Download Ch 3 Ethics Intro

Ch 3
Ethics Intro
Question 1
If you knew a woman who was pregnant,
who had 8 children already, 3 who were
deaf, 2 who were blind, 1 severe special
needs, & she had syphilis, would you
recommend that she have an abortion?
Question 2
It is time to elect the world leader, and yours is the deciding
vote. Here are the facts about the 3 leading candidates:
• Candidate A: He associates with crooked politicians, and
consults with astrologers. He's had two mistresses. He also
chain smokes and drinks up to ten Martinis a day.
• Candidate B: He was ejected from office twice, sleeps until
noon, used opium in college and drinks a large amounts of
whisky every evening.
• Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian,
doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any
extra-marital affairs.
Question 1
If you knew a woman who was pregnant,
who had 8 children already, 3 who were
deaf, 2 who were blind, 1 severe special
needs, & she had syphilis, would you
recommend that she have an abortion?
Answer: If you recommended the abortion,
you just killed off Beethoven!
Question 2
It is time to elect the world leader, and
yours is the deciding vote. Here are the
facts about the 3 leading candidates:
• Candidate A: is ….. Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Candidate B: is ……. Winston Churchill
• Candidate C: is ....... Adolf Hitler
Job Advert in London newspaper
“Men wanted for Hazardous
Journey. Small Wages, bitter cold,
long months of complete
darkness, constant danger, safe
return doubtful. Honour &
recognition in case of success.”
Urban Legend?
Period: 1914
What for?: Exploration
Who?: Irish explorer
Sir Ernest Shackleton
Result by the numbers:
• Applications: 5 000
• Hired?: 30
• What for?: Exploration dubbed
“Successful failure”
Misadventure?
Period: 2 years
What?: Shipwreck (“Endurance”)
Conditions?:
• sub-zero temperatures
• lack of food
• no means of communication
• 1200 miles from civilization
Action plan?
Do?: Set out in a rowboat
Ate?: Penguins, dogs, seals
Traveled?: 800 miles across South Atlantic
Result?: Shackleton & his crew survived!
How did he do it?
Based on the book “Shackleton’s
Way” by Margot Morrell &
Stephanie Capparell, Jim Lichtman
identified “several qualities
involving ethical values &
principled reasoning”
Ethical Leadership
Honesty
“Shackleton made sure [his] men had
a realistic notion of their plight”
Loyalty
“Shackleton gave his men constant
feedback, praising their efforts &
correcting their mistakes”
Ethical Leadership
Responsibility
“Shackleton related to every person
under him as a human being.”
Respect
“Shackleton made sure everyone felt
he was doing something worthwhile
to get out of the situation”
Ethical Leadership
Caring
“Shackleton worked until the whole
job was done.”
Ethical Leadership
Determine what needs to be decided & devise
a range of alternatives
“Shackleton observed before he acted; only
making changes to make improvements.”
Monitor the effects of decisions & be willing
to take a different course of action
“Shackleton wasn’t afraid to change his mind
as often as the situation dictated”
Appollo 13 – “Successful failure”
What?: Oxygen tank exploded
Situation?: 200 00 miles from home in
space
Who?: Crew of 3
Captain James Lovell
Misadventure?
Period: 4 days
Faced with?: Survival in space, no
oxygen
Conditions?:
• Freezing temperatures
• lack of food & water
• 200 000 miles from civilization
Action plan?
Who?:
Captain Lovell had read about
Shackleton before his mission
aboard Apollo 13
Attitude?: No panicking
“No one swore, we all just went to
work on what went wrong & how
to get this thing back.” Captain Lovell
What made the difference?
According to Lichtman,
“Crewmembers were sustained by the
trust & confidence that they had in
their leaders.”
Food for thought?
Who would have your trust &
confidence?
Ethics & Business
“Good ethics is good business.”
“Honesty is the best policy.”
“Cheaters never prosper.”
Conclusion regarding integrity in
business?
“It is always in our self-interest to be
ethical in business”
Ethics & Business
“Ethics is about doing the right
thing, whether or not it is the
smart thing. Ethics is about the
pursuit of virtue as a matter of
moral obligation, not selfinterest.”
Michael Josephson
Situational Ethics
Advantages vs. Disadvantages
Cost/benefit analysis approach
Result?
Compromise & rationalization
Ethics & Business
• Separate Domains
• Good ethics can help or hurt!
• Good ethics is good ethics
• For business leaders:
“If honesty & trust is something you
expect from your employees; if your
clients expect you to be trustworthy,
can you afford not to be ethical?”