Toward an “Ethics of Serendipity”: Disrupting Normative Ethical Discourses in Organizations

Abstract

Although most ethics development programs favor cognitive, individual, and top-down approaches, our article discusses, using the illustrative example of Volvo Group’s CreaLab, the cohabitation of multiples ethical discourses in organizations and implications for human resource development (HRD). We introduce the concept of the ethics of serendipity resulting from the ongoing dialogue and confrontation between three ethical discourses that we came up with building on Levinas’ work: The Being I discourse, the Being with discourse, and the discourse of the Call of the Other. The ethics of serendipity, thus, appear as a compromise that results from dissatisfaction with the traditional power dynamics of the Being I discourse, the desire to do something together illustrated in the Being with discourse, and the irresistible Call of the Other. Overall, this article answers a call for more social and experiential approaches to ethics in HRD.