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Application of an Ethic of Care to Business

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Book cover Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management

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Abstract

An ethic of care perceives relationships to be of primary importance for it is through relationships that we are connected to others. Further, we have a responsibility for sustaining these relationships, and this includes being attentive to addressing the needs of others. It has been suggested that the notion that we should care for others be extended to businesses as they, too, are linked into networks of relationships. This extends an ethic of care from the province of private relationships, where we are connecting with those who we know and have direct contact with, and into the province of public relationships. Not everyone would agree that an ethic of care can be broadened in this manner; however, advocates of incorporating an ethic of care into the business field maintain that this can be advantageous for firms. This chapter explores two key aspects of an ethic of care and its application to business. First, it reviews how discussions advocating how care ethics may be applied to business have developed since the beginning of the 1990s. Second, it reviews discussions of applications of the notion of “care” to specific business issues such as creating sustainable global enterprises and crisis management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The York Management School, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5GD, UK

    Philip M. Linsley

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  1. Philip M. Linsley
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Correspondence to Philip M. Linsley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Alejo José G. Sison

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Linsley, P.M. (2015). Application of an Ethic of Care to Business. In: Sison, A. (eds) Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6729-4_68-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6729-4_68-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6729-4

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