Biography
Samuel joined the School of Management at the University of St Andrews in September 2010. Prior to this he was based at the University of Essex where he studied accounting, finance and management (2000 to 2004) with the aim of a lucrative career in corporate finance. However, the chance discovery of philosophy led him in a more contemplative direction, so he began a PhD in 2004 researching philosophical questions in business ethics (under the supervision of Steffen Böhm and Harro Höpfl). He completed his thesis in 2009, entitled A Critique of Stakeholder Theory, while working for two years as a Teaching Fellow at Essex Business School. Since joining St Andrews, he has served as Pro Dean (Undergraduate) for Arts & Divinity from January 2015 to December 2016.
Teaching
- MN1002 Organisations and Analysis
- MN2002 Management and Analysis: Analysis of Financial Data
- MN5499 Dissertation lectures
My teaching at St Andrews has covered business ethics, organisational behaviour, introductory accounting, introductory business strategy, critical perspectives on accounting, auditing and corporate governance, theoretical research methods in management, sustainable development, and Hobbes's theory of the state (for the MLitt in Intellectual History). I also coordinated 'Great Ideas 2' (ID1004) from 2017-20, bringing together perspectives on reality, cosmology, evolution and human rights from across the Arts and Science faculties.
Research areas
My research draws on the history of moral, political and legal philosophy to rethink contemporary questions in business ethics. I have a particular interest in the presuppositions of arguments concerning the purpose of business corporations – especially the concept of the corporation itself and its intellectual history. I am currently researching the idea of the corporate person and the source of its governing authority in medieval and early modern legal and political thought (particularly in the work of Hobbes), in an attempt to reassess the contemporary debate on corporate purpose and corporate governance. I recently led an interdisciplinary initiative (with Avia Pasternak, David Gindis and John Ferguson) to bring together perspectives on the corporation from business ethics, moral philosophy and corporate law; our special issue 'Rethinking Corporate Agency' was published by Journal of Business Ethics in 2019. I serve on the editorial board of Journal of Business Ethics and was named an 'Oustanding Reviewer' for 2022.
My PhD thesis examined the moral principles underpinning theoretical alternatives to shareholder primacy and was later published as the first book-length critique of stakeholder theory, Capitalism, Corporations and the Social Contract: A Critique of Stakeholder Theory (2013) with Cambridge University Press. Further topics at the intersection of business ethics and the history of philosophy, on which I have published (or have recently researched), include: Levinas and the ethics of bureaucracy; stakeholder theory and the social contract tradition from Hobbes to Rawls; Kant and shareholders' imperfect duties of beneficence; JS Mill on ethical objectivity; Aristotle, Aquinas and the 'just price' in financial markets; medieval jurisprudence on corporate authority and membership; the group agency of charities and business corporations; and most recently Hobbes's theory of corporate authorisation and representation. In political philosophy, I recently published a critique Hobbes's theory of inalienable rights, from the perspective of natural law theory. Over the next few years, I will be focusing on the methodological question of how philosophers working in business ethics (and other fields of applied ethics) should approach the history of ideas.
I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students interested in a philosophical and/or historical approach to business ethics.
PhD supervision
- Katrina Rees
Selected publications
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Open access
Hobbesian resistance and the law of nature
Mansell, S., 9 Feb 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Intellectual History Review. Latest Articles, 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Medieval corporations, membership and the common good: rethinking the critique of shareholder primacy
Mansell, S. F. & Sison, A. J. G., Oct 2020, In: Journal of Institutional Economics. 16, 5, p. 579-595 38 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Moral agency in charities and business corporations: exploring the constraints of law and regulation
Burt, E. & Mansell, S. F., 30 Sept 2019, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 159, 1, p. 59-73 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Rethinking corporate agency in business, philosophy and law
Mansell, S. F., Ferguson, R. J., Gindis, D. & Pasternak, A., Feb 2019, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 154, 4, p. 893-899Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
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Employment Relations, Stakeholder Theory and Business Ethics
Timming, A. R. & Mansell, S. F., 11 May 2018, The Routledge Companion to Employment Relations. Colvin, A., Donaghey, J., Dundon, T. & Wilkinson, A. (eds.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 448-462Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Ethical Practice in Management Education: Teaching Responsible Enterprise
Mansell, S. F. & Lovatt, C. J., 3 May 2016, Knowledge and Practice in Business and Organisations. Orr, K., Nutley, S., Russell, S., Bain, R., Hacking, B. & Moran, C. (eds.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, (Routledge Advances in Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Other contribution
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Open access
The Nature and Purpose of the Corporation: A Roundtable Discussion
Dunne, S., Mansell, S. F., Veldman, J. & Parker, M., Feb 2016, In: Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization. 16, 1, p. 135-153Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate
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Introduction to Symposium on Capitalism, Corporations and the Social Contract: A Critique of Stakeholder Theory
Mansell, S. F., 2 Oct 2015, (Accepted/In press).Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
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Open access
Introduction: Between no future and business-as-usual: Exploring futures of capitalism
Izak, M., Mansell, S. F. & Fuller, T., Apr 2015, In: Futures. 68, p. 1-4 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
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Open access
Rejoinder to Veldman’s review of Capitalism, Corporations and the Social Contract: A Critique of Stakeholder Theory
Mansell, S. F., 27 Feb 2015, In: Organization. 22, p. 271-275 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate