Thomas mann and the business ethic

Son of a North German businessman, Thomas Mann chose as theme for his early narrative work the conflict between the standards and values of business and those of the artist-writer.Buddenbrooks andTonio Kröger exhibit the tension of values in opposite ways. InThe Magic Mountain, Mann expands his canvas to include military as well as business values in their relation to the creative potential in a young engineer who exiles himself to an Alpine tuberculosis sanatorium to enjoy a unique educational experience. Mann believed that the businessman, like the artist, had a light and dark side, committed by the Protestant ethic, yet bound to entrepreneurial standards of utility and profit. On that account, the businessman, like the creative artist, may experience a certain alientation from ‘Life’.     

Managing Ethically Cultural Diversity: Learning from Thomas Aquinas

Cultural diversity is an inescapable reality and a concern in many businesses where it can often raise ethical questions and dilemmas. This paper aims to offer suggestions to certain problems facing managers in dealing with cultural diversity through the inspiration of Thomas Aquinas. Although he may be perceived as a voice from the distant past, we can still find in his writings helpful and original ideas and criteria. He welcomes cultural differences as a part of the perfection of the universe. His systemic approach leads one to place the problem in its proper context, and to reflect on it from the perspective of virtue ethics, with a central role for practical wisdom and giving primacy to neighborly love and natural moral law. Rather than a set of rigid standards with no consideration of diversity Aquinas focuses on the common human ground, which allows for the indispensable dialogue between different positions. When dealing with practical questions, the problem is one of finding the right balance between general principle and cultural specifics, tolerance, and dialogue, always guided by practical wisdom. In this way, Aquinas’ approach is neither rigid ethical universalism with no consideration for diversity nor moral relativism with no place for any transcultural and absolute morals.     

Kapitalbeteiligung im 21. Jahrhundert: Antwort auf Thomas Piketty

This white paper discusses an aspect that seems to be missing in the debate about Piketty’s “Capital in the 21st Century”: to build the bridge between capital and labour and to spread capital investment over a wide base. Based on historical data, it shows that capital participation could be a realistic option for Germany and for all of Europe. It would therefore be an alternative to the redistribution of wealth suggested by Thomas Piketty, and it would fit very well into the current debate about additional improvements to the private pension system in Germany. Calculations prove that if European employees had contributed small amounts of money to saving plans, they could own approximately 50% of the European stock market. Employees could become capital owners. Labour income could be–at least partly–replaced by capital income.     

The professionalisation of selling and the transformation of a family business: Kenrick & Jefferson, 1878–1940

Abstract

This article shows that innovation in sales management at a West Midlands SME in the early twentieth century matched contemporary best practices, and that it occurred in parallel with significant developments in sales education at both the University of Birmingham and the region’s colleges. In looking not only at a smaller company than those examined previously by historians of selling but also at what is referred to as the surrounding sales ecosystem, the article contributes to our understanding of a more dynamic sales environment, supported by a more purposeful educational provision, than has hitherto been understood to have existed.     

Thomas J. Watson and the Business-Government Relationship, 1933-1956

The precise nature of the relationship between the Americanbusiness community and the New Deal has been a lively topicof debate in recent years. This article looks at an importantfigure and firm in that relationship (Thomas J. Watson of IBM)to increase our understanding of it. This article focuses chronologicallyon the period from the early 1930s through the mid-1950s, whenNew-Deal-era public policy innovations were most influential.The overall picture that emerges from this study of the U.S.business-government relationship during those years is one ofbusiness accommodation of major changes in social conditionsand public policies rather than a view of business as the primaryleader of change.     

The Greeks and the Environment,edited by Laura Westra and Thomas Robinson

Teaching Business Ethics -     

A Career Approach to Entrepreneurship: The Case of Thomas B. Thrige

Thomas B. Thrige was one of the most successful Danish manufacturers of all time. If there are entrepreneurs in the Schumpeterian sense behind the growth of the Danish economy, he certainly looks like one of them. This article gives a brief survey of Thrige's professional life and of his contribution to industrialisation in Denmark. His case is discussed in relation to debates about entrepreneurship.     

Thomas Metcalf. Imperial Connections: India in the Indian Ocean Arena, 1860-1920

Here is an imperial connection: Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe(with an "e"), 4th Baronet, served as agent of the Governor-Generalof British India at the court of the Mughal Emperor BahadurShah. This was in the years immediately preceding the periodof this book by the nearly eponymous Thomas Metcalf (no "e"),Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Californiaat Berkeley. The similarity of names is a coincidence, but thetwo Toms share a     

Thomas Piketty,the Future of Capitalism and the Theory of Distribution: A Review Essay

This essay reviews Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty‐First Century. The focus is upon the conceptual framework and theoretical interpretation of the empirical findings assembled in the book, rather than those empirical findings themselves (which are, in any case, broadly incontestable). The core theoretical logic of the distributional dynamics is explained and subjected to scrutiny with respect to the theory of distribution in particular, but also the theory of growth.     

Happiness and the market: the ontology of the human being in Thomas Aquinas and modern functionalism

In this paper, we aim at identifying a concept of man that can represent a reference point for those who work or supervise social processes characterized by commercial or economic purposes. Economic, management, and organizational theories and ideas have a large impact on the way we think of ourselves, and we act accordingly. By making a radical departure from the ontological assumptions, this paper proposes a shifting of the current paradigm in terms of how we theorize about man. In order to do this, we analyze the ontological level of the relationship between the idea of happiness and the concept of man from medieval scholastics, and the relationship between the idea of happiness and functionalism in social science. We first prove the formal equivalence between the structures of human choice as described in the qq. 6–21 Prima Secundae of the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the model of problem‐solving behavior as conceptualized in popular management models. Then we show that the Aquinas theory of action could provide a more adequate view of economy and business in the sociocultural and environmental context in which they operate. Finally, we present the implications of this study for management theory, practice, and education.     

Australia & China:No.1 Priority upon Free Trade Agreement An Interview with Australian Ambassador Dr Alan Thomas

"One of the main things we've done is we have conducted a joint study into the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Australia. That study looked at what the possible benefits could be and was completed in March this year."