The Search for the Virtuous Corporation: A Wicked Problem or New Direction for Organization Theory? [Paperback]

The corporation is the most complex model of organizing economic activity. This Element situates corporations within the discourse of duty.This Element situates the corporation  its culture, governance, responsibility, and accountability  within a broader discourse of duty. In doing so, it addresses the problem of virtue and corporations for society and the corporation's problem in aligning its governance to changing community expectations of obligation.This Element situates the corporation  its culture, governance, responsibility, and accountability  within a broader discourse of duty. In doing so, it addresses the problem of virtue and corporations for society and the corporation's problem in aligning its governance to changing community expectations of obligation.The corporation is the most complex, adaptive, and resilient model of organizing economic activity in history. In an era of globalization, the transnational corporation has significant power over society. While its rights are specified through private ordering, and choice of jurisdictional home, in the event of conflict of laws, the corporation's duties and responsibilities remain contested. Notwithstanding the argument in institutional economics that all transactions take place within governance and legal frameworks, underpinned by a 'non-calculative social contract,' the terms are notoriously difficult to define or enforce. They are made more so if regulatory dynamics preclude litigation to a judicial conclusion. This Element situates the corporation  its culture, governance, responsibility, and accountability  within a broader discourse of duty. In doing so, it addresses the problem of the corporation for society and the corporation's problem in aligning its governance to changing community expectations of obligation.1. Regulating Conduct and Securing Optimized Outcomes; 2. Sympathy, Empathy, and the Pursuit of Reason; 3. Ethics and Risk; 4. Withering on the Vine: The Future of the Corporation.