Care Ethics and Kindness in Management and Organizational Studies

Abstract This chapter offers an overview of the field of care ethics as it has developed over the past 40 years. It considers ways in which care and kindness align, are mutually reinforcing or perhaps diverge, in an effort to consider how both might be bolstered in management and organizational studies (MOS), and beyond, in workplace practice. While definitions of care usually focus on the meeting of needs, kindness is less well defined and explored. The chapter examines the possibilities of kindness as a pathway to care, as a component or stage of care, as congruent with care, as an enhancement to or deepening of care, and also how kindness and care might impede each other. Finally, the chapter considers warnings against half-measures when attempting to entrench care and kindness in the workplace of today.