Rethinking the Purpose of Business Interdisciplinary Essays from the Catholic Social Tradition

This volume challenges reigning shareholder and stakeholder management theories using philosophical and theological dimensions of the Catholic tradition. The contributors, including management theorists, moral theologians, economists, ethicists and attorneys, debate complicated issues such as the ethics of profit seeking, equity and efficiency in the firm, the shareholder value principle, social ethics of corporate management, the principle of subsidiarity and modern contract theory. While contributors share a respect for the power of markets, they also assign value to community, common goods and personal virtue. Essays combine organizational and management theory with philosophical and theological accounts of human purpose. A central arguement of this collection is that the tradition of Catholic social thought provides principles that enable fruitful conversations across disciplines regarding the purpose of business and economic activity.