Discourse and tractable morality

Abstract

When managerial decisions are examined, somehow the business context must be included in the analysis. In this chapter, causalities that transcend individuals are promoted as unit of analysis in empirical moral research, namely, discourse. Studying managerial decisions in their discursive context is an interesting way to study the moral side of these decisions. After discussing discourse theory, the conclusion is that discourse theory can help business ethics in many different ways. It is shown what a discourse description or analysis within business ethics could look like. Special attention is paid to stories and metaphors, and to the power effects of international anticorruption discourses.