Ethics Chapter10

EthicsPrepared for Assumption University

April 22, 20099am-4pm

By Scott Michael Smith

*Mind Mapping

In the afternoon we will have a Mind mapping activity….It would be best if you start by taking brief notes of key words

4 Ethical theories we will discuss

The Greatest Good Virtues

Treating others fairly Duties and Rights

The Golden Rule

The Utilitarian Principle

Kantanian Ethics

The Principle of Justice

Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.

David Herbert Lawrence

Actions speak louder than words

Knowing what should be done and doing itKnowing what should be done and doing it-by SMS-by SMS

What is your definition?

It takes two people to lie.

One to lie, and one to listen.

Homer Simpson

Two components in Ethics

Ideological (What we believe)

Operational ( How we behave)

Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.

Jane Addams

The Triple Bottom Line ofSustainable Tourism

Five-Step Test for EthicsFive-Step Test for Ethics

1. Is the decision legal?2. Is the decision fair?3. Does the decision hurt anyone?4. Have I been honest with those

affected?5. Can I live with my decision

Is the decision legal?

As a human resources manager, you know it's illegal to ask

whether a candidate for a position at your company is

planning on starting a family, but during the course of the

interview a woman reveals that she intends to do that. Can

you decide whether to hire her based on the knowledge

she might leave the company sooner or take maternity

leave?

a) Yes, since she revealed it, it's fair game in deciding hires.

b) No, it would be discriminatory to avoid picking her for

that reason.

c) If another candidate seems just as good and that's the

only difference, it can become a factor to break the tie.

Is the decision fair?An employee casually reveals to you that

he cheats on his wife. You're a manager

in a different department. Another manager is writing up a positive performance evaluation for this employee. Do you tell your co-manager

what you learned?a) No, what's personal is personal. b)b) Yes, this behavior could eventually

affect the company. c) c) I hint at it but avoid making any definite claim

Does the decision Hurt anyone?You're a candidate for hire at a great company, but you plan to move across the country in a year. Do you reveal that during the interview?

a) No, they have no right to know I have relocation plans. b) Yes, I would feel obligated to tell. c) If the interviewer asks my long-term intentions, I'll admit to my plan.

Have I been Honest with those affected?

A coworker who is also a friend tells you that he has major concerns about a large project and plans to tell the vice president. You just learned the vice president has been known to fire people who have been too vocal against this project. Do you encourage your friend to be honest anyway?

a) Yes, honesty is always the best policy. b) No, I reveal the dangers of the decision and encourage the friend to protect his job. c) I explain what I know but try to avoid encouraging my friend one way or another.

Can I live with my decision?

Missing Drinks.

Late one night while you're out on the

town, you stop by the bar where your

friend works. After a couple of rounds

you're ready to leave, so she slips you

your tab.

Several drinks are missing from the bill

—what would you do?

The problem is

not that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed.

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

Potter Stewart

A friend has just been fired from your company. You are an up-and-coming executive and your boss warns that if you're seen with this person, you could lose the respect of those who might promote you. Before leaving, the friend is upset and asks you to meet him in the conference room, something coworkers will likely see. Do you agree to go comfort your friend?

a) Yes, human friendships matter more than any promotion. b) Yes, but you ask if you can meet at a different location. c) No, and you cut off all ties with the shunned employee.

Four Theories• Utilitarianism(Jeremy Betham, John S. Mill)

looking at the social benefits and costs• Kantian ethics (Immanuel Kant):

rights and duties• Fairness and Justice ethics (John Rawls):

giving to each other what is his or her due

• Aristotelian ethics (Aristotle): virtues and vices

What are the issues?

How to apply to How to apply to the four theories the four theories

covered in the covered in the textbook?textbook?

Utilitarianism

• Most influential consequentialist theory• Takes name from “utility”• States that an action is morally justified if it

maximizes benefits and minimizes harm• Tries to achieve greatest net benefit• “The greatest good for the greatest number

of people”

What is “Good”?

• One utilitarian definition: greatest good means greatest happiness

• Support statement: Everyone wants to be happy

• Therefore, it is moral to maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness

All Count Equally

• Utilitarianism states that an action is moral if it maximizes the benefits and happiness of all – each person counts equally

• All consequences must be counted – both short and long term

Jeremy BenthamPleasures and Pains

• Philosopher credited with founding utilitarianism

• Argues that happiness and unhappiness are identical to amount of pleasure and pain experienced

• Determines morality by measuring pleasure or pain of an action

Jeremy Bentham:Jeremy Bentham:

“ “The morally relevant question The morally relevant question about animals is not, Can about animals is not, Can they they reasonreason? or Can they ? or Can they talktalk? But can they ? But can they suffersuffer?”?”

Objections to Bentham

• Difficult to quantify units of pleasure and pain• Pleasure and pain are wrong measures of

happiness and unhappiness

John Stuart MillThe Quality of Happiness

• Added to Bentham• Incorporated qualitative differences between

pleasures. Mill states:It is better to be a human being

dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.

KantDeontological Ethical Theory

• “deon” – Greek word meaning duty• Deontological ethical theory states that

actions are moral or immoral based on their nature, not on their consequences

• It’s the motive that counts. We must act out of a sense of duty.

What is our duty?

• How do we determine our duty?• Only human beings are rational and only

human beings can reason.• Reason requires us to be logical and

consistent. We must make consistent rules that can be universally applied.

The Categorical Imperative

• The categorical imperative is Kant’s basic rule of morality – a universal rule

• It is a rule that must be followed regardless of the consequences

• Therefore, the categorical imperative is the rule that must be followed at all times in all places under all circumstances if we wish to be acting morally

The first formulation ofthe categorical imperative

• Act in such a way that you would want the rule you are following to be a universal one that everyone should follow

• For example: if you can cheat, then everyone else should be allowed to cheat

The Golden Rule

• Kant’s categorical imperative is very similar to the Golden Rule:– Do unto others as you would have others do unto

you

• It is not identical because the Golden Rule depends on consequences

The second formulation ofthe categorical imperative

• Treat each person as an end unto himself• Do not treat people as things; do not use

people• You must never use a person just for your

own purpose; treat each person as someone of independent moral worth

• If you use another person, you have degraded them from a person to a thing

Strengths of Kant’s system

• It upholds the sanctity of human life• Impartiality• Duty to treat people as people and not as

things

The Concept of Rights

• If I have a duty to you, you have a right to demand that I fulfill that duty

• A right is something one is entitled to; rights are individual entitlements

Justice Ethics

• States that we should treat each other fairly• Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance

What would you decide is acceptable if you did not know whether you were to be the front desk manager

who earns a bonus based on profit and daily occupancy rate – or if you were to be the weary traveler who discovers the guaranteed room is not guaranteed?

John RawlsJustice as Fairness

• John Rawls (1921-2002)• Developed a comprehensive

theory on justice that tries to cover all situations

• He said that what is fair can only be determined by what would be accepted as fair by rational people who would consider all points of view

Where will you be?• Rawls wants you to decide what is

fair by making the decision not knowing where you will be in society

• Will you be the hotel general manager or the cashier or the chambermaid?

• If you can take this viewpoint, you will make a fair and just decision

Rawls’ Positions

• Original Position – this is the position of people who do not know where they will end up in the society (behind the veil of ignorance)

• Veil of Ignorance – means that people do not know whether they will end up male or female, black or white, etc.

• If people operate from behind the Veil of Ignorance, they will set up fair rules and social arrangements

Rawls’ AssumptionsPeople operating behind the Veil of Ignorance are:– Rational– Self-interested– Knowledgeable about society and social

arrangements

Strengths of Rawls’ System• Fair way to set up rules• Provides important addition to

utilitarianism – provides for distribution of benefits (utilitarianism only spoke of maximizing benefits)

• Provides important addition to Kant – adds to discussion on fairness in distribution (Kant spoke of individual rights but not how to distribute them fairly)

Virtue Ethics• The hotel is a human community• How does the hotel contribute to the

development of the character traits of its employees?

• Traits/virtues include: honesty, integrity, tolerance, fairness, and cooperation

• Virtue ethics requires businesses to foster values that relate to the way they interact with their community

Aristotle• Most famous proponent of virtue ethics• He stated that

– a morally virtuous person always acted the way a human being should act

– Moral virtue is the tendency to do the right thing

– A good character is an achievement, it is not a natural endowment

Virtue Ethics

• Judges a person’s character• Helps us to define what a good person is• We look at the type of person someone is

and compare it to what kind of person we believe they should be

• Examines character rather than action

What is a moral virtue?“The Golden Mean”

• Virtues are the traits that enable us to act according to reason

• We are acting reasonably when our actions are neither excessive nor deficient

• Virtue lies in the middle ground – the “golden mean”

• A person who lives a life of moderation will live a happy life

Examples of VirtuesThe four fundamental moral virtues:Courage - being brave enough to do the right thingTemperance – showing moderation in action,

thought, or feeling as well as moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions

Justice – the ability to give other people exactly what they deserve, neither more nor less

Prudence (wisdom) – gives us the ability to know what is reasonable in different situations

Identify 10 virtues that important to you

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.

Examples of other virtues

• Trustworthiness• Honesty• Generosity• Reliability• Warmth• Tact• Kindness• Tolerance

• Civility• Sincerity• Gentleness• Dependability• Cooperativeness• Empathy• Benevolence

The Relationship of Virtues to Moral Principles

• Virtue ethics can be closely related to the other ethical theories

• Examples:– If someone is generous and kind, he will probably

try to maximize benefits for others (utilitarianism)– If someone is honest, trustworthy and sincere, he

will not treat other people as things (Kant)

The Relationship of Virtuesto Human Nature

• A person’s idea of what a virtue is depends on his idea of human nature and on what he sees as the purpose of life

• Example:If you think humility is a virtue, then you will think that someone who is not humble (is prideful) is not virtuous

Chapter 10Chapter 10Ethics and the

Human Resources ManagementFunction

Four Theories• Utilitarianism:

looking at the social benefits and costs• Kantian ethics:

rights and duties• Fairness and Justice ethics:

giving to each other what is his or her due

• Aristotelian ethics: virtues and vices

Ethics and HR

• The administration and supervision of the people in the workplace

• Four topic areas for discussion:– Compensation, diversity, employee treatment,

and working conditions

Human Resources Managers

• Balance efficiency with equity• Strive for loyalty – ensures fewer turnovers• Theorists on equitable treatment

– Utilitarians: balancing greatest good for greatest number of people

– Kant: respect for rights of human beings– Rawls: fair and just treatment– Aristotle: moral character when dealing

with others

Case: Salary Disclosure (read it fast if you have not read it)

• The Players– Dan Maloney, Jensen Hotel Front Desk Manager– George, front desk agent– Barbara, front desk agent– Mr. Grey, Jensen Hotel Manager

The Facts

• Jensen Hotel policy states that employees are forbidden to discuss salary information with other employees

• Two front desk agents, George and Barbara, discussed their salaries

• Barbara claims that, even though she is doing the same job as George, she is being paid less

The Issues

• Possible discriminatory compensation• Principal human resources issue: fairness

Is it fair to pay two people different salaries for doing the same work?

• Both a legal and ethical issue

Utilitarianism• An action is moral if it maximizes benefits

and minimizes harm• Potential benefit to hotel: budgetary

savings• However, violating fairness principle

usually leads to negative consequences (for example, a demoralized workforce which could lead to turnover, low productivity, etc.)

In addition . . .

• Prohibiting employees from salary discussion is illegal

• Any dialogue among employees about wages or other conditions of employment cannot be barred as long as it does not interfere with their work

Kant• Could the principle being used to

determine compensation be turned into a universal principle without being contradictory?

• Is the rule prohibiting employees from speaking to each other about salaries violating the equal liberty of all to live as autonomous, rational human beings?

Kant on Hiding Salaries• Would consider it degrading• The categorical imperative states that human

beings have an interest in being free from fraud and being free to think and speak as they choose

• Rights can be prohibited only if it is agreed that they are prohibited for all

Rawls

• Would ask all the players to step behind the Veil of Ignorance

• What would the salary arrangements be if no one knew who was to be the front desk agent and who was to be the manager?

• Rawls said that economic inequality is only acceptable if it is to the greatest benefit for the least advantaged person (Barbara)

Does Barbara Benefit?

• Could management prove that Barbara was receiving a higher salary because of this inequality?

• Is it a higher salary than she would be paid if she were paid the same as George?

Freedom of Speech• Rawls’ principle of equal liberty also

includes the right to freedom of speech• Management can restrict certain types of

speech (for example, slander)• However, restrictions have to be equally

allocated among employees• Any restrictions must be carefully

justified according to Rawls

Virtue Ethics• Scrutinizes the character of the persons

involved in a situation• Of Aristotle’s four cardinal virtues (courage,

temperance, justice and prudence), justice is the most relevant in this case

• Salaries should be based on merit and requirements; if an employee is paid a just rate, he or she willreceive exactly what he or shedeserves

Case Studies (groups of 3)

1. Discriminating forces2. The come on3. Is this sexual harassment?4. Taking Credit5. Stars are difficult to come by6. Blue Vest Pizza and customer satisfaction7. But can she do the job?

Read assigned case study and prepare a 3-5 minute presentation

Summarize the caseAnswer the questions provided

Apply your favorite ethical theory

Presentations after lunch-Enjoy