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Self-repair in the Workplace: A Qualitative Investigation

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Abstract

Despite widespread interest in the topic of moral repair in the business ethics literature and in the workplace, little is currently known about moral repair with regard to the self—i.e., how and why individuals repair themselves in the aftermath of harming others within workplace contexts and what factors may influence the success of self-repair. We conducted a qualitative study in the context of health care organizations to develop an inductive model of self-repair in the workplace. Our findings reveal a set of factors, including reactions to the harm incident, motivating factors, and methods of self-repair that involve intrapersonal (e.g., self-compassion) and interpersonal (e.g., seeking feedback and support from co-workers and managers) actions. We discovered that self-repair, or what we characterize as “moral self-repair” is a complex process characterized by important ethical, emotional, and social dimensions and that the effectiveness of self-repair actions is moderated by the actions of those within the organization (e.g., co-workers, managers) and outside the organization (e.g., families, friends, counselors). These social actors can promote self-repair by offering encouragement and support, or undermine self-repair by communicating a lack of trust and respect that reinforces self-blame. This model of self-repair is intended to guide future ethics research on the topic of moral self-repair and offers insight to practicing managers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, Washington State University, Todd Hall 437J, PO Box 644743, Pullman, WA, 99164-4743, USA

    Kenneth D. Butterfield

  2. Department of Management & Marketing, The College of Saint Rose, Soulier Hall 1, 994 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY, 12203, USA

    Warren Cook

  3. Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, Washington State University, Todd Hall 437 C, PO Box 644743, Pullman, WA, 99164-4743, USA

    Natalie Liberman

  4. Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, Carson College of Business, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA, 98686-9600, USA

    Jerry Goodstein

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  1. Kenneth D. Butterfield
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Correspondence to Kenneth D. Butterfield.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The study and its procedures described in this paper were approved by the Washington State University institutional review board. This research is in accordance with the standards set by the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Participants were informed of their rights.

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Appendices

Appendix

Self-Repair Survey

Please think back on a specific situation within the last year (or most recently) where you did something, intentionally or unintentionally, that harmed another person or your work organization, and you then attempted to repair yourself. By “repair yourself,” we mean anything that you did, even just in your own mind, to recover, heal, or otherwise restore yourself after you harmed another person or your work organization.

Please provide written responses to the following questions. It is very important that you choose a situation that you can discuss in detail.

  1. 1.

    Please briefly describe the incident. (a) what did you do that harmed another person or the organization? (b) was the harm intentional or unintentional?

  2. 2.

    How did you feel after harming that person or the organization? Why did you feel that way?

  3. 3.

    What actions did you take to repair yourself after harming the other person or the organization? Why did you attempt to repair yourself?

  4. 4.

    How much time did your repair efforts take?

  5. 5.

    Who (or what) helped/assisted you in repairing yourself, and in what ways?

  6. 6.

    Who (or what) prevented/got in the way of you repairing yourself, and in what ways?

  7. 7.

    What happened because of your attempts to repair yourself? (a) What were the positive outcomes? (b) What were the negative outcomes? (c) Were you successful or unsuccessful in repairing yourself? Why?

  8. 8.

    What did you learn from your experience that you feel might benefit others going through the process of self-repair?

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Butterfield, K.D., Cook, W., Liberman, N. et al. Self-repair in the Workplace: A Qualitative Investigation. J Bus Ethics 182, 321–340 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04993-z

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