The group encountered an Indian Sadhu suffering from hypothermia during a hiking trip in the Himalayas. Each person contributed to helping the Sadhu but no one took full responsibility for ensuring his well-being. This raised questions about where individual ethical responsibility ends and institutional or collective responsibility begins. While each person did a small part to help, ultimately no one ensured the Sadhu received complete care, which parallel's issues around ensuring collaborative work meets collective goals.

1. The Parable of the Sadhu
| Group V2 |

2. Case Facts
• Based on a real life incident of Bowen H. McCoy, MD of
Morgan Stanley
• On a trip to Himalaya for 60 days
• During the trek he met people of different nationalities
• One of the New Zealander found an Indian Sadhu
• The Sadhu was shivering & suffering from Hypothermia

3. Case Facts
• Everybody contributed in reviving the Sadhu
• However, nobody took complete responsibility for the
Sadhu’s well being

4. Ethical Dilemma
• Every person did their bit for the Sadhu
• However, no one ensured the ultimate well being of the
Sadhu
• Where does the ethical responsibility of an individual end
• Is there something called collective or institutional
responsibility?

5. Stephen’s Arguments
• Each did their bit as long as it was convenient, then
passed on the buck to others.
• Ponders about how different the action would have been
- “Had the person been a well dressed Asian or a Western
Woman”

6. McCoy’s Arguments
• At first, McCoy was defensive to Stephen’s arguments.
• Things like Stress, Once in a lifetime opportunity were his
excuses
• But later on, he realized how they ‘walked by an ethical
dilemma without appropriate action’

7. Parallelism with Workplace
• How to ensure collaborative effort towards end goal
• Synchronizing individual efforts with collective vision
• Reaching consensus and selecting a leader in crunch
situation
• How to ensure group’s support

8. Deontological Analysis
• Deontology focuses on the act
• Action is moral if the action is universalizable
• However, the end result is not satisfactory in this case

9. Teleological Analysis
• Teleology focuses on which action would produce the
best result
• In this case, what is the end, completing once in a life
time trip or saving the Sadhu?

10. Conclusion
• Rule base theories only distinguish between actions that
are morally justifiable and actions that are not
• This case focuses more on the different moral characters
of people, rather than our justifications of the moral
worth of actions.