UVA-E-0340
January 12, 2009
tramplingThis technical note was prepared by Andrew C. Wicks, Associate Professor of Business Administration and Bidhan
Parmar (MBA/PhD ’10). Copyright © 2008 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation,
Charlottesville, VA. All rights rerved. To order copies, nd an e-mail to .
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ud in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in
any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwi—without the permission
of the Darden School Foundation. ◊
AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
You are a nior executive in the sales department of a large manufacturing
company. A competitor’s technological innovation has disrupted your company’s
production and has plunged profits into the red for the last three quarters. Your
boss has made it very clear that if you do not make your profit projections for this
quarter, you will be out of a job. One of your staff members makes a suggestion to
you about investing in new equipment to better monitor and rvice clients. After
some rearch you realize that this investment, if enacted quickly, could increa
sales and help the overall health of the company. Each quarter that you wait to
implement this equipment will reduce its positive impact, but investing now will
cau you to miss your profit projections and lo your job. What do you do?
Most people have one of two reactions after reading a ca like the one above. Either they
have a strong moral intuition toward one of the options, or they experience conflicting moral
intuitions and cannot decide between the two. Moral intuitions or ntiments (as Adam Smithbore的用法
called them) are our gut reactions to a situation as to what is right or wrong. They are developed
over time from our past experiences and social interactions. We may regret decisions that are
一串紫bad just on moral intuition when we find they misd the mark. It is only when we do the hard
work of analyzing a ca and meshing intuition with reason that we can be confident that we are
gpa是什么
making better choices. This is becau our intuitions are determined by past experiences, which
may be of little help in new moral dilemmas. In addition, apart from following the stronger moral
intuition, we cannot decide between two conflicting intuitions without a standard or some criteria
for what is better or wor. In both of the cas, we need to turn to ethics.
What Is Ethics?
Translated from ancient Greek, ethics means “theory of living.” In answering the
question: “How should we live?” one engages in a consideration of ethics—thinking about what
is right and wrong. Ethical deliberation is the process of consciously reasoning about what is
right and wrong and giving defensible reasons for actions that reach far beyond one’s initial
moral intuition. Ethics requires that we engage others in conversations regarding our concerns,
and offers a check on our moral intuitions as well as an opportune action and thus find better ways to live. The process of moral judgment—deciding what is right and wrong and refining moral intuition—ultimately affects the way a manager will act in a given situation. Obviously, if a manager thinks an action is good (or at least not bad) he or she is more likely to do it.
It is important to point out that ethics is more than an individual’s own appraisal of a situation; it is also cultural—whether that culture is an organization, an industry, a community, a nation, or a fundamentally human consideration. Ethics is about how one should live as an individual as well as how to live with others—who may be significantly different. Ethics assumes that people are accountable for their actions. Every day, managers make decisions that can affect customers, employees, financiers, partners, the community, and the world in powerful ways. Since managers are accountable to the groups, they must have morally defensible reasons for their actions that go beyond mere intuition.
生活大爆炸5
Disagreements in Ethics
People e the world in different ways. The differences can lead to disagreement about what is right and wrong. To offer morally defensible reasons for an action one must understand where disagreement occurs in the conversation about morality. People can disagree about the facts of a ca, the values and principles involved, or about the language and framing.
In the ca that introduces this note, one might doubt the claim that investment in the new technology will increa sales. This is a disagreement about the facts of the ca. Believing or not believing this information can drastically change the options that one would consider. There may also be critical pieces of information missing from the ca. In addition to clarifying the facts about which there is disagreement, it is important to clarify what facts there is agreement on, since the can provide a starting point for a constructive solution.
Even if there is agreement on the facts of the ca, there may still be disagreement about what one should do. This is disagreement about values and principles. In the situation at the beginning of the ca, even if one accepts all the factual parameters, it can still be debated whether one should implement the technology or not. One might ba the decision on lf-prervation—for example, implementing the technology would result in being fired; therefore, one should not do it. Someone el might anchor his or her decision on loyalty to the company: Implementing the technology could
deflorationsave the company; therefore, one should do it. The disagreement here is about which values (lf-prervation or loyalty to the company) take precedence in this context.
Finally, there can be disagreement on the framing of the ca. One might question the either/or framing of the ca. Would one really be fired if he or she implemented the technology? Couldn’t one reason with the boss? It might be that the boss is amenable to the ideas, and there may be a way to satisfy both the values of lf-prervation and company loyalty—or not. How a decision is framed delimits the options and considerations given to it. Is this a ca about duty to
the shareholders or about duty to onelf? Each framing guides the manager toward certain conclusions. Being clear about the framing and language of the ca can go a long way in understanding one’s own beliefs and values as well as tho of others.
真诚英文Levels of Ethical Inquiry in Business1
The kinds of ethical questions that emerge in business fall into four levels, although a particular problem may relate to more than one specific level.
Society
This level focus on the basic institutions of society and the arrangement created to make them work. Here, the focus is on the conduct of economic affairs: What are the larger goals for economic life, and how should the economy be structured to best realize them? Is capitalism the preferred method of structuring an economy? Is America’s particular version of capitalism preferable to alternative models, such as tho found in Japan, Germany, and Canada? What sort of role should government play with respect to business and the function of the economy?
Corporations and corporate policies
Here, the emphasis is more specific, relating to the operation of a particular company and the groups that affect or can be affected by its operations (e.g., suppliers, customers, stockholders, local communities, employees). Pertinent considerations include the relative importance of the groups to the firm; what sorts of obligations and duties are owed to each of the groups and vice versa; and how the firm can develop strategies and forms of interaction among stakeholders to realize its primary goals.
Stakeholders (focusing on employees as an illustration)
This level focus on the approaches a firm takes in its relationships with its various stakeholders, in
cluding employees. What sorts of contracts are equitable? What employee rights (beyond what the law dictates) should the firm acknowledge and obrve (e.g., is email confidential)? What responsibilities does a worker owe to the firm and the firm to the worker? Issues of leadership, motivation, rewards and incentives, and layoffs are all part of this domain.
Personal
This level relates to how people should treat each other in their roles within the firm. To what extent does a manager have duties to respect others: to be honest and open with them, to value their contributions, to empower them? How are roles defined, and do they create reasonable expectations of employees both as people and as workers performing jobs? An underlying concern here is the issue of to what extent the firm treats people strictly as a means to
topic是什么意思1 This ction is bad on a portion of R. Edward Freeman’s “A Note on Ethics and Business,” UVA-E-0071.
an end for the firm, rather than as an end who ought to be treated with respect regardless of the firm’s financial status.
Ethical Frameworks
An ethical framework is a t of questions that managers can u to get beyond their initial moral intuitions and clarify the relevant features of a ca. The questions in a framework may force one to think about the issues from other perspectives or to look at rules that may apply. A good framework helps managers avoid rationalization of their initial moral intuition by looking at disconfirming data or differing opinions. It rves as a test to guide and refine moral intuition through a variety of cas. A good framework takes the best from your moral intuition and adds the pieces that may be missing. At a minimum, a framework should include questions from the three broad ethical traditions concerning character, conquences, and principles. Here is an example of a framework:
1.Who are the stakeholders? Who is affected by this issue and how? What does each party
英语四级多少分能过have at stake?
2.What are the most important values of each stakeholder? How is each stakeholder
harmed or benefited by options that might be considered?
3.What rights and duties are at issue?
4.What principles and rules are relevant?
5.What are some relevant parallel cas?
6.What should we do?
It is important to note that a framework is the opening curtain for ethics, not its final act. Managers must also talk to others, especially tho affected by the decision, to evaluate a propod action.
Engaging in ethical inquiry can reduce negative conquences, keep managers from breaking important rules, and maintain a leadership character, but it is no absolute guarantee against avoiding harms. Sometimes actions have unintended or unforeeable conquences. Even in the cas, tho who are harmed will be more likely to work with decision-makers if they believe that their interests are genuinely valued, rather than being a “roadblock” to someone el’s success. The cas where ethics fails are an opportunity to revi and supplement frameworks and moral theory to strengthen their efficacy for the next situation.
What Difference Does My Decision Make?
One of the potentially frustrating aspects of ethics is that the exerci of discussing cas and debating how to proceed can sometimes leave people more confud and uncertain than they
were when they started. Rather than getting answers or coming clor to the truth, some ca discussions make it em as though the goals can be more elusive than before the discussion began. Frustration can lead to apathy, raising the question of why one should engage in the process at all—if there is no clear right answer, what difference does my choice make? How is my answer any better than anyone el’s? Why “do” ethics at all? The are important and nsible questions, but the following considerations suggest why a particular decision matters.
Managers are held accountable by various stakeholders
The decision made must be defensible to various stakeholder groups, particularly tho to which the firm is most committed and tho that have the most power to influence the fate of the firm. In many instances, a job may be at stake, the success of a particular product or project may be involved, possible legal action or public outcry could be at issue, and so on. In such circumstances, managers must pay careful attention to how they approach the problem, whom they decide to include, how and when they decide, as well as what they choo. The ability to defend a decision, its rationale, and the process of deliberation are vital to business success. Stakeholder groups that are relevant include superiors/colleagues in your firm, communities/customers and society as a whole, and other stakeholder groups who have an interest or stake in the outcome.
Ethical problems are part of the job
Managers are asked on a daily basis to weigh or balance responsibilities to various stakeholders. Resolving conflicting demands and obligations is part of a manager’s responsibility. Just becau the choices are difficult and complex doesn’t mean they can be handed off to others or to “ethics experts.” Ethics and the process of resolving ethical dilemmas is embedded within each person’s responsibilities (in personal life, in an organizational role, or both). Ethics is everybody’s business.
Personal integrity
Managers’ decisions should matter to them personally, particularly if there are important values or commitments at stake about which they have strong feelings (i.e., particular decisions may make them feel very uncomfortable or violate their n of integrity). The movie City Slickers has a scene highlighting this issue. In a conversation between Billy Crystal and one of his friends, the friend describes a scenario where Crystal could have one night of pleasure with the woman of his dreams, and no one would ever find out. If he had the chance, would he do it? Crystal responds by saying he would not, not becau he was worried his wife might find out, but becau he would know (i.e., he could not live with himlf if he were unfaithful to his wife).
Legal reasoning is often inadequate
Doing what the letter of the law says may still leave a firm open to civil and or criminal suits. Adopting a law-bad approach puts firms in an adversarial posture with respect to others,
which may be counterproductive to other objectives in facing a crisis, such as public trust (e.g., compare Johnson & Johnson in the Tylenol ca with Burroughs Wellcome and the Sudafed tampering ca). The U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines create incentives for firms to aim at ethical performances rather than legal compliance. Taking the high road can be both cost-efficient and important for satisfying basic objectives of the firm.cmbc
Putting Business and Ethics Together
Questions about right and wrong matter, and they can be asked in all areas of our lives. In the context of business, managers can think about the connection between business and ethics in two ways. The first and most common way is to conceptualize business and ethics as two distinct disciplines. Business is usually en as being only about the numbers, and is hard, analytical, and factual, and the right thing to do is usually apparent from the analysis—do that which maximizes value for the shareholder. Ethics on the other hand is en as “soft,” subjective, and relative. In this v
iew ethics affects business like a tax—it is impod from outside, usually by the government. It holds back manager’s maximization of profits and can encumber “good managerial practice.” Along with this view is the idea that ethics is only about curbing illegal business practices—the usual “don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal” view of ethics. This view is called the paration fallacy.
The cond view is that business and ethics are fundamentally connected. Both are “misoft,” meaning that they are more like an art than a science, but that there can still be agreement on the fundamentals. In this view, every decision a manager makes has some ethical content, just as each decision can affect the financials of a business. Ethics is en as fundamental to trade, rather than peripheral. Without norms of trust and honesty, trade and business are not possible. Ethics is about more than just avoiding illegal actions; it is about choosing between alternatives in a way that benefits rather than harms stakeholders. This view is called the integration thesis.
Many managers have been socialized and inculcated into one or another of the views. Each view guides managerial action in different ways, and managers have a choice about which view they will subscribe to—each view guides managerial action in different ways. The question of how to frame a situation is also a moral question. Regardless of which view managers subscribe to, they must have morally defensible reasons for doing so, as oppod to merely relying on gut reactions.
The Indispensability of Ethics to Leadership
Ethics is an inescapable part of management and leadership. All managerial decisions involve weighing harms and benefits to stakeholders, considering core principles, and asking questions about character. The challenge for leaders is thinking about how they want to manage and direct their organizations. Business management necessarily occurs in the realm of humans
