7. Managers, Virtues, and Dispositions?

Modern interpretations of the ancient Stoic and Aristotelian views of virtues and their exercise in management are reviewed. These modern exegeses generally stem from viewing virtues as “dispositions towards duty” and may differ from the ancient view that virtues are to be natural inclinations and not burdensome obligations. The difference between the “dispositional view” and the “ancient virtue view” is explored in the context of the “unity theory” (the ancient view that virtues must all be developed and pursued simultaneously), the “onerous theory” (the perceived burdensome nature—or lack thereof—of these dispositions or virtues), and the teleological theory (the end-goal differences of these two approaches). It is argued here that these apparent differences are illusory.