If Aristotle Ran General Motors
The New Soul of Business
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
What does classical philosophy have to offer modern business? Nothing less than the secrets to building great morale and productivity in any size organization.
This is the message that Tom Morris will deliver this year to thousands of executives of leading companies such as Merrill Lynch, Coca Cola, Bayer, and Northwestern Mutual Life.
In If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Morris, who taught philosophy at Notre Dame for fifteen years, shares the knowledge that he garnered from a lifetime of studying the writings and teachings of history's wisest thinkers and shows how to apply their ideas in today's business environment. Although he frequently draws on the wisdom of Aristotle, Morris also finds inspiration in the teachings of a wide array of thinkers from many different traditions and eras. Throughout these pages we're invited to pause and consider the words of Confucius, Seneca, Saint Augustine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Abraham Lincoln, and many others.
By looking at the inside workings of various kinds of businesses-- from GE to Tom's of Maine-- Morris shows why any company that is serious about attaining true excellence must adhere to four timeless virtues first identified by Aristotle more than two thousand years ago: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. Morris makes clear that the most successful companies encourage a corporate culture that ensures that all interactions among colleagues, employees, management, bosses, clients, customers, and suppliers are infused with dignity and humanity. Moreover, the book provides clearly stated strategies for how everyone who works can make these qualities the foundation for their everyday business (and personal) lives.
If Aristotle Ran General Motors presents the most compelling case of any book yet written for a new ethics in business and for a workplace where openness and integrity are the rule rather than the exception. It offers an optimistic vision for the future of leadership and a plan for reinvigorating the soul back into our professional lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Morris's discussion--which deals with how to run all businesses, not just the automotive giants--reads like a clever, late-night conversation among grad students. That isn't surprising, since Morris is a former philosophy professor and, like the best teachers, he makes his case in a simple, compelling way. His message? The "four dimensions of human experience" that Aristotle talked about 2200 years ago--truth, beauty, goodness, unity--should form the underpinnings of today's corporation. For Morris, truth can include opening the books to employees. A more beautiful workplace increases productivity. Goodness means behaving ethically, and unity means meeting employees' spiritual--distinguished from religious--needs on the job. Hard-nosed readers will note that Morris, who quotes scores of other philosophers to make his points, often in highlighted text, never cites a number, ratio or rate of return to buttress his arguments, and that corporate examples are cited only in passing. Still, he provides an innovative resource for executives who claim that they want to return to basics. 75,000 first printing; author tour.
