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The Narrative Dimension of Productive Work: Craftsmanship and Collegiality in the Quest for Excellence in Modern Productivity

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Abstract

Alasdair MacIntyre´s criticism of Modernity essentially refers to the problem of compartmentalization, which restricts the possibility of achieving excellence in an integral lifestyle. Among other reasons, compartmentalization is especially derived from an insular valorization of the workplace based on a reductionist understanding of productivity in terms of mere efficiency. Aimed at overcoming the moral confusion derived from the overestimation of technical, skilled productivity and individualistic cooperation in private corporations, this article offers a thicker explanation of MacIntyre’s theory of productive work in light of a narrative approach that opens up the possibility of achieving standards of excellence in modern production. To do so, it follows MacIntyre’s understanding of productivity in terms of craftsmanship by explaining what excellence in production is and the role it plays in achieving unity of life and excellence in modern corporations based on two criteria derived from a historical definition of production, namely, craftsmanship and collegiality.

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Notes

  1. By taking up the “goods-virtues-practices-institutions” scheme, some scholars have built on MacIntyre to theorize about work practices and the workplace as a practical setting (e.g., Beadle and Moore 2006; Collier 1995; Dawson 2009; Dawson and Bartholomew 2003; Dobson 2004; Ferrero and Sison 2014; Halliday and Johnsson 2009; Horvath 1995; Moore 2004, 2005, 2008; Moore and Beadle 2006). Accordingly, MacIntyre explains that we “cannot characterize behavior independently of intention, and we cannot characterize intentions independently of the settings which make those intentions intelligible both to agents themselves and to others'' (1981, p. 206).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESE Business School, Universidad de los Andes, Monseñor Álvaro del Portillo 12455, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile

    Javier Pinto-Garay

  2. School of Economics and Business, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Augusto Rodin 498, Insurgentes Mixcoac, 03920, Mexico

    Germán Scalzo

  3. IESE Business School, Avenida de Pearson 21, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Carlos Rodríguez Lluesma

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  1. Javier Pinto-Garay
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  2. Germán Scalzo
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Correspondence to Germán Scalzo.

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Pinto-Garay, J., Scalzo, G. & Lluesma, C.R. The Narrative Dimension of Productive Work: Craftsmanship and Collegiality in the Quest for Excellence in Modern Productivity. Philosophy of Management 21, 245–264 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-021-00188-8

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