Aristotle’s Virtues and Management Thought: An Empirical Exploration of an Integrative Pedagogy

This paper develops and explores a pedagogical innovation for integrating virtue theory into business students’ basic understanding of general management. Eighty-seven students, in 20 groups, classified three managers’ real-time videotaped activities according to an elaboration of Aristotle’s cardinal virtues, Fayol’s management functions, and Mintzberg’s managerial roles. The study’s empirical evidence suggests that, akin to Fayol’s functions and Mintzberg’s roles, Aristotle’s virtues are also amenable to operationalization, reliable observation, and meaningful description of managerial behavior. The study provides an oft-called-for empirical basis for further work in virtue theory as an appropriate conceptual framework for the study and practice of management. The results indicate that virtue theory may be used to re-conceive our fundamental understanding of management, alongside its capacity to weigh moral judgment upon it. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.