Virtue in Business: Conversations with Aristotle

290 Pages·2013·2.4 MB·English

by  Professor Edwin M. Hartman

more information - www.cambridge.org/9781107030756

Virtue in Business
Thevirtueapproachtobusinessethicsisatopicofincreasingimportance
withinthebusinessworld.FocusingonAristotle’stheorythatthevirtues
ofcharacter,ratherthanactions,arecentraltoethics,EdwinM.Hartman
introducesreadersofthisbooktothevalueofapplyingAristotle’svirtue
approach to business. Using numerous real-world examples, he argues
that business leaders have good reason to take character seriously when
explaining and evaluating individuals in organizations. He demonstrates
howthevirtueapproachcandeepenourunderstandingofbusinessethics
andhowitcancontributetocontemporarydiscussionsofcharacter,ratio-
nality, corporate culture, ethics education, and global ethics. Written by
one of the foremost Aristotelian scholars working in the field today, this
authoritativeintroductiontotheroleofvirtueethicsinbusinessisavalu-
abletextforgraduatestudentsandacademicresearchersinbusinessethics,
appliedethics,andphilosophy.
edwin m. hartman was Visiting Professor of Business Ethics and co-
directorofthePaduanoSeminarinBusinessEthicsattheSternSchoolof
Business in New York University until his retirement in December 2009.
BeforejoiningStern,hetaughtformorethantwentyyearsinthebusiness
schoolandthephilosophydepartmentatRutgersUniversity,wherehewas
foundingdirectorofthePrudentialBusinessEthicsCenteratRutgers.Heis
theauthorofSubstance,Body,andSoul:AristotelianInvestigations,Con-
ceptualFoundationsofOrganizationTheory,andOrganizationalEthics
andtheGoodLife(namedBookoftheYear[2003]bytheSocialIssuesin
ManagementDivisionoftheAcademyofManagement).
Business, Value Creation, and Society
Serieseditors
R.EdwardFreeman,UniversityofVirginia
JeremyMoon,NottinghamUniversity
MetteMorsing,CopenhagenBusinessSchool
The purpose of this innovative series is to examine, from an interna-
tionalstandpoint,theinteractionofbusinessandcapitalismwithsoci-
ety.Inthetwenty-firstcenturyitismoreimportantthaneverthatbusi-
ness and capitalism come to be seen as social institutions that have a
greatimpactonthewelfareofhumansocietyaroundtheworld.Issues
such as globalization, environmentalism, information technology, the
triumph of liberalism, corporate governance, and business ethics all
have the potential to have major effects on our current models of the
corporation and the methods by which value is created, distributed,
andsustainedamongallstakeholders–customers,suppliers,employ-
ees,communities,andfinanciers.
Publishedtitles:
Fort Business,Integrity,andPeace
GomezandKorine EntrepreneursandDemocracy
Crane,Matten,andMoon CorporationsandCitizenship
Painter-Morland BusinessEthicsasPractice
YazijiandDoh NGOsandCorporations
Rivera BusinessandPublicPolicy
SachsandRu¨hli StakeholdersMatter
Mansell Capitalism,CorporationsandtheSocialContract
Forthcomingtitles:
Hemingway CorporateSocialEntrepreneurship
MaakandPless ResponsibleLeadership
deBruin EthicsinFinance
Virtue in Business
Conversations with Aristotle
edwin m. hartman
cambridge university press
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Hartman,Edwin,1941–
Virtueinbusiness:conversationswithAristotle/EdwinM.Hartman.
pages cm.–(Business,valuecreation,andsociety)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-03075-6(hardback)
1.Businessethics. 2.Virtue. 3.Aristotle. I.Title.
HF5387.H37324 2013
174(cid:3).4–dc23 2013011345
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Contents
ForewordbyR.EdwardFreeman pageix
Acknowledgments xi
IntroductiontoAristotle,virtueethics,andthisbook 1
1 Virtuesandprinciples 25
2 Virtuesanddecisions 64
3 Virtues,goodreasons,andthegoodlife 94
4 Developingcharacter 127
5 Virtuesinandamongorganizations 161
6 Teachingvirtueinbusinessschool 189
7 Ethicalconflictandtheglobalfuture 211
Bibliography 253
Index 268
vii