Management

Business, Society & Policy 200158

Week 2: SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION & ETHICAL REASONING

Content of this lecture:

· Understanding business as part of society

· A sociological approach

· Being an everyday sociologist

· Thinking critically

· Sociological imagination

· Ethical reasoning

· Complexity thinking

This week we introduce the approach used in this unit. It is important to keep this in mind, since this approach guides the activities and in the way students (you) are expected to think about the issues that are addressed. This unit takes a sociological perspective. This does not mean that business perspectives are excluded, but that the perspective brought is one that is most familiar to sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers and political scientists. In taking a sociological perspective, our aim is to open up dialogues in which different viewpoints can be evaluated.

To start with, it is important to remember that Business is part of Society. As explained last week, Business is one of the most important institutions of society, and the actions of Business not only impact other sectors of society, but the actions of Business are also affected by those other sectors. When we consider the B-S-P triangle, we recognise that the actions of Business are not completely independent of what is happening in society as a whole. In the same way that their environment influences all individuals as members of society, so businesses are influenced by their environments. The people who participate in Business are similarly affected and this includes owners, shareholders, directors, managers, employees, workers and even customers, clients and consumers.

To better understand the complexity of Business and its relationships with multiple stakeholders, we need to draw on sociology, the discipline that focuses on the study of society. Sociology can be understood as a broad discipline that includes different approaches drawn from anthropology, history, economics and political science. So, the approach adopted for understanding the content of this unit is described as a sociological approach.

According to the definition in A Dictionary of Sociology (Mitchell 1968: 196-198), sociology as the science of society includes study of social structures as well as social composition. Sociology has produced accurate descriptive inventories of the characteristics of social life in different societies at different times and, in this way, it also includes the study of culture and life-styles. Sociology can be considered one of the major sources for developing self-awareness. As mentioned in one of this week’s readings: ‘At the very least one needs to gather information (‘data’) about what people do, how they think and feel about it and how their relationships with each other are shaped, in order to come to an informed understanding of any problem or issue’ (Krieken 2006:3).

Using a sociological approach provides many advantages, as it draws on the long-term accumulation of knowledge about society. Therefore if we want to understand Business (as part of Society) and its relationship with other sectors of Society (i.e., the different stakeholders involved or affected), we can learn from what has been studied in the past. This enables us to evaluate the different arguments and the relevant aspects of Society that sociology has revealed as central to the functioning of social actors.

The relevance of sociology for BSP is that it allows us to understand the processes by which people are made, regulated and controlled; how and why societies change; the nature of power and conflict in these social processes; the connection between individual biography and history and how this links to current social circumstances; and, finally, sociology helps us to understand how these circumstances lead us to an examination of our institutions (eg, family, religion, work). Sociology enables identification of the influences and pressures behind social organisations. This includes, for example, the power of authority and tradition; the disempowering consequences of lack of resources and social position; the effects of media and its transformative role in turning experiences, values and desires into commodities for sale (Kellehear, A. 1996 Social Self, Global Culture: An Introduction to Sociological Ideas. Oxford University Press, Oxford).

From this perspective, we use the sociological approach to understand the BSP triangle, and to emphasise specific elements of it that are relevant to the aims in this unit. We need to look at how Society is constituted and structured and at the processes and the dynamics of the interrelation between the three elements in the triangle. In this way, we will be able to interpret the B-G-S triangle in a holistic way; in a way that considers not only the needs of the economy but also the needs of the people (eg, the profit versus employment dilemma).

In this unit, so as to understand why each of the three sectors (B-S-P) acts as it does, we analyse the demands made by each, and the responses made to those demands (eg, actions to protect the environment). It is important to point out that we will see contradictions and dilemmas emerging everywhere. For example, the role of Government in relation to Business and to Society is contradictory in itself, since in many cases Government needs to deal with opposing pressures, each of which can be considered legitimate (eg, Business versus union pressures on labour policies). To understand these conflicting interests, it is therefore important to evaluate the ideological basis of each position (eg. Neo-liberalism versus a welfare approach), and to consider how conflicts that emerge from these opposing interests are managed (eg. through negotiation, confrontation, or the development of alliances).

The unit also emphasizes the importance of history, especially in considering how the past defines contemporary forms of interaction between the three sectors, and the way ideologies have influenced views and values. As we will see in week 3, an example of this is the impact of colonialism on how the world is now divided between developed and developing countries. Significantly, sociology also provides tools that can be used to evaluate how individual existence is shaped by broader social processes.

It is important in this unit to recognise that all of us – lecturers, tutors and more importantly, students – are members of society. We therefore have our own experiences to draw on. This means that we can openly and purposefully bring our own ideas, values and ideologies to the interpretation of any situation. If we were to be perfectly honest, it is impossible not to do this. What we are saying is that none of us can be completely objective. So, we propose to use this understanding consciously, in a reflective way. By acknowledging our own views and values, we will be more capable of achieving a richer level of analysis. We will also be able to use our own experiences as a tool to better understand the different situations we are investigating. For example, if you try to understand the impacts of an organisation on its employees, and you are yourself an employee of an organisation, you will be better able to analyse what is happening in the organisation under investigation. Also, in your own work, you will be able to develop an in-depth practical understanding of theories and concepts you are learning. Using this knowledge you will be able to compare how other cases might be considered as either similar or different. This analytical process in which we evaluate reflectively and critically on our own experiences and the knowledge we have of other situations provides the possibility of a richer understanding. In that sense we can become everyday sociologists, analysing our experience to reach a deeper understanding of the reality that surrounds us.

We are then (at least in this unit) everyday social analysts, able to learn from our experiences – through critical thinking – and able to understand some of the complexities and patterns of social life and how these relate to our everyday life. In this unit, we will each become critical analysts of our individual experiences, better able to understand the conditions of our society and, in particular, the relationships between Business, Society and Governments.

We want to emphasise that, in this unit, we work critically; and by that we do not mean to say that we just criticize everything. Critical thinking involves a process of evaluation of each position or point of view, without assuming that it is the ‘natural way’. Critical thinking has us continuously questioning everything. This requires us to move away from ‘WHAT’ questions to ‘HOW’ and ‘WHY’ questions. Critical thinking is a form of reflexivity (i.e., the capacity to reflect upon prevailing values, practices and knowledge). Reflexivity has the potential to transform those situations to which they refer. It questions and challenges taken-for-granted values, practices and knowledge (eg, different types of discrimination not previously recognised, such as age discrimination; or the concentration of power in the hands of a few). Critical thinking constitutes a form of thinking which questions the shaping influences of power and ideology that are subsumed within the social fabric of institutional structures, processes and practices. It highlights, nurtures and promotes the potential of human consciousness to analyse oppressive practices and facilitate autonomy and responsibility.

Critical thinking requires that we are reflective (i.e., that we engage in self-reflection or reflection on the relationships between individuals, collectives and society). By acknowledging different perspectives or different ‘ways-of-seeing’, critical thinking is extremely helpful as a problem-posing strategy, to assist in understanding how and why things are the way they are.

In this unit, we use critical thinking as a strategy to acknowledge the existence of different modes of analysis, in order to grasp the complexities of the B-G-S triangle. A critical understanding of the different perspectives gives us potential move into more empathic and ethical styles of management, and therefore to a more equitable society.

One style of using critical thinking in order to understand the complexities of society involves use of the sociological imagination. This is a theoretical approach taken from sociology. The sociological imagination involves not just the inventive process of creating images (as the definition of ‘imagination’ suggests), but the sociological imagination is also a systematic and rigorous process that enables us to approach – analytically – social situations that we can frame or represent as images from our own knowledge. The sociological imagination is one among many forms of social analysis. It is useful to empower the everyday sociologist in critically analysing the conditions of his/her society and life experiences.

The concept of the sociological imagination was first proposed by C. Wright Mills (The Sociological Imagination, originally published in 1959). Mills sees the sociological imagination as a basic principle of sociological thinking, which can be used by both intellectuals and lay people. He considered it to be the most fruitful form of self-consciousness. According to him the sociological imagination is:

· ‘A quality of mind that will help them [people] to use information and develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and what might be happening within themselves’ (p 6)

· The quality of mind that ‘enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between them within society’ (p 6).

Now, let’s see what we mean by ‘quality of mind’. It involves:

· The capacity to shift from one perspective to another

· ‘The capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote transformation to the most intimate features of the human self and to see relations between the two’ (p7)

· The capacity to understand the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities.

History is important to the sociological imagination as it has an intricate connection with social analysis. In our view, it is difficult to understand what is happening at a specific time, without considering how that moment emerged and what kind of processes led to it. For example, history helps us to understand the development of capitalism, which it is the system via which our society operates. An historical perspective gives us better comprehension of the different roles played by Government in managing the impact of economic practices on society. So, we invite you to also use an historical imagination, which is implicit in Mills conception of the sociological imagination as this quote indicates.

‘Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both’ (ibid. p3)

From a holistic view of society, as a dynamic system, the sociological imagination needs to understand both the specific moment and the processes of change. It includes the connection with history, trying to determine how the past affects the conditions of life in the present. We need to evaluate, then, the conditions of the past, and learn from those experiences as we act in the present. For that reason, the individual can understand his/her own experience only by locating him/herself within his or her own time and space. With this framing, we can acknowledge that the analysis of other times and societies should involve the reconstruction of an image, an imagination, that takes into account the conditions and values of that specific time and space. Linked to the reflective process involved in the sociological and historical imagination in order to evaluate our actions and their impacts on others (i.e. business on society), we can also include what has been called the moral imagination (from Arnold, D. G. & Hartman L. (2003) ‘Moral Imagination and the Future of Sweatshops’ Business and Society Review 108: 426-429).

Moral imagination is a self-reflective practice that can be used to evaluate the potential impact of our decisions on other social groups. It focuses on the practice, manners or conduct of a person – as a social being – in relation to others. It uses the mental power of imagination to create awareness of conflicting values and interests. It has a corrective function: through the use of the moral imagination, decision makers can evaluate the past and learn from it, in order to make responsible decisions in the present. In the BSP triangle we can understand that, each sector has its own purposes, values, ideologies and interests. While these might well benefit one or both of the other sectors, the actions taken by one sector might equally damage others; thus generating ethical dilemmas. As we will see in the following weeks, most decisions taken by the different sectors involve dilemmas that, even if not easy to solve, will be more amenable to resolution through use of the moral imagination. Even if that moral imagination comes from the individual, it makes sense to extend it into the social realm. For this reason, we propose to include another important tool for our understanding: this is what has been called ethical reasoning.

Even if it is not possible to define what is ethical in a universal sense, this does not mean that we cannot reflect on how different principles, drawn from different ethical traditions, might apply to the situations managers have to deal with in relation to business stakeholders. As we have seen before, businesses face multiple dilemmas in deciding what it means to behave ethically. This difficulty however should not stop managers from taking into account ethics as part of the decision-making process. Often a distinction is made between ethics in relation to individual behaviour and ethics for organisations. In our view this is a damaging distinction. Organisations (whether drawn from business, governments or civil society) are not disconnected from their people and their stakeholders. Decisions are taken by people and these decisions impact on people; therefore it is not useful to use different precepts for individuals and organisations.

Considering the needs of individuals and organisations, ethical reasoning might help to understand the complexities of those decisions, taking account of multiple perspectives. In much the same way as other forms of reasoning, ethical reasoning critically analyses different views, imagining what the outcomes might be if we apply different types of ethical principles.

In BSP we will not study ethical theories in depth. Here, we will merely introduce ethics as part of the critical reflection that can help business to engage in ethical behaviour. Ethical reasoning can be involved in any decision made by a manager. It can be used in the same way that scenario development (i.e., imagining alternative outcomes from different actions taken) is used for other aspects of strategic planning in a firm. If, for example, creating scenarios for entering a country’s marketplace is relevant, why is not the same approach relevant when dealing with the ethics of business actions?

This week, we have simply introduced the idea of ethical reasoning so we can use it later, in the course of critical thinking. Having said that, we still need to understand that there are different types of ethical theories, which can be broadly divided between the following two:

· Consequentialism or teleological, where the focus is on the consequences of human actions: the concept of right, wrong and duty are subordinated to the notion of the ends or outcomes.

· Ethical egoism where the ends only benefit the individual (eg, business acts only to derive profit)

· Utilitarianism (the greatest good for the greatest number) where the ends benefit most of the community (and ignore the existence of conflicting views on benefits)

· Deontology where ethical judgement is based on moral precepts or laws.

· Kantian deontology is where the focus is on duties and universal rules that guide actions. This is based on reason as the way of discovering the correct moral principles that respect other rational beings.

· Social Contract does not focus on individual decision-making but on the general social principles that govern society at large, the basis for agreement of which is ‘natural’ rights.

With the sociological approach as emphasized in BSP, ideas based on the social contract (i.e., assumed expectations of how society operates) relate with the notion of Social Responsibility (which we will consider in week 5). In this view, it is almost impossible to separate ethics and social responsibility.

We have described each of Business, Society and Policy as being complex. We have described too the relations between Business, Society and Policy as complex. We have even described these three foci together as constituting a complex whole, which we refer to in a short hand fashion, as the BSP triangle. An intellectual sense making framework, developed specifically to help make sense of such complex, dynamic, self-organising, emergent, ambiguous and uncertain phenomena, is that of complexity theory or complexity science (which we will refer to simply as Complexity). Complexity habits of thought will be introduced as an aid for bringing together the various perspectives and dilemmas introduced in the unit.

Our social contract in this unit is that we will all use a sociological approach, including tools such as critical thinking, the sociological imagination, historical imagination, moral imagination, ethical reasoning and complexity thinking. This applies to all our activities, such as tutorials and preparation for tutorials and assignments. In this way, there is scope for us all to be socially responsible and ethical analysts and managers.