Organizational Moral Development: Insights from Organizational Learning & Islamic Perspectives

Abstract

This conceptual paper contributes to the study of moral and immoral organizational development by combining two different perspectives: organizational learning (OL) and the worldview of Islam. The OL perspective, particularly Crossan, Lane and White’s (1999) 4I OL framework, outlines four sub-learning processes involved in strategic renewal spanning the individual, group and organizational levels. Then, the framework is recast in the light of the worldview of Islam, particularly on the natural connection between learning and moral development. From an Islamic perspective, knowledge is soteriological and plays a crucial role in the ‘purification of the heart’, i.e. individual moral development. However, corruption of knowledge can also occur, which then leads to corruption of the ‘heart’, i.e. individual immoral development. This then has profound implications for the 4I OL framework. As a result, a reconceptualized framework is conceived called ‘OL by hearts’, which outlines the strategic moral & immoral development of individuals, groups and the organization.