Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry

Nicholson, H.; Beadle, R.; Slack, R.

Abstract

It has been claimed that ‘virtuous structures’ can foster moral agency in organisations. We investigate this in the context of employee involvement in corporate philanthropy, an activity whose moral status has been disputed. Employing Alasdair MacIntyre’s account of moral agency, we analyse the results of eight focus groups with employees engaged in corporate philanthropy in an employee-owned retailer, the John Lewis Partnership. Within this organisational context, Employee-Partners’ moral agency was evidenced in narrative accounts of their engagement in philanthropic activities and in their disputes about the moral status of corporate philanthropy.

Citation

Nicholson, H., Beadle, R., & Slack, R. (2020). Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry. Journal of Business Ethics, 167, 589-603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04188-7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 16, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 29, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: May 17, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 19, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
• Print ISSN: 0167-4544
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 167
• Pages: 589-603
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04188-7
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1301114