Abstract
Strategic management is the locus for the most far-reaching decisions (in scope and time) that any organisation makes, hence one could argue that it is in this sphere that ethics also has its most decisive role to play. Since strategic decisions have a major integrative and directive role for the other functions, then ethics at this level will also inform the ethics of other functions. Moreover, it is at the strategic level (articulated in mission statements, aims and objectives) that the most fundamental questions about the ends and means of a business organisation are tackled:
Ends: What is the real purpose of this organisation? (What is its scope to be? Where do we want it to be in 5, or 10 years’ time?)
Means: How are we going to get there? (What ethics and values will guide the process of change? What limits will be put on the means justifying the ends?)
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Further Reading
Allinson, R.E. (1993) Global Disasters: Inquiries into Management Ethics, Prentice-Hall, New York. (Deals with how ethics are built into the strategic management decisionmaking processes; explores this via four major management disasters — Challenger, Kings Cross, Herald of Free Enterprise, Mount Erebus.)
Miles, G. (1993) ‘In Search of Ethical Profits: Insights from Strategic Management’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 219–25. (Evaluates three standard strategy paradigms by historical criteria of ethical profits; gives grounds for including ethics in strategic management, even if ethics does not pay.)
Rowe, A.J. et al. (1994) Strategic Management: A Methodological Approach, 4th edn, Addison-Wesley, New York. (See ch. 3, ‘Strategic Visioning, Goals, Ethics and Social Responsibility’.)
Special edition (25th Anniversary) of the Journal of Management Development, (1992), vol. 11, no. 4. (Special theme issue on (organisational) ethics and strategic management.)
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© 1996 Alan Kitson and Robert Campbell
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Kitson, A., Campbell, R. (1996). Ethical Issues in Strategic Management. In: The Ethical Organisation. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24405-8_10
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