From Profit to Purpose: How Electric Utility Multinationals Visualize Systemic Change and Adaptation of Organizational Ethical Culture through Scenarios for 2040

Abstract

This article explores how top executives from two electric utility multinationals visualize systemic change and adaptation of their ethical cultures in the future. Allaire and Firsirotu’s framework for organizational culture was incorporated with scenario planning which focused on the influence that the contextual environment exerts on building an organizational ethical culture. The study relied on a holistic and a systems thinking approach to cluster and evaluate six key themes perceived to lead to disruptions in ethical culture. Consequently arriving at the aim to conceive four possible scenarios for 2040 on the future of organizational dynamics and ethical culture in the private electric utility sector. The attributions of relevance for organizational ethical culture and the interrelationships among six key themes demonstrated the greater significance of two themes: From profit to purpose and Environment and Sustainability. As the main driving forces, these two themes guided the development of the scenarios and provided further insights into the flow of power relations, agency, and leverage points for an organizational ethical system.