Exemplars, or concrete problems and resolutions, play a far more central role in business ethics than do detailed rules. Exemplars, such as case studies, anecdotes, parables, and fables, are nearly as important as general ethical principles.
There are four arguments for recognizing this essential role for exemplars in business ethics. First, exemplars facilitate impartial agreement where agreement on detailed moral rules eludes us. Second, exemplars uniquely facilitate, for the purposes of training and decision making, the balanced integration of diverse sets of values. Third, the use of exemplars appropriately cultivates personal judgment, making detailed moral roles useful in exceptional cases only. Fourth, exemplars provide the flexibility necessary for making moral decisions within the continued flux of responsible business life.
No one can read the present literature on excellence and ethics in corporate America without recognizing a dominant, ubiquitous feature. Both popular and academic studies repeatedly make use of this common trait when they analyze excellence in its various aspects of quality, success, and moral value in corporate business) Yet, it is either only rarely mentioned or totally absent in philosophical training in value theory. What is this mysterious, ubiquitous feature? It is the constant use of exemplarsconcrete problems and resolutions.
Exemplars, or concrete problems and resolutions, include various business case studies that are examined in university courses, as well as case studies, anecdotes, and even fables and myths that are used in various types of meetings and training seminars within business corpora-