ABSTRACT
Rational models with their accompanying assumption of optimality and maximization have all but taken over the field of economics and are by far the most important framework for decisions in management science and accounting. This essay takes a critical look at the maximizing of individual objectives as an organization paradigm and as a surrogate and even as justification for human ethics. I have always argued that some amount of rationality must be posited in order to avoid a world of chaos and to bring about some semblance of order to human actions, and that effort should be made to specify the conditions necessary for the converging of individual and social goals. Less attention has been directed to this vital congruence in terms of ethical discourse.
