Morrell, K. and Anderson M. (2006) ‘Dialogue and Scrutiny in Organisational Ethics’, Business Ethics: a European Review, 15, 2, 117-29.
Dialogue and Scrutiny in Organisational Ethics
Socrates’ mode of questioning draws out contradictions in a belief set. This prompts further introspection and reflection. By analysing this dialogical process, we provide a novel framework that offers a model of organisational scrutiny. In doing so we draw parallels with contemporary literature that develops the notion of distributed modes of engagement: where people are required to share responsibility for solving problems. Our framework for scrutiny is derived from the theoretical and abstract scrutiny of assumptions demonstrated by Socrates but has practical implications in two modalities. The first of these is in an operational or technical modality, where we suggest dialogue is a necessary mechanism for scrutiny. The second is in a provocative or metaphorical modality, where we explore the wider implications of Socrates as a model for scrutiny, identifying three strands in his dramatis persona: the radical, the ethicist, and the problem finder. The implications of this framework for scrutiny are illustrated with reference to a contemporary case of ethical failure: the collapse of Enron.