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The Big Five and Organizational Virtue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Dennis J. Moberg
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Abstract:

Recent developments in personality research point to an alchemy of character composed of five elements: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. This paper surveys this research for its implications to the study of the virtues in organizational ethics. After subjecting each of these five character traits to several tests as to what constitutes a virtue, the empirical evidence supports an organizational virtue of agreeableness and an organizational virtue of conscientiousness. Although the empirical evidence falls short, an argument is mobilized on behalf of an additional organizational virtue of openness to experience.

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Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 245 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1999

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