Philosophy of business
The philosophy of business considers the fundamental principles that underlie the formation and operation of a business enterprise; the nature and purpose of a business, and the moral obligations that pertain to it.
Influence
Philipp Blom summarises the development and impact of business-centric ideas in society prior to the global financial crisis of 2008:
[...] Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises [...] were Europeans who had passed their formative years in the chaotic interwar years and whose conclusion was that state intervention and planned economies were hallmarks of dictatorship [...]. They believed that it was healthier to take ideology out of politics and base the workings of society on the objective, nonideological laws of the free market. [...] The Enlightenment cult of reason and of the common good was replaced by the concepts of rationalization and the maximization of profits, which were applied to a reevaluation of social institutions - infrastructure, schools, universities, prisons, health care, and so on - according to business-driven criteria of profitability and cost-effectiveness. Especially in the United States but also increasingly in Europe, we began to run our societies as businesses. Beginning in the late 1970s and gaining speed in the 1980s, this gospel changed and polarized our societies - but it also provided an umbrella of meaning and necessity under which we could hide from challenges from without as well as doubts from within. For many in the West, the idea of the market became their ideological home. Living in accordance with its guiding providence and iron laws created a sense of stability, of virtue even. But 2008 shattered this collective piety and made millions understand that they had been lied to [...].[1]
See also
Sources
References
- Drucker, P. (1954) The Practice of Management, HarperBusiness, Reissue edition 1993, ISBN 0-88730-613-6
- Fort, Timothy (2001) Ethics and Governance: Business as Mediating Institution, Oxford University Press USA, New York.
- Friedman, M (1962) Capitalism and Freedom, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1962
- Hutcheson, F. (1729) An Inquiry Concerning Morall Good and Evil, 1729.
- Kalin, J. (1968) "In defence of egoism", in Morality and Rational Self-interest, edited by David Gauthier, Prentice Hall, New York, 1970.
- Mandeville, B. (1715) The Fable of the Bees.
- Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts 1971.
- Lord Shaftesbury (1710) Enquiry Concerning Virtue.
- Smith, A. (1759) The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in Adam Smith's Moral and Political Philosophy, edited by H. Schneider, Harper, New York, 1948 and 1970.
- Strasnick, T. (1981) "Neo-utilitarian Ethics and the Ordinal Representation Assumption", in Philosophy in economics, edited by J. Pitt, Reidel Publishing, 1981.
- Luetge C. (ed.) (2013): Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics. Heidelberg/New York: Springer 2013, ISBN 978-9400714953.
External links
- Filoempresa, edited by Godofredo Chillida & Gabriela Berti
- Peter Drucker's web site
- The journal "Philosophy for Business" edited by Geoffrey Klempner
- The journal "Philosophy of Management" founded by Nigel Laurie and edited by Paul Griseri (Managing Editor), Mark Dibben, Ed Freeeman and Frits Schipper
Footnotes
- ↑ Blom, Philipp (2015). Fracture: Life & Culture in the West, 1918-1938. London: Atlantic Books. p. 408. ISBN 9780857892201. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
[...] Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises [...] were Europeans who had passed their formative years in the chaotic interwar years and whose conclusion was that state intervention and planned economies were hallmarks of dictatorship [...]. They believed that it was healthier to take ideology out of politics and base the workings of society on the objective, nonideological laws of the free market. [...] The Enlightenment cult of reason and of the common good was replaced by the concepts of rationalization and the maximization of profits, which were applied to a reevaluation of social institutions - infrastructure, schools, universities, prisons, health care, and so on - according to business-driven criteria of profitability and cost-effectiveness. Especially in the United States but also increasingly in Europe, we began to run our societies as businesses. Beginning in the late 1970s and gaining speed in the 1980s, this gospel changed and polarized our societies - but it also provided an unmbrella of meaning and necessity under which we could hide from challenges from without as well as doubts from within. For many in the West, the idea of the market became their ideological home. Living in accordance with its guiding providence and iron laws created a sense of stability, of virtue even. But 2008 shattered this collective piety and made millions understand that they had been lied to [...].
