15 Mar read those powerpoint and help me fish the last document this is midterm work, if you can not find the answer on the powerpoin
read those powerpoint and help me fish the last document this is midterm work, if you can not find the answer on the powerpoint you can try to write by your own words
Introduction to Ethics
Defining ethics
The English word "ethics" relates to the enactment of one’s character".
It comes from the word êthos – meaning "character, moral nature".
Standard definitions of ethics have typically included such phrases as:
the ideal human character or
moral duty
Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a set of rules outlining the social norms, religious rules and responsibilities of, and or proper practices for, an individual.
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves:
systematizing
defending
recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct
The common theme of all ethical philosophies is determining or finding matters of value or ……..
…… the degree of importance of some things or actions with the aim of determining
what actions are best to do
what is right or wrong
Why? – to achieve “the good”, benevolence, propriety for the self and others.
Most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs and the law and don't treat ethics as a stand-alone concept.
The word ethics in attempts to use reason to answer various kinds of ethical questions.
Ethics can be a question of how one should live. It is a generic human capacity.
Ethics refers to a common human ability to think critically about moral values and direct our actions in terms of such values.
Determining matters of value includes the area of philosophy called:
axiology:
ethics – the concepts of "right" and "good" in individual and social conduct
aesthetics – the nature of art, beauty and taste and with the creation or appreciation of beauty
In determining Matters of Value……….
……….Values have degrees of importance to us……… meaning we have a range of values from
primary to secondary values
broadly defined preferences
transient opinions
Our value system starts with our underpinning belief structure that affects our ethical behavior, which is the basis of our intentional activities
Thus, in our goal of determining appropriate courses of actions or outcome, what makes something ethically valuable to us is:
the degree of importance of our own values we place on that something or action
An action or something, however, can also be “philosophically good"
Something that is philosophically good is something that is valued “in itself,” or “by itself,” and not for the sake of anything else
Humor is sometimes intrinsically good. No one is morally required to have a sense of humor but It’s good in itself
Other examples of things that may be intrinsically or philosophically good are:
nature
art
music or
language
…..…things that may be aesthetically beautiful. The study of value in things is call Axiology
Our values, whether shaped intrinsically or in combination with our:
vices and virtues,
experiences,
defining moments,
moral principles,
religious and political ideologies,
social conscience, and
aesthetic values, all have influence on our attitudes and ethical actions.
This whole “values” set ultimately reflects a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be.
Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are:
Meta-ethics – concerning the theoretical meaning of moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be determined
Virtuous ethics – describes the character of a moral person as a driving force for ethical behavior
3. Normative ethics – concerning the practical means of determining a moral course of action
Meta-ethics
Meta-ethics is philosophical ethics that asks:
how we understand,
know about, and
what we mean when we talk about what is right and what is wrong.
Meta-ethics studies the meaning of moral language and the metaphysics of moral facts
An ethical question pertaining to a particular practical situation cannot be a meta-ethical question (rather, this is an applied ethical question).
A meta-ethical question is abstract and relates to a wide range of more specific questions.
A meta-ethical question, for example, "Is it ever possible to have secure knowledge of what is right and wrong?"
Moral skepticism is a metaethical theory that says no one has any moral knowledge. Moral skeptics make the claim that moral knowledge is impossible.
Moral skepticism is opposed to the view that there are knowable and objective moral truths.
Moral skepticism concludes that:
We are unjustified in believing any moral claim because it is irrational for us to believe either that any moral claim is true or false.
Noncognitivism holds that we can never know that any moral claim is true because moral claims are incapable of being true or false.
Instead, moral claims are expressions of emotion (e.g. "stealing babies: Boo!"), or expressions of "pro-attitudes" ("I do not believe that babies should be stolen.")
Knowledge bearing on human life is placed highest, while all other knowledge was secondary.
Self-knowledge is considered necessary for success and inherently an essential good. A self-aware person will act completely within his capabilities to his pinnacle, while an ignorant person will flounder and encounter difficulty.
A person must become aware of every fact (and its context) relevant to his existence, if he wishes to attain self-knowledge.
People will naturally do what is good if they know what is right.
Evil or bad actions are the results of ignorance.
Any person who knows what is truly right will automatically do it, according to Virtue ethics.
2. Virtue ethics
Virtue ethics describes the character of a moral person as a driving force for ethical behavior
They encourage people to turn their attention from the outside world to the condition of humankind.
Being virtuous is when a person acts in accordance with virtue. A person will do good and be content.
On the other hand, unhappiness and frustration are caused by doing wrong, thus leading to failed goals and a poor life
Virtue ethics correlates
knowledge with virtue and
equates virtue with joy
Virtue ethics is based on character traits such as:
being truthful
practical wisdom
happiness
flourishing
well-being
It focuses on the type of person we ought to be, not on specific actions that should be taken.
Basically, the moral person is grounded in:
good character
motives
core values
Virtual ethics are made up of moral virtues and intellectual virtues
Aristotle suggests that moral and intellectual virtues are developed in different ways.
intellectual virtues are developed through teaching and instruction
moral virtues are developed through a process of habituation
moral virtues need to be practiced acting in virtuous ways. Moral virtue comes only through repetition and experience. A process of habituation
intellectual virtues are about awareness and connection with reality.
Intellectual virtues are distinguishable from moral virtues because IV share an underlying motivation for cognitive contact with reality.
Happiness was held to be the ultimate goal. All other things, such as civic life or wealth, were only made worthwhile and of benefit when employed in the practice of the virtues.
The practice of the virtues is the surest path to happiness. Keep in mind, not all moral virtues involve a concern for the well-being of others (benevolence)
Moral Virtues
Courage in the face of fear
Temperance in the face of pleasure and pain
Liberality with wealth and possessions
Magnificence with great wealth and possessions
Magnanimity with great honors
Proper ambition with normal honors
Truthfulness with self-expression
Wittiness in conversation
Friendliness in social conduct
Modesty in the face of shame or shamelessness
Righteous indignation in the face of injury
Intellectual virtues
intelligence, which apprehends fundamental truths (such as definitions, self-evident principles)
science, which is skill with inferential reasoning (such as proofs, syllogisms, demonstrations)
theoretical wisdom, which combines fundamental truths with valid, necessary inferences to
reason well about unchanging truths.
good sense — passing judgment, "sympathetic understanding“
understanding — comprehending what others say, does not issue commands
practical wisdom — knowledge of what to do, knowledge of changing truths, issues commands
art, craftsmanship
3. Normative ethics
Normative ethics is the study of ethical action. It investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act.
Normative ethics examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions.
Normative ethics is concerned with whether it is correct to hold such a belief.
Hence, normative ethics is sometimes called prescriptive, rather than descriptive.
Traditionally, normative ethics (also known as moral theory) was the study of what makes actions right and wrong.
These theories offered an overarching moral principle one could appeal to in resolving difficult moral decisions.
Normative ethics includes: (Focus on these three)
Deontological ethics
Consequentialism
Utilitarianism
1. Deontological ethics
Deontological ethics holds that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.
It is sometimes described as
duty-, obligation- or
rule-based ethics.
Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted to consequentialism
2. Consequentialism
Consequentialism holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.
From a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome, or consequence.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that argues the proper course of action is one that maximizes a positive effect, such as "happiness", "welfare", or the ability to live according to personal preferences
Some argue that the Normative ethics (consequentialist and deontological) are only feasible if the two schools ground themselves in divine law or in religious conviction
It is proposed that those who do not give ethical credence to notions of divine law take up virtue ethics – virtues held up to "universal standards"
Deontological ethics
Deontological ethics or deontology, meaning "obligation, and duty" is an approach to ethics that determines goodness or rightness from examining acts, or the rules and duties that the person doing the act strove to fulfill.
This is in contrast to consequentialism, in which rightness is based on the consequences of an act, and not the act by itself.
Under deontology, an act may be considered right even if the act produces a bad consequence, if it follows the rule or moral law.
According to the deontological view, people have a duty to act in a way that does those things that are inherently good as acts ("truth-telling" for example), or follow an objectively obligatory rule.
Consequentialism
Consequentialism refers to moral theories that hold the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action (or create a structure for judgment.
Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence. This view is often expressed as "The ends justify the means".
The defining feature of consequentialist moral theories is the weight given to the consequences in evaluating the rightness and wrongness of actions.
In consequentialist theories, the consequences of an action or rule generally outweigh other considerations.
3. Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that argues the proper course of action is one that maximizes a positive effect, such as "happiness", "welfare", or the ability to live according to personal preferences.
Utilitarianism is the paradigmatic example of a consequentialist moral theory.
This form of utilitarianism holds that the morally correct action is the one that produces the best outcome for all people affected by the action.
Utilitarianism, proposed a hierarchy of pleasures, meaning that the pursuit of certain kinds of pleasure is more highly valued than the pursuit of other pleasures
,
How to Avoid Catastrophe
What are near misses?
Near misses are often unremarkable small failures that permeate day to day business but cause no “apparent” harm.
People are hard wired to misinterpret or ignore the warnings embedded in these failures, and so they often go unexamined.
If conditions were to shift these near misses could erupt into chaos and crisis.
When disaster happens numerous poor decisions and dangerous conditions have contributed to it
With near misses we overlook the warning signs. With each near miss, rather than raise alarms and prompt action, we move on along the process because nothing happened
We accept the fact that nothing wrong happened as a good indicator that we are making the correct decision
Multiple near misses normally proceed every disaster and business crisis.
Most of the misses are ignored or misread. Our cognitive biases conspire to blind us to these near misses.
Two particular cognitive biases cloud our judgment.
1. Normalization of deviance – the tendency overtime to accept anomalies as normal, particularly risky ones,.
Things we become too comfortable with become normalized.
Therefore, what should be dangerous could be perceived in our minds as being safe because no dangerous event has ever occurred.
2. Outcome bias – tendency to focus on the results more than on the often unseen complex processes
Near misses should be instructive failures where leaders can apply their lessons to improve and ward off catastrophe
However, ….
….when people observe successful outcomes, and do not recognize and learning from near misses, it is simply not a matter of not paying attention
Roots of crisis
When people observe a successful outcome, their natural tendency is to assume the process that led to success was fundamentally sound…. even when it was not
Organizational disasters rarely have a single cause
They are initiated by unexpected, seemingly unimportant small latent/human errors of:
technical failures
bad business decisions.
These latent errors or human errors align with enabling conditions to produce a significant failure.
Enabling Conditions are factors in the environment that contribute to an event happening.
Latent errors often exist for long periods of time before they combine with enabling conditions to produce a significant failure.
Whether an enabling condition transforms a near miss into a crisis normally depends on chance.
Thus, it makes little sense to try to predict or control enabling conditions.
Instead, companies should focus on identifying and fixing human errors before circumstances allow them to create a crisis.
Because latent errors are normalized by bias, near misses become increasingly acceptable. Further, deviances caused by the near misses are also normalized.
Remember: These latent errors underlying a crisis exist long before the crisis happens.
These deviances are cognitively ignored because of our outcome bias. The latent errors only become apparent when a crisis gains momentum.
When coupled with the right enabling conditions the crisis will erupt. Only when enabling conditions occur, the latent error will trigger a crisis.
Recognizing and preventing near misses
Research suggests there are seven strategies that can help organization recognize near misses and root out the latent errors behind them.
Heed high pressure
The greater the pressure to meet performance goals, the more likely people are to discount near miss signals or misread them.
A classic case of normalization of deviance is exacerbated by political pressure.
Pressure can create an atmosphere that increasingly accepts less than expected performance.
Research shows that when people make decisions under pressure, they tend to rely on heuristics, or rules of thumb.
Thus, they are more easily influenced by biases in high pressure work environments.
People who are more easily swayed by outcome bias are:
more likely to normalize deviance
more apt to believe that the decisions are sound.
2. Learn from deviation
Research shows that decision makers clearly understand the statistical risk represented by deviation, but become increasingly less concerned about it.
It is important that leaders seek out operational deviations from the norm/specific rules and examine whether their reasons for accepting or tolerating the associated risk has merit.
The question to ask is whether we have always been comfortable with this level of risk? Has our policy toward this risk changed overtime?
3. Uncover root causes
When leaders identify deviations, their reflex is to correct the symptom rather than its cause.
Leaders are to create an intentional model to report near misses.
Leaders should be encouraged to report mistakes and near misses so the lessons can be teased out and applied.
4. Demand accountability
Even when people are aware of near misses, they tend to downgrade their importance. OneNote be comfortable is to hold leaders responsible for and to justify their assessments of near misses.
5. Consider worst case scenarios
People tend not to think through the possible negative consequences of near misses unless they're expressly advised to do so.
Research shows that examining events closely helps people distinguish between near misses and successes.
Research also suggests people will often adjust their decision-making accordingly.
6. Evaluate projects at every stage
When things go badly, managers conduct post-mortems to determined causes and prevent recurrences.
…….Research suggests this is too late.
When things go well, however, few managers do a formal review of the success.
Because near misses can look like successes, they often escape review.
Reward owning
Observing and intending to near misses requires people to be motivated to expose near misses.
In many organizations, employees have good reason to keep quiet about failures.
When critically examining projects while they are under way, leaders can avoid bias and more likely to see near misses.
A technique called pause-and-learn process typically uncovers near misses that have gone undetected in the past.
Conclusion
Two forces conspire to make learning from near misses difficult:
cognitive bias, and
outcome bias.
When leaders do not recognize these biases, leaders tend not to grasp their significance.
Organizations often fail to expose and correct latent errors even when the cost of doing so is small.
They miss the opportunity to improve and learn from these small mistakes.
,
The Hidden Traps in Decision Making
Making decision is the most important job of any leader. It is tough and risky.
Bad decisions can damage a business and a career, sometimes irreparably.
So where do bad decisions come from?
They can be traced back to the way the decision were made:
the alternatives were not clearly defined,
the right information was not collected,
the costs and benefits were not accurately weighed.
Research shows that we use unconscious routines to cope with the complexity inherent in most decisions.
The routines are know as Heuristics – an approach that uses practical methods that are not necessarily guaranteed to end in optimal results.
The process may not be logical, rational…but sufficient to reach a goal. Heuristic people who act on instinct default to mental short-cuts.
These short-cuts are influenced by:
bias,
misconceptions,
irrational ideas.
These are psychological traps – organized flaws – that cause distortion.
Mental short-cuts help us make continuous stream of distance judgements required to navigate problems.
The fuzzier and far away a problem seems to us in our mind, the easier it is for us to rely on heuristics.
Because the heuristic person put issues out into the peripheral, they tend not to see the imminent dangers.
Heuristics trick our minds into thinking that things are more distant than what they really are.
Heuristics is hard-wired into our brains making us make decisions on these “distant” issues on irrational thinking, biases, and other sensory misconceptions.
These psychological traps can undermine everything to where we fall into traps.
We will examine the psychological traps that are likely to undermine business decisions.
The Anchoring Trap
When considering a decision, the mind gives disproportionate weight to the first information it receives.
This means that the first bit of information/sound your brain receives influences your mind to any other second question. You become trapped by what you first hear.
This can come in the form of:
a comment,
an accent,
a person’s skin colour, or
a person’s clothing.
This trap places too much weight on past experiences/stimuli as being a reliable and relevant way to judge or assess current and new information.
What can we do about it?
These anchors are unavoidable therefore cognitive mechanisms need to be set in place to challenge this trap, thus reducing their impact:
Purposefully view problems from different perspectives.
Think before allowing yourself to be anchored by others.
Be open-minded and seek information and opinions from several people
It is important that you do not end up anchoring others.
If you reveal too much of your own, especially if you are a leader, preconceptions, they may end up anchoring others.
The Status-Quo Trap
We all like to believe that we make decisions rationally and objectively. However, we all carry biases and those biases influence the choices we make.
Strong biases perpetuate deciding based on the status quo.
Making decisions on status quo is comfortable because you may be avoiding taking action that would upset what others have come to accept as normal.
Staying within the status quo does not challenge us, does not increase our responsibility, and does not open ourselves up to unwanted criticism. Sticking with the status quo is psychologically less risky.
Research shows that the more responsibility you have to make decision, one tends to choose to stick with the status quo.
When there are alternative, the status quo will be more likely chosen.
The status quo does not require any additional effort.
What can you do about it? – Again, a set of cognitive mechanisms:
Continually remind yourself of your objective. Examine how you would be serving your objective if you stuck with the status quo.
Never think of the status quo as an alternative. Doing nothing is ever a solution.
Avoid exaggerating the effectsresults of moving away from the status quo.
When evaluating alternatives focus on the future potential rather than on past/historical results.
If you have several alternative, don’t default to the status quo because of the heightened effort and responsibility.
The Sunk-Cost Trap
Another bias is that once time, effort and money has been invested into a decision, you are stuck with the decision because of the sunk-costs and efforts.
The belief is that the past is irrecoverable.
We know that sunk costs are irrecoverable to the present
but
we project this same thought to the future leading us to make inappropriate decisions
Either people are unwilling to admit error or it is easier just to continue on.
Sometimes a corporate culture reinforces the sunk-cost trap.
If there are real or perceived penalties for making a past bad decision research shows that managers will be motivated to let failed projects drag on.
What can we do about it?
Seek out people who were not part of the original decision. They can remain objective because they have no past invested history associated with the decision.
Be aware of the influence of sunk-cost biases made by subordinates.
Don’t cultivate a failure-fearing culture that leads employees to perpetuate their mistake.
The Confirming-Evidence Trap
This bias leads us to seek out information that supports our existing instinct or point of view while avoiding information that contradicts it.
The confirming-evidence bias affects:
where we go to collect evidence but also
how we interpret the evidence
leading us to give too much weight to supporting information and too little to conflicting information.
When confronted with information with balanced argument we have a tendency to:
select, and
support …..
……that information to which we hold strong opinions.
The information that seems to contradict our thinking is dismissed without careful consideration to the facts.
We will become much more engaged with the things that confirm our existing likes and biases.
What do we do about it?
Check to see if we are examining all evidence with equal rigor
Check your motives
When seeking advice don’t ask leading questions that invite confirming evidence.
The Framing Trap
The way we choose to frame a problem or a question influences the choices we ultimately make.
We tend to frame things the way we want to see things or by the status quo.
You can frame a question with a negative or a positive spin – i.e. is the glass half empty or half full.
By using negative speak you can direct people to take the half empty approach.
Another example is framing with different reference points:
if you invest 100K you have a 50% chance of making a million dollars selling sheep. Or you have a 50% chance of loosing 100K trying to make a million dollars selling sheep.
Research shows that different reactions result from the different reference points presented by two different frames.
Eg. 50% of the people found this show so exciting. 50% of the people found the show to be super boring.
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