Business Realism—A New Account of Morality and Power in Business Ethics

ABSTRACT This article introduces a new account of morality and power in business ethics called “business realism”. To this end, it first outlines the political realism literature—a view in political philosophy that deals with the question of the relation between morality and politics. This view stresses the importance of power in politics and of a political ethics guided by political practice. Second, it uses the concept of change to argue, by analogy, for a realist view of business—a view in (what we might call) business philosophy that stresses the importance of power in business and of a business ethics guided by business practice. Third, it maps influential business ethics frameworks through a lens of business change. Fourth, it states business realism—a new account of morality and power in business ethics. Against this background, it considers the implications of this new account for business ethics and business.