Browsing by Author "Kwiatkowski, Richard"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The contribution of ethical concepts to the development of professional applied psychology
    (Cranfield University, 2009) Kwiatkowski, Richard; Turnbull James, Kim; Muir, Helen
    In this PhD by publication, the author’s work concerning what it is to be a psychologist operating - sometimes simultaneously - within different ethical domains will be examined using conference papers, journal publications and book chapters. This material, which spans a period of 20 years, demonstrates a fundamental concern with the normative ethical question of “what we ought to do” as psychologists in complex situations; it will be argued that this work has contributed to the academic debate and influenced policy and thus practice. In order to position the body of work, and to introduce Codes of Ethics (which seek to operationalise ethics within prescribed domains), the thesis begins by introducing normative ethics. It is argued that psychology’s stance is essentially deontological, whilst organisations are utilitarian in orientation. This implicit tension is addressed in the author’s contributions, which are examined within their (historic) academic context using a comparison of the British Psychological Society’s 1985 and the significantly revised 2006 Code of Ethics. These codes, rather than the more usual positioning within one specific literature, are used to provide a coherent narrative concerning the development of the author’s thinking in this domain, though, necessarily, different overlapping academic literatures are accessed depending on context. The cumulative academic contribution of the published work has been to advance ethical ideas in some areas of professional applied psychology. For example, in the 1985 code, the complexity of operating within organisational contexts was barely acknowledged; this has now significantly changed. The body of work examined here has emphasised how psychologists must consciously and deliberately coexist and act The contribution of ethical concepts to the development of professional applied psychology within overlapping, and sometimes competing, professional and organisational ethical contexts, domains and philosophical positions. In this synoptic piece, after the presentation, positioning, and examination of the contribution of extant published material, possible future directions for research and practice are indicated. For instance, preliminary material will be presented suggesting that, in occupational psychology, where complex differing ethical perspectives are present, public ethical debate appears to be relatively neglected; some hypothesis are presented. More theoretically, areas for development include the extension of recent philosophical ethical ideas to these particular domains of applied psychology, including thinking that suggests that ethical considerations precede other kinds of social obligation. Finally, and linking the academic more firmly to practice and policy, a brief theoretical examination of the possible impact of statutory registration on different branches of psychology is briefly attempted, and potential practical and philosophical ethical consequences for UK psychologists and psychology are briefly outlined.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    a design research study of customised management development.
    (2017-11) Shepherd, Wendy; Kwiatkowski, Richard; Bowman, Cliff
    This Design Research study of customised management development (CMD) develops an explanatory model of how CMD generates organisational level impact. The model makes a contribution to the management development literature by providing a plausible explanation of the connectivity between CMD as an input and performance as an organisational level outcome. The model is consistent with a realist perspective and suggests that CMD does not cause change, but changes the course of change that is already in process within the organisation through, inter alia social interactions and practice based learning. In contrast to prevailing more linear perspectives of the CMD process, the notion of the participant leaving their organisational context to be developed has been replaced with a representation of CMD where the organisation’s context is ever present within the development process. The practical validity of the model and its artefacts has been field tested at Cranfield School of Management. This has resulted in the implementation of a ‘Design for Impact’ process. The process utilises knowledge artefacts in the form of diagrams and design propositions that recommend what to do and what to avoid when designing interventions within specific organisational contexts. The model and knowledge artefacts that form the output of this research have been developed using a Design Research method. The method combines knowledge drawn from a systematic review of the literature with practitioner interviews. The application of the approach to the management development literature progresses the discussion from ‘How do we prove the organisational level impact of management development?’ to ‘How can we improve the organisational level impact of management development?’.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Ethical challenges for employees in a time of pandemics and advances in artificial intelligence; or “is our psychology relevant any more”?
    (European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), 2023-05-27) Kwiatkowski, Richard; Angus, Andrew; Aktas, Emel
    Our work is at an unusual intersection of professional psychology and professional business ethics. We partnered in an international survey examining ethical and unethical behaviour in industry. We make longitudinal comparisons of ethical behaviour with a focus on the ethical implications of Covid19 and the growing role of Artificial Intelligence in the work environment and in social lives.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The ethical manager
    (Cranfield University School of Management, 2010-09-01T00:00:00Z) Kwiatkowski, Richard
    More than 85% of the world’s largest companies have an ethics code, but do such things actually make any difference? What does it really mean to be an ethical manage
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The shadow in the balance sheet: The spectre of Enron and how accountants use the past as a psychological defence against the future
    (2004-01-01T00:00:00Z) Cooper, David; James, Kim; Kwiatkowski, Richard; Taffler, Richard J.
    Accounting frameworks play a crucial role in enabling us to make sense of business. These frameworks provide a common language for individuals, organizations and broader economic groupings to understand and make decisions about the commercial realm in which they operate. From a psychodynamic perspective, the language of accounting also plays an important role. On the one hand it offers a way to tame the uncertainty and unknowability of the future by representing it in the same comforting terms as it does the past, thus reducing anxiety. Accounting provides a ‘shorthand’, which achieves a balance between positive and negative, debit and credit, asset and liability. On the other hand, accounting can also provide an arena in which fantasies about the future can be staged. However, the use of accounting language is problematic, particularly when it comes to dealing with the future. First, accounting frameworks are inherently backward looking and second, the reassuring sense of clarity and predictability they give are bought at the price of unrealistic simplification. The shadow is never far away and is a constant source of surprises in the unfolding future of a business. Rationalizing and sanitizing the shadow through accounting language may alleviate anxiety but fails to provide an escape from its effects, and echoes from the shadow side of business are capable of shaking the world in the form of accounting scandals. Governments and businesses have reacted to scandals such as Enron and Worldcom by tightening legislation and refining accounting standards but little, if anything, has been done to bring us any closer to confronting the shadow of business where these scandals have their ro