Plato’s programme for establishing his ideal state involved propagating two foundation myths for it, described by Socrates as a “noble lie”, which were designed to persuade its citizens to embrace the classes of society to which they had been assigned, and their roles within them, contentedly and in harmony with their fellow citizens. Because most citizens were judged incapable of understanding the truth about the most important matters, the rulers of the ideal state were authorised to tell them whatever stories, true or false, would induce them to behave well. Advocates of the management of corporate culture similarly emphasise the potency of story-telling and myth-making in inducing employees to adopt the beliefs, values and assumptions that corporate leaders consider desirable for both corporate performance and employee wellbeing. There are similarities between Plato’s programme for his ideal state and the programmes recommended by advocates of the management of corporate culture. There are also similarities between them in the ethical questions that they raise. Do corporate leaders have the moral authority to shape people’s beliefs, values and assumptions in the ways that these programmes entail? Are the outcomes to which those programmes lead really beneficial for all those who are affected by them? Even assuming that those outcomes are beneficial, how likely are the strategies proposed for realising them to be successful? Literature that explores these ethical issues is sparse, and this paper argues that it is doubtful whether any of these questions can be answered decidedly in the affirmative.

柏拉图建立理想状态的计划包括传播两个基础神话，苏格拉底将其描述为“崇高的谎言”，其目的是说服其公民接受他们被赋予的社会阶层及其在其中的作用。 ，满足并与他们的同胞和谐相处。由于大多数公民被判断为无法理解最重要事情的真相，因此理想状态的统治者被授权告诉他们无论是真是假的任何故事都会诱使他们表现良好。倡导企业文化的倡导者同样强调讲故事和创造神话的能力，以诱使员工采用公司领导者认为对公司绩效和员工福祉均有利的信念，价值观和假设。柏拉图理想状态的计划与企业文化管理倡导者推荐的计划之间有相似之处。他们提出的道德问题之间也有相似之处。公司领导者是否具有道德权威，可以按照这些计划的方式塑造人们的信念，价值观和假设？这些计划所带来的结果是否真的对所有受其影响的人有益？即使假设这些结果是有益的，为实现这些结果而提出的策略又有多大可能性？探索这些道德问题的文献很少，而本文则认为，是否可以肯定地回答这些问题是令人怀疑的。