Reconfiguring the Future-Fit Fiduciary Using Collective Phronesis and Techné
Helen Mussell
Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
Abstract:
This paper argues that a reconfiguration of the practice of the fiduciary – widely cited as a barrier to pursuing sustainability investments and initiatives - presents the opportunity for a promising connection between practical wisdom and business ethics practice. The paper introduces three tensions arising from current fiduciary practice which constrain sustainability. A proposed reconfiguration of fiduciary practice to resolve the tensions is then outlined. This reconfiguration pivots on two premises. Firstly, that fiduciary practice should be disaggregated into two ontologically distinct stages – processual and outcome – and secondly, that different types of wisdom and knowledge are required for each stage – namely collective phronesis for the first processual stage and techné for the second outcome stage. This differentiation creates new divisions of labour for trustees and beneficiaries, with the first stage facilitating joint consultation. The extent this inclusive future-fit fiduciary has for positively impacting sustainability and ethical business practice is highlighted.
Keywords: Fiduciary duty; collective phronesis; techné; shareholder activism; collective imagination; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 D02 G11 G30 G32 K12 N2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-04
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/cbr-wp549.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp549
Access Statistics for this paper
More papers in Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ruth Newman ().