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: 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?: 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 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 self- interest.” 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?”