If you think your ethics
are nobody's
business...think again!
Sandra Rothenberg
Thinking About Ethics
Act so as to produce the greatest ratio of
good/evil
 Look at the costs and benefits of
alternatives, sum them, and chose the
option with the greatest benefit
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Utilitarianism
 Are Rights Violated?
 Kant’s Categorical Imperatives
Provides Foundation for Duties, Moral
Rights
 Universality – Would I want everyone to
behave according to that rule?
 Reversibility – Would I want that rule to
apply to me?
 Treat individuals as autonomous ends, and
so never solely as means. Respecting their
autonomy to chose
Rights
Are Rewards and Punishments Fairly
Distributed?
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◦DISTRIBUTIVE, RETRIBUTIVE, COMPENSATORY ,
PROCEDURAL
Rawl’s
Theory of Justice
◦What would be fair principles if we didn’t know
what our station in society would be?
◦We would adopt two principles:
 Each person has an equal right to the same basic
liberties
 Social and economic inequalities are arranged so that
they are both
◦ to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons
◦ attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions
of fair equality of opportunity
Justice
 Carol
Gilligan
◦ She argued that men are likely to
consider moral issues in terms of
justice rules, and individual rights.
◦ Women tend to consider such
issues in terms of relationships,
caring, and compassion.
But Wait…one more thing
 An
ethic of care and responsibility
develops from an individual's feeling
of interconnectedness with others.
 Emphasis on responsibilities to
others.
Ethic of Care
 Key
focus: what kind of person
should I be?
◦ Moral character more important than
right action
◦ Virtue permits successful, rewarding,
good lives
◦ Assumption: virtuous character leads to
right action
Character Development:
Virtue Ethics
9 Steps to Sound Ethical Decision
Making
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Gather the Facts
Define the Ethical Issues
Identify the Affected Parties
Identify the Options
Identify the Consequences (Utility)
Identify the Obligations (Rights, Justice,
Care)
Consider Your Character & Integrity
Check Your Gut
Think Creatively About Other Potential
Actions

Sam Waksal, founder and CEO if Imclone
calls his broker (Peter Bavanovic) to sell his
shares in the company
◦ Talks to assistant (Douglas Faneuil) instead
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Douglas calls Peter and tells him about it
Peter leaves a message with Martha
indicating that the stock may start trading
downwards
Peter tells Douglas to tell Martha Stewart
what is happening if she calls
Martha calls the NY office and tells Douglas to
sell
It’s a Good Thing
Creating a Culture of Integrity
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Rooted in avoiding legal sanctions.
Companies will establish rules and
guidelines for employees to follow.
Emphasizes threat of detection and
punishment.
Assumes employees are driven by selfinterest.
Research evidence shows that employees
do care about moral correctness of their
actions.
Compliance-based programs
Sources: Lynn Sharp Paine, “Managing for Organizational Integrity,” Harvard Business Review, March/April 1994, pp. 106-117
and Gary Weaver and Linda Klebe Trevino, “Compliance and Values Oriented Ethics Programs: Influences on
Employees’ Attitudes and Behavior,” Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(1999), pp. 315-335.
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Combine a concern for the law with an emphasis
on employee responsibility for ethical conduct.
Establish a climate of self-governance for
employees based on general principles as
guidelines.
Employees told to act with integrity and conduct
business dealings in an environment of honesty
and fairness.
Employees are thought of as social beings,
concerned for the well-being of others.
Researchers found that these programs fostered
lower observed unethical conduct.
Integrity-based ethics programs
Sources: Lynn Sharp Paine, “Managing for Organizational Integrity,” Harvard Business Review, March/April 1994, pp. 106-117
and Gary Weaver and Linda Klebe Trevino, “Compliance and Values Oriented Ethics Programs: Influences on
Employees’ Attitudes and Behavior,” Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(1999), pp. 315-335.
The language of ethical decision-making is
used
 Structural supports and procedures that
facilitate ethical decision making have
been developed
 A culture of openness, responsibility, and
commitment to multiple business goals
has been created and sustained
 Employee development is valued

Contributing to a Culture of
Integrity
Source: Kayes, Stirling, and Neilsen, Building Organizational Integrity, Business Horizons, 2007,
Vol. 50.
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A bystander could be anyone who sees or
otherwise becomes aware of behavior that
appears worthy of comment or action.
◦ Encouraging the positive: to foster productive
behavior from all managers and employees, and
other members of the organization; to improve
morale and collegiality; to build community and
foster inclusion
◦ Discouraging the negative: to curtail
discriminatory, destructive, and illegal behavior.
What you can do: Bystander
Awareness
Source: Maureen Scully and Mary Rowe, Bystander Training within Organizations, Journal of the
International Ombudsman Association, 2009, 2 (1),
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There are often more bystanders to affirm
excellent performance than there are
supervisors.
Responsible bystander may be able to react
immediately, when action is safe and
appropriate.
◦ May be more effective in affirming good behavior or
discouraging unacceptable behavior than delayed
action.
◦ May be more cost-effective than are delayed responses.
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People planning unethical action do not usually
share their plans with formal supervisors.
◦ They may boast or give clues to friends and coworkers.
Why Bystanders?
◦ People are affected by the actions of those
around them
◦ Negative effects of observing unethical
behavior
 Those who observed sexual harassment, all have
lower work and life satisfaction. For women, also
affects on job behaviors and psychological
wellbeing.
◦ The costs of observing, and thus not addressing, unethical
behavior are HIGHER for women! (but also negative for men)
◦ Collegiality, and even happiness, may be
as contagious as the negative emotions.
The Cost of Inaction
Source: Miner-Rubino, K., Beyond targets: Vicarious exposure to hostility towards women in the
workplace, University of Michigan, 2004 and Schneider, K, Bystander stress: The effect of organizational
tolerance of sexual harassment on victims' coworkers, 1996
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Inclusion
Discovery
Cooling Things Down
Heating Things Up
Body Language/Signaling
Role of Bystander
A Bystander is Not...
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Judge
Avenger
Rescuer
Enforcer
Fixer
Know-it-all
Final authority
Hero/heroine
Bystander is….
Witness
Listener
Facilitator
Observer
Onlooker
Friend
Concerned
Learner
Mediator
Peace-Maker
Helper
Peer
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Praising
Interrupting
Shifting Conversation
Raising Questions
Using Humor
Demonstrating Concern
What is Bystander Action?
Moral Courage
 Tactfulness
 Willingness to take Risks
 Awareness of one’s own power or privilege

What it Takes
Waiting for teachable moments
 Not diluting your message
 Reduce embarrassment
 Picking the right battles
 Too high of a risk

◦ He’s Assertive and she’s out of control
 Both male and female evaluators conferred lower status on angry
female professionals than on angry male.
 Women's emotional reactions were attributed to internal
characteristics (e.g., “she is an angry person,”“she is out of
control”), men's emotional reactions were attributed to external
circumstances.
◦ Negative evaluation of women who violate specific norms
for behavior
Understanding When Not to Act
Source: Brescoll, V. L.; Uhlmann, E.. Can an Angry Woman Get Ahead? Status Conferral, Gender,
and Expression of Emotion in the Workplace. Psychological Science Mar2008, Vol. 19 Issue 3
Moral talk is viewed as
creating these negative
effects...
because of these assumed
attributes of moral talk
Threat to Harmony
Moral talk is intrusive and
confrontational and invites cycles
of mutual recrimination.
Threat to Efficiency
Moral talk assumes distracting
moralistic forms (praising,
blaming, ideological) and is
simplistic, inflexible, soft and
inexact.
Threat to Image of Power and Moral talk is too esoteric and
Effect
idealistic and lacks rigor and
force.
Causes of Moral Muteness
Source: The Moral Muteness of Managers. California Management Review, Fall 1989.
Practice interventions in a safe space
 Think through various scenarios in advance
 Expand menu of possible resources/responses
 Understand cultural differences in appropriate
interventions
 Learn from others’ experiments
 Take personal ownership for the situation, instead of
just sitting back
 Become self-aware and understand the norms you
and your organization want to uphold
 Make bystander action more expected and
legitimate
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Reducing Bystander Inaction
Increase detection of unethical activities
 Helping people understand the gravity of
unethical behavior
 Increasing perceptions of responsibility
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◦ Being a role model
Teaching people how to be a bystander
 Provide opportunities for practice
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For the Leader – Creating the
Culture