Leaders for Humanity

GOOD LIFE AND GOOD SOCIETY

VIRTUE ETHICS IN BUSINESS - DO WE NEED PHILOSOPHER CEOS?

Join us for a captivating interview with Alicia Hennig, an accomplished Associate Professor of Business Ethics. With a wealth of experience in intercultural research and work, Alicia's expertise spans virtue ethics in management and finance, East-West conceptions of virtue, CSR, sustainability, and the application of Chinese philosophy and Daoism in the corporate world. In our conversation, we embark on a journey through diverse philosophical systems, examining the essence of virtue ethics. We then shift our focus to explore innovative organizational models like Haier's game-changing "Rendanheyi." Alicia's personal insights offer a unique perspective on the intricate relationship between culture, ethics, and business. Don't miss this opportunity to delve into the intricate world of ethics within a global economic and philosophical context!

Alicia Hennig

Core Concepts: Virtue Ethics, Daoism, Confucianism
Unique Propositions: Comparative Virtue Ethics

BEHIND the interview

Why is the interview important? Who are we talking to?

DISCOVER THE DIALOGUE WITH
ALICIA HENNIG

Our interest in Alicia's work arose from our deepening investigations into virtue ethics.We were keen to explore a comparative perspective on virtue ethics, drawing from both Eastern and Western traditions. to explore and compare approaches. Specifically, we sought to understand the parallels between Aristotelian and Confucian conceptions of virtue. Additionally, we aimed to unravel the significance and relevance of Daoism in the business world, given its recent rise to fame as the foundation for a "Chinese paradigm" in entrepreneurship and its popularisation as "quantum management."Alicia, with her background in comparative ethics and her experience of working in China, seemed an ideal candidate to address both the practical and theoretical aspects of these inquiries.

KEY LEARNING GOALS (click LIGHTBULB to see the INQUIRY MAP)

How are virtues conceptualized and integrated in western and eastern virtue ethics tradition?
How are virtues developed, and in particular, how do roles, rituals and formal education contribute to this development?
What are the characteristics of daoistic leadership, and how has this concept influenced contemporary management practice within but also beyond China?

✿ ABOUT ALICIA HENNIG

Alicia Hennig is an Associate Professor of Business Ethics at the Technical University of Dresden. With extensive experience in intercultural work and research, her academic expertise spans various research fields, including political theory, Chinese philosophy in business and management, virtue ethics in business, ethics in finance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability. She holds a Magna Cum Laude doctorate in Applied Philosophy and Ethics from the Technical University Darmstadt in Germany.
Alicia Hennig's notable contributions to academia extend beyond research; she is an experienced lecturer and guest lecturer, having taught courses on cultural and intercultural issues, comparative philosophy, and business ethics. Her international academic journey has taken her to institutions in China, Spain, the United Kingdom, and more, and she is one of the few contemporary business ethics scholars who is actively “translating” Chinese culture and thinking for a Western context. She is an outspoken critic of postmodern capitalistic systems in both East and West and of Chinese mercantilism in Academia.

Exploring the concepts for this session

Virtue Ethics [Stanford]

Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism).

Daoism [Stanford]

Daoism stands alongside Confucianism as one of the two great religious/philosophical systems of China. Traditionally traced to the mythical Laozi “Old Philosopher,” Philosophical Daoism owes more to the “philosopher Zhuang” (Zhuangzi) (4th Century BCE). Daoism is an umbrella that covers a range of similarly motivated doctrines. The term “Daoism” is also associated with assorted naturalistic or mystical religions. Sometimes the term “Lao-Zhuang Philosophy” is used to distinguish the philosophical from the more religious “Huang-Lao” (Yellow Emperor-Laozi) strain of Daoist thought.

Confucius [Stanford]

At different times in Chinese history, Confucius (trad. 551–479 BCE) has been portrayed as a teacher, advisor, editor, philosopher, reformer, and prophet. The name Confucius, a Latinized combination of the surname Kong 孔 with an honorific suffix “Master” (fuzi 夫子), has also come to be used as a global metonym for different aspects of traditional East Asian society. This association of Confucius with many of the foundational concepts and cultural practices in East Asia, and his casting as a progenitor of “Eastern” thought in Early Modern Europe, make him arguably the most significant thinker in East Asian history.

Comparative Philosophy [Stanford]

Comparative philosophy brings together philosophical traditions that have developed in relative isolation from one another and that are defined quite broadly along cultural and regional lines – Chinese versus Western, for example. Several main issues about the commensurability of philosophical traditions make up the subject matter of comparative philosophy: methodological, metaphysical and epistemological, and ethical commensurability. These issues will be discussed in this chapter.

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GETTING STARTED

A Resource Kit to launch your explorations

Alicia's profile (Linkedin)

Profile with further information on Alicia's activities

Alicia's CV and overview of activities

Profile with further information on Alicia's activities

Link to Alicia's publications

Publication list of Alicia with links to papers and books.

Approaches to Virtues in Business

The proposed paper presents an overview on the matter of virtue from different philosophical angles. It concentrates on three different schools of thought coming from the West and the East and their respective concepts of virtue. These schools of thought and the therewith-associated personalities and works discussed in this paper are Aristotelian virtue ethics, Confucianism and Daoism. The paper focuses specifically on the Nicomachean Ethics (NE) by Aristotle, the Analects belonging to Confucianism, and the Dao De Jing coming from Daoism.

Daoism in Management

The paper concentrates on the Chinese philosophical strand of Daoism and analyses in how far this philosophy can contribute to new directions in management theory.

Responsible Business in a Neoliberal Age

This dissertation concentrates on responsible business in the neoliberal era. The reader is
guided from a narrow perspective on responsible business – presented by corporate social
responsibility (CSR) concepts and current CSR strategies applied by businesses – to the legal
aspects of responsible business and finally to the bigger picture resulting from a closer
examination of the prevailing political and economic conditions of our time

Daoism and Ethics in Management

We argue that apart from ethics derived from Judeo-Christian traditions, Chinese philosophy – notably Daoism – can also be a repository of ethical considerations that could facilitate the implementation of good business practice. Daoism is concerned with the individual and the relationship with nature and the cosmos. This school of thought emphasizes natural virtues, such as generosity, kindness, and humbleness, as well as the reflecting and realizing of one’s own natural self.

Further essays and materials from other authors

Business Ethics and Political Philosophy

The authors argue that there is not enough political philosophy in business ethics and thus take up an important point of Solomon who argues "that business ethics has a micro level (dealing with individuals), a meso level (concerned with the corporation), and a
macro-level (dealing with capitalism in general).

Taoist Leadership Ethics

Western leaders seeking the benefits of Taoism should first consider its assumptions and how these presuppositions impact ethical decision-making. In philosophical Taoism, principles revealed in creation, not laws or moral codes, guide ethical choices. Taoism addresses many of the ethical shortcomings of dominant Western culture but those who would follow Taoist teaching query whether they really want to abandon their belief in the traditional distinction between right and wrong, moral absolutes, the importance of moral reasoning, deism, punishment of evildoers, and active influence.

Defense of Virtue Ethics in Business

Should the responsibilities of business managers be under- stood independent of the social circumstances and 'market forces" that surround them, or (in accord with empiricism and the social science) are agents and their choices shaped by their circumstances, free only insofar as they act in accordance with antecedently established dispositions, their "character"? Virtue ethics, of which I consider myself a proponent, shares with empiricism this emphasis on character as well as an affinity with the social sciences. However, recent criticisms of both empiricist and virtue ethical accounts of character deny even this apparent compromise between agency and environment. Here is an account of character that emphasizes dynamic interaction both in the formation and in the interplay between personal agency and responsibility on the one hand and social pressures and the environment on the other.

MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in a Confucian Tradition

This paper explores whether MacIntyrean virtue ethics concepts are applicable in non-Western business contexts, specifically in SMEs in Taiwan, a country strongly influenced by the Confucian tradition. It also explores what differences exist between different polities in this respect, and specifically interprets observed differences between the Taiwanese study and previous studies conducted in Europe and Asia.

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What have we learned? Our "Best Bit" takeaways from the Interview

KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW FOR OUR INQUIRY

Here you can find the most memorable insights from our interview, related to our three inquiry questions. Simply select from the drop down menu on the right -->

1. WHAT IS GOOD?

On the good life from her personal perspective

I see myself as a facilitator, as a mentor, and not as a teacher to lecture people what they should do or what they should not do. Learning needs to come intrinsically — from their own kind of intellectual engagement. And I think the good life is not about imposing too much on others, but by enabling an understanding of their own potential and by promoting this potential without imposition of my own agenda. I think that’s what makes a good life.

On what makes business and ethical business

What makes a business ethical in a nutshell? I think what makes the business an ethical business are people who have learned to think for themselves and act for themselves, who can come up with a proper judgement of the situation and who have an inner compass of what is right and what is wrong. What is needed is some kind of internal guidance. Speaking of Aristotle, speaking of Adam Smith, the impartial spectator, for example, having a solid conscience — that I think is what makes a good business eventually. A good business is when all these people are working on the same level of consciousness and understanding of what makes “an action a good action”.

Business and Ethics? — Ethics IN Business!

[Is business ethics an oxymoron?] Actually, we should not separate business from society. Business is a vital part of society. And this is why the same ethical rules we have in society should also exist in business, because it’s not that we change into completely different people once we enter the organisation, right?
[on the concept of CSR] I think the concept of CSR was doomed to fail in the first place, because it was never integrated. It was always seen as an add-on. And this is how you do not bring ethics into organisations when you try to sell something as an add on. It’s not going to work.
Business ethics at present, though, is merely an academic discipline with perhaps not much trickling down to actual companies. I think that the link between theory and practice definitely needs to be improved. Because what some academics think should be done in organisations is a totally different story compared to what has been done in organisations. And the problem, I think, is that most of us academics are lacking practical working experience in organisations. And that’s why it always stays on a somewhat disconnected level.

What is a good organisation? How would you measure “goodness” in respect to organisations?

When we want to measure goodness of a company, I think we need to get to a more integrated understanding of how a company is conducting business. Because we could, of course, measure goodness by evaluating their CSR projects, by looking at what they have contributed to the community, how much voluntary work they have spent, how many hours. Companies are already collecting this information. But what does it tell us about the actual value of their actions? It doesn’t tell us a lot. […] And on the other hand, there are things you just cannot measure. I mean, it’s an illusion that you can just in quantitative terms determine everything. Nevertheless, we should start trying to measure goodness. But first of all, we need to develop a more integrated understanding of how business can be integrated in communities, in the society, and then we can think about how do we want to measure this.

What are virtues?

Virtue ethics is the traditional discipline within business ethics which focuses on the human being. Human beings become virtuous by habitually using certain behaviour and by excelling in that behaviour and through this making a contribution to society.
So what is a virtue: First of all, can you learn it? If it is something you can learn, you can improve and you can perfectionate it eventually. And then secondly, does it contribute to society? I think these are the key questions to determine whether it is a virtuous kind of action or whether you are a virtuous person or not.

Western vs. Eastern virtue theories

First we need to see that each culture defines differently what is virtuous behaviour. So it’s definitely culture-dependent. Because that is what the culture sees as an ideal to strive for. And so of course, in Aristotle’s times and also nowadays we have different ideas of what makes a person a virtuous person. And for example, those Aristotelian virtues from back then like, 500 BC may not exactly be applicable today or may not be that relevant. […] So in any case, we need to adjust or adapt whatever we’ve read about virtues. Aristotele for me is a bit dated in terms of his conception: his conception is the idea that being virtuous means to be between two extremes. So the “mean” is the virtue. And then the challenging question is, how do you hit the mean? How do you make sure it is the mean? Intellectually, this might be a bit challenging for just anyone to practice.
The Asian traditions are more pragmatic. For Confucius, we come back also to a somewhat outdated concept, virtue is defined in accordance with hierarchical level, role and responsibility. And in that sense, virtuous behaviour is the appropriate behaviour with regard to your role and status in society. So it’s very simple, everyone can understand it. But at the same time, it’s rigid, and for our societies, striving more for egalitarian structures, not really applicable.
Daoism, is again different because what is virtuous, is completely disconnected from society. Daoism presented the counter-idea to Confucianism. And so what is virtuous is what is in accordance with nature, which is in accordance with the natural order and does not interfere with the natural order.
The major difference I encounter between Western and Chinese philosophy is that Chinese philosophy is much more intuitive. It’s not about this high-minded abstract thinking, it’s more about, hey, what can I do specifically in my own life, to have a good life, whatever that is, according to Daoism or Confucian principles.

The link between pragmatism and (eastern) virtue ethics positions

I think there is a link between pragmatism and virtue ethics. I came across pragmatism through John Dewey. And I was wondering why I really like his stuff. And then I picked up his biography and it turns out he was in China and I believe you learn pragmatism in China. Virtue ethics is a very pragmatic approach to life. I mean, although I find the Eastern approach even more pragmatic than the Aristoteles “mean” approach. But in my opinion, it is the most pragmatic approach to a good life.

2. HOW TO CRAFT GOOD ORGANISATIONS?

Good organisations from the perspective of Daoism

Daoism is like going with some flow — with the idea that there is a natural order, you are within which you cannot completely change, and you’d better adapt to this order than actively pushing for something. Based on this, we can identify certain barriers to flourishing. I think a lot of these barriers are constituted by hierarchy, by certain rigid structures, which do not empower and enable people to actually take responsibility for what they are doing, to be accountable, and to use or unleash their own level of creativity. Through the insistence on status, on job titles, and so on. [Leaderless management as one possible operationalization] You need to learn to be leader and follower at the same time. You need to have a fluid understanding of roles. If you cannot completely eliminate hierarchy, you need to have at the very least a more fluid understanding of roles and do justice to that.

Philosophical underpinnings of Haier’s Rendanheyi

Its the only practical example of company which is actually really embracing Daoist values. So when we look at the governance level, what we can see with Haier is that they took a very specific approach in terms of steering their business and by separating it into micro enterprises. They have give these micro enterprises full autonomy and full responsibility, because autonomy and responsibility go together. I cannot make a final judgement whether this is a virtuous approach or not - people in the organisation need to judge upon that question.
I would just say because I believe in autonomy and responsibility, that it looks like good approach. In terms of day-to-day management, I think I know not everyone is made for this. But in general, most of us would appreciate letting go of control, letting go of micromanagement, giving us more space to participate and to contribute things which are close to our own capacities, capabilities and personalities. Creating a more inclusive organisation that really values our personality as such, and not just a certain number of skills.
What what we need to understand about the Haier case is that this is very unique in the landscape of Chinese businesses. The CEO emphasizes Daoism, being like water, and hence it is entrenched in the corporate philosophy. And being like water means being humble kind and support. It’s also interesting that Haier’s CEO actually stated they want to avoid competition. And I think they did so by product differentiation. So they never tried to compete on market share. Instead, they said, let’s create a different product and get market share that way, so this was their strategy. That’s a very Daoist kind of strategy, in my opinion. Trying to avoid competition wherever possible, because it’s just going to drain you, it’s wearing you out…
And what people back in the 90s, didn’t get about Japanese management, is you have to import it wholesale. It’s not a technique, it’s a whole culture that you need to embrace. And the same is true for the Haier case, you can only emulate Haier’s strategies if you do also start emulating the cultural practices.

3. HOW TO DEVELOP GOOD LEADERSHIP AND TRANSFORMATION?

What can CEOs learn from philosophy and should we have philosophers CEOs?

My advice to Jeff Bezos: stop short-term thinking, take care of all your employees and don’t waste money on things, which don’t have an impact on society. You have got to take care of society. I mean, you’re saving so much money from taxes, by tax exemptions, you could invest it somewhere in the community, but you go to the moon instead…
Should we have CEO philosophers? We need CEOs who are able to think critically, with an education in humanities. But should philosophers become CEOs? No, rather not!

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