Summary-Ethics And The Future Of Business (6314M0507Y)- grade95.5
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Module
Ethics And The Future Of Business (6314M0507Y)
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
Book
Business Ethics
All you need for the exam！ This summary includes all the information of 4 lectures, Reflection questions and answers, a sample exam, the key message of articles and 4 TED talks.
MSc UvA Business Administration - Ethics and the Future of Business (6314M0507Y) [LECTURES]
Lecture notes - Descriptive ethical theory
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Business Administration
Ethics And The Future Of Business (6314M0507Y)
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Ethics and the Future of
Business 2021
Uva 6314M0507Y
Contents
lecture 1 moral & ethics...........................................................................................................................................
lecture 2 behavior & action......................................................................................................................................
lecture 3 STRATEGIES & STAKEHOLDERS.......................................................................................................
Lecture 4 CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS (grand level).......................................................................................
Reflection questions for session 1..........................................................................................................................
Reflection questions for session 2..........................................................................................................................
Reflection questions for session 3..........................................................................................................................
Reflection questions for session 4..........................................................................................................................
4 TED TALK..........................................................................................................................................................
1. Michael Sandel: why we should not trust markets with our civic life...............................................................
Q：We won’t necessarily discuss these topics much in the first class, but this is an excellent summary
of a book by Sandel and an important societal topic to think about. It functions as a broad introduction
on the role of markets in our lives..........................................................................................................................
2. Dan Ariely: our buggy moral code.....................................................................................................................
3. Freeman: a new story about Business is telling.................................................................................................
Q：This is the “father” of stakeholder theory explaining how he views business. The classic contrast
has been between focusing on shareholders vs. stakeholders. What do you think is or should be the
purpose of business?...............................................................................................................................................
4. Raworth: A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow..............................................................
Q：Prof. Raworth has been instrumental in changing how we think of economics. Her doughnut
economics model is the foundation of the city of Amsterdam’s sustainability thinking. What do you
think are the advantages and limitations of this model?........................................................................................
Sample exam and answer – updated 24 Sept 2021................................................................................................
, lecture 1 moral & ethics
● introduction
● comparison ：morality（wrong and wrong）、ethics（systematic）、ethics theories（principles and
rules）、normative ethics（how we ought to behave）
● ethics：anthropocentric、key question（principles、aim）、hope to affect practice、may give
contradictory solution
● business ethics：business situation、challenges（comprehensive、cross-
disciplinary、abstract nature、critical thinking、use experience to reflect）
● law & ethics：morality is the foundation，they partly overlapping，law does not cover all
ethics issue、no all legal issues are ethical、law and ethics may contradict；it is easy to go
from unethics to illegal
● trolley dilemma
● normative ethical theories (provide us guidance on how we should behave, a
code of conduct that all rational beings would adhere to.)
● principle/motivation→（ethics and duties、rights and justice）→action/individual→（ethical
egoism、utilitarianism）outcome
● 1. ethical egoism（Consequentialist
● right if the decision‐maker freely decides in order to pursue either their (short‐
term) desires or their (long‐term) interests
● usually, it is regard as a view not a theory
● related to Adam Smith’s invisible hand
● cons：contradictory with our moral principles
● Enlightened egoism：focuses on the meeting of long-term human interests.（但 but
lead to problems due to conflicting interests）
● author：Thomas Hobbes (1588‐1679), Adam Smith (1723‐1790), popularized by Ayn
Rand
● moral machine example：protect the people in the car
● 2. utilitarianism（Consequentialist
● right if it results in the greatest amount of good to the greatest a mount of
people
● author：Jeremy Bentham (1748‐1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806‐1873)
● very influential，related to egoistic view of humans in economics
● Act utilitarianism: Whether a single act is right or wrong depends on the
amount of common good it produces
● Rule utilitarianism: Focuses on creating rules that produce the most common
good.
● cost/benefit analysis
● cons：A utilitarian good is subjective, context dependent, and difficult to compare
between people；runs into difficulties in questions related to the just distribution
of wealth；be contradictory with the idea of respecting basic rights.；only thinking
of Maximizing is generally speaking not the best approach to addressing all
values；does not include the idea of reciprocity；we dont know the consequence in
reality;（A 101 Equal weighting、Problems of quantification and
calculation、Distribution of utility）
● moral machine example：minimize casualties
● 3. Ethics of duties（principle-base
● author：Immanuel Kant (1724‐1804)
● Central concepts ：duty, consistency, dignity, and universality
● Kant’s deontological theory develops principles or categorical imperatives to
guide our actions
● Duties do not mean mechanistically following rules, but they involve human’s
ability to develop moral law and moral rules.
● Consistency:
● Categorical imperative: act according to that maxim by which you can at
the same time will that it should become universal law”.
● Main idea: What is right for one is right for all, i.e. the rules you apply to
yourself should be applicable to others.
● Dignity:
1
, ● Categorical imperative: “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your
own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means
only”.
● Main idea: A human being is in itself a valuable autonomical being, and not
as a means to an end or a tool.
● Universality:
● Categorical imperative: "act only so that the will through its maxims could
regard itself at the same time as universally lawgiving.”
● Main idea: Check that the principle is acceptable to every human being (e .g.,
tomorrow’s newspaper test：How would I feel if the course of action I am
considering were reported on the front page of the local newspaper or blog?).
● cons：difficult and abstract theory；Morality can be seen as a heavy burden to
bear；Morality is founded perhaps too strictly on the use of reason；Ethics of duties
undervalues outcomes of actions；（Undervaluing motivation、optimistic Assumption
of rationality ）
● moral machine example：general rules that apply to all；Rule example: The one who
generates mobility risks cannot sacrifice non‐involved individuals.
● 4. rights & justice（principle-base
● Natural (human) rights are certain basic, important, inalienable(不能分割的) entitlements
that should be respected and protected in every single situation. These are based
in human dignity and lead to a duty for others to protect, respect, and support
them.
● Main natural rights: Right to life, freedom, property, speech, privacy,
conscience, and fair trial among others.
● author：John Locke (1632‐1714) and John Rawls (1921 2002).
● Rights‐based thinking are a central part of Western political and ethical
thought and the foundation of universal human rights.
● Justice: The simultaneous fair treatment of individuals in a given situation with
the result that everybody gets what they deserve.
● Key ideas: Procedural vs. distributive fairness; veil of ignorance; social contract;
system of basic liberties, judgement of society by the state of the least
advantaged, and equal opportunity
● cons：Most lists of basic rights can be seen to be relatively arbitrary. Rights are
criticized as being too Western and/or neocolonial；Basic rights presuppose
institutions that allow for recourse in case of breach. Theory does not offer
practical guidance in extreme situations.
● moral machine example：the entire traffic systems needs to be fair in considering
e.g., those who cannot afford a car and that individuals should e.g., not be able to
change settings to protect themselves
● 5. Alternative perspectives on ethics
● Virtue ethics：The central aim is not to fulfill duties or aim for the greatest good,
but to lead a good life. Virtue ethics focuses on the character of the individual
decision‐maker. （Aristotle & Alasdair MacIntyre.）
● Feminist ethics: Instead of abstract moral principles, feminist ethics emphasizes
caring, empathy, and harmonious and healthy social relationships. （Carol Gilligan &
Virginia Held）
● Discourse ethics: solving ethical conflicts through democratic dialogue and
providing a process of norm generation. (Jürgen Habermas)
● Postmodern ethics: Moving away from rationality, postmodern ethics focuses on
emotional moral impulses towards others, and focuses on individual questioning
of universal rules. (Zygmunt Bauman & Emmanuel Levinas)
● A 103：Business pragmatism and philosophy
● Crane & Matten defend a pluralistic view of ethical theories; a moderate view;
does not view any single theory as the only correct approach to ethical problems.
Each ethical theory is seen to provide resources for decision making. The aim is
to find a contextually appropriate balance and consensus that takes into
consideration different perspectives
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