ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines and examines two alternative ways to frame the role problem as the duty-based and virtue-based approaches. It argues the superiority of a virtue ethical account of roles. The chapter considers whether the excellences of character that make a person a good businessperson overlap with the character traits that make him or her a good person qua human being. It discusses the social, psychological and moral significance of roles. The chapter examines some alleged conflicts among role demands, in terms of the duty-based approach. It focuses on the nature of the practice of business and the purpose of business activities. The chapter describes the enterprise of commerce as an adversarial profession. It explores the reduction, autonomy and aggregation perspectives – downplay role quandaries by arguing that only one of any pair of conflicting role imperatives is a genuine moral demand. A business firm is an entity that has a defined system of stations and responsibilities.
