Foresight strategies and practices based on regional religious values and global virtue ethics

Abstract

Futures research often aims at being value-free in order to be an objective and credible source of information in the eyes of political and business decisionmakers. Presenting value-laden alternatives could label futures research as pseudoscience.
Naturally futures researchers have values of their own, but they
present research findings that do not take any ethical stand on the issue in question. However, their clients do not suppress their values – on the contrary, political and business leaders use these research results to advocate such visions, strategies and practices that are based on their own values.

Human beings are intrinsically value-ridden creatures. Furthermore, we are brought up according to the values of our parents, families and societies, which vary in different cultures. Religion is one central component of any culture. For example, the presidents of the USA utilize religion for good and evil. Even individuals, groups and nations that claim to be atheist, are subconsciously, if not consciously, influenced by the religious past and present of their living environment: e.g., secularized Finnish decision-makers make Lutheran decisions.

Wouldn’t it be sensible to intentionally incorporate regional religious values into organizational foresight management? For instance, Chinese authorities are turning to Confucian values to combat corruption. Grameen Bank eradicating poverty with micro credits in Bangladesh is based on Hindu values. International
organizations can manage and enjoy the flavours of regional religions because all religions have the same value basis, the natural law (lex naturae), according to which all people in the world share the same sense of morality, irrespective of their religion and other background. Virtues exemplify these shared
values. Maybe even futures researchers could promote virtue ethics?

The purpose of this paper is to present the idea that virtue ethics comprises the shared values for all people, and to argue how this principle could be introduced in organizational values. It is not argued that religions per se would contribute to better society but that since humans seem to have an innate need for
religions, we are stuck with them and should make the best of them.