A Comparison between East Asian  and American

Response to Ethical DilemmasJason Ferree

Michelle PresslyZhongmou Chao

Ramon LopezJierui LiangJon Ruffley

Outline• Introduction

• Ethics and Culture• East Asia and America

• East Asian Perspective• Case Study

• Politics• Reputation

• American Perspective• Case Study

• Violations• Responses

• Procedures• Conclusion

Introduction

• Ethics has many dimensions• Codes of ethics vary• Laws based upon ethical behaviors are different in different countries• Cultures have different sets of acceptable behavior

• Cultures to compare and contrast• The United States• Japan• China

Culture

• Culture is the sum of values, attitudes, customs, and practices that are shared by a society or a group of persons.

• Ethical relativism “is the theory that hold that morality is relative to the norms of one’s cultures”.

• In other words what is good for one culture could be considered bad for another culture.

• Therefore doesn't exist any universal standard of ethic, which we can apply to all cultures.

Cultural Example

• Example of difference between cultures.• Bribery to obtain business is illegal in some countries and in others

countries bribery is an essential part of business and no business are possible without bribery

United States China• Bribery is illegal • Is part of the culture give a small gift when

business partners want to construct a personal relationship or a strong business relationship

• The definition of a small gift vary by persons, therefore this can be seen as bribery

Quick Cultural Comparison

US culturally has less competition, more evenly distributed power, and a higher indulgence.

East Asian Perspective: Case Study• Haruko Obokata, STAP cell research leader

and future superstar in RIKEN, Japan• Her discovery on STAP cells published on

Nature, 2014• In suspicious of data manipulation; paper

retracted; under investigation• Her supervisor Yoshiki Sasai, japanese leading

stem cell scientist, later committed suicide • Sasai didn’t provide enough supervision but

was not involved in fraud----according to investigation

• Great loss to Japan and the world Lead author: Haruko Obokata

Prof. Yoshiki Sasai

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201401300073http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-stap-stem-cell-suicide-20140805-story.html

Underlying Ethical IssuesSevere consequences:•Scholar’s another path: officials in government/Congress

“He who excels in studying can be an official”--Confucius•Culture: unity,  team interest and honor•Academic misconduct-- deadly blemish for everyone academically and politically

Response to controversy:•Harsher criticism & punishment:

• Scholar’s important moral role in society• Media over bashing against individual

•Reporting misconduct carefully • Tremendous struggle awaits reporter

「若き研究者の小保方さんが、柔軟な発想で世界を驚かせる万能細胞を作り出した。世界で、日本が、女性が一番輝いている国にしていくために全力を挙げていきたい」

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/top-japan-lab-dismisses-ground-breaking-stem-cell-studyhttp://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_politics/articles/000020619.html

American Perspective: Case Study

• Dan Markingson enrolled in drug trial at the University of Minnesota instead of involuntary institutionalization.

• Mary Weiss, Dan’s mother, repeatedly requested for Dan’s removal from the study after deterioration in Dan’s behavior.

• Requests were either ignored or dismissed with little consideration.• After six months in the study, Dan was found dead by his own hands.

• An IRB investigation later found no malpractice on the part of the researchers or the university.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c4nbgZr6Zdw/TWUVtPv-SWI/AAAAAAAAAtk/e2FJz3bZvOM/s1600/pills.jpg

Underlying Ethical Issues

• Major Criticisms of the Study• Informed Consent• Monetary Incentives • “Designing the study to not fail”

• Responses to the Controversy • Two FDA investigations• Temporary halt to new psychiatric clinicals• After ~10 years, University stopped recruiting committed subjects

General Procedures addressing unethical situations in United States

Report

• Report to the dean of the unit• All report are treated confidentially to the extent possible by Research Integrity Officer

Assessmen

t

• Determine whether the report falls within the definition of Research Misconduct by Research Integrity Officer

Inquiry

• Appoint and charge one or more objective, qualified persons (the Inquiry Panel) to conduct the inquiry by the dean• Conduct of inquiry before the dean’s decision

Investigati

on

• Appointment and Charge of the Investigative Board• Hearing Procedures• The dean’s decision

Appeals

• This process can be sought out.

Procedures in Some other countries

• In some countries like China the procedure dealing with suspicious misconducts is not clear or not in details Without an effective supervision mechanism, a just research

environment can not be guaranteed Lack of transparency in reporting mechanism will eventually limit the

overall research progress

Conclusions

• Perspectives between cultures are different• Specifically between East Asia and the United States• Responses varied based on culture

• Unethical actions in one culture may be acceptable in another• Unethical conduct should always be reported

• It is all of our responsibility• The procedure will vary based on location and culture

• Be mindful of these changes• Be prepared with a knowledge of what rules and regulations are to be followed

Questions?

References • References for pictures are on the corresponding slide

• http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic, 11/10/15.

• Goetz Veser. Lecture II: Professional Codes of Ethics.

• https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management-textbook/ethics-in-business-13/ethics-an-overview-95/culture-and-ethics-448-8309/. 11/10/15

• http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicalrelativism.html. 11/10/15

• Dennis A. Pitta, Hung-Gay Fung, Steven Isberg, “Ethical issues across cultures: managing the differing perspectives of China and the USA”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16 (1999), 240-256.

• Fredi Garcia, Diana Mendez, Chris Ellis and Casey Gautney, “Cross-cultural, values and ethics differences and similarities between the US and Asian countries”, Journal of Technology Management in China, 9 (2014), 303 – 322.

• http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html, 11/10/15.

• http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-stap-stem-cell-suicide-20140805-story.html, 11/10/2015

• http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-pioneer-blamed-media-bashing-in-suicide-note-1.15715, 11/12/2015

• http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2010/09/dan-markingson-drug-trial-astrazeneca?page=1, 11/20/2015

• http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/04/dan-markingson-university-minnesota-clinical-trials-astrazeneca, 11/20/2015

• http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/a-clinical-trial-and-suicide-leave-many-questions-part-4-the-university-of-minnesotas-response/, 11/10/2015

• http://www.healthintheglobalvillage.com/2015/02/20/the-fda-dr-stephen-olson-the-university-of-minnesota/, 11/10/2015

• http://www.startribune.com/fda-re-examines-university-of-minnesota-psychiatric-study-recruiting/303970581/, 11/10/2015

• http://ptable.blogspot.com/, 11/10/2015

• http://www.provost.pitt.edu/documents/GUIDELINES%20FOR%20ETHICAL%20PRACTICES%20IN%20RESEARCH-FINALrevised2-March%202011.pdf, 11/10/2015

• https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/policies/policy/11/11-01-01.html, 11/10/2015