A Humanistic Ontology for Responsible Management Learning

Why has responsible management been so difficult and why is the chorus of stakeholders demanding such responsibility getting louder? We argue that management learning has been framed within the structural confines of corporate governance. Corporate governance in turn has been developed within the frame of agency theory (Blair 1995; Eisenhardt 1989). Agency theory in turn is based on ontological assumptions that do not provide for responsible actions on behalf of management (Jensen 2001; Jensen and Meckling 1976; Jensen and Meckling 1994). As such, we argue that managers need to be aware of the paradigmatic frame of the dominant economistic ontology and learn to transcend it. We also argue that for true managerial responsibility, an alternative humanistic ontology is more fit for purpose. This humanistic ontology integrates the latest insights from evolutionists suggesting that humans only survived by being responsible. This understanding has consequences for leadership practices, business strategy, as well as corporate governance (Pirson 2017; Pirson and Lawrence 2010). We argue that managerial learning within a humanistic paradigm is more likely to lead to ethical and sustainable business conduct.