Institutions and the Common Good. Reconceptualizing Institutional Values as Virtues

Elke Weik

doi:10.37725/mgmt.2024.8781

Elke Weik Department of Business and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2024.8781

Keywords: Institutions, values, virtue, emotions, ethics, MacIntyre, Friedland

Abstract

This paper addresses the critique regarding the apolitical nature of institutionalist theorizing by developing the concept of virtuous institutions. I start from the observation that current public discourses are often characterized by a destructive pitting of ‘my values’ against ‘your values’. Values, in this usage, represent personal emotion-laden beliefs that are ultimately incompatible. In addition to fueling destructive public discourses, incompatible values (a feature that is central to institutional value theorizing) make system integration (a feature that is also central to institutional theorizing) very difficult. I therefore propose to reconceptualize values as virtues. Drawing on the communitarian ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre and the concept of institutional valuation of Roger Friedland, I suggest a reconceptualization of institutional values that introduces the notion of a common good, understands institutional practices as co-constitutive with such a good, and abolishes the assumption that values are fundamentally irrational and beyond reasoning.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Elke Weik, Department of Business and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Dr. habil Elke Weik is an associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark. She is a critical management scholar with a vivid interest in organizational theory, social theory and philosophy. She has worked on theorizing post-1989 transformation processes, the history of the university and the market for knowledge, the problem of “teflon” academics, and the influence of culture on markets. Her most recent projects revolve around the aesthetic dimension of the social. She has written two monographs and published in many leading journals in the field, such as the Academy of Management Review, Organization and Management Learning.

References

Abercrombie, N., Hill, S. & Turner, B. (Eds.). (2000). The Penguin dictionary of sociology. Penguin.

Alexander, J. (2000). Theorizing the good society: Hermeneutic, normative and empirical discourses. Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, 25(3), 271–309. doi: 10.2307/3341644

Aristotle. (1993). Nicomachean ethics. In M. Adler (Ed.), Great books of the western world (Vol. 8, pp. 335–436). Encyclopedia Britannica.

Aristotle. (2012). Eudemian ethics (B. Inwood & R. Woolf, Transl.). Cambridge University Press.

Battilana, J. & D’Aunno, T. (2009). Institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency. In T. Lawrence, R. Suddaby & B. Leca (Eds.), Institutional work (pp. 29–58). Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511596605.002

Besharov, M. L. (2014). The relational ecology of identification: How organizational identification emerges when individuals hold divergent values. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1485–1512. doi: 10.5465/amj.2011.0761

Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice [Le sens pratique] (R. Nice, Transl.). Stanford University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (2010 [2005]). The social structures of the economy. Polity Press.

Bouvier, G. & Machin, D. (2021). What gets lost in Twitter ‘cancel culture’ hashtags? Calling out racists reveals some limitations of social justice campaigns. Discourse & Society, 32(3), 307–327. doi: 10.1177/0957926520977215

Clegg, S. (2010). The state, power, and agency: Missing in action in institutional theory. Journal of Management Inquiry, 19(4), 4–13. doi: 10.1177/1056492609347562

Coleman, J. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Harvard University Press.

Creed, W. D., DeJordy, R. & Lok, J. (2010). Being the change: Resolving institutional contradiction through identity work. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1336–1364. doi: 10.5465/AMJ.2010.57318357

Creed, W. D., Hudson, B. A., Okhuysen, G. A. & Smith-Crowe, K. (2014). Swimming in a sea of shame: Incorporating emotion into explanations of institutional reproduction and change. Academy of Management Review, 39(3), 275–301. doi: 10.5465/amr.2012.0074

Creed, W. D., Hudson, B. A., Okhuysen, G. A. & Smith-Crowe, K. (2022). A place in the world: Vulnerability, wellbeing, and the ubiquitous evaluation that animates participation in institutional processes. Academy of Management Review, 47(3), 358–381. doi: 10.5465/amr.2018.0367

Daskalaki, M., Fotaki, M. & Sotiropoulou, I. (2019). Performing values practices and grassroots organizing: The case of solidarity economy initiatives in Greece. Organization Studies, 40(11), 1741–1765. doi: 10.1177/0170840618800102

Fayard, A.-L., Stigliani, I. & Bechky, B. A. (2017). How nascent occupations construct a mandate: The case of service designers’ ethos. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(2), 270–303. doi: 10.1177/0001839216665805

Ferraro, F., Etzion, D. & Gehman, J. (2015). Tackling grand challenges pragmatically: Robust action revisited. Organization Studies, 36(3), 363–390. doi: 10.1177/0170840614563742

Foucault, M. (1998). The will to knowledge [La volonté de savoir]. Penguin.

Friedland, R. (2009a). The endless fields of Pierre Bourdieu. Organization, 16(6), 887–917. doi: 10.1177/1350508409341115

Friedland, R. (2009b). Institution, practice, and ontology: Toward a religious sociology. In R. Meyer, K. Sahlin, M. Ventresca & P. Walgenbach (Eds.), Research in the sociology of organization (Vol. 27, pp. 45–83). Emerald. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X(2009)0000027004

Friedland, R. (2012). The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure, and process (Book Review). M@n@gement, 15(5), 583–595. doi: 10.3917/mana.155.0583

Friedland, R. (2013a). God, love and other good reasons for practice: Thinking through institutional logics. Institutional Logics in Action: Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 39, 25–50. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X(2013)0039A005

Friedland, R. (2013b). The gods of institutional life: Weber’s value spheres and the practice of polytheism. Critical Research on Religion, 1(1), 15–24. doi: 10.1177/2050303213476104

Friedland, R. (2017). The value of institutional logics. In G. Krücken, C. Mazza, R. Meyer & P. Walgenbach (Eds.), New themes in institutional analysis: Topics and issues from European research (pp. 12–50). Edward Elgar.

Friedland, R. (2018a). Moving institutional logics forward: Emotion and meaningful material practice. Organization Studies, 39(4), 515–542. doi: 10.1177/0170840617709307

Friedland, R. (2018b). What good is practice?: Ontologies, teleologies and the problem of institution. Management, 21(4), 1357–1404. doi: 10.3917/mana.214.1357

Friedland, R. & Arjaliès, D.-L. (2019). X-Institutional logics: Out or in? SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3403131

Friedland, R. & Arjaliès, D.-L. (2020). Putting things in place: Institutional objects and institutional logics. In M. Lounsbury & M. Smets (Eds.), Research in the sociology of organizations (Vol. 71, pp. 45–86). Emerald.

Gehman, J., Trevino, L. K. & Garud, R. (2013). Values work: A process study of the emergence and performance of organizational values practices. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 84–112. doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.0628

Giddens, A. (1993). The constitution of society. Polity Press.

Glynn, M. A. (2008). Beyond constraint: How institutions enable identities. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby & K. Sahlin (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 413–431). Sage.

Hitlin, S. & Vaisey, S. (2013). The new sociology of morality. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 51–68. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145628

Hoffman, A. J. & Jennings, P. D. (2015). Institutional theory and the natural environment: Research in (and on) the anthropocene. Organization & Environment, 28(1), 8–31. doi: 10.1177/1086026615575331

Inglehart, R. (2018). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton University Press.

Jennings, P. D. & Zandbergen, P. A. (1995). Ecologically sustainable organizations: An institutional approach. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 1015–1052. doi: 10.2307/258964

Jensen, M. & Meckling, W. (1994). The nature of man. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 7(2), 4–19. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6622.1994.tb00401.x

Kant, I. (2016 [1785]). Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten. Holzinger.

Kivle, B. T. (2020). Work on values when shaping public institutions: ‘What’s trust got to do with it?’ – Experiences from scandinavia. In H. Askeland, G. Espedal, B. Jelstad Løvaas & S. Sirris (Eds.), Understanding values work (pp. 223–243). Palgrave Macmillan.

Kraatz, M. & Block, E. (2008). Organizational implications of institutional pluralism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby & K. Sahlin (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (Vol. 840, pp. 243–275). Sage.

Kraatz, M. & Block, E. (2017). Institutional pluralism revisited. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence & R. Meyer (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 532–557). Sage.

Kraatz, M., Flores, R. & Chandler, D. (2020). The value of values for institutional analysis. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 474–512. doi: 10.5465/annals.2018.0074

Landsberg, G. (2021). Beschimpfungen, Bedrohungen, Angriffe auf Kommunalpolitikerinnen und Kommunalpolitiker als Gefahr für die Demokratie und den Rechtsstaat. Das Bonner Juristische Forum.

Lok, J. (2017). Why (and how) institutional theory can be critical: Addressing the challenge to institutional theory’s critical turn. Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(3), 335–349. doi: 10.1177/1056492617732832

Lok, J., Creed, W. E. D., DeJordy, R. & Voronov, M. (2017). Living institutions: Bringing emotions into organizational institutionalism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence & R. Meyer (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 591–620). Sage.

MacIntyre, A. (1981). After virtue. Duckworth.

MacKenzie, D. A., Muniesa, F. & Siu, L. (2007). Do economists make markets? On the performativity of economics. Princeton University Press.

Mill, J. S. (2008). Utilitarianism. In S. Cahn (Ed.), Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 329ff). Routledge.

Moisander, J. K., Hirsto, H. & Fahy, K. M. (2016). Emotions in institutional work: A discursive perspective. Organization Studies, 37(7), 963–990. doi: 10.1177/0170840615613377

Munir, K. (2015). A loss of power in institutional theory. Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(1), 90–92. doi: 10.1177/1056492614545302

Munir, K. (2019). Challenging institutional theory’s critical credentials. Organization Theory, 1(1). doi: 10.1177/2631787719887975

Parsons, T. & Shils, E. (1951). Values, motives, and systems of action. In T. Parsons & E. Shils (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action (pp. 47–275). Harvard University Press.

Reckwitz, A. (2002). Toward a theory of social practices. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(2), 243–263. doi: 10.1177/13684310222225432

Risi, D. & Marti, E. (2022). Illuminating the dark side of values: A framework for institutional research. Journal of Management Inquiry, 31(3), 253–263. doi: 10.1177/10564926221091521

Rosa, H. (2019). Resonance: A sociology of our relationship to the world. John Wiley & Sons.

Rose, N. (2013). The human sciences in a biological age. Theory, Culture & Society, 30(1), 3–34. doi: 10.1177/0263276412456569

Schatzki, T. (2001). Introduction: Practice theory. In T. Schatzki, K. Knorr Cetina & E. von Savigny (Eds.), The practice turn in contemporary theory (pp. 1–14). Routledge.

Scott, R. (1998). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems. Prentice-Hall.

Scott, R. (2003). Institutional carriers: Reviewing modes of transporting ideas over time and space and considering their consequences. Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(4), 879–894. doi: 10.1093/icc/12.4.879

Shotter, J. & Tsoukas, H. (2014). In search of phronesis: Leadership and the art of judgment. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(2), 224–243. doi: 10.5465/amle.2013.0201

Stinchcombe, A. L. (1997). On the virtues of the old institutionalism. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1), 1–18. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.1

Strang, D. & Sine, W. D. (2002). Interorganizational institutions. In J. Baum (Ed.), Companion to organizations (pp. 497–519). Blackwell.

Suddaby, R. (2015). Can institutional theory be critical? Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(1), 93–95. doi: 10.1177/1056492614545304

Thornton, P. H., Ocasio, W. & Lounsbury, M. (2012). The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure, and process. Oxford University Press on Demand.

Tsoukas, H. (2018). Performing phronesis. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198794547.003.0009

Vaccaro, A. & Palazzo, G. (2015). Values against violence: Institutional change in societies dominated by organized crime. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), 1075–1101. doi: 10.5465/amj.2012.0865

Voronov, M. & Vince, R. (2012). Integrating emotions into the analysis of institutional work. Academy of Management Review, 37(1), 58–81. doi: 10.5465/amr.2010.0247

Voronov, M. & Weber, K. (2016). The heart of institutions: Emotional competence and institutional actorhood. Academy of Management Review, 41(3), 456–478. doi: 10.5465/amr.2013.0458

Voronov, M. & Weber, K. (2020). People, actors, and the humanizing of institutional theory. Journal of Management Studies, 57(4), 873–884. doi: 10.1111/joms.12559

Weber, K., Heinze, K. L. & DeSoucey, M. (2008). Forage for thought: Mobilizing codes in the movement for grass-fed meat and dairy products. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53(3), 529–567. doi: 10.2189/asqu.53.3.529

Weber, M. (1972). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. J. C. B. Mohr.

Weber, M. (1979). Economy and society [Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft]. University of California Press.

Weber, M. (1988 [1904]). Die ‘Objektivität’ sozialwissenschaftlicher und sozialpolitischer Erkenntnis. In M. Weber (Ed.), Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftslehre (pp. 146–214). J.C.B. Mohr.

Wegner, J., Prommer, E. & Seidel, C. C. (2020). Free speech under pressure: The effect of online harassment on literary writers. Media and Communication, 8(4), 145–157. doi: 10.17645/mac.v8i4.3252

Weik, E. (2022a). The emergence of institutions. An aesthetic-affective perspective. Springer.

Weik, E. (2022b). A new lease for life? The return of vitalism in management and organization studies. European Management Journal, 40(1), 2–9. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2021.11.007

Whipple, K. (2023). Contextualizing the art and the artist: How U.S. arts and culture journalists perceive the impact of cancel culture practices and discourses. Journalism Practice, March, 1–19. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2023.2180653

Williamson, O. E. (2008). Outsourcing: Transaction cost economics and supply chain management*. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 44(2), 5–16. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-493X.2008.00051.x

Willmott, H. (2015). Why institutional theory cannot be critical. Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(1), 105–111. doi: 10.1177/1056492614545306

Wright, A. L., Zammuto, R. F. & Liesch, P. W. (2017). Maintaining the values of a profession: Institutional work and moral emotions in the emergency department. Academy of Management Journal, 60(1), 200–237. doi: 10.5465/amj.2013.0870

Zietsma, C. & Toubiana, M. (2018). The valuable, the constitutive, and the energetic: Exploring the impact and importance of studying emotions and institutions. Organization Studies, 39(4), 427–443. doi: 10.1177/0170840617751008