The Messy Ethics of Business Organizations

Mortimer, Samuel

Abstract

Underlying some of the most influential normative theories of business ethics is the assumption that there is an asymmetry between the moral responsibilities of managers and those of subordinates, arising in virtue of the control managers have over organizational decision-making. Empirical research on business organizations casts doubts on this assumption. While organizational decisions are routinely attributed to managers, the decisions themselves are the product of collective action processes over which managers have little control. Managers may be able to influence the outcome of these processes, but so can subordinates. In some cases, subordinates may have more influence than managers. This suggests that the primary domain of business ethics is not managerial decision-making, but instead the various behaviors by which people (managers or otherwise) exert influence on organizations. I end by discussing how a theory of business ethics that focuses on these behaviors would differ from standard theories. This has important implications for the use of philosophical methodologies in management and business ethics research.

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Research Methodology

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Epistemological issues and theoretical conceptualizations 

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The Messy Ethics of Business Organizations

Abstract

Please choose your submission type

Primary Track

Keywords