Eco‐psychological profiling: an oil company example

Tarja Ketola

Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 2004, vol. 11, issue 3, 150-166

Abstract: When organizational image is being challenged, use of psychological defences may become excessive. In this paper 18 defences that appeared in an oil company during an oil spill are studied. All defences except sublimation contributed to the deterioration of corporate image. Sublimation allowed the company to take responsibility. Other defences simply put off facing the truth. The selection of defences used during crises reveals organizations' true personalities. Twelve different organizational personality types are discussed. Use of certain defences leads to the development of a neurotic personality. The case company turned out to be normally and neurotically demanding, paranoid, narcissistic and attention seeking, and normally depressive. Organizations constantly using primitive defences are borderline personalities. Excessively defensive organizations may turn psychotic. The case company's reactions to the incident were psychologically revealing. Finding defences characteristic of the company allowed us to build its eco‐psychological profile. Based on this case study an eco‐psychological profiling model is proposed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Date: 2004
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:corsem:v:11:y:2004:i:3:p:150-166

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