Moral Reasoning
Ethics in Management
The University of Winnipeg
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Giving Voice to Values
• “How to speak our mind when we know
what’s right”
– Based on fundamental values such as honesty,
fairness, respect, responsibility, compassion
Referencing Giving Voice to Values, How to Speak your Mind when you Know What’s Right
Mary C. Gentile, Yale University Press, 2010
Value Conflicts
• Explicit or implicit / External or internal
pressure to
– Act in a way inconsistent with our values
– Suppress expression of our values
• How do we “give voice” to our values
effectively, to have positive impact with
minimal “collateral damage”
Referencing Giving Voice to Values, How to Speak your Mind when you Know What’s Right
Mary C. Gentile, Yale University Press, 2010
Giving Voice to Values
• “How to speak our mind when we know
what’s right”
– But suppose it’s not obvious what’s “right”?
Referencing Giving Voice to Values, How to Speak your Mind when you Know What’s Right
Mary C. Gentile, Yale University Press, 2010
Ethical Dilemmas
• Conflicts of legitimate responsibilities that
cannot be reconciled without some tradeoff
among our values
– Moral theories may enhance our perspective on
such situations, but in the end our actions will
still be determined by our values.
Fundamental Moral Theories
• Approaches for considering the ethical
merit of actions / decisions
– Principles – standards of conduct
– Consequences for relevant stakeholders
– Purpose – overall goals and aspirations
• Also useful as a basis for discussing ethical
challenges with others
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Principles
• Accepted, expected standards of conduct
arising from fundamental values
• Focus on means, not end results
• Broadly generalizable
– Applicable to all parties in all situations
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Examples of Principles
• Keep your promises
– Underlying values: Honesty, Responsibility
• The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you
would have others do unto you”
– Underlying values: Compassion, Fairness
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
– Underlying values: Respect, Fairness
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance of Principles
• Fundamental to providing stability to
society (and an economy)
• Guard against inappropriate means even
for desirable ends
• Can be a compelling basis for consensus,
unity, motivation for collective action
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Limitations of Principles
• Principles by nature are very general
– Often difficult to relate principles to specific
actions / situations
• Principles are independent of consequences
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Consequentialism
• Moral worth of actions assessed in terms of
their anticipated consequences
– Consequences can be positive and / or negative,
and of various natures
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Examples of
Consequentialism
• “Ends justify the means”
• Cost / benefit analysis
• Utilitarianism
– “The greatest good for the greatest number”
• Ethical egoism
– “What’s in it for me?”
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance of
Consequentialism
• Practical – keeps us in touch with reality
and with the fact that our actions (or choice
not to act) will have consequences
• Easy to understand and discuss; good basis
for communicating rationales to others
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Challenges of
Consequentialism
• Consequences for whom?
• Consequences over what time frame?
– “In the long run, we are all dead.”
– Economist John Maynard Keynes
• Difficult to objectively net positive
consequences of one type with negative
consequences of a totally different nature
• Future consequences are uncertain
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Checks and Balances
• Principled Reasoning
– Keeps us on the “straight and narrow”
• Consequential Reasoning
– Keeps us in touch with reality, and the fact that
our actions (or choice not to act) will have
consequences.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Purposive Reasoning
• Actions are ethical or not depending on
their relationship to the fundamental
purpose (“What are we here for, why do we
exist?”) of the entity taking them or of the
context in which they will take place.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
An example of
Purposive Reasoning
• Should the Business & Administration
department offer university credit courses
on how to use SAP programs?
– (SAP is the world's largest business software
company)
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
An example of
Purposive Reasoning
• Should the Business & Administration
department offer university credit courses
on how to use SAP programs?
• What is the purpose of a university?
– To prepare people for employment?
– To develop people’s intellect?
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance of
Purposive Reasoning
• Keeps us focused on what’s really
important – avoids the distraction of the
specific situation.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Challenges of
Purposive Reasoning
• Difficult to ascertain and achieve consensus
about fundamental purpose (especially once
a particular action is being contemplated).
• Difficult to determine which entity’s /
context’s purpose is the relevant one.
• Relating an action to purpose can be highly
subject to interpretation.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Checks and Balances
• Purposive Reasoning
– Keeps us on track towards worthwhile ends
• Principled Reasoning
– Provides aspirational motivation
– Guards against inappropriate means
• Consequential Reasoning
– Keeps us in touch with reality, and the fact that
our actions will have consequences.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Traditional Reasoning
• Looking to past practice, precedent, history
for guidance as to what is ethical
– Case law based on precedent
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance / Drawbacks
of Traditional Reasoning
• Provides stability, continuity for society,
and thereby builds community.
• BUT
• Is a force against change
• May reinforce outdated concepts, power
relationships, practices
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Charismatic Reasoning
• Deferring to a charismatic authority figure
(e.g. the Pope) or text (e.g. the Koran)
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance / Drawbacks
of Charismatic Reasoning
• Reinforces sense of community, builds
commitment to a cause
BUT
• Deals in absolutes, doesn’t allow for debate
• Is subject to abuse
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Consensual Reasoning
• Ethical actions are those to which all
affected parties agree, based upon full
information and free debate.
– Basis for democracy
– Even “good” decisions should not be forced on
people
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance / Drawbacks
of Consensual Reasoning
• Is situation specific, not abstract
• Can lead to better decisions through
multiple inputs, checks and balances
BUT
• Often difficult to achieve consensus
• Is subject to politicization
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Subjective Reasoning
• Acting on personal conscience, based on
personal integrity and commitments.
– Ethics from within – no one can impose ethics
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Importance / Drawbacks
of Subjective Reasoning
• Emphasizes our inescapable responsibility
for our actions.
• Can be extremely motivating.
BUT
• Difficult to communicate to others
• No basis for group / organization action
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Subjective Reasoning
“This above all:
To thine own self be true,
And then it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not be false to any man.”
William Shakespeare,
Hamlet: Act I, Scene III
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l
Forms of Moral Reasoning
• Approaches for considering the ethical
merit of an action
–
–
–
–
–
Principles
Consequential
Purposive
Traditional, Consensual
Charismatic, Subjective
• These concepts are key to debating ethically
challenging issues.
Lecture and slides draw on Chapter 6, Good Management: Business Ethics in Action
Frederick Bird, Jeffrey Gandz Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., I99l