ABSTRACT
Within the field of management ethics, one finds at least two broad types of theories: theories of management and theories of ethics. For the management ethicist, these theories may intersect or be used independently of one another. For the practicing manager, these theories may have an explicit or tacit influence. For example, a manager of a pharmaceutical firm may implement an advertising strategy in a developing country whose effect will be to encourage unsuspecting consumers to medicate with drugs that are outlawed in more economically prosperous nations. This type of action could be based on the assumption that such a strategy is justified because it promises an increase in short-term profit. Indeed, this manager might seek to defend this initiative on the basis of either a management theory or a particular theory of ethical action (or both). Whether explicit or implicit, theoretical assumptions are often embedded in managerial moral performance; it is, therefore, critical for both practicing managers and management theorists to understand these theoretical assumptions if managerial performance is to be both productive and ethical.
