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Moral Agency at Work research theme (Convenor, Prof Ron Beadle)

Overview

Moral Agency at Work researchers are interested in how individual and small group ethical agency at the workplace is structured and understood.  We consider the circumstances under which people make ethical judgments in the workplace and act on them.  Our papers have been published in many of the world’s leading journals in ethics and human behaviour. 

A critical element of this is how traditions of thought influence workplace decision-making.  This includes professional/practice traditions (examples include banking), faith traditions (examples include the Amish, Sikhism and Catholicism) and organisational traditions (including the third sector).  These traditions cluster around the notions of virtue and character which don’t so much influence as drive agency at work.

Closely related to how moral agency is constructed at work is the question of the routes through which work becomes meaningful.  Colleagues have brought a variety of research methods to bear on uncovering the way in which work contexts both reflect and create sources of meaning (examples include stone-masonry and the circus arts).

Colleagues surface, investigate and challenge meanings at work that emerge from familial, local (recent examples include wine regions in Italy) and socially antagonistic contexts (including elements of higher education and military conflict).

By understanding the sources of meaning at work, we encourage organisations to make work more meaningful and the workplace less antagonistic.

Recent PhDs in this area have researched contexts as varied as military engagement and homelessness charities.  We are happy to talk to anyone interested in undertaking research.



Responsible Business

Research Staff

Dr. Imran Ali

Prof. Katie Bailey

Prof. Ron Beadle          

Prof. Nic Burton  

Dr Arrian Cornwell

Dr Stefanie Elliot-Schneider

Dr Lisa Ferguson

Dr Omale Garba

Dr Mark Gatto   

Prof. David Jones

Dr. Benjamin Richards

Dr Angus Robson

Dr Nadia Singh 

Dr Sally Wightman

Recent Publications

Amato, S., Patuelli, A., Basco, R. et al. (2023). Family Firms Amidst the Global Financial Crisis: A Territorial Embeddedness Perspective on Downsizing. Journal of Business Ethics 183, 213–236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04930-0

Bailey, K., Madden, A and M. Lips-Wiersma. (2024). Experiencing meaningful work through worthwhile contributions: a critical discourse analysis. Human Relations (forthcoming)

Beadle, R and Sinnicks, M. (2024). It’s a three-ring circus; how morally educative practices are undermined by institutions. Business Ethics Quarterly https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/its-a-threering-circus-how-morally-educative-practices-are-undermined-by-institutions/4E1E2C3A0A7430DB5B9CC009812E2541#article

Cornwell, A., Arakpogun, E., Thomson, M. (2023). Exit or stay: A critical incident analysis of decision-making in conflict-torn countries, Journal of World Business 58:4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2023.101459

Keshtiban, A., Gatto, M., & Callahan, J. L. (2023). Trojan horses: Creating a positive hidden (extra)curriculum through a Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) initiative. Management Learning, 54:3, 338-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076231162633

Jeong, S., Sinnicks, M., Burton, N. et al. (2024) “Be Not Conformed to this World”: MacIntyre’s Critique of Modernity and Amish Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-024-05651-w

Jones, D. R., Wall, T., Kenworthy, A., Hurd, F., Dyer, S., Hedges, P., & Sankaran, S. (2023). Hiding in plain sight: Exploring the complex pathways between tactical concealment and relational wellbeing. Organization, 30(3), 473-489. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084221150356

Robson, A. (2022), Aquinas’s Principle of Misericordia in Corporations: Implications for Workers and other Stakeholders. Humanist Management Journal 7, 233–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-022-00137-1

Singh, N. (2022). Sikhism and Covid-19: Ethics of community service and activism. Sikh Formations, 19:3, 264–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/17448727.2022.2084946

Walumbwa, F. O., Christensen-Salem, A., Babalola, M. T., Kasimu, P., Garba, O. A., & Guo, L. (2021). A closer look at how and when family-supportive supervision influence work interference with family: the roles of family-role overload and task crafting. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33: 19, 3850–3878. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.1939761

Wightman, S., Potts, G. & Beadle, R. (2023). ‘Whose Call?’ The Conflict Between Tradition-Based and Expressivist Accounts of Calling. Journal of Business Ethics 183, 947–962 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05067-4


Research Funding

Recent examples include:

2023-2024: “An intersectional perspective to meaningful work” – Funder: British Academy of Management [Professor Nicholas Burton & Dr Padmali Rodrigo]

2024- "Discernment as a tool to reach unity in trade union negotiation”. Funder: Quaker Schools Association [Professor Nicholas Burton]



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