Crafting the Virtuous Corporation Through Spiritual Discernment

Abstract This study explores spiritual discernment through the lenses of modern virtue ethics in organizational decision-making by developing a process model grounded in empirical research at Buurtzorg Nederland, a Dutch home care organization. Drawing on MacIntyre’s virtue ethics and Moore’s concept of virtuous corporate character, we identify six principles (serving, attuning, trusting, needing, rethinking, and common sense) and six manifestations (meaningless, meaningful, mindless and mindful organizing activities, substantive rationality, and love for craftsmanship) that facilitate the development of virtuous corporate character. Our findings demonstrate how spiritual discernment enables organizations to balance internal goods (e.g., excellence in practice) with external goods (e.g., reputation and profit). The resulting Process Model of Spiritual Discernment in Organizing Activities contributes to business ethics by empirically grounding Moore’s concept of the virtuous institutional character and Weber’s substantive rationality, providing practical guidance for managers seeking to transcend the means-ends dichotomy.