Daoism and Business Ethics 47

This chapter takes Daoism as a body of philosophical ideas and investigates some of its major implications for business ethics. The major question is: Could Daoism as articulated by Laozi provide a philosophical basis for developing business ethics for today’s corporations? The core ideas of Daoism which include Dao, De and wu wei, and its cardinal values are introduced. The Daoist doctrine of statecraft is discussed by invoking the attributes of a sage who serves as an ideal political ruler. A correlated doctrine of ethical firm-craft is constructed as a way to examine how the Daoist ideas would flesh out in business ethics terms in the corporate domain. Whether and how Daoism could ground business ethics will be addressed by examining the Daoist doctrine of Dao, ethical organization and management,wu wei management, and ethical leadership. The Daoist doctrine pertaining to business ethics is further scrutinized against the backdrop of the environmental crisis in China as a reality test for the ideas. The implications of the Dao principle, wu wei management, and ethical leadership for business are envisioned.