The combination of strategic games and moral community in the functioning of firms.

Abstract

In order to describe the functioning of business firms, two different models of collective action are currently mobilized. The first represents the firm as an arena for the different strategies of actors who want to maximize their interests. The second model focuses on the existence of shared values, of a common culture. In order to contribute to synthesis between these two approaches, two opposite situations are compared: the running of a firm in Morocco, which appears to be a community-like enterprise, and the running of a firm in the USA, where on the contrary, the community elements seem to be markedly absent. We analyze how the strategies of actors are combined with a collective adherence to a moral community. This enables us to propose a theoretical approach combining these two facets of the firms' functioning. In the two cases, we have found a common perception of the good and the bad which enables us to talk about a moral community.

Keywords: national cultures, moral community, trust, strategic games, cooperation

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In order to describe the functioning of business firms, two different models of collective action are mobilized, namely, the model of society (Gesellschaft) and the model of community (Gemeinschaft) (Tonnies 1964). The first model focuses on the autonomy of individuals. These individuals are supposed to defend and maximize their private interests. In order to attain this goal, they become freely involved in contractual relationships and set up structures which govern their actions. In contrast, the second model supposes that something as a whole exists before individuals. It supposes that this whole governs individuals, by ruling their perception of the world, their values and their actions. Some theories are also mobilized in order to create a synthesis between these two complementary approaches, such as that of Anthony Giddens. This author (Giddens 1984) takes into consideration the structures which, at a certain period of time, determine the way in which individuals make their own perceptions of the social world and react to it. He considers these structures to be a historical heritage. But simultaneously, he considers the role of individuals who make use of the patterns of thinking and of action provided by these structures. According to Giddens, through this implementation individuals guarantee the social reproduction of these structures, but simultaneously, they also bring innovations which cause them to evolve in the course of time. Our aim in this article is to contribute, in another way, to this researching of synthesis.

We are going to support our analysis with research related to the influence of national culture on the functioning and the management of organizations (d'Iribarne 1989; d'Iribarne et al. 1998). This research aims to analyze the relationship between the functioning and management of organizations and the particularities of political cultures. To date, investigations have been carried out in 30 countries. We will compare two opposite situations. The first part of our analysis will deal with the running of a firm in Morocco which seems to be particularly similar to the model of a community-like firm with a strong 'culture'. Then the second part will deal with the running of a firm in the USA in which, on the contrary, community elements seem to be at first sight particularly absent. Lastly, we will compare these two cases, in order to understand their common denominators. We will analyze in each case how the strategies of actors, who want to maximize their interests, are combined with a collective adhesion to a 'moral community', and by the end of the article we will be able to define more precisely the meaning of this term in its context. This will enable us to propose a theoretical approach combining these two facets of the functioning of firms.

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