Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry

Nicholson, Helen, Beadle, Ron and Slack, Richard (2020) Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry. Journal of Business Ethics, 167 (3). pp. 589-603. ISSN 0167-4544

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Abstract

It has been claimed that ‘virtuous structures’ can foster moral agency in organisations. We investigate this in the context of employee involvement in corporate philanthropy, an activity whose moral status has been disputed. Employing Alasdair MacIntyre’s account of moral agency, we analyse the results of eight focus groups with employees engaged in corporate philanthropy in an employee-owned retailer, the John Lewis Partnership. Within this organisational context, Employee–Partners’ moral agency was evidenced in narrative accounts of their engagement in philanthropic activities and in their disputes about the moral status of corporate philanthropy.

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