MGF5020 Tutorial 3 Week 4
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This document outlines the topics and materials to be covered in a business ethics course titled "Business Ethics in a Global Environment" at Monash University. The discussion for the week will focus on reasoning about consequences, ethical egoism and greed. A case study on Ford Motor Company's Pinto design will also be discussed. Students will work in groups on a research project and expectations will be set for the following week. The document provides links to videos and discussion questions on theories like utilitarianism, ethical duties, rights and justice, as well as topics like greed, inheritance tax, cost-benefit analysis, distributing resources, and climate change.
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MGF5020 Tutorial 3 Week 4
- 1. www.buseco.monash.edu MGF5020 Semester 2, 2014 Business Ethics in a Global Environment
- 2. www.buseco.monash.edu Our Discussion Today •Reasoning about consequences •Discuss egoism and greed •Trading off customer safety: Ford Pinto Case Study •Group research project •Expectations for Week 5
- 3. www.buseco.monash.edu ETHICAL THEORIES CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES “OUTCOME” Egoism Utilitarianism NON- CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES Ethics of Duties Ethics of Rights and Justice NON- CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES Ethics of Duties Ethics of Rights and Justice
- 4. www.buseco.monash.edu • Friedman on Greed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A • Gordon Gecko on Greed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8y6DJAeolo Class Discussion
- 5. www.buseco.monash.edu Q1) Do you think greed is good? (Ethical egoism) Q2) Do you think people are greedy? (Psychological egoism) Q3) Almost 40 years on from Friedman’s claims, do they still ring true (assuming they did at the time) – is capitalism with largely free trade the only system that has produced large scale development and reduced poverty? Q4) Almost 30 years on from ‘Wall St’, has greed saved what Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) referred to as the ‘malfunctioning corporation that is the United States of America’? Is there a selfless act? Class Discussion: GREED
- 6. www.buseco.monash.edu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwUaVDIPXg A 100% inheritance tax has the capacity to redistribute wealth in order to equalise starting opportunity for those born in positions of misfortune – better universal education, healthcare etc. – without changing the incentive for people to earn wealth in the first place. Agree or disagree? What different claims does Friedman make in this argument regarding human nature and the constitution of American society? Inheritance Tax?
- 7. www.buseco.monash.edu • Identify the ethical issues in this case. Is there anything about this situation that troubles you? If so, what is it? • Are there limits to cost-benefit analysis? • Different people value different things differently. How should we compare different values? Ford Pinto
- 8. www.buseco.monash.edu • https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jltnBOrCB7I Brainstorm other examples where we place a price on life? Friedman on Pinto
- 9. www.buseco.monash.edu • http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruensweat/the pitch/pitch_03.htm How do we decide who gets how much of what? E.g. Child support for stay at home mothers Persuading Australia to cut all Olympic funding:
- 10. www.buseco.monash.edu Number of preferences? Intensity of preferences? Should everyone’s count equally? Consider the following interviews with voters, following on from the Chaser’s ‘This Person Votes’ series. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=7vmLNFSqJjg Lets discuss the problem of climate climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=cjuGCJJUGsg How do we decide how to distribute resources?
- 11. www.buseco.monash.edu • Topics Finalized. • Anyone not in a group? Research Paper
- 12. www.buseco.monash.edu Thank you! Have a good week
Editor's Notes
- Discuss the relationship between ethics and a) community morals (customs); b) law; c) personal values.
- Impacts of Globalisation, Greed the driver of eco activity? Eg: What about China (partially capitalist system, regulated trade)? Other counterexamples? China’s growth has been a response to introducing some capitalist mechanisms, but with heavy state influence, tightly controlled FDI etc. Eg: Various bubbles listed in lecture notes week 1 leading up to the 2008 crisis. 99%/1% division, Occupy Wall st etc. Still, remains the world’s largest economy Income inequality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfgSEwjAeno
- Inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a state tax that you pay when you receive money or property from the estate of a deceased person. First pose the question of the desirability of a 100% inheritance tax to the class, offering the rationale described in the question posed in the following video (essentially the capacity to redistribute wealth in order to equalise starting opportunity for those born in positions of misfortune – better universal education, healthcare etc. – without changing the incentive for people to earn wealth in the first place). Gauge people’s opinions, then play the video to watch Friedman’s response, and pose The focus here is not the claims he makes about economic effect (which seem to be contradicted by Joe Hockey’s recent push to free up the capital invested in seniors superannuation funds resultant from just the savings Freeman here champions) but one his transition from the claim that they are greedy and economically self interested in the first video to the claim that they value their family’s welfare/ utility more than their own in the second video, to an irrational extent. Consider where each perspective falls in Kohlberg’s model.
- Issues may vary, those central are the lobbying to prevent regulation (relating to earlier discussions of the gap between ethics and law) and the issue of putting a dollar value on life (relating to the utilitarian problem of incommensurability). Issues of predicting outcomes (bounded rationality) may also be raised. (Note: The CBA can either be considered egoistic if taken from Ford’s perspective or utilitarian if savings to customers are included). Play students the following video tackling the incommensurability problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAI5T8Uec
- Link this to the issue of resource allocation when there are numerous needs and limited resources (how do we decide who gets how much of what?) Consider the following faux pitches (to ‘sell the unsellable’) persuading Australia to cut all Olympic funding, and raise Q7):
- Link this to the issue of resource allocation when there are numerous needs and limited resources () Consider the following faux pitches (to ‘sell the unsellable’)
- Discuss the problem when everyone’s perspectives are counted equally, regardless of expertise or ignorance, or the kind of illegitimate preferences discussed in lecture 3 CC: UNFCCC no agreement Altruism versus utilitatrianism