Ethics for managers: philosophical foundations and business realities

This book examines issues relating to ethical decision-making in the managerial context. Managers are paid to oversee the work of others, and in the course of their work, they often make decisions that impact other people. This book is intended to help managers, and students of management, reflect on the impact of their decisions, and to help them in making such decisions ethically.

Ethics has to do with interpersonal or social values, and the rules of conduct that derive from them. By the time an individual becomes a manager, he or she invariably has a sense of moral right and wrong. Author Joseph Gilbert examines the sources of this sense, and how it is shaped and altered by various influences. He lays the groundwork for discussion by delving into the meaning of ethics and its philosophical foundations, then exploring its application to the task of management. This balanced approach both makes clear the moral implications of actions taken by managers and provides some time-tested ways of thinking about moral issues when they arise. Without preaching or critiquing the reader’s existing ethical sense, Ethics for Managers prepares the manager or student of business to adequately address the difficult decisions that will crop up during their career in an ethical and self-aware manner.