What would John Stuart Mill say? A utilitarian perspective on contemporary neuroscience debates in leadership

Lindebaum, D; Raftopoulou, E

Abstract

The domain of organizational neuroscience increasingly influences leadership research and practice in terms of both selection and interventions. The dominant view is that the use of neuroscientific theories and methods offers better and refined predictions of what constitutes good leadership. What has been omitted so far, however, is a deeper engagement with ethical theories. This engagement is imperative as it helps problematize a great deal of the current advocacy around organizational neuroscience. In this article, we draw upon John Stuart Mill’s Theory of Utility as a theoretical framework to this end. Our discussion reveals several negative psychological and physical side-effects, which undermine the prevailing view that neuroscientific methods can be used without risk at work. We discuss the theoretical and practical ramifications of our analysis.

Citation

Lindebaum, D., & Raftopoulou, E. (2017). What would John Stuart Mill say? A utilitarian perspective on contemporary neuroscience debates in leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 144, 813-822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2247-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 6, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jun 26, 2014
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
• Print ISSN: 0167-4544
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 144
• Pages: 813-822
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2247-z
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2247-z
• Related Public URLs: http://link.springer.com/journal/10551