A Better Way to Think About Business: How Personal Integrity Leads to Corporate Success

by Robert C. Solomon

Overview

Is business ethics a contradiction in terms? Absolutely not, says Robert Solomon. In fact, he maintains that sound ethics is a necessary precondition of any long-term business enterprise, and that excellence in business must exist on the foundation of values that most of us hold dear.
Drawing on twenty years of experience consulting with major corporations on ethics, Solomon clarifies the difficult ethical choices all people in business face. He uses an "Aristotelian" approach to remind readers that a corporation—like an individual—is embedded in a community, and that corporate values such as fairness and honesty are meaningless until transformed into action. Without a base of shared values, trust and mutual benefits, today's national and international business world would fall apart. In keeping with his conviction that virtue and profit must thrive together, Solomon both examines the ways in which deficient values actually destroy businesses, and debunks the pervasive myths that encourage unethical business practices.
Complete with a working catalog of virtues designed to illustrate the importance of integrity in any business situation, this compelling handbook contains a gold mine of wisdom for either the small business manager or the corporate executive struggling with ethical issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195167337
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/04/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.04(w) x 5.38(h) x 0.36(d)
Lexile:	1300L (what's this?)

About the Author

Robert C. Solomon is Quincy Lee Centennial and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy and Business at the University of Texas. He is also the author of Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life, A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy, and Ethics and Excellence (all available from OUP).

Table of Contents

	How to Use This Book	x
	Introduction: Can Virtue Be Taught?	xiv
	Down from the Mountaintop	xiv
	Back to the Mountain: Living Our Values	xvii
	Why Virtue Is Necessary	xix
	An Aristotelian Approach to Business	xxiii
I.	How Not to Think About Business: Myths and Metaphors	1
	Marketing 101	1
	The Language of Dehumanization	2
	Attila the Hun and Other Business Heroes	5
	"Better Fear Than Love"	7
	Masters of the Universe	9
	Metaphors of Mayhem, Visions of Civility	11
	"It's a Jungle Out There!"	13
	"Business as a Battlefield"	14
	"An Efficient Money-Making Machine"	16
	"The Information Revolution"	18
	"The Game of Business"	19
	Competition and Cowboy Capitalism	22
	The Myth of the Entrepreneur	25
	Abstract Greed	27
	The Myth of the Profit Motive	29
	The Myth of Altruism	32
II.	A Better Way to Think About Business: The Meaning of Integrity	35
	The Virtues of Free Enterprise	35
	The Meaning of Integrity	38
	Without Integrity: The Hypocrite, the Opportunist, and the Chameleon	40
	Revisioning the Corporation: The Company as Community	43
	The Corporation as Citizen	46
	The Virtues of a Corporate Culture	48
	Corporate Codes of Ethics: What Are They For?	51
	Business as a Profession	54
	Business, Merit, and Excellence	57
	The Meaning of Leadership	60
	Being and Doing: The Nature of the Virtues	63
III.	A Catalog of Business Virtues	69
	Ability	71
	Acceptance	71
	Ambition	72
	Amiability (Friendliness)	73
	Articulateness	74
	Attentiveness	75
	Autonomy	76
	Caring	76
	Charisma	78
	Compassion	78
	Competitiveness	80
	Contentment	80
	Cool-Headedness	81
	Cooperativeness (Teamwork)	82
	Courage	82
	Creativity (Imagination)	83
	Determination (Persistence, "Stick-to-itiveness")	84
	Entrepreneurship	85
	Fairness	85
	Generosity	87
	Graciousness	88
	Gratitude (see Humility)	89
	Heroism	89
	Honesty	90
	Honor (Pride)	92
	Humility	93
	Humor	94
	Independence (the "Outlaw")	95
	Integrity	96
	Justice	97
	Loyalty	99
	Passion	101
	Pride (see Honor)	101
	Prudence	101
	Responsibility	102
	Saintliness	103
	Shame (a "quasi-virtue")	104
	Spirit (Spirituality)	106
	Style	107
	Tolerance	108
	Toughness	108
	Trust	111
	Trustworthiness	112
	Wittiness	113
	Zeal (Enthusiasm)	114
	Putting It All Together: Ethical Styles	115
	Conclusion: Looking Forward to Integrity	121
	References and Recommended Reading	125
	Notes	135
	Index	143

Editorial Reviews

"In this brief, readable addition to the business ethics literature, Solomon offers a clear and pragmatic exposition.... This concise account is recommended for public, academic, and practitioner library collections. It will be particularly useful to readers with limited time."—Choice

From the Publisher