Vulnerability and the Basis of Business Ethics: From Fiduciary Duties to Professionalism

Eric Brown ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2013, vol. 113, issue 3, 489-504

Abstract: This paper examines the role of vulnerability in the basis of business ethics by criticizing its role in giving a moral substantial character to fiduciary duties to shareholders. The target is Marcoux’s (Bus Ethics Q 13(1):1–24, 2003 ) argument for morally substantial fiduciary duties vis-à-vis the multifiduciary stakeholder theory. Rather than proceed to support the stakeholder paradigm, a conception of vulnerability is combined with Heath’s 2004 ) “market failure” view of the ethical obligations of managers as falling out of their roles as professionals involved in the institution of the market. The result is the core of a theoretically defensible and managerially motivating and deployable ethic. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Keywords: Fiduciary duties; Foundations of business ethics; Vulnerability; Market failures; Professionalism; Shareholder primacy; Stakeholder theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1318-2

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