Virtue at Work: Ethics for Individuals, Managers, and Organizations

by Geoff Moore

The reason for covering these metaphorical and theoretical perspectives is that this book introduces another ‘way of seeing’, a different metaphor or a different theory of organizations and management and, indeed, of life in general. That, at least, is the claim which is being made concerning MacIntyre’s work and its application in the field of management and organizations. Of course, it would be nice to be able to say that this is the theory of organizations and management; that it explains everything; that, if followed, its predictions would lead to some kind of ‘truth’ such that, because it relates to ethics, would make organizations, management, and us as individuals ‘better’ in some sense. However, given all that has been said above, this would clearly be an overstatement. So the claim about the way of thinking and seeing, the metaphors and theory which are being introduced in this book, is only that it does have something different and important to say to individuals, to managers, and to organizations. It is one way of seeing, not the only one, but, so the argument will go, a very important and insightful one.