BUSINESS ETHIC AND VALUE : ETHICS OF VIRTUE AND CHARACTER

OVERVIEW
-MacIntyre's Developmental Concept of Virtue Ethics
-Discipline of Building Character

MACINTYRE'S DEVELOPMENTAL CONCEPT OF VIRTUE ETHICS
-Unlike the normative principles or moral standards touched on earlier, another approach used in business ethics involves virtues or values inculcation and character development as the means of achieving ethical conduct.
-Virtue ethics centers on correct traits or behavior rather than correct standards of conduct. Examples of virtue ethics in the social context are caring for family, cooperation and respect for the elders while in the organizational or social context, there are prudence, hard work, tolerance, stewardship, and corporate social responsibility.

Virtue Ethics
-Dilemmas are part and parcels of complex problems in business ethics. Utility is not the ultimate concern of virtue ethics because virtue ethics aims to correct character traits rather than adjusting rules of conduct. Until recently, virtue ethics has been associated with religious ethics and the search for salvation.
-The recent writing of Alisdair MacIntyre, "After Virtue", has brought to the fore the importance of virtues, character, and excellence in ethics but it in original Aristotelian form devoid of the religious attributes.
-In other words, virtue ethics in its secularized version is formulated in the discipline of ethics and applied in the areas of human endeavor including business.
-Refers to correct character traits rather than rules of conduct
-Transformation/resurgence: Aristotelian religious ethics Mac Intyre
-Mac Intyre stresses on cultivation of desirable skill for excellence (Arette) and happiness (Eudamonia) of the person
-Require cultivation and practice
-Needs for formal/informal education and leadership
-Involves understanding one’s core values and core purpose of life

Types of Virtue
-Specific: personal excellence of a character
-General: good character traits, expected to be practiced by citizens which make up the whole society

Contribution of Modern Virtue Ethics to Business
-Strategic skills
-Judgement skills-- knowledge to produce just policies
-Skills of craftsmanship and commitment to quality

DISCIPLINE OF BUILDING CHARACTER
A disciplined individual with pleasant personality has a few notable characteristics called the pillars of character:
-trustworthiness
-respectfulness
-responsibility
-fairness
-integrity, and
-self-control.

Defining Moments
Three kinds of questions to ask in defining moments(Badaracco):
"Who am I?”
"Who are we?"
"Who the company is?"