MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

This paper seeks to establish whether the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics as applied to business organizations are meaningful in a non-western business context. It does so by building on research reported in Moore (Organ Stud, 33(3): 363-387, 2012) in which the application of virtue ethics to business organizations was investigated empirically in the UK, based on a conceptual framework drawn from MacIntyre's work (After Virtue 2007). Comparing these results with an equivalent study in Sri Lanka, the paper finds that the categories are meaningful but that there are both similarities to and considerable differences in the content of these categories from the UK study. The paper draws on aspects of institutional theory to explore and explain these findings. Overall, there is supportive evidence that the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics are generalizable, and so can be used to characterize problems of organizational virtue and vice around the world, while providing evidence that there may be polities which are more conducive to the 'practice-like conduct of production' (Keat, Philos Manag, 7(1): 77-91, 2008). Comparing these results with an equivalent study in Sri Lanka, the paper finds that the categories are meaningful but that there are both similarities to and considerable differences in the content of these categories from the UK study. The paper draws on aspects of institutional theory to explore and explain these findings.Overall, there is supportive evidence that the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics are generalizable, and so can be used to characterise problems of organizational virtue and vice around the world, while providing evidence that there may be polities which are more conducive to the 'practice-like conduct of production ' (Keat, 2008).2

Corporate character, corporate virtues

“…While the mapping of corporate virtues identified above requires empirical verification, it does have several advantages over the alternative models that were reviewed above. As noted, its philosophical grounding, together with the empirical work already conducted on the basic mapping in Figure (see Moore ; Fernando & Moore ), gives it an initial credibility. In addition, it is in the nature of virtue ethics that it draws attention to character, character development, and by definition therefore has a narrative dimension.…”

Religion-Based Decision Making in Indian Multinationals: A Multi-faith Study of Ethical Virtues and Mindsets

“…So then, how are virtues developed? It is believed that through the deliberate and conscious attempt to live out the virtues, one achieves moral excellence (Arjoon, 2000;Fernando and Moore, 2015). Hence, virtue ethics theory believes that it is possible to learn, develop and acquire certain "proper" habits over time.…”

“…Proponents have argued that the notion of virtue is not solely the property of Western philosophical thought, as the concept of doing the right thing or being virtuous is believed to span across cultures (Demuijnck, 2015;Koehn, 2013;Murphy, 1999). Motivated to explore the usefulness of MacIntyre's (2007) framework in another culture, Fernando and Moore (2015) found that the respondents interviewed in Sri Lanka demonstrated an understanding of the purpose of their organizations as cultivating internal goods, e.g., serving their internal and external stakeholders as well as being cognizant of the environment for the common good, and they believed that the pursuit of such internal goods first and foremost inevitably leads to external goods, such as financial performance and growth. While it is encouraging to see the potential cross-cultural applications of MacIntyrean virtue ethics, more research needs to be done in other cultural contexts.…”

“…Thus, this study heeds the call of Srinivasan (2011, p.81) that "Any discussion on ethics in India will have to deal not just with Hindu ethics but also with the other religions like Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism at a minimal level" as well as the call from Miller and Ewest (2013) to depart from asking whether religious virtues have an impact on employees and companies to instead ask in what ways are these virtues impacting organizations. Given these contentions, virtue ethics theory is deemed to be well-suited for the current study because it allows for the consideration of moral excellence in decision making in Western and non-Western contexts (Audi, 2012;Chattopadhyay, 2012;Fernando and Moore, 2015;Koehn, 2013;Lutz, 2009;Wang and Hackett, in press). The confluence of the long-standing traditions of India's cultures, religious practices and rapidly globalizing economy provides an ideal opportunity to study how Indian executives with global responsibilities handle EDM in light of their religious convictions.…”

From Harmony to Conflict: MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in a Confucian Tradition

“…Not only has MacIntyre's conceptual framework been used as a basis for empirical studies in the West but also further afield in Sri Lanka (Fernando and Moore 2015), to see whether other polities may provide environments more "positively conducive to a practice-like mode of production" (Keat 2008, p. 83). This is clearly important for the general validity of MacIntyre's concepts since, as MacIntyre himself states, "the claims of such a theory must concern human rather than Chinese or Greek excellence" (MacIntyre 1991, p. 104).…”