Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-fg9bn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-29T07:57:21.567Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Feminist Ethics as Moral Grounding for Stakeholder Theory 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Brian K. Burton  and
Craig P. Dunn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Stakeholder theory, as a method of management based on morals and behavior, must be grounded by a theory of ethics. However, traditional ethics of justice and rights cannot completely ground the theory. Following and expanding on the work of Wicks, Gilbert, and Freeman (1994), we believe that feminist ethics, invoking principles of caring, provides the missing element that allows moral theory to ground the stakeholder approach to management. Examples are given to support the suggested general principle for making business decisions under feminist moral theory.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , April 1996 , pp. 133 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baier, A. 1985. Postures of the Mind: Essays on Mind and Morals. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Bentham, J. 1988. The Principles of Morals and Legislation. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
Boatright, J.R. 1994. “What so Special About Shareholders?” Business Ethics Quarterly, 4: 393–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brenner, S.N. and Cochran, P. 1991. “The Stakeholder Theory of the Firm: Implications for Business and Society Theory and Practice.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Business and Society, Sundance, Utah.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Code, L. 1987. “Second Persons.” In Hanen, M. and Nielsen, K., eds., Science, Morality and Feminist Theory. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.Google Scholar
Code, L. 1991. What Can She Know? Feminist Theory and the Construction of Knowledge. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Cottingham, J. 1983. “Ethics and Impartiality.” Philosophical Studies, 43: 83–99.Google Scholar
Cottingham, J. 1986. “Partiality, Favouritism, and Morality.” Philosophical Quarterly, 36: 357–373.Google Scholar
Dunn, C. 1990. “The Stakeholder Approach as Ethical Theory: A Critical Review.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Dunn, C. and Brady, N. 1995. “From Rules to Relationship: A Review of the Search for an Ethical Justification of Stakeholder Interests.” Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society: 47–52.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.E. 1984. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Boston: Pitman.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.E. and Gilbert, D.R. Jr. 1992. “Business, Ethics and Society: A Critical Agenda.” Business & Society, 31 (1): 9–17.Google Scholar
French, P.A. 1977. “The Corporation as a Moral Person.” Paper presented at the Ethics and Economics Conference, University of Delaware.Google Scholar
Gilligan, C. 1982. In a Different Voice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, K.E. 1991. “Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis.” Business Ethics Quarterly, 1: 53–73.Google Scholar
Held, V. 1987. “Feminism and Moral Theory.” In Kittay, E. and Meyers, D., eds., Women and Moral Theory. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Jagger, A.M. 1989. “Love and Knowledge: Emotion in Feminist Epistemology.” In Garry, A. and Pearsall, M., eds., Women, Knowledge and Reality. Boston: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Jensen, M.C. and Meckling, W.H. 1976. “Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure.” Journal of Financial Economics, 3: 305–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kant, I. 1964. Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. New York: Harper Torchbooks.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. 1981. The Philosophy of Moral Development. San Francisco: Harpei and Row.Google Scholar
Noddings, N. 1984. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics & Moral Education Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Oldenquist, A. 1982. “Loyalties.” Journal of Philosophy, 79: 173–193.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Ruddick, S. 1989. Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace. Boston: Beacor Press.Google Scholar
Schwenk, C.R. 1984. “Cognitive Simplification Processes in Strategic Decisionmaking.” Strategic Management Journal, 5: 111–128.Google Scholar
Simon, H.A. 1958. Administrative Behavior. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Tong, R. 1993. Feminine and Feminist Ethics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.Google Scholar
Whitbeck, C. 1984. “The Maternal Instinct.” In Trebilcot, J., ed., Mothering. Essays in Feminist Theory. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld.Google Scholar
Wicks, A.C., Gilbert, D.R. Jr., and Freeman, R.E. 1994. “A Feminist Reinterpre tation of The Stakeholder Concept.” Business Ethics Quarterly, 4: 475–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werhane, P.H. 1985. Persons, Rights, and Corporations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Williams, B. 1985. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvarc University Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. 1975. Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implica Hons. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar