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Business Ethics: How to play by the rules of the Game. Business as a game? How business dealings resemble a game Competition fused with “fairness” and “good sportsmanship” Competition as framing zero-sum games Knowledge of strategies/positions Non-zero sum games as “team sports”
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Business Ethics: How to play by the rules of the Game • Business as a game? • How business dealings resemble a game • Competition fused with “fairness” and “good sportsmanship” • Competition as framing zero-sum games • Knowledge of strategies/positions • Non-zero sum games as “team sports” • Shared visions and goals • Cooperation • Breakdown of competitive thinking
Business Ethics • How Business Dealings do not resemble games • Idea of game theory • Games limit, restrict, define, and isolate • Business is fused with everyday life experiences, including values and morals • Must consider alternate solutions, acknowledge risk and certainty
Business Ethics • Business Ethics & Personal Values • Character • Integrity as a necessity • Social responsibility • Trust as an essential element ~ established through standards of morals and values
Business Ethics and Personal Values • The American Work Ethic • Drives our need for the “good life” • Constantly evolves • Robert Solomon’s consideration of work ethic: only recently has the term “work ethic” been associated with a sense of dignity to work as an end in itself, rewarding, and enjoyable. • Clashes between personal values and business values • Pressure to conform to business norms of competition • Need for guidelines
Business Ethics and Discrimination • Affirmative Action • Rae’s three positions • Stereotyping • Is there a middle ground? • Legal impacts
Business Ethics and Discrimination • Women in the workforce • Scott Rae’s idea of perceptual bias in the workforce • Impact of “visibility” • Issues surrounding sexual harrassment
Business and Moral Decision-Making • Scott Rae’s “Moral Model” for making Decisions in the World of Business • Gather the facts • Determine the Ethical Issues • Bearing Principles on the Case • List Alternatives • Compare Alternatives with Principles • Weigh Consequences • Make a decision
Business Ethics • Which moral philosophy best suits the business world in making ethical decisions? • Consideration of natural law theory and concept of utility • Acts have in them a moral goodness or moral baseness • Known to us through right reason a priori • Must also work to provide the “greatest happiness for the greatest number of people involved” (principle of utility) • Acts have no inherent moral value – only results count • Both moral philosophies are reflected in the moral model