Moral Imagination in the Twenty-first Century: Individuals and Organizations

— —

Patricia H. Werhane (University of Virginia) David J. Bevan (Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education)

Moral Imagination in the Twenty-first Century

Individuals and Organizations

Patricia H. Werhane (University of Virginia), David J. Bevan (Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education)

$81.95 $69.63

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Cambridge University Press
13 November 2025

Ethics & moral philosophy; Business ethics

What role could or should moral imagination play in managerial and corporate decision-making? This book focuses on three simple questions: why do ordinary, decent managers engage in questionable behavior? Why do successful companies ignore the ethical dimensions of their processes, decisions, and actions? And what motivates a successful company such as McDonald's, which closed its 800 restaurants in Russia, to depart from a large and very profitable market? Working from the assumption that all human experience is socially constructed and incomplete, this book argues that a critical missing element in many instances of alleged managerial or corporate wrongdoing is a simple phenomenon: moral imagination. In this fully updated edition, three new chapters and topical case studies, such as Boeing and Google, allow readers to bring process philosophy and systems insights into organizational and managerial thinking. A valuable resource for scholars, students and corporate decision-makers.

By: Patricia H. Werhane (University of Virginia), David J. Bevan (Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Revised edition
Weight: 331g
ISBN: 9781009565844
ISBN 10: 1009565842
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 13 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Patricia H. Werhane is Professor Emeritae in the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and DePaul University, and the author or editor of 36 books and 150 articles and book chapters. She was the founding editor of Business Ethics Quarterly and the Executive Producer of two video series on poverty alleviation and on founding thinkers in business ethics and corporate responsibility. She was a Rockefeller Fellow at Dartmouth College, Andersen Fellow at Cambridge University, and Fulbright Scholar at All Hollows Collage, Dublin. David J. Bevan directs Postgraduate Courses in Action Learning at St Martin's Institute of Higher Education, Malta, and is author of over 50 articles in critical management and business ethics. He is a Visiting Professor at King's College London where he obtained a PhD in Social Accounting with a background in philosophy and higher education. He has served on the management faculties of international universities and currently serves the editorial boards of several management and ethics journals, and edits two book series for Springer.

Reviews for Moral Imagination in the Twenty-first Century: Individuals and Organizations

‘Step back from your role, your self-interest and your favourite narratives; imagine the long-term consequences of your plans from multiple perspectives; and, only then, decide and act. Patricia H. Werhane and David J. Bevan elegantly interweave corporate cases and moral philosophy to provide a step-by-step guide to managerial integrity.' Hervé Corvellec, Lund University, Sweden is that seemingly decent individuals and corporations come to make bad ethical decisions. Moral philosophy is used to explain this conundrum in a way that is accessible to practitioners and academics alike.' Crawford Spence, King's College London and author of Inertia: Purposeful Inefficiencies in Financial Markets ‘Moral Imagination in the Twenty-first Century is a must-read and crucial study for academics, businesspeople and managers and leaders in the world. The book provides a profound, knowledgeable, and wise approach to the foundations of corporate decision-making. Through this comprehensive scrutinizing of the significance and importance of moral imagination Patricia H. Werhane and David J. Bevan manage to rethink the key dimensions of business ethics and provide novel ideas and new horizons for conceptualizing morality and moral blindness in organizations and institutions.' Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, Professor, Roskilde University, Denmark