Moral Repair: Toward a Two-Level Conceptualization

Abstract

Moral repair is an important way for firms to heal moral relationships with stakeholders following a transgression. The concept is rooted in recognition theory, which is often used to develop normative perspectives and prescriptions, but the same theory has also propelled a view of moral repair as premised on negotiation between offender and victim(s), which involves the complex social construction of the transgression and the appropriate amends. The tension between normative principles and socioconstructivist implementation begs the question how offending firms should approach moral repair. Addressing this question, we develop a two-level conceptualization of moral repair, distinguishing between procedural and substantive levels of practice, which accommodate normativity and socioconstructivism, respectively. In so doing, we enrich the literature by 1) promoting conceptual clarity, 2) refining understanding of the moral repair process, and 3) suggesting the use of a unified, configurational approach to studying (nonlinear) relations between amends and moral outcomes.

Remedy and Accountability a Decade after the Marikana Massacre

“…Yet, from a procedural perspective, these initiatives have failed to live up to the remedy standards required by the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. 14 For example, the policy assigning houses to widows has been subject to controversy as the company refused to grant them to those who had received housing support from other entities. Furthermore, the delivery of the houses has also been subject to long delays.…”