Trading zones and moral imagination as ways of preventing normalized deviance

Michael E. Gorman

pp. 121-132

in: R. E. Freeman, Sergiy Dmytriyev, Andrew C. Wicks (eds), The moral imagination of Patricia Werhane, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

Normalized deviance occurs when a dysfunctional pattern of behavior becomes normal practice in an organization. Examples in this chapter include NASA's space shuttle program, the collapse of Enron and the bursting of the housing bubble in Ireland. Moral imagination involves getting participants in these situations to see that their practices are based on mental models that can be changed. One of the sparks for change is encountering an alternative mental model. A trading zone among business decision-makers, customers, stakeholders and possibly even an ethicist could make differences among mental models clear and lead to new possibilities for action.