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Immoral Imagination and Revenge in Organizations

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Abstract

Malevolence and cruelty are commonly attributed to a failure of moral reasoning or a lack of moral imagination. We present the contrasting viewpoint – immorality as an active, creative, or resourceful act. More specifically, we develop the concept of "immoral imagination" (Jacobs, 1991) and explore how it can enter into Rest's (1986) four processes of decision making: sensitivity, judgment, intention, and implementation. The literature on revenge and workplace deviance illustrates these processes.

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Seabright, M.A., Schminke, M. Immoral Imagination and Revenge in Organizations. Journal of Business Ethics 38, 19–31 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015764811710

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