Day 2: Ethical Decision Making I: Sam Yam, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management National University of Singapore

Day 2: Ethical decision making I
Sam Yam, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management
National University of Singapore
NUS Presentation Title 2006
A couple things before we start

• Talk to the TA if you are not in any presentation team
• Presentation team information
• Team number, team members, 8am or 2pm
• Dyad project information
• Team members, 8am or 2pm
• TA: obrltc@nus.edu.sg
• Contact me if there is a time conflict on quiz date (March 23rd)
What is business ethics?

Fundamental questions of ethics
How should I live my life?
What sort of person should I strive to be?
What values are important?
What standards or principles should I live by??
Business ethics: The study of good and evil, right and wrong,
just and unjust actions in business
The case for thinking about business ethics

Develop valuable skills
“Personal ethics and integrity” was listed as one of the three most
important attributes recruiters look for in student hires (Wall Street
Journal, 2007)
1. Communication and interpersonal skills
2. Ability to work well within a team
3. Personal ethics and integrity
…….
14. Content knowledge of the core curriculum
Hays (2014)
“[In Singapore] Employers view a candidate’s ethical behaviour as a non-
negotiable…..[this] is apparent across all industries, although it is most
obvious in the banking sector.”
The case for thinking about ethics

People care about ethical issues. A lot
Think about the times you have been most upset with others
Think about the times you have felt most in awe of another person

Leaders use of moral justifications increases policy support
(Van Zant & Moore, 2015)
• A CEO plans to significantly increase the quality of food provided to

employees in the canteen, which will cost significantly more money and is
seeking for support from the board
1. Economic frame: Healthy meals should improve our employees’ productivity!
2. Moral frame: It is the company’s moral imperative to increase our employees’
well-being!

In a meta-analysis, it was found that corporate social performance
is positively associated with corporate financial performance, r =
.36 (Orlitzky et al., 2003)

$2.9 trillion lost annually to global fraud in the United States
(Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2010)
$100 billion lost to corruption in China in 2014 (Merrill Lynch,
2014)
How do we think about ethics?

Julie and Mark are brother and sister. They are traveling together in France on
summer vacation from college. One night they are staying alone in a cabin near
the beach. They decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making
love. At the very least it would be a new experience for each of them and it will
be fun.
Julie was already taking birth control pills, but Mark uses a condom too, just to
be safe. They both enjoy making love, but they decide not to do it again. They
keep that night as a special secret, which makes them feel even closer to each
other.
Rational model of ethical decision making

1) The intuitive judgment link; 2) The post hoc reasoning link; 3) The reasoned
persuasion link; 4) The social persuasion link
Less frequent:
5) The reasoned judgment link; 6) The private reflection link

Ethical decision-making in our everyday lives is like a camera
in automatic mode
Intuition ethic: What is good or right is felt by intuition
The intuition ethic is a good starting point and embedded in

codes of conduct at many organizations
“Do I feel uncomfortable with this course of action? If the answer is yes,
don’t do it”
“What feels right or wrong?”
“If you do it, will you feel bad?”
Pros Cons
• Easy • Doesn’t always provide a

• Quick clear answer.
Intuition • Doesn’t help to justify your
opinion to others.
Automatic Mode
Identify decision Make a Choose moral arguments

alternatives decision to justify choice
Manual Mode
Identify decision Use moral framework to Make a

alternatives evaluate alternatives decision
The trolley dilemma

Just to facilitate our discussion…..

You do not have time to collect resumes
You have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and you know that

there are no other ways to stop the train or derail it
The knots are tied by professionals and cannot be untied

Consequentialism
Also called utilitarianism or teleology
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
Locates morality in the consequences of an action
− In other words, the ends justify the means
− Impartiality
So, what is a good consequence?
− Pleasure, beauty, material equality, political
liberty
− The greatest good for the greatest number
− For whom?
Peter Singer (aka consequentialism at the extreme)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMZiaD-OYo
Peter Singer: If a House Were On Fire I’d Save 200 Pigs Before
Saving One Human Child
Valuing human lives

INSERT AI SLIDE here

Consequentialism
• What consequences does this action
have for each stakeholder group?
• How might the “good” be defined?
In other words, what outcomes
deserve my attention?
• How do the short-term
consequences of the action compare
against the long-term consequences?
Consequentialism in Business
Sweatshops?
− A lot of child labor
− Workers work very long shifts
− Many are paid less than $2 per hour
Consequentialism in Business
• Sweatshops pay better than other jobs in those countries (on average
around 4 times more).
• Workers “voluntarily” work there despite poor working conditions.
• People who criticized sweatshops have not help improved the lives of
the workers, but those “greedy” businessmen have.
But
• The company will have a better public image if it does not
manufacture their products in sweatshops.
• It just feels wrong!
The trolley dilemma V2

The transplant
Just to facilitate our discussion…..

You have a MBBS and you know that the organs harvested will
be compatible with your patients
You do not have time to collect resumes from your patients, but
they are all in their 20s and will live a normal life if they are
cured
Pros Cons

Intuition • Doesn’t help to justify your
opinion to others.
• Maximizes good • Can be difficult to measure
• Impartial the outcomes you focus on
• Provides a metric for • What about individual
Consequentialism social policy and moral choice? Are there no
conflicts universal rights?
Deontology
Immanuel Kant
Locates morality in certain duties and
obligations, which much be adhered to on
principle.
Focuses on standards of conduct regardless of
the consequences.
We follow these standards of conduct for their
own sake and without reference to their
consequences
Deontology
Categorical Imperative
− The Formula of Universal Law
− “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time
will that it should become a universal law”
Practical Imperative
− The Formula of Humanity as an Ends
− “Act in such a way that you treat humanity always at the same time
as an end and never merely as a means”
The Golden Rule
− Do unto others what you would have them do unto you
“Nothing can possibly be called good without qualification

except a good will”
—Immanuel Kant
Deontology in Business
What does deontology have to say about sweatshops?
“Golden Rule”
− I would not want to be treated like a sweatshop worker
“Practical imperative”
− It’s unethical to use sweatshop workers as a mere means
Kant’s Axe man (aka deontology at the extreme)
A lie is a serious violation of a duty to oneself; it subverts the

dignity of humanity in our own person, and attacks the roots of
our thinking—Immanuel Kant
Deontology in Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msLEw3EOD_g
Deontology
• What basic standards of conduct
might apply here?
• What specific duties might I have to
each stakeholder group? What are
their rights and potentially
legitimate claims?
• Is the action “universalizable”?
Could it be applied to everyone, and
would I be willing to have it applied
to me?
Pros Cons

Intuition • Doesn’t help to justify
your opinion to others.
• Maximizes good • Can be difficult to measure
• Impartial the outcomes you focus on
• Provides a metric for • What about individual
Consequentialism social policy and moral choice? Are there no
conflicts universal rights?
• Protects individual rights • Inflexible or impractical

• Morally appealing • Requires prioritization
Deontology (more noble than • Requires interpretation
consequentialism)
Four-Corner Analysis
Peter Green Case (5 mins)
Complete the four-corner analysis in teams (15 minutes)
Consequentialism Deontology
Do it!
Don’t do it!
Consequentialism Deontology
Make money (keep job) Work within the rules

Stay in Murphy’s good graces If I were the customer, I’d want to
Feed your family be treated like that
Do it! Stay in the company. Change how
things are done later
Avoid harmful actions in the future Don’t commit fraud

(slippery slope) Don’t lie or deceive
Avoid trouble with leadership Don’t use other people for your own
Don’t do it! Avoid expectation of deeper cuts gain (e.g. owners)
Avoid similar expectations from other Probably wouldn’t work if everyone
customers did it everywhere
Survey of Ethical Theoretic Attitudes (SETA)

15 questions with only two options
Scoring:
− 1 point for every odd A (questions 1, 3, 5, …)
− 1 point for every even B (questions 2, 4, 6, …)
Scores range from 0 to 15
− 0-7 deontologist
− 8-15 consequentialist
Cool research finding:
Using a foreign language makes your more likely to endorse consequentialistic
decision making (Costa et al., 2014)!
A Battle Between Ends and Means

Consequentialism: The study of the ends
− The ends
− The consequences
− The total good
Deontology: The study of duty or obligation
− The means
− The standards
− The rights of individuals
Next class
• 1. Bandura, 2. Weston case (HBR), 3. Antonakis (HBR), 4. Cialdini
• We will use the Weston case to practice what we learned about
moral disengagement.
• Read the two HBR cases carefully. There will be a team
competition based on this two cases.

Day 2: Ethical Decision Making I: Sam Yam, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management National University of Singapore

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Day 2: Ethical decision making I

Sam Yam, Ph.D.

A couple things before we start

What is business ethics?

The case for thinking about business ethics

The case for thinking about ethics

The case for thinking about ethics

• A CEO plans to significantly increase the quality of food provided to

The case for thinking about ethics

The case for thinking about ethics

How do we think about ethics?

Rational model of ethical decision making

How do we think about ethics?

The intuition ethic is a good starting point and embedded in

How do we think about ethics?

• Easy • Doesn’t always provide a

Identify decision Make a Choose moral arguments

Identify decision Use moral framework to Make a

The trolley dilemma

Just to facilitate our discussion…..

You have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and you know that

The knots are tied by professionals and cannot be untied

Peter Singer (aka consequentialism at the extreme)

Valuing human lives

INSERT AI SLIDE here

The trolley dilemma V2

Just to facilitate our discussion…..

How do we think about ethics?

• Easy • Doesn’t always provide a

“Nothing can possibly be called good without qualification

Kant’s Axe man (aka deontology at the extreme)

A lie is a serious violation of a duty to oneself; it subverts the

• Easy • Doesn’t always provide a

• Protects individual rights • Inflexible or impractical

Make money (keep job) Work within the rules

Avoid harmful actions in the future Don’t commit fraud

Survey of Ethical Theoretic Attitudes (SETA)

A Battle Between Ends and Means

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