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Traditional Virtues and Contemporary Management

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Abstract

In the management domain the revival of interest in virtue ethics has been not so much in seeking a deeper understanding of the virtues themselves as in finding exemplars and pursuing the concept that virtue is a proper end of business. The aim of this paper is to show that a philosophical treatment of the great virtues can enlighten management understanding of them and to examine in more detail courage, love and wisdom. The paper includes an overview of the approach to the virtues in contemporary management literature, a brief summary of the traditional account of the moral virtues, and discussion of six contemporary concepts of management. The contribution which an understanding of individual virtues can make to effective management will then be explored, drawing on earlier work by the author in relation to both courage and love as management virtues.

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  1. School of Management, University of South Australia, Australia

    Howard Harris PhD, BE, Dip Ec, ThA, FIChemE, FIEAust, CEng (senior lecturer)

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  1. Howard Harris PhD, BE, Dip Ec, ThA, FIChemE, FIEAust, CEng
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The paper was first presented at the conference Philosophy of Management 05 at St Anne’s College, Oxford 6 — 10 July 2005 organised by this Journal.

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Harris, H. Traditional Virtues and Contemporary Management. Philos. of Manag. 6, 61–76 (2007). https://doi.org/10.5840/pom20086235

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