Editorial: Crossing Frontiers

Crossing frontiers was the theme of our first international conference this June at St Anne’s College,
Oxford and it carries over to this issue in which contributors seek to define and cross frontiers. In
Philosophy as a Base for Management: An Aristotelian Integrative Proposal Juan Fontrodona and
Domènec Melé propose taking philosophy as ‘the guiding science par excellence’ for management. It
offers, they suggest, the theoretical base to overcome the field’s problems such as fragmentation,
ethnocentrism and lack of an underlying paradigm. They urge a programme embodying both the
philosophical attitude and the philosophical tradition grounded in Aristotelian thought.

Johannes Lehner completes his account of management decision-making - Metaphors, Stories,

Models - by describing how managers use stories and metaphors as well as formal models. Narrative
and imagination take their place in decision-making alongside disciplines such as economics in an
account which both defines boundaries and treats the field as a whole.

Constituting Business Ethics: A Metatheoretical Exploration brings order to ‘the diversity of business
ethics’ and aims to show that the diversity ‘is neither chaotic nor haphazard’. Phil Johnson and Ken
Smith trace the diversity back to different sets of assumptions about ethical and social scientific
knowledge. Their account leads to four modes of engagement in business ethics: prescriptive ethics,
descriptive ethics, postmodern ethics, and critical ethics. With frontiers defined and their bases
made clear, theorists and practitioners alike can see where they stand and choose whether or not to
move.

By contrast, Cara Nine tackles the seemingly straightforward idea of qualifications for a job. In The
Moral Ambiguity of Job Qualifications she argues that the notion cannot be isolated from its broader
context, that it is ‘morally loaded and a function of an employer’s choices and purposes’. It cannot
therefore provide a basis for resisting discrimination in employment. To overcome discrimination
we need to look beyond qualifications to the broader issues of ownership, management and social
responsibility of corporations. In similar vein, Ron Beadle contends in The Misappropriation of
MacIntyre that Alasdair MacIntyre’s ideas must be treated as embedded. Thinkers who draw on his
concepts - such as practice - shorn of their contexts ignore the political economy in which they
make sense. The virtue-based life as MacIntyre conceives it requires a setting very different from
one governed by power and the pursuit of effectiveness. MacIntyre’s conceptual landscape does not
permit enclosures.

Finally, we include a paper addressed to managers and those who work with them. Terence Collins
and Greg Latemore invite managers facing ‘answers’ that so often disappoint to draw on philosophy
to enrich their understanding, practice and sense of meaningful engagement at work. In
Philosophising at Work: An Agenda for Discussion, they set out a framework with starter questions
which managers can use to examine life in the workplace. As they note, philosophers have often
sought to influence rulers. But, as they also note, knowledge of the philosophical tradition and how
to philosophise is limited in many parts of the world. The paper and suggested readings could be a
first step for managers new to philosophy and wishing to think more productively for themselves.
Of all the frontiers to be crossed, perhaps that between management practice and the resources of
philosophy is one of the most urgent of all.

The more than 100 delegates from 20 countries who attended our conference crossed frontiers
between states, cultures, disciplines and roles. In plenary sessions they heard Robin Blackburn
present his account of Anglo-Saxon shareholder capitalism and its ethical problems on the day
WorldCom reported difficulties, Michael Luntley report on his research into the nature of
embedded knowledge and management expertise and Ed Freeman present a story-based account of
stakeholder theory ‘from the ground up’. Other papers and workshops spanned the full range of
philosophical concerns including: the nature of organisations; public and private-sector
management practices; whether public services can be said to be businesses; the role of management
in international development; political issues such as the rights of managers and employees and
notions of community, authority and justice in organisations; the impact of IT and AI systems on
personal autonomy; the self in management; ethical codes, competences and programmes; using

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philosophical notions to make sense of careers and inequality at work; management information,
learning, knowledge, decision-making and dialogue; learning from Karl Popper; management
education; theorising and researching management; sustainable development and organisation
integrity. In many cases, the implications for practice were clear. And the workshops - where
practice was uppermost - treated the use of stories to help senior executives clarify and communicate
their values, a procedure for wise decision-making, approaches to building a culture of trust and ‘the
fruitful use of silence’. You can look forward to reading selected papers in future issues.

2 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 2 2002

© Copyright Reason in Practice 2002