Towards an Ethical Framework Grounded in Everyday Business Life

Abstract

Business is increasingly concerned to reconcile investor driven pressure to perform with state 
driven pressure to conform (to a cascade of new regulation). Ethics generally favors the latter at 
the expense of the former. The ethical frameworks developed in the last few years differ from 
their classical predecessors, however. Integrative Social Contract Theory begins with the busi
ness contract and moves out from there to the wider society. Care theory begins with the rela
tionship between two individual persons and moves out from there. Both theories are skeptical 
of the Universalist claims of classical ethical and religious frameworks and both claim to be 
user friendly. This paper compares and contrasts the two theories and hopes to show how the 
ethical lacunae in ISCT can be fixed by Care Theory. How a business would operate under the 
sway of Care Theory is described. Fears that Care Theory cannot be applied to business without 
weakening competitive strength are addressed. The paper is offered as a step towards merging 
ISCT and Care Theory to evolve an ethical framework for business. It would be a framework 
that engages fully with business realities, especially competitive realities, but that is directly 
and clearly guided by classical ethical principles.