Can a good manager be a good person?

• Main Author: Gibson, Alice
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Linköpings universitet, Centrum för tillämpad etik 2006
• Subjects: business ethics; ethics; good person; Philosophy subjects; Filosofiämnen
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-6970

In this paper I explore the question ‘can a good manager be a good person?’ the answer is yes, no, or to a greater or lesser degree. Ultimately it depends on the ends at which the business, in which the manager works, aims towards. For these ends underpin what is ‘rational’ for how a manager should behalf. If a business’ end goal is purely profit maximisation then there is no room for a manager to take moral considerations into account, and therefore be a good person. If a business sees itself as a ‘practice’, consciously aiming to promote the social good the answer is yes, a good manager can be a good person. There are those businesses, and their managers, that fall somewhere in between these two ideal-types.