Social and moral issues in business have drawn attention to a gap between theory and practice and fueled the search for a reconciling perspective. Finding and establishing an alternative remains a critical initiative, but a daunting one. In what follows, the assumptions of two prominent contenders are considered before introducing a third in the form of Aristotle's ancient theory of virtue. Comparative case studies are used to briefly illustrate the practical implications of each paradigm. In the quest for a better sense-making and sense-giving lens, this paper refines and encourages the search by highlighting some of the key features required of a worthy paradigmatic challenge. The author proceeds to identify a particular type of institutional community, and a promising champion, for the practical unification of strategic and normative excellence.
We have recently seen a growing concern for business ethics and the central role key individuals play in the formative years of a business. Research has shown that the embedding of personal values are one of the more critical and lasting contributions that a founder can make in an organisation. Research also indicates that in the modern business context, there are few accepted guidelines for moral evaluations in practical business settings. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to explore some of the moral and social elements inherent in entrepreneurship, using the basic tenets espoused by Aristotle. By revisiting the theory of virtue, we find a powerful framework for establishing organisational purpose, habitual excellence and the optimal balance for sustaining these ventures and the people on whom they depend. For creative business practices, such as entrepreneurship and marketing, a virtue perspective offers a particularly appropriate lens.
In this paper we argue that conventional models for excellence are too narrow, too internally focused, too instrumental and too functionalist to achieve excellence in dealing with broad emerging socio-economic concerns. We try to show that Aristotle's theory of virtue has useful contemporary relevance and can be developed and used to understand a fuller notion of business excellence.We develop a qualitative research instrument to discover and illustrate excellence and to establish its modern nature. Our application of virtue demonstrated that purpose was key to achieving excellence. We find that virtue theory can be a useful and practical guide to producing excellence.
This case provides a rare insider's perspective on the situation of a high-tech company (Dealer Trade Group: DTG) attempting to upset the existing institutions, practices, and norms of the traditional auto wholesaling industry. Because DTG's business model is built upon online marketplace technology, many of its operations are foreign to established industry processes. As DTG potentially stands to revolutionize the vehicle wholesaling industry, the case illustrates challenges facing Carter Crockett as he attempted to balance the divergent interests of investors, employees, and dealers. Key Decision and Major Issues for DiscussionWith a view toward what is best for Crockett and DTG itself, the case engages issues of: (1) who would be the best leader for a company like DTG and (2) when entrepreneurs should "pass the baton." This key decision as it stands in the case is complex because of mixed messages from the board and investors, who may not entirely trust Crockett but show no interest in finding a replacement for him. Todd Greenway, the vice president of sales, complicates matters further. Whereas Greenway and Crockett were initially convinced of the crucial need to work together to reconcile their backgrounds, later events indicated that Greenway's relative importance had grown while Crockett's had diminished. Confronting Greenway for his disrespectful and manipulative behavior is problematic because he is largely responsible for DTG's sales performance. How to deal with DTG's board, investors, and Greenway are important issues in the case; discussion around them can constitute arguments for or against Crockett's possible resignation.The case also shows how a venture with a novel business model entering an established industry can meet with inertia, ineradicable social practices, networks, and institutions, all of which may frustrate strategies for the venture to achieve its objectives. Thus, from a strategic management perspective, fit between a high-tech business model and a low-tech industry is a second issue for discussion.
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