"Shorting Ethos" - Exploring the Relationship Between Aristotle’s Ethos and Reputation Management
Additional information
Authors
Shanahan F.,
Seele P.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2015
Language
English
Abstract
While Aristotle’s ideas in the area of virtue ethics are considered to be among the most prominent in the field, less attention has been given 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 identifies how persuasion is critical to reputation repair according to current reputation management theory, and demonstrates how Aristotle’s theories on virtue and ethos underpin many substantive and procedural recommendations for corporate reputation management. We therefore argue in this paper that being ‘short’ on ethos can not only lead to an ethical crisis and reputational damage, it can have a material impact on a corporation’s ability to be effective in recovering from reputational damage.
Journal
Corporate Reputation Review
Volume
18
Number
1
Month
February
Start page number
37
End page number
49
