Reclaiming the system: moral responsibility, divided labour, and the role of organizations in society

The world of wage labour seems to have become a soulless machine, an engine of social and environmental destruction. Employees seem to be nothing but 'cogs' in this system - but is this true? Located at the intersection of political theory, moral philosophy, and business ethics, this text questions the picture of the world of work as a 'system'. Hierarchical organizations, both in the public and in the private sphere, have specific features of their own. This does not mean, however, that they cannot leave room for moral responsibility, and maybe even human flourishing. Drawing on detailed empirical case studies, Lisa Herzog analyses the nature of organizations from a normative perspective: their rule-bound character, the ways in which they deal with divided knowledge, and organizational cultures and their relation to morality

Introduction : subjects and systems -- Part I : Moral responsibility in challenging contexts -- Moral responsibility, socially embedded -- Moral norms in social contexts -- Organizations : hierarchies of divided labour -- Part II : the moral challenges of organizational life -- Rules and their discontents -- The use of knowledge in organizations -- The responsibility for an organizational cutlure -- Self and role : transformational agency in organizations -- Part III : The role of organizations in society -- Organizations in society : a 'non-ideal' approach -- Organizations in society : how good can it get?

Introduction : subjects and systems -- Part I : Moral responsibility in challenging contexts -- Moral responsibility, socially embedded -- Moral norms in social contexts -- Organizations : hierarchies of divided labour -- Part II : the moral challenges of organizational life -- Rules and their discontents -- The use of knowledge in organizations -- The responsibility for an organizational cutlure -- Self and role : transformational agency in organizations -- Part III : The role of organizations in society -- Organizations in society : a 'non-ideal' approach -- Organizations in society : how good can it get?