Hartman: Perspectives inBusiness Ethics, SecondEditionI. Ethical Theories andApproaches6. Corporate Strategy andDecision Making:Accountability
© The McGraw−HillCompanies, 2003
286
CORPORATE STRATEGY AND DECISIONMAKING
Accountability
“Profitable Ethical Programs”J
ASON
L
UNDAY
“Moral Leadership and Business Ethics”A
L
G
INI
TOPIC STUDY:FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
U
NITED
S
TATES
S
ENTENCING
C
OMMISSION
“Hoffman-LaRoche Case:A Sentencing Guidelines Milestone”J
EFFREY
M. K
APLAN
The Prince
N
ICCOLÒ
M
ACHIAVELLI
“Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Competitive Intelligence”T
HOMAS
F
URTADO
“Airline Travel:Safety At What Price?”K
ENNETH
K. B
OYER
TOPIC STUDY:SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER
“Space Shuttle
Challenger,
Mission 51-L Launch Decision”K
URT
H
OOVER
,W
ALLACE
T. F
OWLER
“Roger Boisjoly on the Space Shuttle Disaster”R
OGER
B
OISJOLY
Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space ShuttleChallenger Accident
“Department of Disputation:Blowup”M
ALCOLM
G
LADWELL
Chapter 6
Hartman: Perspectives inBusiness Ethics, SecondEditionI. Ethical Theories andApproaches6. Corporate Strategy andDecision Making:Accountability
© The McGraw−HillCompanies, 2003
Part OneEthical Theories and Approaches
287
The trouble with the rat race is that,even if you win,you’re still a rat.
L
ILY
T
OMLIN
When we speak,we are afraid our words will not be heard,norwelcomed; but when we are silent,we are still afraid.So it is better to speak, Remembering that we were never meant to survive all.
—A
UDRE
L
ORDE
Take care to guard against all greed,for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.
L
UKE
12:15
G
ood ethics is good business. Have you heard that before? Did you believe it? Theoristsargue about whether ethical decisions lead to higher profits than unethical decisions. Whilewe are all familiar with examples of unethical decisions leading to high profits,there is gen-eral agreement that,in the long run,ethics pays off. But the question of what is an ethicaldecision remains. Lao Tzu in the
Tao Te Ching
contends that there is no crime greater thanhaving too many desires and no misfortune greater than being covetous.
1
How would Tao-ism view the acts and intentions of a profit-maximizing firm in today’s market?Consider the demise of small bookstores all over the country. In the past several years,large,multipurpose bookstores such as Crown Books and Barnes & Noble have seemed totake over the literary consumption landscape. Chicago,alone,has seen the collapse of anumber of old standbys,bookstores that had been in the city for years serving a specific,sometimes idiosyncratic,population rather than the entire book-purchasing community.These stores (Krochs and Brentanos,Stuart Brent,Guild Books,and others) could not sur-vive next to chain superstores that provide a greater selection of low priced alternatives.Stuart Brent,a longtime bookseller on prestigious Michigan Avenue in Chicago,re-cently was forced out of business by competition from Borders and other chain bookstoresopening right down the street from him. Brent’s store was one where the salespeople couldremember your name,where there were large,comfy chairs in which to peruse the books,where there were experts available on literary issues,and where they knew just the rightbook for your Uncle Gordy. Brent’s sales went down 30 percent with the opening of Bor-ders Bookstore three blocks away. “Supermarkets,”he snorts,“Philistines. My father usedto speak of ‘men you’d have to stand on tiptoes to talk to.’Where are those men today?”Even Mayor Richard Daley mourned the loss in a telegram sent to Brent on closing day,“Michigan Avenue will miss you,as much as it was enhanced by your fine store and ele-gant presence.”
2
A traditional tale of David and Goliath?The chain superstores argue that it is not. Instead,these stores contend that they aremerely serving the needs of their customers in a more effective,efficient manner,and there-fore deserve a larger share of the market. “It’s no longer simply the big,stupid best-seller
1
Lao Tzu,
Tao Te Ching,
Book 2,XLVI:105.
2
Jeff Lyon,“ For Starters,”
Chicago Tribune,Sunday Magazine,
January 14,1996,p.6.
Hartman: Perspectives inBusiness Ethics, SecondEditionI. Ethical Theories andApproaches6. Corporate Strategy andDecision Making:Accountability
© The McGraw−HillCompanies, 2003
stores and the small,elegant,literary bookstores,”says shopper and Northwestern Univer-sity Professor Joseph Epstien. “Places like Barnes & Noble and Borders stock the goodbooks,too. I doubt that Stuart Brent had anything these stores don’t,except in his specialtyof psychoanalytic books.”
3
Perhaps these larger bookstores aren’t so much predators as theyare simply players—answering the needs of the public.Is there any responsibility of a large chain store entering a small community market?Consider as well the tales of Walgreens stores entering small towns where there is one es-tablished pharmacy equipped with a pharmacist who has been serving that public for manyyears. The pharmacist cannot compete with the economies of scale available to a large firmlike Walgreens,so she closes her doors. Is Walgreens to blame? Perhaps. But is it at
fault?
It is using its size to a competitive advantage to reap greater profits for its owners.Consider what ethical and unethical steps might be taken in the name of profits. Is of-fering a larger selection,lower prices,and a different ambience unethical? Is an act ethicalbecause it results in higher profit or in spite of it? Consider the examples suggested byJason Lunday and opinion expressed in Al Gini’s article. Accountability is directly ad-dressed in the discussion of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines—some ask,what better wayto encourage ethical behavior than to financially reward those who engage in it and finan-cially punish those who do not? On the issue of accountability,one might also want to check out the perspectives of various consumer and advocacy groups in connection with well-known businesses at any of the following websites:•
www.bankofamericafraud.org
•
www.boycottameritech.com
•
www.cokespotlight.org
•
www.ihatestarbucks.com
•
www.noamazon.com
•
www.starbucked.com
•
www.walmartsurvivor.com
The question of gathering competitive intelligence has been raised to a critical levelwith the advent of new technology that allows for more invasive information-gatheringtechniques. As long as you’re not breaking any laws in gathering information,does thatmake it ethical? How did you feel about the technology-based firm,Oracle,when youlearned that it was paying janitorial staff to send to Oracle all of the trash of a political ac-tion group affiliated with Microsoft? Technically,this firm had thrown away the materials,but does that mean it is all right for Oracle to sift through it? How should you decide? Thequestions in this area are difficult to categorize,yet there is usually something that simplydoesn’t seem appropriate in many situations.Later articles in this chapter ask you to consider your accountability in connection withthe safety of airline travel. How much more might you be willing to pay to travel in safer
288
Chapter 6Corporate Strategy and Decision Making
3
John Blades,“Staying Alive,”
Chicago Tribune,
March 20,1996,sec. 5,pp.1,4.
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