Virtue of governance: the governance of virtue

Moore, G.

Abstract

The current economic and preceding financial crises seem to provide evidence in favour of the self-destruction thesis of capitalism. Responses to the crisis have been polarised. Some suggest that regulatory changes are all that is needed. Others suggest the need to change the economic system by developing a new global economic ethic. The first is too limited, the second too utopian. This article suggests that a MacIntyrean virtue ethics approach provides both a more convincing diagnosis of the problem and leads to a more workable prescription. First, we need to understand the internal contradictions of the tradition that has developed of how to ’do‘ business. Then we need the virtues to be exercised inside practices and institutions. But virtue itself needs to be institutionalised; we need an appropriate governance of virtue in organizations. Even though governance is usually taken to ‘crowd out’ virtue, this article proposes an approach to governance that ‘crowds in’ virtue.

Citation

Moore, G. (2012). Virtue of governance: the governance of virtue. Business Ethics Quarterly, 22(2), 293-318. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq201222221

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 29, 2012
• Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 1052-150X
• Electronic ISSN: 2153-3326
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 293-318
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/beq201222221
• Keywords: Virtue, Governance, Organizational ethics, Business ethics, Financial crisis.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1497403