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An Ethical Analysis of Hierarchical Relations in Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Dennis J. Moberg
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Abstract:

Ethical analyses of the relations between managers and subordinates have traditionally focused on the employment contract. The inequality and requisite mutual trust between managers and subordinates makes the sub-disciplines of professional ethics and feminist ethics more applicable than the contractarian perspective. When professional ethics is applied to hierarchic relationships, specific obligations emerge for managers and subordinates alike. The application of feminist ethics results in the identification of an entirely different, though not contradictory, set of obligations. In toto, the analysis improves on the conventional wisdom governing hierarchic relationships while at the same time remaining consistent with our moral intuitions.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , April 1994 , pp. 205 - 220
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1994

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