Sara Fontanet
Last Name
Fontanet
First name
Sara
Email
sara.fontanet@unisg.ch
Phone
+41 71 224 73 62
7 results
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
- Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Toward a “Thick” Theory of Organizational Moral Change: Reclaiming Moral Ontology through Aristotelian Rhetoric(2026-07-30); ; Modern organizations face what Taylor (1989) calls an “identity crisis” – a crisis marked by the erosion of shared moral frameworks that once oriented judgments about what it means to be good and live meaningfully. Although recent research has started to empirically explore and theorize how an organizational moral change unfolds, it mainly operates within a “thin” conception of morality, meaning that what counts as moral is essentially a procedural achievement of aligning moral perspectives around collectively endorsed norms, values, or principles of conduct. Yet this approach leaves unexplained how and why individuals come to experience certain goods as more compelling, meaningful, or worthy of pursuit than others. Moreover, whereas existing studies recognize the importance of discursive practices in enabling broader processes of moral change, they tend to adopt a largely instrumental view of language, reducing it to a means of negotiation, persuasion, and alignment. Addressing these limitations, we develop a “thick” theory of organizational moral change where we approach morality as grounded in the qualitative distinctions that make some goods worthy of pursuit and emphasize the articulative function of language in disclosing and refining these distinctions. Integrating Taylor’s (1989) notions of the moral space with Aristotle’s (1991) theory of rhetoric, we develop a spatio-temporal model in which rhetoric, conceived as articulation work, enables organizational members to progressively orient the organization toward a shared moral horizon. Our model shows how, through the interplay of logos, pathos, and ethos appeals, these members 1) gradually refine their understanding of the self and the good (ethical dimension), 2) form a community of minds in which they become consubstantial (socio-moral dimension), and 3) organize their social existence toward a hypergood (political dimension). Our “thick” theory deepens existing accounts of organizational change by shedding light on the sources from which morality derives its vitality and meaning. By positioning rhetoric as the primary vehicle through which substantive visions of the good are articulated and fused into an overarching moral horizon, we offer a unique account of how organizational moral substance is generated and sustained over time. In doing so, we invite scholars and practitioners to reimagine organizations as sites of moral becoming, where substantive visions of the good, the cultivation of moral character, and the shared social imaginaries that underpin communal life are continuously shaped through articulation work.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, A Critical Realist Exploration of the Moral Character of Insider Social Change Agents: Navigating Between the Invisible and Visible(2025-01-14)Driven by the ambition to transform their organization as a force for social good, a rising number of employees are starting grassroots movements to lead positive change from within their workplace (Briscoe & Gupta, 2016; Scully & Segal, 2002; One Young World, 2022). Principally investigated in the literature on insider social change agents, scholars usually draw on psychology to study the identity conflicts and motivations animating these individuals (Creed et al., 2010; Heucher et al., 2024; Meyerson & Scully, 1995). Whilst essential to shed light on who these agents are, we remark that they have given surprisingly less attention to the philosophical concept of moral character. In parallel, there has been a growing trend in leadership research which, acknowledging the importance of character in effectively leading people, has largely relied on Aristotle’s moral philosophy of virtue ethics to unpack the ontological and epistemological foundations of leader character (e.g. Hackett & Wang, 2012; Hannah & Avolio, 2011; Hannah & Jennings, 2013; Newstead et al., 2021). Importing some of these leadership insights into the literature on insider social change agents, our objective is to dress a comprehensive overview of the moral profile of these change agents. For that, we suggest adopting a critical realist lens which has the peculiarity of viewing reality as composed of three interrelated dimensions – the real, actual, and empirical (Bhaskar, 1978 & 2016). Following these dimensions, we argue that moral character might best be described as a multi-layered concept that includes 1) an authentic moral core (inartistic character or ethike), 2) a rhetorical expression of a subset of this core (artistic character or ethos), and 3) an empirical observation and impression of this rhetorically expressed subset (perceived ethos). Specifically, whereas this authentic moral core is not directly accessible to the human mind as it belongs to the dimension of the real, we contend that it might be inferred upon actualization as change agents rhetorically portray themselves in front of others. It is this rhetorical portrait that eventually reaches the empirical domain and is observed by other organizational members. Informing their general impressions about the moral goodness of these agents, we assert that it is on this basis that members decide whether to attribute them influence power or not. Given the significant potential of insider social change agents in establishing corporate purposes that deviate from the prevalent business paradigm of profit-making, we consider that tailoring our knowledge of their moral character is particularly relevant as this might enhance our understanding of why and how they successfully influence others (Girschick et al., 2022; Solinger et al., 2020; Wickert & De Bakker, 2018). Practically, we recommend placing these change agents in visible positions where frequent interactions with them would inspire members to cultivate moral excellence in their daily work activities. Moreover, we propose that their moral character informs the design of tools and programs that promote character development across corporate ladders.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, From words to beliefs: Bridging rhetorical institutionalism and multilevel theory of legitimacy(2025); ; - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Aristotelian Rhetoric as a Driver of Organizational Moral Change How Logos, Pathos, and Ethos can Initiate, Scale Up, and Sustain Moral Change in Organizations(2024-09-27); ; Driven by the ambition to transform their organization as a force for social good, a rising number of employees have started grassroots movements to drive positive change from within their workplace (Briscoe & Gupta, 2016; Scully & Segal, 2002; One Young World, 2022). Surprisingly, research examining how this rising phenomenon contributes to shaping organizational moral boundaries is still relatively scarce. In this paper, we build on the theoretical framework of organizational moral change by Solinger et al. (2020) and expand it by bringing in Aristotelian deliberative rhetoric. Specifically, we explain how logos, pathos, and ethos appeals enable each phase of a moral change process: 1) initiating, 2) scaling up, and 3) securing moral change (cf. Solinger et al., 2020, p.510). We argue that it is by opening up, widening, and integrating the moral space that rhetoric contributes to bringing about a moral change. Theoretically, anchoring our perspective in Aristotle’s moral philosophy, we demonstrate the importance of moral character in moving an organization and its members closer to the morally good life (Aristotle, 2004). Practically, our model offers a set of rhetorical tools that could be used to reduce moral muteness and establish durable patterns of morality in companies.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Aristotelian Rhetoric as a Driver of Moral Organizational Change How Logos, Pathos, and Ethos can Initiate, Scale Up, and Sustain Moral Change in Organizations(2024-06-22); ; Driven by the ambition to transform their organization as a force for social good, a rising number of employees have started grassroots movements to drive positive change from within their workplace (Briscoe & Gupta, 2016; Scully & Segal, 2002; One Young World, 2022). Surprisingly, research examining how this rising phenomenon contributes to shaping organizational moral boundaries is still relatively scarce. In this paper, we build on the theoretical framework of organizational moral change by Solinger et al. (2020) and expand it by bringing in Aristotelian deliberative rhetoric. Specifically, we explain how logos, pathos, and ethos appeals enable each phase of a moral change process: 1) initiating, 2) scaling up, and 3) securing moral change (cf. Solinger et al., 2020, p.510). We argue that it is by opening up, widening, and integrating the moral space that rhetoric contributes to bringing about a moral change. Theoretically, anchoring our perspective in Aristotle’s moral philosophy, we demonstrate the importance of moral character in moving an organization and its members closer to the morally good life (Aristotle, 2004). Practically, our model offers a set of rhetorical tools that could be used to reduce moral muteness in companies and establish durable patterns of morality in companies.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Aristotelian Rhetoric as a Driver of Organizational Moral Change: How Logos, Pathos, and Ethos can Initiate, Scale Up, and Sustain Moral Change in Organizations(2025-06-23); ; Type:conference contribution - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication,