ABSTRACT
Although emerging simultaneously with defensive responses, what we term the constructive response presents a very different orientation towards HIV/AIDS and its organizational consequences. The approach starts from the assumption that either because of its association with stigmatized groups, or simply as a result of its new and apparently implacable potency, HIV/AIDS serves as a basis for, or a justification of, discriminatory behaviour. In particular, constructive responses have been born out of a concern on the part of organization policymakers to remedy or avoid any form of discrimination in employment, a response usually initiated through an existing commitment to equal opportunities. Alternatively, this response has also been introduced by the efforts of groups organized by, or in support of, people with HIV/ AIDS-in particular, but not exclusively, the homosexual community. In this respect the formulation and adoption of constructive responses has been shaped to a considerable extent by the interplay of a number of ideological positions that have emerged in the wake of the epidemic. This has been discussed by Bennett and Ferlie (1994) within the context of the health service, although the ideological forms they ideritify can, we suggest, be seen as influential in shaping a wider range of organizational responses to HIV/AIDS.
