Tone-at-the-Top Lessons from Abrahamic Justice
47 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2015 Last revised: 4 May 2017
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Tone-at-the-Top Lessons from Abrahamic Justice
Tone-at-The-Top Lessons from Abrahamic Justice
Date Written: April 26, 2017
Abstract
Abraham’s “leadership by example” provides a template for business leaders to implement a tone at the top based on a balance of Tzedek (righteousness) and Mishpat (legal judgement). The former expresses the generosity of spirit required of leaders, while the latter expresses the sound judgement in conformity with both ethics and enacted law. We relate the two constructs to several contemporary theories of justice and jurisprudence. We also relate the development of Abrahamic Justice in the Jewish tradition from antiquity through Maimonides in the middle ages. We draw insight from this tradition to answer a contemporary business ethics question: Do corporate managers violate their fiduciary duty to shareholders if they refuse to engage in legal tax avoidance?
Keywords: Abrahamic Justice, civil religion, corporate tax avoidance, distributive justice, integrated reporting, justice as fairness, Maimonides, spirit of the law
JEL Classification: M14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation