Sartrean existentialism and ethical decision-making in business
- Authors: West, Andrew
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 81, no. 1 (2008), p. 15-25
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- Description: A wide range of decision-making models have been offered to assist in making ethical decisions in the workplace. Those that are based on normative moral frameworks typically include elements of traditional moral philosophy such as consequentialist and/or deontological␣ethics. This paper suggests an alternative model drawing on Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism. Accordingly, the model focuses on making decisions in full awareness of one’s freedom and responsibility. The steps of the model are intended to encourage reflection of one’s projects and one’s situation and the possibility of refusing the expectations of others. A case study involving affirmative action in South Africa is used to demonstrate the workings of the model and a number of strengths and weaknesses are identified. Despite several weaknesses that can be raised regarding existential ethics, the model’s success lies in the way that it reframes ethical dilemmas in terms of individual freedom and responsibility, and in its acceptance and analysis of subjective experiences and personal situations.
Developing a Framework for Ethical Leadership
- Authors: Lawton, Alan , Páez, Illiana
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 130, no. 3 (2015), p. 639-649
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- Description: Interest in ethical leadership from academics and practitioners has grown enormously in recent years. This article addresses this literature through a framework that identifies three interlocking questions. First, who are ethical leaders and what are their characteristics? Second, how do ethical leaders do what they do? Third, why do leaders do as they do and what are the outcomes of ethical leadership? Different dimensions to ethical leadership are examined and presented as three interlocking circles; Virtues, Purposes and Practices. This framework presents an integrated approach to ethical leadership and argues that future research take this holistic framework and apply it to different sectors or contexts. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.