The Volitionist ’ s Michael R . Hyman Manifesto Catharine

Many popular business strategies, such as re-engineering, core competency, and value engineering, may achieve short-term profits by antagonizing workers and alienating customers. We contend that self-actualized companies must create an ethical business environment grounded in three ethical principles. To suggest these principles, which characterize all “volitionist companies”, we first review two typical problems and the questionable ways that some companies resolved them. Then, we discuss these principles and compare “volitionism” to three well-known normative ethical theories. Finally, we show that these principles form the core of at least four popular management theories. Since the 1980s, managers intermittently pressured by increased globalization, recession, high resource costs, and the like (Carnall, 1986), often adopted popular business strategies, such as reengineering (Hammer and Champy, 1993; Johnson, 1988), core competency (Porter, 1980), value engineering (Clawson, 1970; Fram, 1974), and quality circles (Lawler and Mohrman, 1985). These managers probably argued that their strategies yielded large quarterly profits or revived failing companies. Nonetheless, these popular strategies are exclusionary, and thus often produced short-terms profits by antagonizing workers and alienating customers. Once relations soured among managers, workers, and consumers, belligerence characterized their efforts: managers often resorted to employee surveillance, preferred part-time or temporary employees, and threatened to relocate abroad; workers often struck, spouted anti-management rhetoric, supported protectionist lobbying, and threatened legal action; consumers often threatened to vote for higher corporate taxes and stricter (safety and pricing) regulations. We contend that companies can avoid such fractious environments if they adopt nonexclusionary strategies that follow from three ethical principles. To suggest these principles, we first review two typical problems and the questionable ways that some companies confronted them. Then, we discuss these principles and compare ‘volitionism’ to three well-known normative ethical theories. Finally, we show that these principles form the core of at least four popular management theories. Two typical problems and questionable