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Principals and practice: Rhetoric and the moral character of managers

Leeds University Business School, UK, r.holt{at}leeds.ac.uk

Milton Friedman argues that moral development is not a proper concern for managers in their public role as agents of principals. For managers the sole criterion of good behaviour is the lawful promotion of the owners' interests; their moral development is presumed an entirely personal affair. From a critical perspective, Alasdair Mac In tyre also argues that moral concerns are antithetical to the technical and instrumental activities that characterize management. In this article, I argue that this separation of morality and management is neither necessary nor desirable. The purpose is to show that the development of a moral character is integral to good managerial practice. I describe this moral character as the more or less successful development of phronesis: a sensitivity to the appropriateness and limits of value convictions set within communities of practically oriented, purposive action. To further expand on this, I discuss the relevance of Aristotle's theory of rhetoric and how rhetorical practice might contribute to the phronetic development of managers.

Key Words: Aristotle • MacIntyre • governance • practice • rhetoric

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