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Sam Mortimer (Oxford) will present a new version of his paper on "The Messy Ethics of Business Organizations." 

The seminar will be in person in our Rose Hill Campus (Hughes Hall 307), and Zoom will be available for virtual attendees (please kindly RSVP here)

Abstract:  Underlying some of the most influential normative theories of business ethics is the assumption that there is an asymmetry between the moral responsibilities of managers and those of subordinates, arising in virtue of the control managers have over organizational decision-making. Empirical research on business organizations casts doubts on this assumption. While organizational decisions are routinely attributed to managers, the decisions themselves are the product of collective action processes over which managers have little control. Managers may be able to influence the outcome of these processes, but so can subordinates. In some cases, subordinates may have more influence than managers. This suggests that the primary domain of business ethics is not managerial decision-making, but instead the various behaviors by which people (managers or otherwise) exert influence on organizations. I end by discussing how a theory of business ethics that focuses on these behaviors would differ from standard theories.

Bio: Samuel Mortimer is the Intesa Sanpaolo Research Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy. He conducts research in both philosophy and management, on topics such as authenticity, meaningfulness, trust, and irreplaceability.

See you there!

Miguel