Social impact and evaluation: A rational management theory approach

Organization and person have a theoretical and ontological link; being the first teleological extension of the latter, it is impossible to think of one without the other. In a similar way, the complex of economy itself cannot overlook the needs of the person and seek for the reach of maximization results with unhesitating self-interest. In this paper, it is argued that every organization is born to satisfy people’s, or stakeholders’ interests, so that a Rational Management must evaluate both the financial-economic results and the social impact of its activity, in order to achieve the maximum level of information in the decision making. Nonetheless, this approach needs a dramatic shift of conceiving the economy and the role of the organization, which must bring back the person (human being) at the center of any theoretical model, lest the creation of unfairness and inequalities. The Rational Management Theory proposed serves this scope, by implementing a rational decision making based on all the aspects of the outcome generated by the organization. This approach is relevant to the current literature, because it shifts the neoclassical economic conception of the activities to one more human-sized and conscious, and applies indifferently to any kind of organization, whether it is public, private or non-profit. Key words: Rational management, business, social impact, management theory, evaluation, organization, person.