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The Common Good of the Firm and Humanistic Management: Conscious Capitalism and Economy of Communion

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Abstract

Businesses have long been admonished for being unduly focused on the pursuit of profit. However, there are some organizations whose purpose is not exclusively economic to the extent that they seek to constitute common good. Building on Christian ethics as a starting point, our article shows how the pursuit of the common good of the firm can serve as a guide for humanistic management. It provides two principles that humanistic management can attempt to implement: first, that community good is a condition for the realization of personal good, and second, that community good can only be promoted if it is oriented towards personal good. To better understand which community good can favor personal good and how it can be achieved, we examine two recent humanistic movements—Conscious Capitalism and Economy of Communion—that strive to participate in the common good. From the analysis of these two movements, we identify a shared managerial willingness to adopt the two principles. Moreover, we also reveal that Conscious Capitalism and Economy of Communion present different ways of linking community good and personal good, and therefore, different means exist for firms to participate in the common good.

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Notes

  1. Our coverage of data included eight entrepreneurs’ testimonies, one academic thesis and 51 research theses, 27 conference presentations (Brasilia, 25–29 May 2011; Paris, 10 September 2011; Paris, 17 October 2013; Aix-en-Provence, 21 January 2012), 20 presentations at the UNESCO conference (2008), four reports on the Economy of Communion, and three essays.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful suggestions. We also thank Anouk Grevin and Luigino Bruni, members of GRACE, and Julie Bayle-Cordier for their expertise in this research area. The article also benefitted from feedback when first presented at the 4th International Colloquium on Christian Humanism in Economics and Business, Barcelona, April 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Organization and Law, Audencia Business School, 44312, Nantes, France

    Sandrine Frémeaux

  2. Department of Marketing and Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Grant Michelson

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  1. Sandrine Frémeaux
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  2. Grant Michelson
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Correspondence to Grant Michelson.

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Frémeaux, S., Michelson, G. The Common Good of the Firm and Humanistic Management: Conscious Capitalism and Economy of Communion. J Bus Ethics 145, 701–709 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3118-6

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