Organizational Corruption as Theodicy

D. Kayes ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2006, vol. 67, issue 1, 62 pages

Abstract: This paper draws on Weber’s theodicy problem to define organizational corruption as the emerging discrepancy between experience and normative expectation. Theodicy describes the attempts to explain this discrepancy. The paper presents four normative principles enlisted by observers to respond to perceived corruption: moral dilemma, detachment, systematic regulation, and normative controls. Consistent with social construction, these justifications work to either reaffirm or challenge prevailing social norms in the face of confusing events. An exemplar case involves perceived corruption in the business of mountain climbing as represented through the 1996 Mt. Everest climbing disaster. The events illustrate how theodicy informs descriptive accounts of corruption and expose two limitations of normative models of ethics. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Keywords: conceptual importation; theodicy; organizational corruption; Mount Everest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9004-x

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