Browsing by Author "Morrell, Kevin"
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Item Open Access Aristotle in the Anthropocene: the comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics over Utilitarianism and deontology(SAGE, 2022-08-23) Morrell, Kevin; Dahlmann, FrederikIn the Anthropocene, humanity faces a pressing question: ‘what should we do?’ Here we are interested in the underlying sense and reference of the normative ‘should’ as it applies to ethics with respect to different actors. To excavate ‘should’, we unearth the foundations of three conventional groupings of normative ethical systems: Mill’s utilitarianism, Kantian deontological ethics and Aristotelian virtue ethics. Each provides a normative basis for saying what humans ‘should’ do. We draw on specific examples from the private sector to argue that debates on the role of ethics in business are dominated by consequentialist and deontological accounts which, while essential, entail certain limitations regarding the realities of this new geological epoch. Identifying the comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics enables us to develop new insights and suggestions for ethics in the Anthropocene. We identify three distinctive features of Aristotelian virtue ethics: (i) a focus on agents rather than acts, (ii) a distinction between laws and customs versus nature and (iii) the importance of tradition. We set out corresponding implications for ethics and sustainability as applied to the private sector.Item Open Access How can governments tax multinational enterprises more fairly? a discourse analysis(Policy Press, 2021-10-18) Fernandes, Orlando; Morrell, Kevin; Heracleous, LoizosExtant research has identified numerous causes for multinational enterprises (MNE) tax avoidance and formulated a variety of remedial policy solutions. Yet despite being consistently decried as societally unfair, these contested practices persist. We reveal the conflicting and complementary ideologies and worldviews that reside in the background of MNE tax avoidance policy deliberations. Analysis of primary interviews with accounting and tax regulatory agencies, Members of the UK Parliament, and public hearings with MNE representatives, shows these different groups draw on four different discourses: globalism, idealism, pragmatism and shareholder interest. These exist in what we show to be a kind of precarious truce that allows these contested practices to continue in the face of robust critique. Prospects for taxing MNEs are enhanced if legislators, civil servants and regulators can draw more coherently on the discourse of idealism because this is most resistant to the logic of the market.Item Open Access Marketisation and the public good: a typology of responses among museum professionals(Sage, 2024-04-28) Aroles, Jeremy; Morrell, KevinAcross Western democracies, the public sector has undergone significant changes following successive waves of marketisation. Such changes find material expression in an organisation’s logic and associated vocabulary. While marketisation may be adopted, a growing body of research explains how it is often resisted as public sector professionals reject its logic and vocabulary. We contribute to this debate by detailing additional, theoretically important responses. Rather than simply rejecting or adopting both the logic and vocabulary of marketisation, this article shows how UK museum professionals decouple these. Our analysis shows how museum professionals either fashion generic market vocabulary (e.g. customer, value) to pursue local projects or sustain terms such as public and culture to cling to longer-standing ideals of publicness. Partly because of the nature of cultural goods, we propose the museum sector as a paradigm case to illustrate this phenomenon, but our argument has broader implications for the public sphere.Item Open Access Representing, re-presenting, or producing the past? memory work amongst museum employees(Wiley, 2024-02-28) Aroles, Jeremy; Morrell, Kevin; Granter, Edward; Liang, YinThough it is widely understood that the past can be an important resource for organizations, less is known about the micro-level skills and choices that help to materialize different representations of the past. We understand these micro-level skills and choices as a practice: ‘memory work’ – a banner term gathering various activities that provide the scaffolding for a shared past. Seeking to learn from a context where memory work is central, we share insights from a quasi-longitudinal study of UK museum employees. We theorize three ideal-typic regimes of memory work, namely representing, re-presenting and producing the past, and detail the micro-practices through which these regimes are enacted. Through explaining the key features of memory work in this context, our paper offers novel, broader insights into the relationship between occupations and memory work, showing how occupations differ in their understanding of memory and how this shapes their memory work.Item Open Access Transformational Change in maternity services in England: a longitudinal qualitative study of a national transformation programme ‘Early Adopter’(BioMed Central, 2022-01-12) Taylor, Beck; Hewison, Alistair; Cross-Sudworth, Fiona; Morrell, KevinBackground: Large system transformation in health systems is designed to improve quality, outcomes and efficiency. Using empirical data from a longitudinal study of national policy-driven transformation of maternity services in England, we explore the utility of theory-based rules regarding ‘what works’ in large system transformation. Methods: A longitudinal, qualitative case study was undertaken in a large diverse urban setting involving multiple hospital trusts, local authorities and other key stakeholders. Data was gathered using interviews, focus groups, non-participant observation, and a review of key documents in three phases between 2017 and 2019. The transcripts of the individual and focus group interviews were analysed thematically, using a combined inductive and deductive approach drawing on simple rules for large system transformation derived from evidence synthesis and the findings are reported in this paper. Results: Alignment of transformation work with Best et al’s rules for ‘what works’ in large system transformation varied. Interactions between the rules were identified, indicating that the drivers of large system transformation are interdependent. Key challenges included the pace and scale of change that national policy required, complexity of the existing context, a lack of statutory status for the new ‘system’ limiting system leaders’ power and authority, and concurrent implementation of a new overarching system alongside multifaceted service change. Conclusions: Objectives and timescales of transformation policy and plans should be realistic, flexible, responsive to feedback, and account for context. Drivers of large system transformation appear to be interdependent and synergistic. Transformation is likely to be more challenging in recently established systems where the basis of authority is not yet clearly established.