John Dobson

Method to Their Madness: Dispelling the Myth of Economic Rationality as a Behavioral Ideal

John Dobson — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:22:20 PST

Although not immediately apparent, the discipline of behavioral finance is rapidly adopting an implicit prescriptive agenda. Behavioral finance does not merely describe financial market reality, it shapes it. Economic rationality is taken as the ideal toward to which individuals 'should' strive.

In this paper I show that, as a behavioral ideal, economic rationality is unjustified both from a strictly economic perspective, and from a moral perspective. In short, there is nothing inherently 'wrong' with economically irrational participants in the business environment. Indeed such participants will actually enhance the efficiency, and the ethicality, of business.

"rationality itself, whether theoretical or practical, is a concept with a history: indeed, since there are a diversity of traditions of enquiry, with histories, there are ... rationalities rather than rationality" (Alasdair MacIntyre, Whose Justice, Which rationality, 1988, p. 9).

Aesthetic Style as a Postructural Business Ethic

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:33 PST

The article begins with a brief history of aesthetic theory. Particular attention is given to the postructuralist ‘aesthetic return’: the resurgence of interest in aesthetics as an ontological foundation for human beingin- the-world. The disordered individual-as-emergentartist- and-artifact, who is at the centre of this ‘aesthetic return’, is then translated into the ‘dis’-organization that is the firm. The firm is thus defined in terms of its primal sensory impact on the world. It invokes a myriad of aesthetic relations between its disorganized self and others: its essence resides within these relations; its power of being is determined by its ability to project a unified aesthetic ideal – a ‘mirror fantasy’. The firm thus emerges as a style: where style is defined as an organizing – a sculpting – of aesthetic chaos. In order to achieve a grand style, the firm projects itself through time as a unified aesthetic ideal; as an ongoing work of art. The article concludes with a discussion of how this aesthetic theory of the firm relates to other accepted theories of the nature and purpose of business organizations.

Three Business Contexts: From the Technical and Moral, to the Aesthetic

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:31 PST

Method to Their Madness: Dispelling the Myth of Economic Rationality as a Behavioral Ideal

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:30 PST

In this paper I show that, as a behavioral ideal, economic rationality is unjustified both from a strictly economic perspective, and from a moral perspective. In short, there is nothing inherently "wrong" with economically irrational participants in the business environment. Indeed such participants will actually enhance the efficiency, and the ethicality, of business.

Aesthetics as a Foundation for Business Activity

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:29 PST

This paper identifies the ultimate justification for business activity as an aesthetic justification. Aesthetics, loosely defined as the appreciation of beauty, subsumes both ethics and economics within an holistic justificatory mechanism for business decisions.Five essential qualities of aesthetic judgment are identified: disinterest, subjectivity, inclusivity, contemplativity, and internality. The quality of aesthetic judgment, exercised by the individual through the organization, will determine the extent to which business activity enhances quality of life.

Size Matters: Why Managers Should Pursue Corporate Growth, Even at the Expense of Shareholder Value

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:28 PST

Alasdair Macintyre’s Aristotelian Business Ethics: A Critique

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:27 PST

This paper begins by summarizing and distilling MacIntyre’s sweeping critique of modern business. It identifies the crux of MacIntyre’s critique as centering on the fundamental Aristotelian concepts of internal goods and practices. MacIntyre essentially follows Aristotle in arguing that by privileging external goods over internal goods, business activity – and certainly modern capitalistic business activity – corrupts practices. Thus, from the perspective of virtue ethics, business is morally indefensible. The paper continues with an evaluation of MacIntyre’s arguments. The conclusion is drawn that MacIntyre’s critique, although partially valid, does not vitiate modern business as he claims. In short, modern business need not of necessity be antithetical to individuals’ pursuit of internal goods within practices.

Applying Virtue Ethics to Business: The Agent-Based Approach

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:26 PST

Utopia Reconsidered: The Modern Firm as Institutional Ideal

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:25 PST

This paper challenges Alasdair MacIntyre's assertion that the modern firm -such as Google, Unilever, or Microsoft -is inimical to human flourishing within an Aristotelian framework. The paper begins by questioning MacIntyre's rendering of utopian communities. It then addresses four specific criticisms of the modern firm to be found throughout MacIntyre's oeuvre, namely compartmentalisation, myopia, inequality, and loss of community. Arguments are made to the effect that these criticisms do not vitiate the institutional role of the modern firm in an Aristotelian context. The paper concludes with an invocation of the modern firm as institutional ideal within an evolving utopian vision of human flourishing. This is a utopian vision in which the modern firm plays a constructive, not corruptive, institutional role.

Introducing Ethics Into the Finance Curriculum: A Simple Three Level Guide

John Dobson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:27:24 PST

Ethics has arrived in the business school curriculum. But what about the curriculum of finance? Can ethics be integrated in any meaningful way into the theory and pedagogy of finance? Given the ever-broader array of topics in finance, should ethics be included at the inevitable expense of something else? Are finance instructors qualified to teach ethics any more than ethicists are qualified to teach finance? In short, are finance educators doing students a service or disservice by devoting class time to ethics? These are the questions addressed here. A menu of three different levels of integration is supplied;each level requiring a different commitment of curricula resources.