Abstract
This article presents the ethical concept of service as a way of specifying higher ethical principles in business practice. We set out from the work of a number of scholars who have found some shared ethical principles for doing business in a context of cultural diversity. Love, benevolence, consideration, and other related concepts are considered to be important guiding concepts for business but it is not clear how they are to be operationalized. We argue that the ethical concept of service can act as a bridge for bringing those higher principles into business practice. The article explains and refines the ethical concept of service, which has received little attention. In particular, we address the ethical ambiguity implicit in the common meaning of service, explain how service shows love in business, and offer an account of how service provides ethical growth through virtue. Finally, this work presents a variety of examples from business which illustrate how the ethical concept of service can be put into practice. To achieve the aim of this study we draw inspiration from Catholic social teaching. This source provides useful insights into service and can be understood and accepted without requiring that particular faith.
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Notes
This paper uses the term “principle” in a broad sense, that is, as an ethical guide that orients business practice. This ethical guide can be a statement with ethical consequences, like respect for human dignity, or a rule, like the Golden Rule, but it can also be what the authors of many of the items in the bibliography call “values”, like love, benevolence, caring, consideration, justice, etc. We adopt this broad meaning because these authors use “principles” and “values” without defining these terms, sometimes regarding them as interchangeable—“principles or values”—(e.g., Schwartz 2005, p. 35; Donaldson 1996, pp. 52–53). It is beyond the scope of this study to discuss the meanings of “principle”, “value”, “virtue”, and all the differences between them (on the meaning of “principle”, see MacIntyre 1990). In any case, what the authors we quote mean by “principles” and “values” are objective ethical goods that can be appreciated by everyone and in fact are shared by different cultures, religions, etc. In several cases, what these authors call “values” can be called “virtues” as well (e.g. justice, love, truthfulness, etc). Indeed, “virtue” also points to objective ethical goods. However, the concept of virtue—habitual disposition of the will toward ethical good—stresses a personal component, as virtues provide human excellence by forging the moral character of the person who practices them. We will use “values” when quoting or following the authors mentioned, but we will also use “virtues” when especially referring to the dispositions and moral character of the person. As for the concept of service, we will seek to categorize it precisely.
This is Aristotle’s definition of love (1926, 2.4.2). Thomas Aquinas explicitly accepts this definition (1936, I–II. 26.4c) and, through Aquinas, this meaning of love became part of the Christian tradition. As Aquinas explains, “charity” is also “love” (and thus it is to wish good for someone) but “charity” expresses the perfection of love (ibid, I–II. 26.3c). When Catholic Social Teaching deals with service and uses “love”, the term also fits Aquinas’ definition.
CST is an expression of the teachings (sometimes called “magisterium”) of the Catholic Church, and mainly of the Pope, on social issues. Although inspired by faith, CST presents rational arguments (Benedict XVI 2005, #28a) that can also be accepted by people who do not share the Catholic faith. For this reason, the most representative CST documents are often addressed to all people of good will. Besides some documents from the Second Vatican Council—especially the pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes” (“joys and hopes”) on the Church in the modern world (1965)—, the social teachings are mainly contained in the so called social Encyclicals, starting in 1891 with Leo XIII. However, the official teachings of the different Popes are also to be found in Letters, Messages and Addresses to particular groups, which certainly form part of CST and are normally quoted in all social Encyclicals. These latter documents provide a more detailed insight into the Pope’s mind on a particular issue, something that cannot always be done in a broader document like an Encyclical. In addition, in 2004 the Holy See issued a unique official document: the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (PCJP 2004, Hereafter, Compendium). The Compendium was commissioned by Pope John Paul II, who wanted “a compendium or approved synthesis of Catholic social doctrine” (John Paul II 1999, #54), and entrusted the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace” with this task. The Compendium is not just a summary but an authoritative and systematic synthesis of previous CST. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, this document presents, “in a complete and systematic manner, even if by means of an overview, the Church’s social teaching, which is the fruit of careful magisterial reflection” (PCJP 2004, #9). This document is normally quoted in subsequent CST documents (Benedict XVI 2005, 2009) and scholars use it as a reliable official source to know the essential points of CST on whatever issue.
http://www.reell.com/index.php?page=round-hole-meet-round-peg (accessed September 2013).
John Paul II states that the person can never be treated as a means or as a thing, so using a language similar to Immanuel Kant’s, but there is also a difference. Kant says that people may be used as means provided they are also (and always) being treated as ends. However, John Paul II says people are never to be used as means, apparently because using a person as a means is ipso facto failing to respect his dignity. The difference, however, may be due to a different understanding of what “treating a person as a means” involves.
From a different perspective and dealing with the ethical structure of management, Melé (2012, pp. 132–35) has recently shown that the willingness to serve is, in conjunction with practical wisdom, the basis or foundation for the manager’s key virtues.
The tradition of servant leadership has Christian (though non Catholic) roots, and Christian references can be found in Greenleaf’s writings (e.g., he quotes st. Francis of Assisi: Greenleaf 1977).
http://www.tdindustries.com/about/servant-leadership (accessed June 2013).
http://www.pepephone.com/pepephone/?xsid=XSIDO9P5C3EABPVQWOD928K4W7IB1ACE (accessed October 2013).
http://www.protective.com/our-values/our-heritage.aspx (accessed June 2013).
http://www.servicemaster.com/about-us/history (accessed, June 2013).
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Guitián, G. Service as a Bridge between Ethical Principles and Business Practice: A Catholic Social Teaching Perspective. J Bus Ethics 128, 59–72 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2077-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2077-z