth in the natural sciences, the latter with the humanities. We propose that sociology is situated between these extremes, presenting unique challenges for replication research. In particular, nuanced considerations of replications in sociology foreclose any simplistic accounts of a replication problem in the discipline.
Political administrations try to present their policies in the best light to justify the ownership of power, and in doing so rely on rhetoric. The documents through which they communicate policy (policy texts) use rhetorical devices to do... more
Political administrations try to present their policies in the best light to justify the ownership of power, and in doing so rely on rhetoric. The documents through which they communicate policy (policy texts) use rhetorical devices to do so. Through these, administrations need to create the impression that they have chosen the best possible course of action, and they also need to create the impression that they are doing something innovative. Both are aspects of entailment, and both are necessary to appeal to multiple constituencies. We illustrate this theoretical argument with analysis of a recent review of NHS policy.
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... 63 Ewan Ferlie,George Freeman, Juliet McDonnell, Christina Petsoulas and Sara Rundle-Smith Exploring Fit in Public Sector Organizations 73 Abraham Carmeliand Lynndee Kemmet ... 117 Racheal Finn and Justin Waring Solutions to Silos:... more
... 63 Ewan Ferlie,George Freeman, Juliet McDonnell, Christina Petsoulas and Sara Rundle-Smith Exploring Fit in Public Sector Organizations 73 Abraham Carmeliand Lynndee Kemmet ... 117 Racheal Finn and Justin Waring Solutions to Silos: Joining Up Knowledge 125 ...
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Corporate social responsibility is often framed in terms of opposing constructions of the firm. These reflect, respectively, different accounts of its obligations: either to shareholders or to stakeholders (who include shareholders).... more
Corporate social responsibility is often framed in terms of opposing constructions of the firm. These reflect, respectively, different accounts of its obligations: either to shareholders or to stakeholders (who include shareholders). Although these opposing constructions of corporate responsibility are diametrically opposed, they are also much more fluid and mobile in certain contexts, since they can act as discursive resources that are deployed and brought into play in the struggle over shaping what responsibility means. They are less the fixed, ideological ‘‘signposts’’ they might appear, and more like ‘‘weathervanes’’ that move alongside changing rhetorical currents. To show this, we analyse the Securities and Exchange Commission consultation process, and legislation, relating to the provenance of ‘‘conflict minerals’’. We identify two dialectically opposed camps, each seeking to influence final legislation and with end goals in keeping with the shareholder/stakeholder dichotomy....
PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Introducing Business Ethics The Ethical Business and the Business of Ethics PART II: ISSUES FACING MANAGEMENT Governance and Compliance Social Partnerships Green Issues Globalization and Trade PART III:... more
PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Introducing Business Ethics The Ethical Business and the Business of Ethics PART II: ISSUES FACING MANAGEMENT Governance and Compliance Social Partnerships Green Issues Globalization and Trade PART III: ETHICAL MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE: ETHICS AND KEY FUNCTIONAL AREAS Accounting and Finance Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management Marketing Supply Chain and Operations Management
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This paper brings together three different accounts of the role of replication in management studies: replication as ‘scientific project’, replication as ‘socio-cultural artefact’; replication as ‘aesthetic practice’. Each of these is... more
This paper brings together three different accounts of the role of replication in management studies: replication as ‘scientific project’, replication as ‘socio-cultural artefact’; replication as ‘aesthetic practice’. Each of these is developed from within separate reference frames: epistemology, the sociology of science, and the philosophy of art. This offers new scope to revisit a fundamental question in management studies, namely: why is there a gap between the espoused value placed upon replication, and the actual paucity of replication studies? Each reference frame offers different insights into the nature of replication. The paper argues that by integrating all three, and by understanding the potential contribution of the philosophy of art, a more realistic account of theory development is possible; one that explains why successive calls to researchers to replicate fall on deaf ears. Despite the empirical evidence to suggest replication studies are undervalued, and the problem...
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Strategy scholars try to develop actionable knowledge that is based on sound theory. A widely influential and popular account of how to realize this ambition is the ""evidence-based"" approach. It has spread from... more
Strategy scholars try to develop actionable knowledge that is based on sound theory. A widely influential and popular account of how to realize this ambition is the ""evidence-based"" approach. It has spread from medicine to policy, management studies, and other social sciences. Recently, the strategy field has also begun to experience a similar push towards a more systematic use of evidence. In this paper we consider the potential of this approach to advance the rigor and relevance of strategy scholarship. The evidence-based approach aspires to promote the aggregation of evidence, and it also aspires to shape expectations about what counts as evidence. These aspirations seem common to strategy scholars who are concerned with the status of theory and knowledge generation in our field. However, many important problems in strategy escape our attempts to understand them through a logic based on the accumulation of evidence. Whereas advocates of the evidence-based ap...
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Analysis of the terms profession and professional is problematic, and this limits our understanding of professionalisation as a process. On the one hand, there seem to be no necessary or sufficient criteria to define a professional, yet... more
Analysis of the terms profession and professional is problematic, and this limits our understanding of professionalisation as a process. On the one hand, there seem to be no necessary or sufficient criteria to define a professional, yet there are undeniable status markers between existing professions. This paper suggests that confusion arises because of the legacy of naive functionalism. Naive functionalism describes a focus on work content at the expense of understanding interactions between professionals and organizations, and interactions between professions and society. Acknowledging the role of these interactions allows social scientists to continue to use these terms in an analytic sense. This is illustrated in relation to the professionalisation of nurses.
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Preface Exploring the Realities of Work The Changing Context of Work The Meaning of Work Time and Work Work Skills Work Routines and Skill Change Emotion Work Knowledge and Work Survival Strategies and Work Unfair Discrimination at Work... more
Preface Exploring the Realities of Work The Changing Context of Work The Meaning of Work Time and Work Work Skills Work Routines and Skill Change Emotion Work Knowledge and Work Survival Strategies and Work Unfair Discrimination at Work Representation at Work Hidden Work Life and Work Conclusion Bibliography Index
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It is increasingly common for anyone with formal, hierarchical status at work to be called a ‘leader’. Though widespread, this relatively recent change in day-to-day discourse is largely passing by unnoticed. We argue that using ‘leader’... more
It is increasingly common for anyone with formal, hierarchical status at work to be called a ‘leader’. Though widespread, this relatively recent change in day-to-day discourse is largely passing by unnoticed. We argue that using ‘leader’ in this way is not simply fashion or empty rhetoric; rather it can be understood in relation to neoliberalism. We argue that the language of ‘leadership’ represents a particularly subtle but powerful opportunity for the pursuit of individual elite interests to be disguised so that it looks as if it is for the benefit of all. This opportunity has arisen because using ‘leader’ has tangible effects that reinforce implied values and assumptions about human relationships at work. In terms of implied values, the label ‘leader’ is celebratory and predisposes us to see elites in overly positive ways. In terms of implied assumptions, referring to executives as ‘leaders’ draws a veil over the structured antagonism at the heart of the employment relationship a...
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This chapter applies Aristotle’s work on politics to contribute to debate on a long-standing topic of interest in the study of organizations, society and politics, namely the notion of the public good (koinōn sumpheron, public good,... more
This chapter applies Aristotle’s work on politics to contribute to debate on a long-standing topic of interest in the study of organizations, society and politics, namely the notion of the public good (koinōn sumpheron, public good, common good and public interest are treated as synonymous here). This is an interdisciplinary theme and it links to our understanding of ethical life, since the good citizen and state are defined relationally for Aristotle. This chapter begins with a theoretical account of public good and discusses the question of what constitutes good governance. This is informed by three case studies from British Politics: the Profumo affair, which precipitated Prime Minister Harold MacMillan’s resignation and succession by Alec Douglas-Home; the legacy of Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ government; and the idea of ‘big society’ associated with Prime Minister David Cameron.
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This chapter applies Aristotle’s work on aesthetics to contribute to understanding a personal and professional topic of interest, namely how to support learning about organizations in the classroom. Narrative, which is a central theme in... more
This chapter applies Aristotle’s work on aesthetics to contribute to understanding a personal and professional topic of interest, namely how to support learning about organizations in the classroom. Narrative, which is a central theme in this chapter, is an interdisciplinary topic area and has links to our understanding of ethical life, as well as to how power is understood and represented. So as well as clear links to considerations in the Poetics, narrative has links with Politics and Ethics.
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‘Organization’ is a term that is used very widely here, consistent with its use in the leading journal in Critical Management Studies (CMS), itself titled Organization. A recent editorial in this journal embraces a generous usage... more
‘Organization’ is a term that is used very widely here, consistent with its use in the leading journal in Critical Management Studies (CMS), itself titled Organization. A recent editorial in this journal embraces a generous usage conceptualizing ‘organization’ ‘as noun and verb, accomplishment and process’ (Parker, 2010: 5). Since ‘organization’ is so often used to refer to a place of work, or business, re-describing it in these broader terms is an act of politics. This is because the narrow and broader definitions of organization are expressions of inclusion and exclusion, of privilege and deprivation. Before elaborating on this and on the senses of organization as noun and as verb, it is helpful to restate the definition of organization that was developed in the introductory chapter, as an extension of the Fact that a human being is zōon politikon: Organization as verb describes the activities of humans as political animals. As noun, ‘organization’ describes the groups and places within which such activities take place, but these groups and places result from acts of organization. As groups and places, these organizations in turn structure acts of organizing.