Studied by 2 people
ethics
how people should behave
ethics decision
any choice about how a person should behave that is based on a sense of right and wrong
Why be ethical
society as a whole benefit from ethical behavior
ethical behavior makes people happier
ethical behavior provides financial benefits
Life Principles
the rules by which you live your life
some life principles include
lying
stealing
cheating
applying the same or different standards at home and at work
your responsibility as a bystander when you see other people doing wrong or being harmed
What did Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously argue?
that a corporates manager’s primary responsibility is to the owners of the organization (shareholders)
Arguments against Milton Friedman’s view
that corporations should instead consider all company stakeholders, not just the shareholders
ethical behavior builds…
trust
A company with a good reputation can …
pay employees less and charge consumers more
Utilitarianism
ethical theory that seeks to maximizes overall happiness and minimized overall pain, thereby producing the greatest net benefit (started by John Stuart Mill)
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
hard to measure utility accurately
difficult to predict benefit and harm accurately
not all lives are of equal value to us (parents might let 10 people die to save their child)
focusing on the outcome an justify terrible behavior
Deontological Ethics (kantianism)
focus on the reasoning for the action rather than the outcome, in other words, it is important to do the right thing no matter what the result
also believe that it is wrong to treat a person as an end to a means (treating them as less than human)
Categorical Imperative
an act is only ethical if it would be acceptable for everyone to do the same thing (if we were to look at the action of lying, if everyone lied about anything, the world and economy would collapse)
Life Prospects
the circumstances into which we are born
Veil of ignorance
the rules for society that we would propose if we did not know how lucky we would be in life’s lottery (John Rawls)
Difference principle
Rawl’s suggestion that society should reward behavior that provides the most benefit to the community as a whole
Moral Universalism
a belief that some acts are always right or always wrong
Moral Relativism
a belief that a decision may be right even if it is not in keeping with one’s own ethics standards
Two types of moral relativism
cultural & individual
Cultural Moral Relativism
right or wrong depends on the norms and practices in each society
Individual Moral Relativism
what is right for me might not be good for you
examples of ethics traps
money
competition
rationalization
we cant be objective about ourselves
moral licensing
conflicts of interest
conformity
following orders
euphemisms and reframing
lost in a crowd
short-term perspective (optimism bias)
blind spots
Common Rationalizations Include
if i don’t do it, someone else will.
i deserve this because…
they had it coming.
i am not harming a person- it is just a big company.
This is someone else’s responsibility.
Fudge Factor
a type of rationalization that “if we cheat just a little, then we can tell ourselves it does not really count
Objectivity Regarding Ourselves
in decision making, it is important to remember that you are unlikely to be objective
Moral Licensing
after doing something ethical, many people then have a tendency to act unethically
If ethical decisions are your goal, then …
it is better to avoid all conflicts of interest - both large and small
optimism bias
a belief that the outcome of an event will be more positive than the evidence indicates
Blind Spots in Ethics
we have a tendency to ignore blatant evidence that we would rather not know
Practices to avoid ethic traps
slow down
do no trust your first instinct
rememebr your Life Principles
When faced with unethical behavior, you have three choices:
loyalty
exit
voice
Corporate social responsibility
an organization’s obligation to contribute positively to the world around it
Note
Flashcard