Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:05:03.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aristotle’s Virtues and Management Thought: An Empirical Exploration of an Integrative Pedagogy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Bruno Dyck  and
Rob Kleysen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This paper develops and explores a pedagogical innovation for integrating virtue theory into business students’ basic understanding of general management. Eighty-seven students, in 20 groups, classified three managers’ real-time videotaped activities according to an elaboration of Aristotle’s cardinal virtues, Fayol’s management functions, and Mintzberg’s managerial roles. The study’s empirical evidence suggests that, akin to Fayol’s functions and Mintzberg’s roles, Aristotle’s virtues are also amenable to operationalization, reliable observation, and meaningful description of managerial behavior. The study provides an oft-called-for empirical basis for further work in virtue theory as an appropriate conceptual framework for the study and practice of management. The results indicate that virtue theory may be used to re-conceive our fundamental understanding of management, alongside its capacity to weigh moral judgment upon it. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , October 2001 , pp. 561 - 574
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aristotle. 1999. Nicomachean Ethics (2nd edition). Irwin, T. (trans.). Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Publishing.Google Scholar
Carrol, S. and Gillen, D. 1987. Are the Classical Management Functions Useful in Describing Managerial Work? Academy of Management Review 12: 38–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fayol, H. 1949 transl (1919 orig.). General and Industrial Management. London: Pitman.Google Scholar
Frankena, W. K. 1973 (1963 orig.). Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gautschi, F. and Jones, T. 1998. Enhancing the Ability of Business Students to Recognize Ethical Issues: An Empirical Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Course in Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 17: 205–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman, E. 1998. The Role of Character in Business Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly 8: 547–559.Google Scholar
Koehn, D. 1995. A Role for Virtue Ethics in the Analysis of Business Practice. Business Ethics Quarterly 5: 533–549.Google Scholar
Koehn, D. 1998. Virtue Ethics, the Firm, and Moral Psychology. Business Ethics Quarterly 8: 497–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maclntyre, A. 1981. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Mintz, S. M. 1996. Aristotelian Virtue and Business Ethics Education. Journal of Business Ethics 15: 827–838.Google Scholar
Mintzberg, H. 1973. The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Moberg, D. 1999. The Big Five and Organizational Virtue. Business Ethics Quarterly 9: 245–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadler, D. A., and Tushman, M. L. 1990. Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change. California Management Review Winter: 11–91.Google Scholar
Park, H. 1998. Can Business Ethics Be Taught?: A New Model of Business Ethics Education. Journal of Business Ethics 17: 965–977.Google Scholar
Pieper, J. 1965. The Four Cardinal Virtues. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc.Google Scholar
Solomon, R. 1992. Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and Integrity in Business. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Starke, E and Sexty, R. 1992. Contemporary Management in Canada (2nd edition). Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada, Inc.Google Scholar
Weber, M. 1958. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.Google Scholar