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The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition

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Abstract

I describe an ethic for business administration based on the social tradition of the Catholic Church. I find that much current thinking about business falters for its conceit of truth. Abstractions such as the shareholder-value model contain truth – namely, that business is an economic enterprise to manage for the wealth of its owners. But, as in all abstractions, this truth comes at the expense of falsehood – namely, that persons are assets to deploy on behalf of owners. This last is “wrong” in both senses of the word – it is factually wrong in that persons are far more than business assets, they are supernatural beings, children of God; and it is morally wrong in that it is an injustice to treat them as the former when they are the latter. I draw upon the social tradition of the Catholic Church to recognize that the business of business is not business, but is instead the human person. Following Church teachings, I describe a person-centered ethic of business based upon eight social principles that both correct and enlarge the shareholder-centered ethic of much current business thinking. I discuss implications of this person-centered ethic for business administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology (LS&A), School of Business, University of Michigan, 701 Tappan St., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-1234, U.S.A.

    Lloyd Sandelands

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  1. Lloyd Sandelands
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Correspondence to Lloyd Sandelands.

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Sandelands, L. The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition. J Bus Ethics 85, 93–101 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9751-y

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