Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T04:29:38.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Common Good of the Firm in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Alejo José G. Sison  and
Joan Fontrodona
Alejo José G. Sison
Affiliation:
University of Navarre
Joan Fontrodona
Affiliation:
University of Navarre
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This article proposes a theory of the firm based on the common good. It clarifies the meaning of the term “common good” tracing its historical development. Next, an analogous sense applicable to the firm is derived from its original context in political theory. Put simply, the common good of the firm is the production of goods and services needed for flourishing, in which different members participate through work. This is linked to the political common good through subsidiarity. Lastly, implications and challenges arising from the positing of work as the common good of the firm are explored.

Keywords

virtuecommon goodbusiness ethicstheory of the firmjustice
Type
Special Issue: Reviving Traditions: Virtue and the Common Good in Business and Management
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 211 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2012

References

REFERENCES

Alford, H.J., & Naughton, M.J. 2001. Managing as if faith mattered. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Aquinas, T. 1954. De perfectione vitae spiritualis. In Spiazzi, R.M. (Ed.), Aquinas, T.Opuscula theologica (vol. 2). Taurini: Marietti. (English version: Procter, J. (trans.). 1950. The religious state, the episcopate and the priestly office: A translation of the minor work of the saint on the perfection of the spiritual life. Westminster, Md.: Newman.Google Scholar
Aquinas, T. 1962. Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Fortin, E.L. and O’Neill, P.D. In Lerner, R.Mahdi, M. (Eds.), Medieval political philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Aquinas, T. 1993. Commentary on the Politics, trans. Litzinger, C.I.Notre Dame, Ind.: Dumb Ox Books.Google Scholar
Aquinas, T. 2006. Summa theologiae, ed. English Province of the Order of Preachers.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Argandoña, A. 1998. The stakeholder theory and the common good. Journal of Business Ethics, 17: 1093–1102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aristotle, 1985. Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Irwin, T.Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.Google Scholar
Aristotle, 1988. The Politics, ed. Everson, S.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Atkinson, R. 2004. Connecting business ethics and legal ethics for the common good: come, let us reason together. Journal of Corporation Law, 29: 470–531.Google Scholar
Augustine of Hippo. 1964. The city of God, trans. Walsh, G.G. and Honan, D.J.Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.Google Scholar
Badaracco, C.H. 1996. Public opinion and corporate expression: In search of the common good. Public Relations Quarterly, 41(3): 14–19.Google Scholar
Benedict, XVI. 2009. Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html#_edn8.Google Scholar
Benestad, J.B. 1985. George, Henry and the Catholic view of morality and the common good, I: George’s overall critique of Pope Leo XIII’s classical encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum.’ American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 44(3): 365–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benestad, J.B. 1986. George, Henry and the Catholic view of morality and the common good, II. American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 45(1): 115–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brickman, P., & Campbell, D.T. 1971. Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In Apley, M.H. (Ed.), Adaptation-level theory: A symposium: 287–302. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cameron, K.S. 2003. Organizational virtuousness and performance. In Cameron, K.S., Dutton, J.E. & Quinn, R.E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: 48–65. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Ciulla, J. 2000. The working life: The promise and betrayal of modern work. New York: Three Rivers Press.Google Scholar
Daly, H.E., & Cobb, J.B. Jr., 1999–2001. For the common good. Journal of Business Administration & Policy Analysis, 1999: 27–29, 2001:65-86.Google Scholar
de Bettignies, H.C. 2009. Can multinational corporations afford to ignore the global common good? Business & Society Review, 114(2): 153–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deissenberg, C., & Álvarez González, F. 2002. Cheating for the common good in a macroeconomic policy game. Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control, 26: 1457–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downing, L.A., & Thigpen, R.A. 1993. Virtue and the common good in liberal theory. Journal of Politics, 55: 1046–59.Google Scholar
Easterlin, R. 1974. Does economic growth improve human lot? In Davis, P.A. & Reder, M.W. (Eds.), Nation and households in economic growth: Essays in honor of Moses Abromowitz. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Epstein, R.A. 1988. Modern republicanism—Or the flight from substance. Yale Law Journal, 97: 1633–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fort, T.L. 1999. The First Man and the Company Man: The common good, transcendence, and mediating institutions. American Business Law Journal, 36: 391–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R.E. 1984. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.E. 2007. Managing for stakeholders. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1186402.Google Scholar
Frey, B.S., & Stutzer, A. 2002. Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect well-being. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, M. 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine (13 September).Google Scholar
Froelich, G. 1989. The equivocal status of bonum commune. The New Scholasticism, 63 (Winter): 38–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Güth, W., Schmittberger, R., & Schwarze, B. 1982. An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 3(4): 367–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman, E.M. 2006. Can we teach character? An Aristotelian answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1): 68–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman, E.M. 2008. Reconciliation in business ethics. Some advice from Aristotle. Business Ethics Quarterly, 18(2): 253–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayek, F.A. 1976. Law, legislation and liberty: The mirage of social justice, vol. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hayek, F.A. 2001. The road to serfdom. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hesselbein, F. 2008. In service to the common good. Leader to Leader, 47(Winter): 4–6.Google Scholar
Hirschman, A.O. 1982. Rival interpretations of market society: Civilizing, destructive, or feeble?” Journal of Economic Literature, 20: 1463–84.Google Scholar
Holzinger, K. 2003. Common goods, matrix games and institutional response European Journal of International Relations, 9(2): 173–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2008. Survey article: Justice in production. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 61(1): 72–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul II, John 1981. Encyclical Letter Laborem exercens Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 73: 577–647.Google Scholar
Paul II, John 1991. Encyclical Letter Centesimus annus, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 83: 793–867.Google Scholar
Jones, L.R., & Thompson, F. 1984. Risks for efficiency: Comprehensive reform of direct regulation. Academy of Management Review, 9(4): 746–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, M.J. 1995. Vincentian dynamic: Common ground for the common good. Review of Business, 17(2): 4–9.Google Scholar
Kennedy, R.G. 2006. The good that business does. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Acton Institute.Google Scholar
Kennedy, R.G. 2007. Business and the common good. In Booth, P. (Ed.), Catholic Social Teaching and the market economy: 164–89. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.Google Scholar
Keys, M.M. 2006. Aquinas, Aristotle, and the promise of the common good. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehn, D. 1995. A role for virtue ethics in the analysis of business practice. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5: 533–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koslowski, P. 2006. The common good of the firm as the fiduciary duty of the manager. In Roussouw, G.J. & Sison, A.J.G. (Eds.), Global perspectives on ethics of corporate governance: 67–76. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laczniak, G.R., & Murphy, P.E. 2008. Distributive justice: Pressing questions, emerging directions, and the promise of Rawlsian analysis. Journal of Macromarketing, 28(1): 5–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leo, XIII. 1891. Encyclical Letter Rerum novarum. Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892): 97–144.Google Scholar
Lewis, C.W. 2006. In pursuit of the public interest. Public Administration Review, 66: 694–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindahl, T., & Johannesson, M. 2009. Bargaining over a common good with private information. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 111: 547–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthans, F. 2002. Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing psychological strengths. Academy of Management Executive, 16: 52–72.Google Scholar
Macey, J.R. 1988. The missing element in the republican revival. Yale Law Journal, 97: 1673–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machan, T.R. 1993. Individual rights, the common good and the environment. International Journal of Social Economics, 20(9): 54–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, A. 1985. After virtue, 2nd ed. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, A. 1988. Whose justice? Which rationality? 2nd ed. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Mahon, J.F, & McGowan, R.A. 1991. Searching for the common good: A process-oriented approach. Business Horizons, 34(4): 79–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maslow, A. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4): 370–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melé, D. 2009. Integrating personalism into virtue-based business ethics: The perrsonalist and the common good principles. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(1): 227–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michelman, F. 1988. Law’s republic. Yale Law Journal, 97: 1493–1537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Migué, J.L. 2005. The economist on the common good. Fraser Forum: 24–26.Google Scholar
Millán Puelles, A. 1971. Bien común Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, vol. 4: 225–30. Madrid: Ediciones Rialp.Google Scholar
Miller, D.W. 2007. God at work. The history and promise of the faith at work movement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, G. 2005. Corporate character: Modern virtue ethics and the virtuous corporation. Business Ethics Quarterly, 15(4): 659–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morse, S., & McNamara, N. 2009. The universal common good: faith based partnerships and sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 17(1): 30–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, M.C. 2006. Natural law and jurisprudence in politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nitsch, T.O. 2005. Economics, social justice and the common good: Roman Catholic perspectives. International Journal of Social Economics, 32(6): 554–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organ, D.W, Podsakoff, P.M., & MacKenzie, S.B. 2006. Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature, antecedents and consequences. London: Sage Publishers.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pines, C.L. 1998. The bishops’ dilemma with capitalism: A critical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 7(6): 445–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace 2004. Compendium of the social doctrine of the Church. Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Google Scholar
Rawls, J., 1976. A theory of justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Samuelson, P.A. 1954. The pure theory of public expenditure. Review of Economics and Statistics, 36(4): 387–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sison, A.J.G., 2008. Corporate governance and ethics. An Aristotelian approach. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Smith, M.A. 1995. Human dignity and the common good in the Aristotelian Thomistic tradition. Lewiston, N.Y.: Mellen University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, T.W. 1999. Aristotle on the conditions for and limits of the common good. The American Political Science Review, 93(3): 625–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, R.C. 1992. Corporate roles, personal virtues: An Aristotelian approach to business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2: 317–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, L.J., & Schmidpeter, R. 2003. SMEs, social capital and the common good. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(1/2): 93–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sulmasy, D.P. 2001. Four basic notions of the common good. St. John’s Law Review, 75(2): 303–10.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C.R. 1988. Beyond the republican revival. Yale Law Journal, 97: 1539–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urban, S. 2007. Financial markets and human capital: New evaluation norms and auditing practices needed. European Business Law Review, 18(1): 167–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Wal, Z., & Van Hout, E.J. Th. 2009. Is public value pluralism paramount? The intrinsic multiplicity and hybridity of public values. International Journal of Public Administration, 32(3/4): 220–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velasquez, M. 1992. International business, morality, and the common good. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2(1): 27–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, G.R. 2006. Virtue in organizations. Moral identity as a foundation for moral agency. Organization Studies, 27(3): 341–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walshe, S. 2006. The primacy of the common good as the root of personal dignity in the doctrine of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Rome: Pontifical University of St. Thomas.Google Scholar
Warr, P. 2007. Work, happiness and unhappiness. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Wilbur, J.B. 1988. Self-interest and community. Journal of Business Ethics, 7(6): 453–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wokutch, R.E., and Shepard, J.M. 1999. The maturing of the Japanese economy: Corporate social responsibility implications. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(3): 527–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, T.A., & Goodstein, J. 2007. Character is not “dead” in management research: A review of individual character and organizational-level virtue. Journal of Management, 33: 928–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar