The Trinity of Corporate Moral Development Mapping and Extending “After Virtue”

This article delves into the trinity of corporate moral development, building upon Alasdair MacIntyre's seminal work 'After Virtue'. It presents a framework that distinguishes yet preserves the unique aspects of utilitarianism, Kantianism, and virtue ethics, facilitating the simultaneous pursuit of internal and external goods. The article first maps the theoretical foundations of 'After Virtue', arguing that MacIntyre's views on virtue, Kantian stock maxims, and moral simulacra establish a unique trinity of moral checks and balances for corporations. It then extends MacIntyre's work by combining David Kolb’s theory of experiential learning and Lawrence Kohlberg’s model of moral development to address questions about corporate moral development and the impact of communal exclusion on corporate offenders. The article also utilizes corporate rhetoric from Volkswagen’s (VW) annual reports pre and post the dieselgate crisis to contextualize the impact of MacIntyre’s trinity model on VW’s moral development. The article concludes by arguing that the trinity model offers a distinctive perspective for understanding the world in its morally complex and dynamic nature, and that it significantly contributes to the moral philosophy foundation in meta-governance.