On the Possibility of a Paratelic Initiation of Organizational Wrongdoing

Mikko Vesa (), Frank den Hond () and J. Tuomas Harviainen ()
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Mikko Vesa: Hanken School of Economics
Frank den Hond: Hanken School of Economics
J. Tuomas Harviainen: University of Tampere

Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, vol. 160, issue 1, No 1, 15 pages

Abstract: Abstract In terms of reversal theory, both dominant and alternative explanations of the initiation of organizational wrongdoing assume that its perpetrators act in a telic state of mind. This leaves us with explanations of organizational wrongdoing that are insufficiently appreciative of the agent’s experience. The human mind can be creative and imaginative, too, and people can fully immerse in their activity. We suggest that the paratelic state of mind is relevant for the phenomenological understanding of the initiation of original, creative, daring courses of action, and that the paratelic state of mind may originate courses of action that social control agents, at a later moment in time, may label as organizational wrongdoing. Our proposal is especially relevant when organizational agents are on a course of exploration, facing uncertainty, complexity, and unavailability of information.

Keywords: Arousal; Exploration; Reversal theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3852-z

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