Moral questions surrounding businesses’ labour practices and the ethical management of working conditions in developing countries are gaining increasing attention. This dissertation is an exploratory investigation on moral imagination amongst managers and union stewards involved in the management of working conditions in the Kenyan tea industry. Semi-structured interviews were used to generate information from participants on their thoughts and experiences as they managed potentially morally-laden issues related to working conditions of lower-tier workers. Thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts participants shared, in order to uncover the deliberative processes participants engaged in as they strived to make sense of these issues. The use of a qualitative approach facilitated a comprehensive examination of the context in which these organizational stakeholders are embedded. The moral imagination framework allows for an examination of how individuals attend to contextual cues as they deliberate on situations of moral import in the work environment. Overall, the findings of this research show that there are diverse patterns of analysis of moral situations among organizational stakeholders. The findings provide empirical support for Bartlett’s (2003) argument that there are many, yet unexplored, intervening processes between problem perception and action when it comes to moral deliberation and decision-making. Among the managers in the study, they were found to include processes of attribution of agency for observed harm, analysis of individual, organizational and social consequences, reflection on conflicts of interest and values, as well as creative imagination in envisioning and enacting actions that could address perceived problems. Among the stewards, they included reflections on principles of justice and human rights, reflection on opportunities for self-development, as well as creative imagination. In addition, the findings suggest role-related differences in the nature of individuals’ moral deliberations. Managers often appealed to an ethics of care in their deliberations on their employees’ working conditions. Union stewards appealed to both an ethics of care and an ethics of justice.

Pesquisa qualitativa, que se caracterizou como um estudo do tipo antes e depois. Teve como objetivo principal analisar o impacto de uma ação educativa em bioética clínica e deliberação moral aplicadas à atenção básica, com vistas a identificar se a percepção de problemas éticos se modificaria e se esta ação traria contribuições com aportes para lidar com as questões éticas na prática. A ação educativa foi desenvolvida com enfermeiros e médicos da Estratégia Saúde da Família, Santo André, SP, e calcou-se no enfoque problematizador e na bioética deliberativa, para apresentar o itinerário da deliberação como subsídio para o manejo de problemas éticos. Para avaliar a mudança na percepção de problemas éticos, foi aplicado um instrumento para inventariar tais situações, antes, depois e no meio da intervenção. Para avaliar a utilidade da ação educativa, foram feitas perguntas abertas, cujas respostas foram tratadas com análise de conteúdo. Houve mobilização positiva da sensibilidade ética dos participantes. Eles avaliaram a deliberação como um instrumental adequado para lidar com as questões éticas que vivem. A problematização mostrou-se efetiva como estratégia educativa na formação contínua em bioética deliberativa. / Qualitative research, which was characterized with a kind of study before and after. The main objective was analyzing the impact of an educational intervention in clinical bioethics and moral decision applied to primary care, aiming to identify the perceived ethical problems would change and if this action would bring with subsidiary contributions to deal with ethical issues in practice. The educational activity was developed with nurses and medical doctors from the Family Health Strategy, Santo André, SP. The educational activity trod on the problem-posing approach and deliberative bioethics, to present the itinerary of the determination as to subsidize the management of ethical issues. To evaluate the usefulness of educational activities open-ended questions were made whose answers were dealt with content analysis. There was positive mobilization of ethical sensitivity of the participants. They evaluated the decision as an appropriate instrument to deal with ethical issues which they live. The problem-posing education strategy showed effective in continuous training in deliberative bioethics.

Pesquisa qualitativa, que se caracterizou como um estudo do tipo antes e depois. Teve como objetivo principal analisar o impacto de uma ação educativa em bioética clínica e deliberação moral aplicadas à atenção básica, com vistas a identificar se a percepção de problemas éticos se modificaria e se esta ação traria contribuições com aportes para lidar com as questões éticas na prática. A ação educativa foi desenvolvida com enfermeiros e médicos da Estratégia Saúde da Família, Santo André, SP, e calcou-se no enfoque problematizador e na bioética deliberativa, para apresentar o itinerário da deliberação como subsídio para o manejo de problemas éticos. Para avaliar a mudança na percepção de problemas éticos, foi aplicado um instrumento para inventariar tais situações, antes, depois e no meio da intervenção. Para avaliar a utilidade da ação educativa, foram feitas perguntas abertas, cujas respostas foram tratadas com análise de conteúdo. Houve mobilização positiva da sensibilidade ética dos participantes. Eles avaliaram a deliberação como um instrumental adequado para lidar com as questões éticas que vivem. A problematização mostrou-se efetiva como estratégia educativa na formação contínua em bioética deliberativa. / Qualitative research, which was characterized with a kind of study before and after. The main objective was analyzing the impact of an educational intervention in clinical bioethics and moral decision applied to primary care, aiming to identify the perceived ethical problems would change and if this action would bring with subsidiary contributions to deal with ethical issues in practice. The educational activity was developed with nurses and medical doctors from the Family Health Strategy, Santo André, SP. The educational activity trod on the problem-posing approach and deliberative bioethics, to present the itinerary of the determination as to subsidize the management of ethical issues. To evaluate the usefulness of educational activities open-ended questions were made whose answers were dealt with content analysis. There was positive mobilization of ethical sensitivity of the participants. They evaluated the decision as an appropriate instrument to deal with ethical issues which they live. The problem-posing education strategy showed effective in continuous training in deliberative bioethics.