Ethics Theory and

Business Practice

5.3 Virtue Theory – Part Three Virtue, Work Practices, and Human

Flourishing

aims

• to consider the how the achievement of excellence in practices delivers internal and external goods, which help people to flourish

• to explain how the prioritization of external goods in business might inhibit the cultivation of virtue, the attainment of excellence, and the achievement of internal goods

• to outline some practical steps that managers can take to encourage virtue in business

human flourishing

internal goods:e.g. enjoyment,

satisfaction, exhilaration, and

personal development

external goods:e.g. money and status

a practice

• ‘any coherent and complex form of socially established, cooperative human activity’ (MacIntyre, 1985: 187)

• some leisure practices: • some work practices: • excellence in practices enables the

achievement of internal goods and external goods

excellence in practices

human flourishing

internal goods external goods

practices, excellence, and community

practices and the standards of excellence that prevail within them are created, developed and sustained by communities of practitioners

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7p2TCW4zVo

practices and virtue

• ‘A virtue is an acquired human quality • the possession and exercise of which tends to

enable us to achieve those goods which are internal to practices

• and the lack of which effectively prevents us from achieving any such goods’

(MacIntyre, 1985: 191)

practitioner’s flourishing

internal goods external goods

excellence in practices

virtue

some differences between internal goods and external goods

internal goods external goodsnot limited in supply limited in supply

dispersed throughout the community

the possession of a practitioner

can only be achieved via excellence

can also be achieved by other means

necessarily linked to virtue not necessarily linked to virtue

practitioner’s flourishing

internal goods external goods

excellence in practices

other people’s

flourishing

other means

virtue

beware of external goods

external goods are necessary to human flourishing, but:• they may get prioritized over internal goods• they may shift attention from the importance of

excellence• their pursuit may undermine virtue

so, external goods need to be kept in their proper place

institutions

• institutions provide the frameworks within which practices take place

• some examples of institutions in relation to leisure practices:

• some examples of institutions in relation to work practices:

• it is the role of institutions to take care of external goods

• and to ensure they are kept in their proper place

theory in practice

bloodgate: prioritizing external goods and the erosion of virtue

management and virtueto creating and sustaining a virtuous business, managers should:1. prioritize the pursuit of excellence in the practices

housed within their corporations2. treat external goods as a means to achieving the end

of excellence, rather than as an end in themselves3. celebrate internal goods over external goods4. resist the corrupting pressure of outside groups

(Moore, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2012; Moore and Beadle, 2006)

key points

• internal goods and external goods are both necessary to human flourishing

• work practices offer a fruitful source of internal and external goods, so they can help people to flourish

• however, for people to flourish in a comprehensive way, external goods need to be kept in their proper place; they should not be permitted to become an overriding priority

• as far as work practices are concerned, it is the role of companies and those who run them to ensure that the quest for external goods does not get out of hand

referencesMacIntyre, A. (1985/1981) After Virtue. London: Duckworth.Moore, G. (2002) ‘On the implications of the practice-institution distinction: MacIntyre and the application of modern virtue ethics to business’, Business Ethics Quarterly, 12/1: 19–32.Moore, G. (2005) ‘Humanizing business: a modern virtue ethics approach’, Business Ethics Quarterly, 15/2: 237–55.Moore, G. (2008) ‘Re-imagining the morality of management: a modern virtue ethics approach’, Business Ethics Quarterly, 18/4: 483–511.Moore, G. (2012) ‘Virtue in business: Alliance Boots and an empirical exploration of MacIntyre’s conceptual framework’, Organization Studies, 33/3: 363–87.Moore, G. and Beadle, R. (2006) ‘In Search of organizational virtue in business: agents, goods, practices, institutions and environments’, Organization Studies, 27/3: 369–89.