Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:45:33.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toward the Feminine Firm: An Extension to Thomas White

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

John Dobson  and
Judith White
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This paper concerns the influence of gender on a firm’s moral and economic performance. It supports Thomas White’s intimation of a male gender bias in the value system underlying extant business theory. We suggest that this gender bias may be corrected by drawing on the concept of substantive rationality inherent in virtue-ethics theory. This feminine-oriented relationship-based value system complements the essential nature of the firm as a nexus of relationships between stakeholders. Not only is this feminine firm morally desirable, but it is also economically more efficient in that trust becomes a more feasible implicit contractual enforcement mechanism. In an organizational context, therefore, from both a moral and an economic perspective, long established economic man is dominated by nascent economic woman.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , July 1995 , pp. 463 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, F. and Faulhaber, G.. 1989. “Signalling by Underpricing in the Initial Public Offering Market,” Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 23, pp. 303–23.Google Scholar
Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Arrow, Kenneth. 1975. “Gifts and Exchanges,” in Phelps, E. S. (ed.), Altruism, Morality, and Economic Theory. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Barach, J. and Elstrott, John B.. 1988. “The Transactional Ethic: The Ethical Foundations of Free Enterprise Reconsidered,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 7, pp. 545–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumhart, Raymond C. 1961. “How Ethical are Businessmen?” Harvard Business Review.Google Scholar
Belenky, M. E., Clinchy, C. M., Goldberger, N. R., and Tarule, J. M.. 1986. Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bella, David and King, Jonathan. 1989. “Common Knowledge of the Second Kind,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 8, pp. 415–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellah, Robert N., Madsen, Richard, Sullivan, William M., Swidler, Ann and Tipton, Steven M.. 1985. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Bowie, Norman E. 1991. “Challenging the Egoistic Paradigm,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
Byron, W.J. 1988. “Twin Towers: A Philosophy and Theology of Business,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 7, pp. 525–30.Google Scholar
Carter, R. and Manaster, S.. 1990. “Initial Public Offerings and Underwriter Reputation,” Journal of Finance, vol. 45, pp. 1045–1067.Google Scholar
Collins, N.W., Gilbert, S.K. and Nycum, S.H. 1988. Women Leading: Making Tough Choices on the Fast Track. New York: Stephen Greene Press/Viking.Google Scholar
Cornell, B. and Shapiro, A.C.. 1988. “Corporate Stakeholders and Corporate Finance,” Financial Management, Spring, pp. 5–14.Google Scholar
Copeland, Thomas and Weston, Fred. 1988. Financial Theory and Corporate Policy, 3rd ed. Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Darrough Masako, N., and Stoughton, Neal M.. 1986. Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection: the Question of Financial Structure. Journal of Finance, vol. 41, pp. 501–14.Google Scholar
Dees, Gregory J. 1982. “Principals, Agents, and Ethics,” in Ethics and Agency Theory, ed. Bowie, Norman E. and Freeman, R. Edward. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
DeGeorge, Richard T. 1986. Business Ethics, 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Diamond, Douglas W. 1989. “Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 97, pp. 828–61.Google Scholar
Dobson, John. 1990. “The Role of Ethics in Global Corporate Culture,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 9, pp. 481–88.Google Scholar
Dobson, John. 1991. “Reconciling Financial Economics and Business Ethics,” Business and Professional Ethics Journal, vol. 10 (Winter).Google Scholar
Dobson, John. 1992. “Ethics in Financial Contracting,” Business and Professional Ethics Journal, vol. 11, Nos. 3&4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duska, Ronald F. 1992. “Why Be a Loyal Agent? A Systematic Ethical Analysis,” in Ethics and Agency Theory, ed. Bowie, Norman E. and Freeman, R. Edward. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. 1989. “Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review,” Academy of Management Review, vol. 14, pp. 51–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisler, R. 1987. The Chalice and the Blade. San Francisco: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Etzioni, Anitai. 1988. The Moral Dimension. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Etzioni, Anitai. 1991. “Reflections on Teaching Business Ethics,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1 (October), pp. 355–66.Google Scholar
Flannery, M. 1986. “Asymmetric Information and Risky Debt Maturity Choice,” Journal of Finance, March, pp. 19–38.Google Scholar
Frank, Robert. 1988. Passions Within Reason. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1970. “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits,” The New York Times Magazine, (reprinted in Business Ethics), by Hoffman, W.M. and Moore, J. M., McGraw-Hill, 1990, pp. 153–56.Google Scholar
Gauthier, David. 1988. Morals by Agreement. Oxford: Clarenden Press.Google Scholar
Ghorbade, Jai. 1991. “Ethics in MBA Programs: The Rhetoric, the Reality, and a Plan of Action,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 10, pp. 891–905.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, C. 1982. In a Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, Kenneth E. 1991. “Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1, pp. 54–73.Google Scholar
Heckman, Peter. 1992. “Business and Games,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11, pp. 933–38.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Michael W. and Mills Moore, Jennifer. 1990. Business Ethics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Hofstede, Geert. 1991. “Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad?”, in Kolb, Rubin, and Osland, , The Organizational Behavioral Reader. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hollis, Martin and Lukes, Steven. 1982. Rationality and Relativism. England, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Hunt, David E. 1987. Beginning with Ourselves, in Practice, Theory, and Human Affairs. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.Google Scholar
Jensen, M. C. and Meckling, W.. 1976. “Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Ownership Costs and Ownership Structure,” Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 3, pp. 305–60.Google Scholar
John, Kose, and Nachman, D.. 1985. “Risky Debt, Investment Incentives and Reputation in a Sequential Equilibrium,” Journal of Finance, vol. 40, pp. 863–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, Jack L., and Thaler, Richard H.. 1986. “Fairness and the Assumptions of Economics,” Journal of Business, vol. 59, pp. 285–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kavka, Gregory S. 1991. “Is Individual Choice Less Problematic than Collective Choice?” Economics and Philosophy, vol. 7, pp. 143–65.Google Scholar
King, J.B. 1989. “Confronting Chaos,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 8, January.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Sherwin. 1989. “Platonic Virtue Theory and Business Ethics,” Business and Professional Ethics Journal, vol. 8, no. 4.Google Scholar
Klein, Sherwin. 1988. “Is a Moral Organization Possible?” Business and Profes sional Ethics Journal, vol. 7, no. 1.Google Scholar
Kreps, D. and Wilson, R.. 1982. “Sequential Equilibria,” Econometrica, vol. 7, pp. 863–94.Google Scholar
Ladd, John. 1970. “Morality and the Ideal of Rationality in Formal Organizations,” The Monist, vol. 54, pp. 488–516.Google Scholar
Lasch, Christopher. 1991. The True and Only Heaven: Progress and Its Critics. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Leland, Hayne E., and Pyle, David H.. 1977. “Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation,” Journal of Finance, vol. 32, pp. 371–87.Google Scholar
Lewis, H. 1990. A Question of Values. San Francisco: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Lukes, Steven. 1977. Rationality and Relativism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Maclntyre, Alisdair. 1966. A Brief History of Ethics. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Maclntyre, Alisdair. 1984. After Virtue (2nd ed.). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Maclntyre, Alisdair. 1988. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Marwell, Gerald and Ames, Ruth E.. 1981. “Economists Free Ride, Does Anyone Else?” Journal of Public Economics, vol. 15, pp. 295–310.Google Scholar
Milgram, S. 1974. Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper-Collins (quote can be found in Wolfe, Art. 1991. “Reflections on Business Ethics,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1, No. 4 (October), pp. 409–40).Google Scholar
Milgrom, P. and Roberts, J.. 1982. “Predation, Reputation and Entry Deterrence,” Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 27, pp. 280–312.Google Scholar
Miller, Merton H. 1986. “Behavioral Rationality in Finance: The Case of Dividends,” Journal of Business, vol. 59, pp. 451–68.Google Scholar
Miller, Merton H., and Rock, Kevin. 1985. “Dividend Policy Under Asymmetric In formation,” Journal of Finance, vol. 40 (September), pp. 1031–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, Stewart C. 1977. “Determinants of Corporate Borrowing,” Journal of Financial Economics, p. 5.Google Scholar
Myers, Stewart C., and Majluff, N.. 1984. “Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions when Firms Have Information that Investors Do not Have,” Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 13, pp. 187–221.Google Scholar
Nesteruk, Jeffrey. 1992. “The Moral Status of the Corporation: Comments on an Inquiry,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 2, No. 4.Google Scholar
Noddings, N. 1984. Caring, A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Noreen, Eric. 1988. “The Economics of Ethics: A New Perspective on Agency Theory,” Accounting Organizations and Society, vol. 13, pp. 359–69.Google Scholar
Pearsall, Marilyn. 1986. Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminine Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Inc.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1958. Personal Knowledge: Toward a Post-Critical Philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rasmusen, Eric. 1989. Games and Information: An Introduction to Game Theory. Oxford, U.K.: Basil Blackwell, Ltd.Google Scholar
Reich, Robert B. 1990. “Who is Us?” Harvard Business Review, January-February.Google Scholar
Roll, R. 1986. “The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers,” Journal of Business, vol. 59, pp. 197–216.Google Scholar
Ross, S. 1977. “The Determination of Financial Structure: The Incentive Signaling Approach,” The Bell Journal of Economics, vol. 8 (Spring), pp. 23–40.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Barry. 1990. “King Midas in America,” in Enhancing Business Ethics, edited by Walton, Clarence C.. New York: Plennum Press.Google Scholar
Simon, H. A. 1965. Administrative Behavior. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Solomon, Robert C. 1992. “Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach to Business Ethics,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 2, pp. 317–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, A. 1977. “Job Market Signaling,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 8 (Spring), pp. 23–40.Google Scholar
Tannen, D. 1990. You Just Don’t Understand: Men and Women in Conversation. New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Thaler, Richard H. 1992. The Winner’s Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Thakor, Anjan V. 1989. “Strategic Issues in Financial Contracting: An Overview,” Financial Management, (Summer).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Nostrand, C. H. 1993. Gender-Responsible Leadership. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Von Neumann, J. and Morgenstern, O.. 1947. Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Weizenbaum, Joseph. 1976. Computer Power and Human Reason. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co.Google Scholar
White, Thomas I. 1992. “Business Ethics and Carol Gilligan’s ‘Two Voices.’” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 2, No. 1 (January), pp. 51–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Oliver E. and Murphy, Patrick E.. 1990. “The Ethics of Virtue: A Moral Theory of Marketing,” Journal of Macromarketing, (Spring), pp. 19–29.Google Scholar
Wolfe, Art. 1991. “Reflections on Business Ethics,” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1, No. 4 (October), pp. 409–40.Google Scholar