Introducing seven management moralities

pp. 1-20

in: Thomas Klikauer, Seven management moralities, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

People do make decisions and the choices we make affect others. Our decisions often are about what is considered right or wrong. Hence, they involve moral values.¹ Under normal conditions, most choices are made on a purely personal level. For managers and management as such the circumstances are somewhat different because they operate inside highly structured, formalised, and purpose-driven settings.² They run business organisations, companies, firms, corporations, holdings, conglomerates, and multinationals, manage assets, and so on. Decisions made inside such institutions tend not to be personal but reflect business organisations that operate for profit-maximisation, organisational goals, and shareholder values.³ In other words, management's choices are not personal but organisational ones made under specific determinants that increase monetary values, business survival, expand market-shares, and profits. Occasionally, we might find that these managerial choices promote everyone's interest. If they do, management calls this the inclusion of stakeholders.⁴ If they do so without harming anyone (stakeholders) or anything (environment), we call this good moral behaviour under the so-called "no harm principle". In short, managerial morality involves primarily — and perhaps even exclusively — managerial behaviour that affects other people and our environment with whom we share this planet.⁵