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Management as a Domain-Relative Practice that Requires and Develops Practical Wisdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Gregory R. Beabout
Gregory R. Beabout*
Affiliation:
Saint Louis University
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Abstract:

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Although Alasdair MacIntyre has criticized both the market economy and applied ethics, his writing has generated significant discussion within the literature of business ethics and organizational studies. In this article, I extend this conversation by proposing the use of MacIntyre’s account of the virtues to conceive of management as a domain-relative practice that requires and develops practical wisdom. I proceed in four steps. First, I explain MacIntyre’s account of the virtues in light of his definition of a “practice.” Second, I examine his distinction between “practices” and “institutions.” Third, I explain what I mean by a “domain-relative practice” and defend the claim that it is helpful to conceive of management in those terms. Finally, I highlight several features of practical wisdom as a virtue developed in and integral to standards of excellence within management as a domain-relative practice.

Keywords

managementvirtueMacIntyrepracticebusiness ethics
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. 405 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2012

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