Title: Why blame the organization? : a pragmatic analysis of collective moral responsibility /
Authors: Pfeiffer, Raymond S.
Publisher: Littlefield Adams Books,
Year: 1995
Subjects: Organizational sociology.; Organizational behavior Moral and ethical aspects.; Responsibility; Blame
Abstract: Overview: If individual cooperation is the core of organizations, then why do people sometimes blame organizations instead of, or in addition to, the individuals in them? Through an examination of actual cases such as the pollution of the Prince William Sound, the disaster at the Love Canal, and soccer team misconduct, Raymond S. Pfeiffer offers a philosophical study in analytic pragmatism to clarify the meaning and logic of collective blame. Why Blame the Organization? attacks the myth that the nature of an organization or group is the key to understanding its moral responsibility.
Contents: Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Purposes Of Attributing Moral Blame: -- Blame and responsibility -- Blaming groups and organizations -- From blaming individuals to blaming organizations -- When is individual responsibility not enough? -- Thesis of individual sufficiency -- Purposes of blaming an organization -- Chapter summary -- Evidence That An Organization Deserves Blame: -- Separating individual and corporate blame -- Thesis of individual dependency -- Sharpening the thesis of individual dependency -- Individuals in organizations -- Five conditions of plausibility for blaming organizations -- Some tentative answers -- Chapter summary -- Problems For Dependency?: -- Blaming an organization when the culprits are gone -- Blaming an organization when its personnel did their jobs -- Blaming an organization because its personnel are not to blame -- Blaming an organization without blaming its personnel -- Argument for dependency and the sea of green fallacy -- Chapter summary --^