title: Finding a voice. Like individuals, organizations are moral speakers and actors.
abstract: Though "good people' are important for the life of any organization, it is a myth to think that enough good people will make for a good organization. To break free of this myth, a health care organization, which is made up of numerous persons and groups, ought to be regarded as a single, unitary actor in society. When seen as a single actor, the organization's systems for carrying out its mission can be better assessed and improved if necessary. If the organization's systems are not functioning as they should, then even good people will be hindered in their efforts. It can be said, therefore, that organizational ethics takes seriously the idea that every Catholic health care organization is a moral actor needing to reflect carefully on what it does in relation to its employees, leaders, and the outside community. In an environment where the organization's actions are reflected upon, and its character is carefully and continually shaped according to its mission, individual persons in that organization will be better equipped for making and carrying out good decisions that are aligned with that same regard for the mission.
authors.affiliation: Center for Ethics and Social Justice, Loyola University Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ozar
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000941:ethics*; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000941:ethics; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D012945:Social Values; D014481:United States