Published by The Witherspoon Institute
Two developments in the business world have brought to a head the crisis of ethics. On the one hand, against the backdrop of the astonishing success of global markets, major corporate scandals have raised concerns about integrity in business. At the same time, cultural and technological trends are questioning the philosophical assumptions about the human person upon which modern economics is based.
Rethinking Business Management: Examining the Foundations of Business Education draws together the work of distinguished scholars and professionals from history, medicine, law, economics, theology, philosophy, and business management. This groundbreaking book offers new, person-centered perspectives on business management and business education for the 21st century.
Beginning with an examination of the theoretical foundations of business in relation to the human person and to social life as a whole, the book moves on to explore questions of ethics in the management of both public and private social institutions. It concludes with reflections on how the study of ethics in the modern business curriculum might be enhanced, suggesting new ways to think about ethics and to foster habits of moral reflection among business students.
Innovative ideas explored in this book include:
Effective management must be based on sound business science and robust ethical and anthropological conceptions of human flourishing.
Profit is an essential and indispensible element of success in business, and needs to be grounded in a broader understanding of human flourishing in business.
Cultivating an understanding of the moral life in business requires more than rules; developing virtuous character is needed to protect and promote human fulfillment rather than simply making business life more predictable
This unique volume offers equally profound insights for practicing managers as for business educators, historians, theologians, political theorists, and philosophers.
What They're Saying...
"Unlike many ethics books, this one is mostly pro free-market in at least two fundamental ways. First, the book does not widely endorse more 'ethics' legislation or heavier market restrictions. Second, it largely endorses the notion that business is primarily for earning profits. Note the words 'primarily (not 'only') and 'earning.' On the latter, the book insists that earning profits implicitly evokes ethical considerations... Given its academic nature, this book will probably be appreciated most by academics who have already done some thinking on how business ethics should be taught and whether a rational/reasonable agent can flourish by being unethical. But there are a few nuggets to be gained even by other readers...Hartman’s chapter, 'Teaching Business Ethics with Aristotle,' will be worth the price of admission for most readers."
— Daylian M. Cain Yale School of Management