Cultural Business Ethics: A Multilevel Approach

While ‘culture’ is an omnipresent notion in management, economics, and business ethics, it is often used in the sense of “climate” (Denison 1996). In this contribution, we approach culture in a different manner while emphasizing a methodological cultural perspective. We will first outline a general cultural approach in a Weberian tradition that focuses on five crucial levels of analysis: elements of a theory of action, social relations, institutions, organizations, and system theories. Based on that, we will sketch selected considerations by identifying elements of organizational ethics, business and society relations, and societal systems perspectives. This will allow us to outline a broad spectrum of conceptual considerations by introducing concepts such as moral (bounded) rationality, multi-rational and poly-lingual organizations, the ethics of organizational fields, and systemic responsibility. Finally, we sketch some directions for further research, which not only concerns social-science approaches but also offers some suggestions for bridging our approach with normative business ethics.