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Personal Virtues and Firm Goals: An Aristotelian–Thomistic Approach

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Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management

Part of the book series: International Handbooks in Business Ethics ((IHBE))

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Abstract

The major theme in virtue ethics, business, and management is “virtues in relation between individuals and firms as moral agents” (Ferrero I, Sison AJG, A survey on virtue in business and management (1980–2011). Universidad de Navarra, 2012). The main unit of analysis is neither the person nor the organization but the person in the organization.

However, the conflicting framing self-interest versus others’ interests implicit in the dominant self-interest approach in both economic and management prevent theoretical development on harmonious relationships between personal motives and firm goals. The argument of this chapter is that, for an intrinsic alignment between personal motives and firm goals, it is necessary to find a view that considers both self-interest and other interests as ends, superseding the trade-off logic implicit in the self-interest view. For this purpose, furthering a previous work (Rocha HO, Ghoshal S, J Manag Stud 43:585–619, 2006), this chapter proposes an Aristotelian–Thomistic approach, which considers excellence as the main human motive and practical rationality as the main logic to allow an intrinsic alignment between personal motives and firm goals.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Policy and Entrepreneurship, IAE Business School, Mariano Acosta s/n y Ruta 8, 1629, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Héctor O. Rocha

Authors
  1. Héctor O. Rocha
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Correspondence to Héctor O. Rocha .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Alejo José G. Sison

  2. Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University , St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Gregory R. Beabout

  3. School of Economics and Business Administration, Business Department, University of Navarra, Pamploma, Spain

    Ignacio Ferrero

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Rocha, H.O. (2017). Personal Virtues and Firm Goals: An Aristotelian–Thomistic Approach. In: Sison, A., Beabout, G., Ferrero, I. (eds) Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management. International Handbooks in Business Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6510-8_36

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