Philosophy of Business - Modern Philosophers of Business

Modern Philosophers of Business

It is fair to say that most modern philosophers of business are involved in other philosophical or scholarly pursuits, and that they come to the philosophy of business as a sub-specialty, or only indirectly because it relates to another area of interest. Thus, they are primarily philosophers dealing with other subjects, economists, or business management theorists. If one were to examine the philosophy departments in most universities, today, one would find precious few courses in the philosophy of business (as opposed to a growing number of business ethics or applied ethics courses). There are indications that a growing number of philosophers with formal training in academic philosophy will come to specialize in the philosophy of business.

Perhaps the best known modern philosopher of business is Peter Drucker, whose publications have had a profound influence on management and organizational theory, generally, and on how we think of the business enterprise. More often than not, people who think about business issues are considering it from an applied perspective, which is to say, what is the best or most effective means of transacting commerce or managing the enterprise, with some goal in mind, usually profitability, improving employee relations, or marketing. While Drucker has dealt with these issues and many more in numerous publications over his long life, he also inquires into the principles and concepts that underlie commercial activity and organizational structure, and he asks what ought the mission of a business to be, and, in particular, how can we reconcile a business mission with conflicting interests in the marketplace and society.

One of the most frequently discussed topics is the matter of organizational change in a complex environment. Paul R. Lawrence has dealt primarily with organizational change, organization design, and the relationship between the structural characteristics of complex organizations and the technical, market and other conditions of their immediate environment. His 1967 book, Organization and Environment (written with Professor Jay Lorsch), added contingency theory to the vocabulary of students of organizational behavior.

Other philosophers of business, for example, Geoffrey Klempner, are principally interested in examining how business is even possible, which is to say, how can an enterprise function in society as a whole. Klempner states that theories of ethics and business are often at odds, and that one might even have to suspend the normal ethical considerations that would apply outside of business in order for a business to be possible. This is reminiscent of Albert Z. Carr's famous and controversial Harvard Business Review article on bluffing, where he said business was similar to playing poker, and that deception is a necessary part of business.

Of course, there is a close relationship between the philosophy of business and business ethics. Philosophers specializing in business ethics are primarily interested in how business people ought to conduct themselves in the marketplace and in society. Philosopher Norman E. Bowie adopts Kant's three versions of the categorical imperative for ensuring ethical business conduct, and he pays particular attention to the third variation, whereby the people within a business must be seen as a kingdom of ends, and not merely treated as means to an end.

The "invisible hand" is a favorite metaphor for practitioners of modern-day Western capitalism, the ideology driving globalization and, for the most part, business as we know it today. What many of the bottom-line fundamentalists may ignore is the degree to which the so-called "free market" has been skewed and maneuvered in ways Adam Smith never envisioned. Thus the question of ethics and conscience runs deeper yet. With exponential increases in government laws, regulations and court decisions regarding business in the past century, ethical practice has morphed from doing "the right thing" as conscience would dictate to doing what complies with the law or isn't explicitly illegal. Thus there's been a gradual relaxation of internal moral compass and greater reliance on external parameters, as in "if it isn't illegal, it must be all right", as well as a new skillset in finding "legal loopholes" in stretching the boundaries of compliance.