MGMT 5050 | Week 5
Eth ica l f rameworks – James Hardie
**This S&I has built on material developed for COMM5001 by Associate Professor Tracy Wilcox
Trade Marks
“Prior to the invasion of Australia, First Nations communities had established a
chain of trade routes all over the continent. The exchange of goods and
services was also practised between neighbouring language groups as well as
other language groups across the continent.
Trading was vital to First Nation Peoples as it improved their quality of life.
Trading objects such as food, seeds, stones, ochres, tools, weapons was not
only a method of sharing resources but was a form of social control and lore. It
was a way of honouring each other's rights, boundaries, and cultural differences.
Many tribes developed good relationships as they respected shared stories of
their journeys and narratives of the Dreamtime. Trade was not only linked with
materialistic objects but included songs, dances and art, stories, rituals and
ceremonies which connected First Nations Peoples to Land, Sea and Sky.”
Award winning Designer Maker Debra Beale | In 2019 UNSW Business School
commissioned Debra Beale who created this exclusive design Trade Marks
Acknowledgement of Country
Ethical Thinking impl ies an abi l i ty to:
1. Think critically
2. Recognise issues or practices that have moral content
3. See beyond our own personal experience (ST)
4. Address issues from all sides (ST)
5. Consider the consequences of decisions, whether intended or
unintended (ST)
6. Evaluate the best arguments from each perspective (EF)
7. Arrive at a conclusion based on a systematic analysis of these
arguments (EF)
8. Defend viewpoints; analyse new information or perspectives (EF)
ST = Systems thinking
EF = Ethical frameworks
Systems thinking:
Conventional Thinking Systems Thinking
The connection between problems and their
causes
is obvious and easy to trace
Therelationship between problems and their causes
is indirect and not obvious
Others, either within or outside our organisation
are to blame for our problems and must be the
ones to change
We(unwittingly) create our own problems and have
significant control or influence in solving them
through changing our behaviour
Apolicy designed to achieveshort-term successwill
also assure long-term success
Most quick fixes have unintended
consequences. They make no difference or
make matters worse in the long run
In order to optimise the whole, we must optimise the
parts.
In order to optimise the whole, we must improve
relationships among the parts
Aggressively tackle many independent initiatives
simultaneously
Only a few ke coordinated changes sustained
over time will produce large systems change
Assessing r ight or wrong / good or bad via:
• The consequences of actions (teleology) ⎯
• A set of universal principles or duties (deontology)
• The quality of the person who undertakes the action (virtues)
All frameworks have differing degrees of usefulness,
and limitations
Consequence-based frameworks
• If the consequences are good, then the act is right/
correct
• What is right is determined by the ratio of good to bad
that an action produces
• But : Consequences for whom?
Ethical Egoism
• An act is morally right if
(and only if) it best
promotes an agent’s
long-term interests
• Agent can be an individual
or an organisation
Uti l i tar ianism
• Evaluates outcome for the
group or whole of society
• If the consequences of an act
bring more “total good” than
those of any alternative course
of action, then this action is the
right one
Consequence-based frameworks
Universal principles or duties
• We don’t have to know the likely results of an action
to know whether it is immoral/ unethical
• Actions can be judged as right or wrong in
themselves (regardless of consequences)
Some universal rules or norms
• People should be treated as ends in themselves (with
intrinsic worth), & never as instruments (or means to
ends)
• Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself
(the ‘golden rule’)
• All people have rights that should be considered
Baha'iFaith
Laynot on anysoul a load that youwould not wish
to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyonethe thingsyou
would not desire for yourself.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings
Buddhism
Treat not othersin waysthat you yourself would find hurtful.
TheBuddha, Udana-Varga5.1
Christianity
In everything, do to othersasyou would have them do to
you; for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus,Matthew
7:12
Confucianism
Oneword which sumsup the basisof all good conduct....loving-
kindness.Donot do to others what you do not want done to
yourself. Confucius, Analects15.23
Hinduism
This is the sumof duty: do not do to otherswhat would cause
pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Islam
Not one of you truly believes until you wish for otherswhat
you wishfor yourself.
TheProphet Muhammad, 13th of the 40 Hadithsof Nawawi
Jainism
Oneshould treat all creatures in the world asone would like to
be treated.
Mahavira, Sutrakritanga
Judaism
What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the
whole Torah;all the rest is commentary.
Goand learn it. Hillel, Talmud,Shabbath31a
Sikhism
I amastranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed,
I am a friend to all.
GuruGranthSahib,pg.1299
Taoism
Regardyour neighbour's gain asyour own gain and your
neighbour's lossasyour own loss. LaoTzu,T'ai ShangKan
YingP'ien, 213-218
Zoroastrianism
Donot do unto otherswhatever is injuriousto yourself.
Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29
The ‘Golden Rule’
Employee Rights & Duties ( C r a n e & M a t t e n )
• Duty to comply with labour
contract (performance, loyalty…
whistleblowing?)
• Duty to comply with the law
• Duty to respect the employer’s
property
RIGHTS
• Right to freedom from
discrimination
• Right to due process
• Right to healthy and safe working
conditions
• Right to fair wages
• Right to work
• Right to collective bargaining
and association; right to
withdraw labour
DUTIES
• Right to participation
• Right to freedom of
conscience and speech
• Right to privacy
Seven steps of ethical decision making
as defined by Wilcox
Step 1 : Assess ing the s i tua t ion
Step 2 : Assumpt ions and wor ldv iews
Step 3 : P r inc ip les , du t ies and ca re needs
Step 4 : Process , Ou tcomes and Consequences
Step 5 : Charac te r fac to rs
Step 6 : Comprehens ive assessment
S tep 7 : Jus t i f y your dec is ion
What is the case study about?
James Hardie reminds us, it is not just a legal story nor a
human story but a story of both
It becomes a stark reminder of why businesses
need to think about today and tomorrow.
Applying the frameworks to the case
study:
You can see that deontology or teleology could give a
different or similar answers.
But using the seven steps you start a holistic appraisal still
informed by ethical frameworks on your actions enabling you
to make decisions that are informed and considered.
Linking to stakeholders, it also reminds us why stakeholders
are more than employees or shareholders
Justice
• Fai r t reatment and due reward in
accordance wi th eth ica l / legal s tandards
Type
Dis t r i bu t i ve Based on the evaluation of outcomes or
results
Procedura l Based on processes and activities that
produce the outcomes/ results
In te rac t iona l Based on relationships and the treatment
of others
Virtue theories
• The morality of an action is determined by the
virtuousness of the person rather than the
consequences or principles of duty / justice.
• What makes a ‘good’ person? A ‘good’ organisation?
• Examples: loyalty, courage, self-control, generosity,
compassion, community, truthfulness, faith, justice,
integrity, fairness, respect, trust, empathy
Virtues that support business
Trust Confidence in behaviour of others
Self-control To give up short term self-interest for long term benefits
Empathy To share the feelings or emotions of others
Fairness To deal equitably
Truthfulness Provide facts or correct information/ avoiding deception
Learning Gain knowledge to make better, more informed
decisions
Gratitude Recognition that people do not succeed alone
Civility Courtesy, politeness, respect, consideration of others
Moral leadership Strength of character
Ethics in Act ion: Generat ive AI has a number of
eth ica l considerat ions:
• Humans are responsible for output and actions, machines cannot be
• The information is scraped from other information – no fact checking
has been undertaken
• The information it draws from is historically biased
• The information may be out of date (Chat GPT 3 has had no internet
access since 2021)
• Ownership and acknowledgement of the information obtained
• Is it your work if a machine produced it – perhaps you are only the
prompt engineer not the author?
• Do we want to live in a world where machines do things without human
oversight or intervention?
Bringing it all together –
what does this mean for us?
Consider the last 5 weeks
How have you changed in relation to actions ethically and / or
SDG informed?
Each week we have been identifying, analysing and then applying
models to what has occurred.
You are developing your skills to lead, inform and advise in an
ethically and socially responsible manner.
As you now start working on Assignment 2.
Assignment 2 is very different – it is about the process of creating a
report
Memo assignments – general feedback
Memo assignments
Will be returned on Friday around 1pm. Three (3) pieces of specific feedback will be provided:
1. In text
2. a general comment about what you did or needed to do related to the task
3. A rubric showing how you achieved each criteria
You will also receive an email from me related to how you are going overall in the course in
relation to this assignment.
All fails have been double marked
No one is to contact their tutor, me or the course about their marks. There is NO NEGOTIATION.
If you wish to discuss your assignment with your tutor you can contact them AFTER Monday at
noon.
They will arrange a meeting to discuss how to improve your work. No remarks unless you have:
spoken with your tutor and you can explain the difference between what was marked and where
you believe it to be incorrect