Ford Shanahan - room A34 - 13:30-15:00

Shorting Ethos: Exploring the Relationship Between Aristotle's Ethos and Reputation Management in the Goldman Sachs Case
While Aristotle's ideas in the area of virtue ethics are considered to be among the most prominent in the field of business ethics, less attention has been given in the field to one of his most crucial and significant texts, On Rhetoric, and the role that virtue plays in reputation management. This article explores the role that virtue plays in moral character, or ethos, which is a critical component of persuasion according to Aristotle. It then reviews the role that persuasion plays in reputation management strategy and corporate performance. The article is a conceptual exploration that uses the Goldman Sachs' reputational crisis in 2008- 2010 as a backdrop to the develop theory that through a sequence of theoretical links, it can be shown that virtue and ethos can have a direct impact on corporate performance. Highlighting the role that virtue plays in reputation may therefore have managerial implications on how virtue is perceived and promoted in the corporate context.