This article discusses five propositions about managerial moral tractability - that is, a morality that is amenable to the complexity of managers' continual pressure to decide and act - in their customer relations. The propositions come from the comparison of three case studies of different types of managers. To analyze the morality of managers, discursive practices of managers are studied. At the end of the article also some consideration is given to "information strategies" of managers, in relation to their tractable (...) morality. (shrink)

This article discusses five propositions about managerial moral tractability -- that is, a morality that is amenable to the complexity of managers’ continual pressure to decide and act -- in their customer relations. The propositions come from the comparison of three case studies of different types of managers. To analyze the morality of managers, discursive practices of managers are studied. At the end of the article also some consideration is given to “information strategies” of managers, in relation to their tractable (...) morality. (shrink)

Within discourse theory, language is seen as constitutive of reality. Furthermore, facts and values are viewed as inseparable. This has consequences for business ethics. In this paper the relationship between discourse theory and business ethics is discussed. Both the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of business ethics are taken into account. Furthermore, an example of an empirical study is presented. A discourse analysis is conducted to answer the questions of how bankers in Holland conceptualize and thus treat their customers and whether (...) there are differences between the largest three banks. The article contains the description of five different discourses on customers within the banks. (shrink)

This review of ethical implications of the professionalisation of sport argues that conventional sports ethics, which in the spirit of amateurism emphasise concepts of fair play, are increasingly inappropriate in professional sport. The formalist position, that fair play requires playing within the rules, is explored as are notions of playing to the rules, gamesmanship and cheating. It is argued that ethical problems in elite sport increase as a result of external factors including the celebrity of sportspeople, a tarnished image of (...) some administrators, influences of external stakeholders , and the expectations of fans. Hence a worryingly negative picture of declining ethical standards in the face of internal and external pressures emerges, with little prospect of sports reforming from within, despite that appearing to be in a sport's best interests. (shrink)

Veterinarians have obligations towards both the animals they treat and their clients, the owners of the animals. With both groups, veterinarians have complicated relations; many times the interests of both groups conflict. In this article, using Q-methodology as a method for discourse analysis, the following question is answered: How do Dutch practicing veterinarians conceptualize animals and their owners and their professional responsibility towards both? The main part of the article contains descriptions of four different discourses on animals and their owners (...) and on veterinarian professional responsibilities that prevail among veterinarians. The factual images veterinarians have of animals and their owners are connected to different moral questions and solutions to these questions. (shrink)