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Caring or Not Caring for Coworkers? An Empirical Exploration of the Dilemma of Care Allocation in the Workplace

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  • Antoni, Anne
  • Reinecke, Juliane
  • Fotaki, Marianna

Abstract

Organization and management researchers praise the value of care in the workplace. However, they overlook the conflict between caring for work and for coworkers, which resonates with the dilemma of care allocation highlighted by ethicists of care. Through an in-depth qualitative study of two organizations, we examine how this dilemma is confronted in everyday organizational life. We draw on the concept of boundary work to explain how employees negotiate the boundary of their caring responsibilities in ways that grants or denies care to coworkers. We argue that the possibility of an ethics of care for coworkers requires boundary work that suspends the separation of personal and professional selves and constitutes the worker as a whole person. We contribute to research on care in organizations by showing how care for coworkers may be enabled or undermined by maintaining or suppressing the care allocation dilemma.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoni, Anne & Reinecke, Juliane & Fotaki, Marianna, 2020. "Caring or Not Caring for Coworkers? An Empirical Exploration of the Dilemma of Care Allocation in the Workplace," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 447-485, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:30:y:2020:i:4:p:447-485_2
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    Cited by:

    1. Eline Jammaers, 2023. "Theorizing Discursive Resistance to Organizational Ethics of Care Through a Multi-stakeholder Perspective on Disability Inclusion Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(2), pages 333-345, March.
    2. Anne Antoni & Juliane Reinecke & Marianna Fotaki, 2023. "Making Time to Care, and Caring for Time: ‘Tricking Time’ to Cope with Conflicting Temporalities in a Child Protection Agency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 645-663, December.
    3. Claire Doussard & Emmanuelle Garbe & Jeremy Morales & Julien Billion, 2024. "Universal Design for the Workplace: Ethical Considerations Regarding the Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(2), pages 285-296, October.
    4. Anica Zeyen & Oana Branzei, 2023. "Disabled at Work: Body-Centric Cycles of Meaning-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(4), pages 767-810, July.
    5. Lucas Amaral Lauriano & Juliane Reinecke & Michael Etter, 2022. "When Aspirational Talk Backfires: The Role of Moral Judgements in Employees’ Hypocrisy Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 827-845, December.
    6. Melanie Richards, 2023. "When do Non-financial Goals Benefit Stakeholders? Theorizing on Care and Power in Family Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(2), pages 333-351, May.
    7. Wee Chan Au & Siân Stephens, 2023. "I Am Not Just a Nurse: The Need for a Boundaried Ethic of Care in the Context of Prolific Relationality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 493-510, September.
    8. Kate Kenny & Marianna Fotaki, 2023. "The Costs and Labour of Whistleblowing: Bodily Vulnerability and Post-disclosure Survival," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 341-364, January.
    9. Yiyu Yi & Qianbao Tan & Jiahui Liu & Fuqun Liang & Chao Liu & Zhenbiao Yin, 2022. "The Mechanism of Cumulative Ecological Risk Affecting College Students’ Sense of Social Responsibility: The Double Fugue Effect of Belief in a Just World and Empathy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Heidi Reed, 2024. "“When money is more valuable than people…”: The pandemic as a call for business to care," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 435-455, March.
    11. Lakshmi Balachandran Nair, 2024. "Mrs. Dalloway and the Shecession: The Interconnectedness and Intersectionalities of Care Ethics and Social Time During the Pandemic," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 1-18, September.
    12. Anne Antoni & Haley Beer, 2024. "Ethical Sensibilities for Practicing Care in Management and Organization Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 279-294, March.

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