BUSINESS ETHICS - 4 SPHERES OF EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Many people believe that there is some single, overarching approach to business ethics: e.g., serve the shareholders, serve the stakeholders, or follow your conscience. In reality, however, the search for a grand, unifying principle of management morality leads to frustration and often cynicism. The moral dilemmas managers face are, in essence, clashes among very different spheres of responsibility. This article describes each of these spheres and presents a framework for resolving conflicts among them.