Ethics: A Challenge For All Times
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Transcript of Ethics: A Challenge For All Times
Ethics: A Challenge For All Times
September 30, 2012Morris W. Beverage Jr., EDMPresident, Lakeland Community College Kirtland, Ohio
A (Owns boat)
B (In love with D)
C (1st other person)
D (In love with B) E (2nd other person)
THE RAGING RIVER CASE
THE RAGING RIVER CASEMost liked person 1. _________________
2. _________________
3. _________________
4. _________________
Least liked person 5. _________________
Ethics The Study of right and wrong, usually including the determining and encouraging of what is right.
Ethical IssueA situation in which there is one answer or choice involving the rule of law.
People no different than you or me can do unethical
things.
Well, certainly people no different than you!
WorldCom• Largest corporate fraud in history• Inflated profits by $3.9 billion• 17,000 people were laid-off within a
week• Stock dropped from $64.50 to 20 cents• CEO Bernie Ebbers was found guilty of
fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents and faces 85 years in prison
• Bernie Ebbers was a great guy
WorldCom• At one time Bernie Ebbers was no
different than us.• At one time the CFO was no different
than us.• At one time the accountants that
made the erroneous entries were no different than us – and, they even wrote out their resignation letters and held them all the way through the fraud.
WorldCom• Accountants knew what they were
doing was wrong (Prepaid Capacity)• The belief was that it would all turn
around• They thought they were doing the right
thing in the long run by:• Protecting shareholders• Protecting workers• Protecting the economy
So, how do we get fromtoday’s session to
perpetratingthe greatest fraud in U.S.
corporate history?
THE RAGING RIVER CASEMost liked person 1. _________________
2. _________________
3. _________________
4. _________________
Least liked person 5. _________________
ValuesA tightly held belief upon which a person acts by choice, an enduring belief that one way of behaving is personally or socially preferable to the opposing way of behaving.
Ethical DilemmaA situation in which there is a conflict in the minds of people between values, or a conflict between what is right and what is wrong. You have to make a choice.
Personal Values
Accomplishment - measurable achievement, fame, career
Independence - self-reliance, self-sufficiency
Competition - winning, being #1
Leadership - exercising influence over others
Cooperation - helpfulness, being involved in team activities
Loyalty - sense of duty
Courage - standing up for your beliefs
Money - having it, financial security
Creativity - using imagination, being innovative
Recognition - respect, admiration from others
Equality - equal opportunity for all
Responsibility - feeling that others can depend on you
Excitement - adventure, challenge
Self Confidence - self-esteem, faith in your talents
Honesty - sincere, truthful, integrity
Stability - order, tranquility
Shadow of the past and the future*
* Robert Axelrod – The evolution of cooperation
Past Present
Future
Plain Dealer Big League Baseball Poll*• 19 hitters
• 13 pitchers
• Inserted questions about cheating as part of a wide-range anonymous survey
*Dennis Manoloff, The Plain Dealer, June 11, 2003
Plain Dealer Big League Baseball PollTo the 19 hitters…….Would you use a corked bat if you
were told you could hit a home run in a world series game and never be exposed?
NO: 12 “Couldn’t live with myself.”YES: 5 “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t
tryin’.”
Abstention: 2
Plain Dealer Big League Baseball PollTo the 13 pitchers…Would you use a blatantly doctored
ball to record a game-ending strikeout in the world series if you were guaranteed never to be exposed?
NO: 8 “If I can’t strike the guy out playing fair, I shouldn’t be playing.”
YES: 2 “Whatever it takes to win a ring.”
Abstention:
3
Plain Dealer Big League Baseball PollTo the 19 hitters….If you knew a grounder ruled a hit
should have been ruled an error, would you urge the official scorer to change the call if it meant ending your hitting streak at 55 games?
NO: 15 “Why should I?”YES: 3 “To tie DiMaggio? I’ve absolutely
got to get it changed.”Abstentio
n:1
Plain Dealer Big League Baseball PollTo the 13 pitchers….If you knew a grounder ruled an
error in the ninth inning should have been ruled a hit, would you urge the official scorer to change the call if it meant ruining what could have been a no-hitter?NO: 8 “If one of those jokers wants to call it
an error, fine. He’s got to live with that, not me.”
YES: 4 “The last thing you want is a tainted no-hitter.”
Abstention:
1
Social Defection• Social Contract
•Maximize the capacity to do what I want while also letting OTHERS do what they want.
•Each individual will forego certain selfish, personal opportunities in exchange for profiting from the cooperation of others.
•Balancing “self-interest” with “community interest”
Social Defection• In 2000, Stephen King offered
to provide an electronic book, one chapter at a time, if at least 75% of the downloads were paid for ($1 per download)
• 120,000 downloads of the first chapter
• 40,000 downloads of the second chapter, but only 46% were paid for
• He said on his website – “If you pay, the story rolls. If you don’t, the story folds.” He folded it.
Social Defection• Defecting results in gaining at others’
expense• Cheating:
I cheat + You don’t = I winYou cheat + I don’t = You win
• Our “social contract” is only in balance if either we both cheat or we both don’t cheat.
• AKA “social reciprocity”: I will commit to NOT defect when I can, and expect others to NOT defect when they can.
Why “good” managers make bad ethical choices*
• Manville Corporation• Continental Illinois Bank• E.F. Hutton
*Saul W. Gellerman, Harvard Business Review, July-August 1986
The Four Rationalizations*
I.A belief that the activity is within the reasonable ethical and legal limits – that is, that it is not “really” illegal or immoral.
*Saul W. Gellerman, “Why ‘good’ managers make bad ethical choices,”Harvard Business Review, July-August 1986
The Four Rationalizations
II.A belief that the activity is in the individual’s or the organization’s best interests - that the individual would somehow be expected to undertake the activity.
The Four Rationalizations
III.A belief that the activity is “safe” because it will never be found out or publicized; the classic crime and punishment issue of discovery.
The Four Rationalizations
IV.A belief that because the activity helps the company, the company will condone it and even protect the person who engages in it.
So What?
So how does it happen?
How do we wake up one day and choose to do wrong things
instead of right things?
Defining Moments• Right vs. Right
Responsibility to yourself and others
Responsibility for others
Responsibility shared
So what?
Ethics: A Challenge for All Times
Thank you!