more information - www.cambridge.org/9781107000032 Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making Incommerce,manymoralfailuresareduetonarrowmindsetsthatpreclude takingintoaccountthemoraldimensionsofadecisionoraction.Inturn,some- times these mindsets are caused by failing to question managerial decisions fromamoralpointofview,becauseofaperceivedauthorityofmanagement.In the1960s,StanleyMilgramconductedcontroversialexperimentstoinvestigate justhowfarobediencetoanauthorityfigurecouldsubverthissubjects’moral beliefs. In this thought-provoking work, the authors examine the prevalence ofnarrowmentalmodelsandthephenomenonofobediencetoanauthorityto analyzeandunderstandthechallengeswhichbusinessprofessionalsencounter in making ethical decisions. Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making proposes processes–includingcollaborativeinputandcritique–bywhichindividuals may reduce or overcome these challenges. It provides decision-makers at all levelsinanorganizationwiththemeanstoplaceethicalconsiderationsatthe heartofmanagerialdecision-making. patricia h. werhane is the Callista Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics andDirector,InstituteforBusinessandProfessionalEthicsatDePaulUniver- sity.SheisalsoProfessorEmeritusattheDardenGraduateSchoolofBusiness AdministrationattheUniversityofVirginia.Herpreviouspublicationsinclude Ethical Issues in Business, 7th edition, edited with Tom Donaldson and MargaretCording(2001). laura pincus hartman isVincentdePaulProfessorofBusinessEthicsat DePaulUniversity’sCollegeofCommerce.SheservesasResearchDirectorof DePaul’sInstituteforBusinessandProfessionalEthics.Herrecentpublications includeAlleviatingPovertyThroughProfitablePartnerships,co-authoredwith PatriciaH.Werhane,ScottKelley,andDennisMoberg(2009). crina archer is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Northwestern University, Senior Research Fellow to Vincent de Paul Professor Laura Hartman,andseniorscholarwiththeInstituteforBusinessandProfessional Ethics,atDePaulUniversity.Sheistheco-editorofSecondNature:Rethinking theNaturalThroughPolitics(2013). elainee.englehardtisDistinguishedProfessoratUtahValleyUniversity. Specializinginpracticalandprofessionalethics,shehasauthoredand/oredited eightbooks. michael s. pritchard is the Willard A. Brown Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society at Western MichiganUniversity.HispreviouspublicationsincludeProfessionalIntegrity (2007)andTheEthicalChallengesofAcademicAdministration,withElaine Englehardt,KerryRomesbergandBrianSchrag(2010). Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making Mental Models, Milgram and the Problem of Obedience patricia h. werhane,laura pincus hartman,crina archer,elaine e. englehardt, and michael s. pritchard cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107000032 (cid:2)C PatriciaH.Werhane,LauraPincusHartman,CrinaArcher,ElaineE.Englehardt andMichaelS.Pritchard2013 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2013 PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdombytheMPGBooksGroup AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata Werhane,PatriciaHogue. Obstaclestoethicaldecision-making:mentalmodels,Milgramandthe problemofobedience/PatriciaH.Werhane,LauraPincusHartman,CrinaArcher, ElaineE.Englehardt,andMichaelS.Pritchard. pages cm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-107-00003-2 1.Businessethics. 2.Decisionmaking–Moralandethicalaspects. I.Title. HF5387.W457 2013 174(cid:3).4–dc23 2012035058 ISBN978-1-107-00003-2Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. For our good friend and colleague, Dennis Moberg. Contents Notesontheauthors pageviii Acknowledgments xii 1 Introduction 1 2 Theroleofmentalmodelsinsocialconstruction 14 3 TheMilgramstudies:Obedience,disobedience,and ethicalchallenges 43 4 Obstaclestoethicaldecision-makingintheperception ofethicalcontext 63 5 Obstaclestoethicaldecision-makinginimpactanalysis andaction 90 6 Managingethicalobstacles 125 7 Problematicmentalmodels:Someapplications 169 8 Conclusion 210 References 213 Authorindex 235 Subjectindex 239 vii Notes on the authors PatriciaH.WerhaneistheCallistaWicklanderChairofBusinessEthics andDirector,InstituteforBusinessandProfessionalEthicsatDePaul University. She was formerly the Peter and Adeline Ruffin Chair of Business Ethics and Senior Fellow at the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at theUniversityofVirginia,wheresheisnowProfessorEmeritus.Until 1993,shewastheHenryJ.WirtenbergerProfessorofBusinessEthics at Loyola University of Chicago. She received her BA from Wellesley College,andMAandPh.D.fromNorthwesternUniversity. Professor Werhane has been a Rockefeller Fellow at Dartmouth, Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Erskine Visit- ing Fellow at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). Professor Werhanehaspublishednumerousarticlesandcasestudies,andisthe author or editor of over twenty-five books including Ethical Issues in Business, edited with Tom Donaldson and Margaret Cording, sev- enth edition, Persons, Rights, and Corporations, Adam Smith and His Legacy for Modern Capitalism, Moral Imagination and Manage- rial Decision-Making, and with Laura Hartman, Alleviating Poverty Through Profitable Partnerships. She has written over 100 published articles and book chapters on various business ethics on such topics as employee and employer rights, mergers and acquisitions, respon- sibilities of multinational corporations, intellectual property, and the intersectionbetweenhealthcareorganizationsandbusinessethics.Pro- fessorWerhaneservesontheeditorialboardsofanumberofjournals andsheisfounderandformereditor-in-chiefofBusinessEthicsQuar- terly,thejournaloftheSocietyforBusinessEthicsandadvisoryeditor for Business and Professional Ethics Journal. She is also on the aca- demic advisory committee for the Business Roundtable Institute for BusinessEthics. Her recent work focuses on globalization, with an emphasis on developing new models for corporate governance and corporate viii