SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ETHICAL DECISION MAKING PREDISPOSITIONS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 222 SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ETHICAL DECISION MAKING PREDISPOSITIONS Penny L. Wright and F. Neil Brady San Diego State University ABSTRACT This teaching model is designed to help business students better understand the distinction between a utilitarian and a formalist (“deontological”) approach to ethical decision making without going deeply into the theory of philosophy. Five vignettes are presented to students that illustrate general themes in the classic discussion of ethical theory (Brady, 1990). Analysis of the vignettes helps students identify themselves as a utilitarian or a formalist, assists in their exploring contradictions in their thinking, and helps students better understand individuals who think differently on ethical issues. THE THEMES AND THEIR ANALYSIS Nature of Deliberation. Utilitarians compare, weigh, and evaluate alternatives in a very practical mode, while formalists tend to generalize actions or apply rules, an interest that is more conceptual than practical. Vignette 1. “Your department has recently received six desk top computers. There are 12 people in your department all of whom would like a new computer. What do you do? Why? A formalist would press for equality, while a utilitarian would make a choice that would increase productivity. Responses to the situation are analyzed in two parts: (1) What did you do? (2) Why? This two part analysis allows the student to assess his/her consistency in use of a formalist or utilitarian approach to decision making. Students were fairly consistent in their responses and rationales in this situation (N= 151. r= .75, p< .05) Nature of Action. According to utilitarians, actions are results oriented and they accept compromises in lieu of a consensus,. Formalists, on the other hand, see actions connected to rules, as principled or unprincipled, and expect agreement in principle. Vignette 2. “Should large, powerful, efficient organizations be restrained in order to allow opportunities for new, small organizations-yea or no?” A formalist would choose to restrain large businesses in favor of small business development in the interest of general fairness or equal opportunity. A utilitarian would argue for no restraints on large business in the interest of general market efficiencies and the best overall results: 85 percent of our students chose the utilitarian response but half of these offered a formalist rationale (r=.03). Nature of Prescriptivity. A sense of personal “rightness” accompanies deliberation or action. For the utilitarian, this tends to be a concern of compassion for others, the vindication of achieving good results, and the satisfaction of analytic rigor. Vignette 3. “One of your co-workers has been making frequent phone calls to a personal friend in another state. It’s against company policy to make unauthorized personal phone calls, but you are aware that many people in the organization do this anyway. Will you report the person or not? Why or Why not?” A formalist would report the infraction of the rule because it is a “rule,” and employees share responsibility for the integrity of rules. A utilitarian would be less inclined to report the abuse of the rule because the offense is minor compared to possible disciplinary action or job loss. Our correlation data between the decision type and the its rationale was r=-.11, n.s. More than 36 percent of the students who chose not to report the incident were unwilling to give either a utilitarian or a formalist reason. They chose instead to use a variety of stalling tactics. Continuity of Choice. There is a tendency for utilitarians to think in situational terms, looking for degrees of responsibility and seeing answers in terms of “shades of grey.” Formalists are generally more comfortable with polar thinking; their goal is itself, simple principles. Vignette 4. “Your secretary, Joan, arrives at work early one morning wearing what appear to you to be a hideous-looking hat and says, ‘Hi, How do you like my new hat?’ To tell the truth would hurt her feelings, but to tell her you like it is to lie. Even though there are other alternatives, what are you most likely to do? (1) tell here you like it, or (2) tell her what you really think? Why? The formalist would tell the truth. A utilitarian would view this as an opportunity for a “white lie” since doing so circumvents almost certain offense and in itself causes no harm. Students were fairly consistent in their thinking here (r = .54, p<.05). Institutional and Macro Applications. Utilitarians are interested in social progress and change, view government as a potential benefactor, and give priority to legislative functions. The formalist prefers social tradition and stability, views government as the source of fairness and law, and gives priority to judicial functions. Vignette 5. “The Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether minority applicants can be preferred in hiring decisions over perhaps better qualified candidates in order to produce a better representation of discriminated minorities in the workplace. As a matter of national, organizational policy, should minorities be given such preferences? Yes or no? Why? A formalist would choose to support preferential hiring. A utilitarian would choose not to give preferential treatment because to do so would result in lesser qualified individuals taking jobs that may tend to less operational efficiency. Almost 90 percent of our student’s said no, they would not give minorities preference: 85 percent of these supported their decisions with a formalist rationale anticipating formalists’ objections (r=.28, p<.05). REFERENCES Brady, F. Neil. Ethical Managing Rules and Results. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1990. Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's