http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06FOB-Ethicist-t.html
This is a great article from the New York Times, highlighting how hard ethics can be in some situations. It mentions two stories, the first is about a guy who has been out of work for a long time and has a job offer setting up off shore help jobs. He is at a crossroad because his father's auto industry was outsourced and he does not agree with outsourcing at all. Should he accept the job or not? The second story is about a girl who is to have her tonsils out, but mother is on her way to jail for 5 years. The doctor is on the crossroads of whether or not to ask the courts to allow the child's mother to come sit with her daughter during the operation. The doctor does not believe the mother deserves a break, but that the little girl does.
It is very easy for someone to say they wish to be ethical. However, in a situation like the one above, what is the ethical choice? It is not easy to discern between ethical and unethical. In the first story, the wife tells the husband to accept the job because if he doesn't someone else will. This is true, but can be applied to any situation. I am sure it is frustrating for him not having a job and struggling to make ends meet, but is a job worth compromising what you believe in? I think it depends on the situation. Obviously, this guy is doing the best he can, but what if he is having trouble putting food on the table or supporting his children? In this situation I believe it is necessary to take the job. In the second story, the biggest questions is whether or not the girl should be punished for her mother's actions. She will no doubt be without her mother for years, which is why I believe the mother should be allowed to sit at the operation. This 10 year-old girl did nothing wrong, and even though the operation is not severe, it is important for her to have all the support she can.
Ultimately, the guy declined the job due to moral principle and the doctor appealed for the mother to be at the procedure and was denied.
This article is a great example of the ambiguity involved in some ethical decisions. I feel the situation is different in every case, which makes it important for business people to step back and look at the situation as a whole, before making a decision on a course of action.
Do you agree with my analysis of the situation?
-Ryan Schaumburg
Dr. Sheep's feedback for your team:
ReplyDeleteOverall, you have posted some interesting thoughts and are off to a reasonably good start in your blog. However, you can improve your blog quality (and your grade) by putting forth more effort in the following areas. First, you could improve in the specificity and accuracy of your course concept/theory applications. For example, in one of your posts, President Obama is referred to as a “middle of the road” leader, using the term borrowed from the Leadership Grid. However, the way the term is used in the blog post is not at all based in how it is defined in the Leadership Grid, or according to the Style Approach. Rather, it is defined in terms of Obama’s being a political “centrist.” These terms are referring to entirely different ideas—one is a leadership style based on task-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors, while the other is a set of political beliefs along the political spectrum from liberal to conservative. This kind of carelessness with terminology needs to be improved and made more precise.
The posts also need to apply course concepts/theories more consistently. Several of your posts do this fairly well (using concepts from utilitarian ethics and servant leadership), while other posts do not mention any chapter-specific concepts from the book. It would seem to your advantage to read the Northouse chapter (15) on Leadership Ethics thoroughly (and use it), since that is the main topic of your blog. Otherwise, you have done a reasonably good job of getting started and commenting on others’ blog posts, as well.