Conceptions of the Corporation and Ethical Decision Making in Business

Abstract

In this article, we suggest expanding the domain of business ethics to include an examination of issues usually reserved for political science. The sorts of issues on which we wish to focus are most commonly encountered in research in the area of political culture. This area refers to a basic set of ideas and values held by a broad majority of society's members, or by the dominant segment of society, regarding issues of general community concern such as the roles of government and business, the proper domains of political and corporate power, the relationships of individuals to the institutions to which they belong, or the relationships of members of the community to one another. Most current discussions in business ethics do not raise the issue of political culture in any explicit fashion. Whether debates over particular moral questions in business occur in academic journals or in corporate boardrooms, they are more likely to draw upon the non political vocabulary of ethical theory, corporate culture, or the latest in management studies. An appreciation of political culture is necessary for a full understanding of the ethical dilemmas faced by decision makers in business, such as board members, executives, managers, engineers, and other corporate professionals. Analyzing the particular conflict within American political culture over the correct conception of the corporation as a social institution can be particularly useful in reaching such a full understanding. In this article, we will show how political culture is intertwined with business ethics. We will examine the particular conflict over the correct conception of the corporation and suggest a resolution of this conflict which we believe offers those in business a viable normative

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