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Business ethics I
Ryan FehrAssistant Professor
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle
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Making Ethical
Decisions
Managing
Relationships
Building Socially
Responsible Systems
Topics
Context of business
Business power
Ethical decision-making
(sessions 16)
Ethical leadership
Employees and customers
Organizational cultures
(sessions 711)
Business regulations/governance
CSR and sustainability
Globalization and MNCs
(sessions 1221)
Tools
KeyPoin
ts
Many forces influence and are
influenced by business
Business power produces
business responsibility
Think comprehensively
to make optimal decisions
Be cognizant of and responsible
for the ethical culture that you
create for others
Be mindful of stakeholder
rights and interests
Organizations depend on
stakeholders for their survival
To navigate the business
environment, organizations must
know how to address their
stakeholders needs
Principles Critical Thinking
Communication
Integrated Management
Corporate Strategy
Course Framework
Teleology Deontology
Do it! ?? ??
Dont do it! ?? ??
Moral Person Not a MoralPerson
Moral
Management
Ethical
Leadership
Hypocritical
Leadership
No Moral
Management
Moral
Muteness
Unethical
Leadership
Technology
Ethics Strategy
Idyllic
Imprudent IrresponsibleValues &Assumptions
Symbols PowerStructures
Control
Systems
Rituals &
Routines
Stories &
Myths
Formal
Structures
Corporation
Stockholders
EmployeeCommunities
Governments Customers
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What is ethics? Business ethics?
Ethics: The study of good and evil, right and wrong Fundamental
Questions
How should I live my life?
What sort of person should I strive to be?
What standards or principles should I live by?
Business Ethics is all of this at work!
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What is the difference between ethical and
nonethical issues?
Tell the truth to coworkers Talk to your coworkers about
TheSimpsons
Dont steal from the office Dont use paperclips when a stapler
isavailable
Help people who are suffering Ask your clients about their
families
Swerve to avoid the squirrels whendriving home
Go to sleep at 11pm
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What is the difference between ethical and
nonethical issues?
Values are the stuff that ethics is made of. In other words,
they addspecificity to what we define as right and good from an
ethical point
of view, derived from our biology and upbringing.
Examples of values: compassion, generosity, freedom, peace,
equality,
humility, moderation, obedience, loyalty, security,
cleanliness
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People care about ethical issues. A lot.
Think about the times youve been most upset with other people.
Thetimes you felt disgusted and enraged.
Conversely, think about the times youve felt most in awe of
another
person. The times you felt elevated and inspired.
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A 2007 WSJarticle listed personal ethics and integrity among
thefive most important attributes they look for in business
hires
Market Value!
A recent McKinsey survey revealed that todays business leaders
are
playing a larger role than ever in helping to resolve pressing
social
issues
Social Value!
Relevance of ethics to you
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The undergraduate degrees focus too much on the nuts and bolts
offinance and accounting and don't develop enough critical
thinking
and problem-solving skills through long essays, in-class debates
and
other hallmarks of liberal-arts courses.
WSJ article 4/5/2012. Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value
of
a Business Major
Relevance of ethics to you
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Is it right to protect the endangered spotted owl in the
old-growthforests of the American Northwest, or right to provide
jobs for
loggers and wood for houses?
Is it right to provide children with the finest public schools,
or right
to prevent the constant upward ratcheting of taxes?
Is it right to bench the star quarterback caught drinking the
night
before the championship game, or is it right to field the best
possible
team fortomorrows game?
An ethical dilemma is a conflict that pits one
right value against another
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Also called utilitarianism or teleology Argues that the ethical
significance of an action is determined by the
consequences of that act. In other wordsthe ends justify the
means
So, what is a good consequence?
One that maximizes the overall good. But what is good?
Pleasure, beauty, material equality, political liberty
Consequentialism (John Stuart Mill)
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The transplant
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Advantages Maximizes good
Provides a metric for
social policy and moral conflicts
Challenges
Can be difficult to measure the outcomes
you focus on
What about individual choice? Are there
no universal rights?
Consequentialism
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Called also called formalism or Kantian ethics Focus on
standards of behavior: duty, obligations, commitments,
and responsibilities
Demonstrated by common morality
Rules of thumb or simple moral codes
(Golden Rule, Ten Commandments,
maxims, Confucius sayings, etc.)
Deontological ethics (Immanuel Kant)
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Categorical Imperative
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same
timewill that it should become universal law
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Advantages Protects individual rights
Morally appealing
(more noble than
consequentialism)
Disadvantages
Requires prioritization
Requires interpretation Inflexible or impractical
Deontology
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The Tension of Ethical Dilemmas
DEONTOLOGY CONSEQUENTIALISM
Means vs. EndsRules vs. Results
The Right vs. The Good
Principle vs. Practicality
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Should Daniel Geffen have been appointed to UCLAs Board
ofRegents?
The Tension of Ethical Dilemmas
f i li d d l
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Many others can, however, be looked at through these lenses
Of course, consequentialism and deontology arent
the only ethical principles
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Utilitarian Ethic Ends-Mean Ethic
Conventionalist Ethic
Proportionality Ethic
Consequential-ish
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Golden Rule Practical Imperative
The Rights Ethic
The Theory of Justice
Organization Ethic
Disclosure Rule
Deontological-ish
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What guidance does your ethical rule provide? Does it suggest
aparticular course of action?
Does your group agree with the guidance of the ethical rule?
What
rule, if any, would be a better guide?
Class Exercises
A Clouded Promotion
1. & 9 Deontological
2. & 10 Utilitarian
3. & 11 Rights ethic
4. & 12 Conventionalist
5. & 13 Ends-Mean6. & 14 Disclosure rule
7. & 15 Theory of justice
8. & 16 Organization ethic
A Personality Test
1. & 9 Organization ethic
2. & 10 Deontological
3. & 11 Theory of justice
4. & 12 Ends-Mean
5. & 13 Conventionalist6. & 14 Rights ethic
7. & 15 Disclosure rule
8. & 16 Utilitarian
