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Managerial Work in a Practice-Embodying Institution: The Role of Calling, The Virtue of Constancy

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  • Ron Beadle

Abstract

What can be learned from a small scale study of managerial work in a highly marginal and under-researched working community? This article uses the ‘goods–virtues–practices–institutions’ framework to examine the managerial work of owner–directors of traditional circuses. Inspired by MacIntyre’s arguments for the necessity of a narrative understanding of the virtues, interviews explored how British and Irish circus directors accounted for their working lives. A purposive sample was used to select subjects who had owned and managed traditional touring circuses for at least 15 years, a period in which the economic and reputational fortunes of traditional circuses have suffered badly. This sample enabled the research to examine the self-understanding of people who had, at least on the face of it, exhibited the virtue of constancy. The research contributes to our understanding of the role of the virtues in organizations by presenting evidence of an intimate relationship between the virtue of constancy and a ‘calling’ work orientation. This enhances our understanding of the virtues that are required if management is exercised as a domain-related practice. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

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  • Ron Beadle, 2013. "Managerial Work in a Practice-Embodying Institution: The Role of Calling, The Virtue of Constancy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 679-690, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:113:y:2013:i:4:p:679-690
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1678-2
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    2. Patricia Grant & Surendra Arjoon & Peter McGhee, 2018. "In Pursuit of Eudaimonia: How Virtue Ethics Captures the Self-Understandings and Roles of Corporate Directors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 389-406, December.
    3. Mario Fernando & Geoff Moore, 2015. "MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 185-202, November.
    4. Caleb Bernacchio, 2021. "Virtue Beyond Contract: A MacIntyrean Approach to Employee Rights," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 227-240, June.
    5. Kevin Morrell & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Governance and Virtue: The Case of Public Order Policing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 385-398, June.
    6. David Dawson, 2018. "Organisational Virtue, Moral Attentiveness, and the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business: The Case of UK HR Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 765-781, April.
    7. Daniela Pianezzi & Hanne Nørreklit & Lino Cinquini, 2020. "Academia After Virtue? An Inquiry into the Moral Character(s) of Academics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 571-588, December.
    8. Albert D. Spalding & Gretchen R. Lawrie, 2019. "A Critical Examination of the AICPA’s New “Conceptual Framework” Ethics Protocol," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1135-1152, April.
    9. David Dawson, 2015. "Two Forms of Virtue Ethics: Two Sets of Virtuous Action in the Fire Service Dispute?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 585-601, May.
    10. Irene Chu & Geoff Moore, 2020. "From Harmony to Conflict: MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in a Confucian Tradition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 221-239, August.
    11. Matthew Sinnicks, 2018. "Leadership After Virtue: MacIntyre’s Critique of Management Reconsidered," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 735-746, February.
    12. Andrew West, 2018. "After Virtue and Accounting Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 21-36, March.
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