Iznan Tarip
Abstract
The processes of strategic change, undertaken from time to time by organisations so as to maintain its functional relevance and effectiveness, are often conflict-ridden. This is in large part due to the nature of the human agency. Humans bring not only rationality into the decision-making processes, but also their inherent dispositions: intuitions, biases, emotions, and so on. In order to understand the factors that cause conflict in the processes of strategic change, this paper employs al-Ghazali’s concept of the ‘purification of the heart’, and ‘organisational moral learning’. An analytical framework is constructed using these two concepts to illustrate the interplay between contextual organisational configurations, the wider socio-environmental forces, and the human agents’ potentials and powers. This paper proposes some strategies that may help to drive ‘organisational moral learning’ forward, and conversely, hinder ‘organisational immoral learning’ from taking root. Ultimately, it is human agents – or rather, wise human agents – who are the critical factors for maintaining and/or transforming themselves and their surroundings.
Keywords: Wisdom, Purification of the Heart, Virtues, Strategic Change, Organisational Moral Learning
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