Mental models, moral imagination and systems thinking in the age of globalization

Patricia Werhane

pp. 187-204

in: David Bevan, Regina W. Wolfe (eds), Systems thinking and moral imagination, Berlin, Springer, 2019

Abstract

In this article Werhane addresses the issue of the role of moral imagination in systems thinking and makes that link explicit. In her analysis of the social construction of organizations, she adopts a formulation identified from contemporary complexity theory, and considers companies or businesses as forms of complex adaptive systems. These systems are animated by human moral agents, thus concepts of moral imagination are equally applicable to organizational contexts. Organizations may be considered in the same way as individuals; that is to say they are each imbedded in a set of interrelated, broader systems. It is clear that such systems on every level are complex, but Werhane argues further that because they are composed of human beings these systems – all of them – are changeable and always in flux. By employing moral imagination, organizations and larger systems as well as individuals have the potential to readapt to changing relationships as well as to changing social, cultural and environmental conditions.Original publication: Werhane, Patricia H. "Mental Models, Moral Imagination and Systems Thinking in the Age of Globalization". Journal of Business Ethics (2008) 78: 463–474. ©2008 Reprinted with permission.