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MGF5020Semester 2, 2014

Business Ethics in a Global Environment

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Our Discussion Today

•Reasoning about consequences•Discuss egoism and greed •Trading off customer safety: Ford Pinto Case Study•Group research project•Expectations for Week 5

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ETHICAL THEORIES

CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES

“OUTCOME”

EgoismUtilitarianism

NON- CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES

Ethics of DutiesEthics of Rights and Justice

NON- CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES

Ethics of DutiesEthics of Rights and Justice

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• Friedman on Greed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

• Gordon Gecko on Greed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8y6DJAeolo

Class Discussion

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Q1) Do you think greed is good? (Ethical egoism)

Q2) Do you think people are greedy? (Psychological egoism)

Q3) Almost 40 years on from Friedman’s claims, do they still ring

true (assuming they did at the time) – is capitalism with largely free

trade the only system that has produced large scale development

and reduced poverty?

Q4) Almost 30 years on from ‘Wall St’, has greed saved what

Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) referred to as the ‘malfunctioning

corporation that is the United States of America’?

Is there a selfless act?

Class Discussion: GREED

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwUaVDIPXg

A 100% inheritance tax has the capacity to redistribute wealth in order to equalise starting opportunity for those born in positions of misfortune – better universal education, healthcare etc. – without changing the incentive for people to earn wealth in the first place.

Agree or disagree?

What different claims does Friedman make in this argument regarding human nature and the constitution of American

society?

Inheritance Tax?

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• Identify the ethical issues in this case. Is there anything about this situation that troubles you? If so, what is it?

• Are there limits to cost-benefit analysis?• Different people value different things differently.

How should we compare different values?

Ford Pinto

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltnBOrCB7I

Brainstorm other examples where we place a price on life?

Friedman on Pinto

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• http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruensweat/thepitch/pitch_03.htm

How do we decide who gets how much of what?

E.g. Child support for stay at home mothers

Persuading Australia to cut all Olympic funding:

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Number of preferences? Intensity of preferences? Should everyone’s count equally? Consider the following interviews with voters, following on from the Chaser’s ‘This Person Votes’ series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vmLNFSqJjg

Lets discuss the problem of climate climate change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg

How do we decide how to distribute resources?

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• Topics Finalized.• Anyone not in a group?

Research Paper

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Thank you!

Have a good week