Ethics and the role of the manager

Abstract

In order to understand the way in which the results of a study of business ethics could enter into the actual conduct of business, I formulate and examine five models of the role of the manager which can be found in the literature of management theory. These I call the engineering model, the economic model, the “management of values” model, the formal organization model, and the political model. While none of these models is wholly adequate, each provides important theoretical insights into the relevance of ethics to management decision making which can be of use in the examination of specific cases.