Bus303 Final Exam Review

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10 steps for resisting social dynamics

crib sheet

2 key themes, investigating social dynamics

• the desire to belong

• social context

  • the desire to be in the group

  • the power of authority in a social context

milgram experiment

• shows (blind?) obidence to authority

• told to shock people/that it was fine so they did

stanford prison experiment

• shows power of the ingroup

• quickly assumed their roles of wardens and prisoners, ended up abusing their fellow classmates

• only took a couple of days?

normal people and social dynamics

• claim they would never do the things we hear about, but 90% would

• we don’t know ourselves as well as we think

personal defining moments

• reveal

  • something that about someones character

• test

  • if someone is really committed to their values

• shape

  • a persons character over time

corporate defining moments

• Manager’s decisions have social implications.

• Managers are the ethics teachers of their organizations

• Manager’s actions and omissions send signals

• Right vs right decisions reveal ethical priorities of people running a company, and a sense of what kind of people they are.

• They influence how much trust people have  their bosses.

butlers stevens defining moment

reading needed

what was the situation?

• stevens stayed at a conference while his father was dying

what did this reveal?

• that work/his profession mattered more to him than family/are a priority

what did this test?

• it was a test of commitment to his role as a butlet

• his personal and family obligations clashed with his professional ones (or what he believed was them)

what did this shape?

• this will have further strengthen his decision to prioritize profession over family in the future?

  • or perhaps the opposite if he regretted it? reading needed

• until he didn’t comfort a potential loved one during a tough time

what earlier decisions/values might’ve influenced this?

• the way he so carefully managed the estate before the conference revealed his values and commitments to his role as a butler

truth is a process 4 questions

1. What are the other strong, competing values and  interpretations of the situation that I hope to use as a defining moment for my organization?

2. What is the cash value of this situation and of my ideas for the people whose support I need?

3. Have I orchestrated a process that can make the values I care about become the truth for my organization?

4. Am I playing to win?

3

3 ways to test whether the truth works

• Does it have cash value in experiential terms and is it profitable?

• Can it be associated with ideas already held to be true without causing much problem?

• Is it down to earth, not esoteric?

bakery truth is a process 4 questions

1. What are the competing values that define the bakery

Waste is costly vs Customers health and loyalty is important.

2. What is the cash value of the student’s ideas and of her boss?

the cost of throwing out old product vs cost of customer loyalty

3. How did she orchestrated the process so the values she cared about become the truth for the bakery?

   was respectful, discussed negative implications of owners idea, suggested alternative, left decision up to owner

4. Did she play to win?

   yes because she risked something important (her job)

3 ethical frameworks

• Utilitarianism

  • cost benefit analysis

• duty ethics

  • justice, do what’s right

• virtue ethics

  • be the person you wanna be

Utilitarianism 2 types

• Act Utilitarianism

  • Concerned with a particular case

• Rule Utilitarianism

  • Concerned with a class of cases

U goal and process

• focuses on achieving collective welfare

  • To minimize negative & maximize stakeholder positive outcomes

• greatest happiness principle

  1. Consider how stakeholders are affected by the choices

  2. Which decision maxes benefit

U CBA

• Utilitarianism provides the moral authority for cost-benefit analysis

• Is a highly subjective process presented as objective, how?

Problems with CBA

• Assumes people are rational

• Gives too much power to government or corporations over the analysis and results

• Skews results due to hidden biases or unintentional misapplication of the data

• Substitutes calculation for informed and considered judgement

3 Maxims (rules) of Duty (kantian) Ethics

• Think for yourself

• Think from the POV of others

• Think consistently

The categorical imperative

1. Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should be universal law

2. Act so you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only

Problems with Kantian (duty) ethics

• It undervalues outcomes

  • For example, Adolf Eichman lived his life according to Kant’s moral precepts

• It is too optimistic 

  • Assumes people are rational

  • Assumes people are principled

• It’s not complex enough

  • Kantian ethics simplifies and universalizes, but the real world is complex; context matters

duty (rights) ethics process + goal

• Focuses on rights central to the decision

• To ensure individuals are treated a certain way regardless of consequences

• asking what rights apply to the situation guide the decision maker

1. Ask would a choice be acceptable if it applied to everyone.

2. Ask, would you as decision maker accept the choice.

rights ethics tests

• pick which best satisfies the following

• Generalizability/universability test of:

  • Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should be a universal law and

  • if everyone was able to do so would it be acceptable still

• Reversibility test of:

  • Act so you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only

  • aka if u were on the receiving end of this action would that be chill?

normative ethical theories

non outcome (or consequence) based, left 2 boxes

• duty ethics

• rights and justice

• probably virtue

outcome based, right 2 boxes

• egoism

• utilitarianism

nasa, need for culture candor message

• admit mistakes

• tell the truth

• encourage others to tell the truth

NASA aircrash research shows due to:

1. Pilots make poor decisions when acting on too little information

2. Pilots style of interacting with crews determined whether they got good information

3. Open inclusive pilots got good information from crews

4. Crews were unwilling to intervene with “decisive flyboy” pilots even when they had information that would save the plane.  

personal moral values

1. The Heart’s Reasons

2. The Roots of Responsibility

3. What is my way?

the hearts reason

• What does my gut say?

  • What is your immediate thought

  • How does your body feel?

• Fast thinking response

  • Developed through EI and meditation

roots of responsibility

• What are my Values?

  • Identify life situations that informed your values and the actions they would suggest (not necessarily what you’ll do)

    • make sure to talk about how you got these values

      • family values, personal experiences, empathy, societal influences etc

    • and what each set of specific values would suggest

  • Identify the values that are in conflict for you

    • consider initial moral foundation scores and the ones in conflict

    • talk about the basis for these conflict values

• Slow thinking

  • Developed through critical thinking, EI and meditation

what is my way

• What are my intentions, purpose, life goals, telos?

  • Character traits you aspire to be in the long run

  • Career/personal goals in medium term (5-10 years) and long term (20-30 years)

    • pick a criteria/goal this decision should move you towards

• Slow thinking developed through reflection and seeing your dream exercise

what are the organizational concerns?

• stakeholder analysis

  • who are they

  • assess stakeholders responsibilities

  • assess stakeholders powers

• analysis and decision

  • develop decision criteria (5?)

  • propose alternatives

  • evaluate alternatives

• select alternative

  • Provide your reasoning and justification for your selection

    Develop strategies for handling stakeholders

types of responcibility

• ethical

• legal

• economic

• voluntary

crib sheet

types of power

crib sheet

Voting, Political, Economic, Technological, Legal, Environmental, Cultural, Power over Groups or Individuals

types of handling tactic

Types 1 Supportive, 2 Marginal, 3 Non-supportive, 4 Mixed Blessing

crib sheet

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