Preview

Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aritotelean Approach to Business Ethics

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
516 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aritotelean Approach to Business Ethics
Aristotelian Approach is a way to look at individuals in a corporation the same way Aristotle looked at people in the environment, by taking individuals into consideration over society, it focuses on individual habits of character to do good. Aristotle believed rights are important but the concern is more with the individuals’ virtues. There are six dimensions of this ethics: Community, excellence, role identity, integrity, judgment, holism (University of Phoenix, 2009).

In recent years there has been an increased interest in the application of Aristotelian virtue to business ethics. The objective of this paper is to describe the moral and intellectual virtues defined by Aristotle and the types of pedagogy that might be used to integrate virtue ethics into the business curriculum. Virtues are acquired human qualities, the excellences of character, which enable a person to achieve the good life. In business, the virtues facilitate successful cooperation and enable the community to achieve its collective goals. The cultivation of virtue in students requires imparting knowledge about virtue and training students to be virtuous. A variety of instructional techniques are discussed including using case studies, collaborative and cooperative learning, role-playing, and video presentations. Business educators should emphasize to students that virtue considerations apply both to possible actions they may take and to themselves as moral agents. Since faculty may be viewed as role models, it is especially important that they set proper standards of behavior for students to emulate.

In his article, “An Aristotelean Approach to Business Ethics,” Robert Solomon argues that business should be viewed from the Aristotle way. He discusses that this view is not something very new but something that originated back to the ancient times. “What the Aristotelean approach promises is not something novel and scientific but an approach that is very staid and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reviewing Chapter 1 in your textbook and watching “Virtue Ethics,” find a contemporary article showing how the theory of psychological egoism in a corporation resulted in an ethical dilemma.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Business ethics undoubtedly is a close parallel to casuistry. Its origin is political, as was that of casuistry. Its basic thesis, that ethics for the ruler, and especially for the business executive, has to express social responsibility is exactly the starting point of the Casuist. But if business ethics is casuistry, then it will not last long-and long before it dies, it will have become a tool of the business executive to justify what for other people would be unethical behavior, rather than a tool to restrain the business executive and to impose tight ethical limits on business” (Drucker, p.26) .…

    • 2376 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mike Rich

    • 2507 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Donaldson, Thomas, Patricia Hogue. Werhane, and Zandt Joseph D. Van. Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical Approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.…

    • 2507 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Business seeks to create happiness for all stakeholders through the production of products and services that establish value for customers. However are the business decisions “right” or “ethical”? With relevance to business, Aristotle suggests three main arguments and ideas in the Nicomachean Ethics. First, appropriate virtues of character are the important principle in ethics that allows a person to be truly ethical and only through practicing and honing into these virtues does one exhibit sound moral judgement. Secondly, Aristotle places great emphasis on how positive and active communities are essential to nurture appropriate virtues. Lastly, guidance from successful ethical and moral leaders is essential to disseminate an appropriate depiction…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Oddo, Alfonso R. "A Framework for Teaching Business Ethics." Journal of Business Ethics 16 (1997): 293-297.…

    • 2244 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bus4070

    • 5433 Words
    • 22 Pages

    4. What is virtue ethics, and how can it be applied to the business world?…

    • 5433 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics and morals are a requirement in the corporate business world. Each day employees are faced with moral and ethical issues; and because they have their own individual set of morals, they behave differently. Many have formed a good understanding of the basics of ethics, leadership, morality and social responsibility; but most do not really understand the true meaning of values, ethics and morality. The roots of ethics in America teach us “Ten Universal Values,” namely, honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fidelity, fairness, caring, respect for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit of excellence, and accountability. However, recent history teaches us 12 ethical principles that include two additional values, namely leadership, and reputation and morals to the list that I will discuss in this essay. I will also discuss the differences between ethical and moral issues. In business, ethics and character count. Therefore, I will also discuss some organizations that have been destroyed or damaged due to their unethical and immoral behavior in business.…

    • 1631 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethical and moral issues in business go hand in hand, and go along well with one another. We each have our own moral standards that make us who we are and what we stand for. Our character comes from our moral ethics, and how we were raised to handle ourselves in certain situations. Ethical behavior comes from society and how we are perceived by society. Ethics in a business setting involves both morals and strong ethics. I am going to attempt to explain what the difference is between moral ethics and business ethics in this paper.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When business people talk about “business ethics”, it should contains three main points: (1) must obey the criminal law in some work-related activities; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against business activities; (3) avoid personal behaviors that bad for customers, competitors, subordinates and suppliers. Doing business should especially concern with these three principles since they involve loss of money and company reputation. In theory, a business could declare these three concerns by assigning corporate attorneys and public relations experts to escort employees on their daily activities. Anytime an employee might stray from the straight and narrow path of acceptable conduct, the experts would guide him back. Obviously this solution would be a financial disaster if carried out in practice since it would cost a business more in attorney and public relations fees than they would save from proper employee conduct. Perhaps reluctantly, businesses turn to philosophers to instruct employees on becoming “moral.” For over 2,000 years philosophers have systematically announced the issue of right and wrong conduct. Presumably, then, philosophers can teach employees a basic understanding of morality will help them away from trouble. However, it is hard to teach everyone to be ethical. The…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both the Aristotelian and Thomist forms of natural moral law are concerned with human purpose as a whole. Aristotle believed that the goal of every human was to achieve ‘eudaimonia’ or all-round flourishing as a human being. Aquinas, on the other hand related his ideas of purpose to the Chrisitan beliefs of achieving unison with God and receiving beatific vision. From such a viewpoint, Aquinas deduced five ‘primary precepts’ that he felt needed to be adhered to in order to ‘do good and avoid evil’. These were self-preservation, reproduction, education, living in society, and worshipping God. It is the narrow nature of these precepts that present one of the initial problems encountered when applying natural moral law to business ethics. Most businesses do not aim to fulfil the ‘human purpose’ – they have been established as a means of providing a service that generates profit. If businesses were forced to create secondary precepts that promote such particular fulfilments as the worship of…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Personal Ethics Paper

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Donaldson, T, & Werhane, P.H. (Eds.). (2002) Ethical issues in business: A philosophical approach (7th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It's Good Business

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In “It’s Good Business”, Robert Solomon, a philosophy professor at University of Texas, explores the fundamentals and significance of practicing good business ethics in decision making. He tackles the correlation between understanding ethics and doing a better job, and the direct implications of not taking the value of right moral into account. In addition, he explicates the myth of amoral business. Lastly, he presents the three C’s of Business ethics and the eight essential rules for ethical thinking in business. In this essay, I will explain and cite examples why I agree or disagree with Robert Solomon’s point of views about business and business ethics. Some of his claims that I will discuss are “Good Ethics is Good Business”, “unethical conduct hurts business as a whole”, and “business is not fundamentally amoral or immoral. Business is not blind scramble for profits and survival but rather established practice with firmly fixed rules and expectations, and people in business are professionals”.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Ethics in the Workplace

    • 3255 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Beauchamp, T.L., & Bowie, N.E. (Eds.). (2004). Ethical theory and business (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.…

    • 3255 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethical Issues on Toyota

    • 4568 Words
    • 19 Pages

    Course Description: Business ethics is an important part of any industry. Students or managers, unfamiliar with many ethical challenges, behaviors, or regulations will find themselves struggling in business industries that include finance, accounting or human resource management, marketing and retail. Today's managers must necessarily concern themselves with ethical issues, because unethical behavior creates legal risks and damage to businesses as well as employees and consumers. Business ethics have become an integral part of business education in general. A student or manager who is well-versed in ethical behavior in practices, not only in the domestic market but internationally, will find him or herself better prepared to deal with issues or situations that may arise that don't always involve easy answers or decisions. Each one of us, from the individual consumer to the CEO of an international corporation, is affected in some way by business ethics during the course of his or her life. Therefore, everyone has a stake in the ramifications resulting from unethical business decisions. This business ethics course offers an introduction into the concept of values, morality, as well as cultural beliefs and…

    • 4568 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    virtue theory

    • 5454 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Mintzberg 's roles, Aristotle 's virtues are also amenable to operationalization, reliable observation, and meaningful description of…

    • 5454 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics