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Evolutionary Processes, Moral Luck, and the Ethical Responsibilities of the Manager

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Abstract

The responsibilities of the manager have been examined through several lenses in the business ethics literature: Kantian (Bowie, 1999), contractarian (Donaldson and Dunfee, 1999), consequentialist (Friedman, 1970), and virtue ethics (Solomon,1992), to name just four. This paper explores what the ethical responsibilities of the manager would look like if viewed through an evolutionary lens. Discussion is focused on the impact of evolutionary thinking on the process of moral reasoning, rather than on the sources or the substance of morality. The conclusion is reached that the evolutionary lens supports the view that moral luck plays an important role in how we assign ethical responsibilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), 699 Hongfeng Road, 201206, Shanghai, People’ Republic of China

    S. Ramakrishna Velamuri

  2. Naval Postgraduate School, 1 University Circle, Monterey, 93943, CA, USA

    Nicholas Dew

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  1. S. Ramakrishna Velamuri
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  2. Nicholas Dew
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Correspondence to S. Ramakrishna Velamuri.

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Velamuri, S.R., Dew, N. Evolutionary Processes, Moral Luck, and the Ethical Responsibilities of the Manager. J Bus Ethics 91, 113–126 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0071-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0071-7

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