Who cares? For whom? How the ethics of care might inform boardroom governance, and beyond.

Abstract

A persistent problem in corporate governance is the defining scope of the fiduciary and other duties of directors of public corporations, private companies, and other organisations that adopt a corporate form. Moreover, over the past three decades, public policy initiatives have sought to foster greater director accountability not just as a solution to the agency problem but also in aid of broader social goals. This push-and-pull of policy can confuse decision-making and for directors pose a version of the famous “trolley problem” in ethics, with the added complication that boards must decide on how to act collectively and not as individuals. This conceptual paper poses the question: Might the ethics of care – sometimes labelled “feminist ethics” – come to the rescue?