ETHICS, DISCOVERY, AND STRATEGY

I address the issue of justifiable profits from distinct perspectives in economics, strategy research and ethics. Combining insights from Au strian economics, the resource-based perspective, and finders, keepers ethics, I argue that strategy is about the discovery of hitherto unex ploited possibilities for exchange. To the extent that strategy is abo ut the discovery/creation ex nihilo of products, ways of producing pro ducts, etc., the resulting profits are argued to be justifiable from a finders, keepers perspective.