If Aristotle Ran General Motors
The New Soul of Business
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Discover the secrets to building great morale and productivity in your organization, drawing on the timeless wisdom of classical philosophy.
In If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris, who taught philosophy at Notre Dame for fifteen years, shares the knowledge he garnered from a lifetime of studying history's wisest thinkers and shows how to apply their ideas in today's business environment. Morris finds inspiration in the teachings of a wide array of thinkers from many different traditions and eras, including Aristotle, Confucius, Seneca, Saint Augustine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Abraham Lincoln.
By looking at the inside workings of various businesses, from GE to Tom's of Maine, Morris demonstrates why any company that is serious about attaining true excellence must adhere to four timeless virtues first identified by Aristotle: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. He argues that the most successful companies encourage a corporate culture that ensures all interactions are infused with dignity and humanity. The book provides clearly stated strategies for how everyone can make these qualities the foundation for their everyday business and personal lives.
If Aristotle Ran General Motors presents a compelling case for a new ethics in business and for a workplace where openness and integrity are the rule. 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.
