Courage

Physical courage
Physical courage is doing the right thing at
the risk of physical discomfort, injury, pain
or even death. It typically leads to
admiration by peers, society, etc.

[http://www.lionswhiskers.com/2011/02/what-is-physical-courage.html]
 Moral Courage
Moral courage is the capacity to overcome the
fear of humiliation in order to reject evil
conformity, to denounce injustice, and to defy
immoral or imprudent orders. – William Ian Miller

Moral courage is doing the right thing even at

the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment,
loss of job or security or social status, etc.
[http://www.lionswhiskers.com/2011/02/what-is-physical-courage.html]
 Moral courage (contd.)

“One of the hardest tests of a man’s moral

courage is his ability to face the disapproval
of his friends, but which he feels compelled to
take in order to be at ease with his own
conscience.”
– Compton Mackenzie
 Moral courage - Consequence
“At the time when the ultimate decision has
been reached, there is a suffusion of the
personality with a profound sense of inner
peace and serenity.”
– Heinz Kohut
 Physical courage – Examples
• Running into burning buildings as a
firefighter
• Facing an enemy on the battlefield
• Protecting a child from a dangerous animal,
or criminal
 Moral courage – Examples
A group of students complains about a male
professor who is misbehaving with a female
classmate, even at the risk of losing grades,
etc.

Your good friend is addicted to drugs. You

know that if you tell someone who can help,
it will save his life, but your friend might
never speak to you again. You trade your
friendship for his life.
The Tylenol tampering case

FROM:
HOW GOOD PEOPLE MAKE TOUGH
DECISIONS, BY
RUSHWORTH KIDDER
 The Report

In 1982, executives at Johnson & Johnson received a

report:
Seven people had died in the Chicago area, after taking
Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide.
Within 72 hours, two things were clear:
 There was a need for prompt action to prevent further
poisonings, and
 There was no easy way to determine whether the capsules had
been adulterated by a disgruntled employee, or tampered after
the product had been shipped.
 Context

Johnson & Johnson produced $100 million worth of

Tylenol every year

J & J had, under the leadership of Chairman James

Burke, recently revitalized its code of ethics, after a
series of meetings with executives.
Imagine that you were the Board of Directors of
Johnson & Johnson when this incident occurred.

What actions would you have taken?

 Action by J & J

J & J’s action was swift, extensive and highly visible.

In a sweeping recall, it removed all forms of Tylenol
– not just the capsules – from every shelf in every
store in the entire country.
It issued national advertisements urging the public
not to take Tylenol, and established a hotline for
worried customers to call.
Then, by a well-orchestrated campaign to inform the
public of its concern for safety, and various
incentives to attract customers, it reintroduced a
tamper-proof product.
The share prices of J & J crashed, following this
incident, and the action by J & J.
In took 18 months for the share price to regain its
value prior to the incident.
 Analysis

From an economic and public relations standpoint,

one could have made a very good argument for
keeping the product on the shelves.
During the first 24 hours, more than 200 decisions
had to be made. All of these decisions were guided by
the company’s Credo (code of ethics), which began:
“We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors,
nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all
those who use our products and services.”
Even 35 years later, this case is cited as an example
of ethical action.
 Assignment guidelines

Find a real-life story illustrating moral courage.

The story cannot be fiction.
It also should not be an episode depicted in a movie,
TV series, etc.
Submit, by email, the Abstract of a story, by 3.30 pm,
24 January.
Presentation of the skit/video will be on Tuesday,
February 12, in the class.