Session 1 Introduction 51 E 00100 Business ethics
Session 1: Introduction 51 E 00100 Business ethics Jukka Mäkinen & Marja Svanberg 14. 3. 2016
Agenda for today 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Who we are Course objectives & background thinking Course programme Workload for 6 credits Let’s get started: Private Power and Human Capabilities 2
1. Who are we? Jukka Mäkinen Background in: -political philosophy & economics -business ethics - organization studies Research interests: - political approaches to CSR studies -contemporary theories of justice Marja Svanberg Background in: -organization & management studies -property management Doctoral dissertation: The morality of CSR -business ethics -profitability and morality
1. Who are we and why are we here? • Who are you? – – Name Major Why interested in the topic? Have you faced something where you thought if this is right or wrong? 4
2. a Course objectives • Insights into the ethical and political backgrounds and requirements of business activity • Outlines perspectives to professional use of ethical skills in business • Philosophical appraisal of central businessethical and CSR approaches and practices, and illustrative examples 5
2. a Course objectives • To understand historical and societal backgrounds of the moral dilemmas and ethical challenges in business life • To get new ethical and political perspectives on business life • Learn to express and understand your own and others’ moral and political positions 6
2. b Background thinking of the course Paradigm shift in understanding business? • The politicization of the business firms? • Markets in everything? • The promises and limits of private power?
Markets in Everything • http: //www. bostonreview. net/forum-sandelmarkets-morals
Promises of Private Power • http: //www. bostonreview. net/forum/canglobal-brands-create-just-supply-chainsrichard-locke
Political History of CSR • http: //www. nytimes. com/2010/11/07/busine ss/07 shelf. html? _r=0
2. b Background thinking of this course Topic for Consideration If the suggested paradigm shift is real, what are the ethical, social, and political implications for the future international managers?
3. Course programme Date Topic Instructors 1 Mon 14. 3. 13 -17 Introduction/Private Power and Human Development Jukka Mäkinen & Marja Svanberg 2 Tue 15. 3. 14 -18 Ethical Reasoning and Decision Making Jukka Mäkinen & Marja Svanberg 3 Wed 16. 3. 12 -15 Mainstream CSR and Its Critique Jukka Mäkinen 4 Thu 17. 3. 14 -18 Political CSR and Its Critique Jukka Mäkinen 5 Mon 21. 3. 13 -17 Towards Integrative CSR Jukka Mäkinen 6 Tue 22. 3. 14 -18 Student Presentations Student Groups 7 Wed 23. 3. 12 -15 Student Presentations Student Groups 8 Thu 24. 3. 14 -18 Summary & Exam Jukka Mäkinen 12
4. Workload for 6 credits • In total 160 hours of work for 6 ECTS • Evaluation based on 1. 2. 3. 4. Seminar discussions and reflection papers (25% of grade) Students’ group works (25% of grade) Mandatory 80% class attendance Final exam (50% of grade) 13
4. 1. Workload for 6 credits: Article reflection papers (1/2) • • • 25 % of grade In total 4 reactions papers To be written before each session Note that this prepares you well in advance to the exam! Evaluation criteria – 1 -2 points: Summarizes the contents (articles, sessions, exercises) by using direct quotations from the articles (i. e. not your own words) with minimal own reactions or reflection – 3 points: Reviews parts of the content and offers own reactions or reflection OR provides reasoning for (not) understanding/liking the main points of the content and offers own reactions. – 4 points: Makes an elegant analysis of the main issues combined with well argued and perceptive reflection – 5 points: Provides an original presentation/viewpoint on the topic with a story or good reasoning. 14
4. 1. Workload for 6 credits: Article reaction papers (2/2) • Max 2 pages (Times New Roman, 12 points, line spacing 1) • Sometimes specifying questions given (see lecture slides) • Bring paper copies to each lecture 15
4. 2. Workload for 6 credits: Group works • 25 % of grade • Presentation • Evaluation • States clear, relevant and focused research questions (1 -3 maximum) • Covers appropriate literature effectively and demonstrates sound knowledge of the topic • Critically evaluates and applies the literature to the case • Provides relevant conclusions on the basis of the research questions, literature review and research • Is presented in a clear and coherent style and quotes references appropriately • Offers original insights and demonstrates critical thinking 16
Organizing the group work teams: Practicalities • Go into groups of 3 -4 to think about possible topics • Decide your topic by Tue 15. 3. and let us know it • (Photos of the groups) 17
Organizing the group work teams: Topic examples Theory based Case based • Choose a theory that interests you • Offer a reflective and critical presentation • Can include smaller examples of real-life cases that clarify your presentation • Choose an interesting ethical case (e. g. corporate scandal, crisis etc. ) • Reflect the case based on readings for the course and other literature • You can e. g. compare two different approaches to the case in your presentation 18
Group work – to start • Discuss and list a few ethical dilemmas you might face in business life • Also, think what actually makes them dilemmas and not something that can be easily solved based on existing business codes etc. • Make a mindmap, list, etc. 19
4. 3. Workload for 6 credits: 80 % mandatory attendance • Why you should take this seriously? – There are only few lectures and lot to learn, appreciate your possibility to come, listen and most importantly: discuss and ask! – Respect your work group – it is your responsibility to guarantee your contribution to the group work! • Let us know in advance if you will be absent, need to come late etc. ! 20
4. 4. Workload for 6 credits: Exam • Exam date – Thu 24. 3. 2015, 15 -18 (class exam, no need to register in Oodi) • Readings: Articles for reflection papers + a couple of extra readings + Lecture slides (see Noppa) 21
All practicalities • Course basic website: https: //mycourses. aalto. fi/course/view. php? id=3812 – Readings – Lecture slides • Please be proactive and read carefully all given instructions, materials, course news etc. to prevent misunderstandings about course practicalities • Contact info: , jukka. makinen@aalto. fi Room: F 3. 07 marja. svanberg@aalto. fi 22
5. Let’s get started 23
Private Power and Human Capabilities
Agenda for Today Theoretical Part: Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach in the context of global supply-chain ethics. Practical Example: A documentary film “A Decent Factory”
The Basic Question • We examine issues of labor standards and gender equality in the context of global economy Can we settle on universal standards of decency by which we can evaluate whether business practices and institutions humiliate people under their authority? • We can also discuss issues related to the division of moral labor between firms, public sphere and other actors to tackle the challenges of (gender) equality in contemporary economies. 8. 12. 2020 Laitoksen nimi 26
Decency vs. Justice • A just society; sublime ideal but hard to realize globally • A decent society; more realistic alternative? • Avishai Margalit (1996): There is more urgency in bringing about a decent society than in bringing about a just one. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 27
Asia in Global Economy -Expanding markets -Still relatively cheap labor -Efficiency -Financial problems of the western economies
Global Supply-Chain Ethics Western firms have moved their business operations to locations where costs of operations are lower. http: //www. nytimes. com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-asqueezed-middle-class. html? pagewanted=all Outsourcing of business operations to countries where production costs are lower leads easily to insourcing of ethical problems. http: //www. nytimes. com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-andthe-human-costs-for-workers-in-china. html? pagewanted=all http: //bits. blogs. nytimes. com/2012/02/13/apple-announces-independentfactory-inspections
”Missing Women” ”It is often said that women make up a majority of the world's population. They do not. This mistaken belief is based on generalizing from the contemporary situation in Europe and North America, where the ratio of women to men is typically around 1. 05 or 1. 06, or higher. In South Asia, West Asia, and China, the ratio of women to men can be as low as 0. 94, or even lower, and it varies widely elsewhere in Asia, in Africa, and in Latin America. ” • Sen, Amartya. 1990. More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing. The New York Review of Books 37 (20).
Resources: UN & WEF There is no country in the world where women are equal to men in the four dimensions of economy, health, education, and politics. Yet the gaps between the national gender gaps are wide.
Gaps between Gender Gaps 1. Iceland 2. Finland 12. Germany 87. China 114. India 0. 8594 0. 8453 0. 7780 0. 6830 0. 6455 Gender inequality is strongly correlated with poverty. http: //povertydata. worldbank. org/poverty/regio n/EAP
Below the Poverty Lines in Asia Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 33
The Boomtowns in China • Since the 1970 s, China has witnessed the largest migration in human history; 130 million migrant workers in China today, most of them women. • Via global supply chains we all become connected to the lives of these young women leaving their villages and seeking their fortunes in the factory towns. • Leslie Chang’s Factory Girls (2008); describes lives of these people in Chine’s factory boomtown Dongguan. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 34
Factory Yuen, Dongguan, China • Has 70 000 workers (80% women between ages 18 -25) • Making our branded athletic shoes (Nike, Puma, Adidas etc. ). • Workers sleep in factory dorms (10/room), eat in factory cafeterias, shop at factory commissaries. • Runs a kindergarten, hospital with a 150 -member staff, movie theater and a performance troupe, volunteer activities and English classes. • Operates own power plant and fire department. • Bottles its own water and used to have own farmers to guarantee its food sources • Bays 70$/month for work done 11 hours a day/sixty hours a week with Sundays off. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 35
Total institution ”A basic social arrangement in modern society is that the individual tends to sleep, play and work in different places, with different co-participants, under different authorities, and without an over-all rational plan. The central feature of total institutions can be described as a breakdown of the barriers ordinarily separating these three spheres of life” (Erving Goffman 1961, 17) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 36
The Threshold Level of Decency? • • • One promising starting point to sketch out international standards of decency is offered by Martha Nussbaum in her work Women and Human Development (2000). Rather than look for psychological or material indicators of well-being we should draw attention to what each person is able to do and to be. Threshold level of basic capabilities (a decent social minimum) secured for all as a universal political goal. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 37
List of Basic Capabilities 1. Life 2. Bodily Health 3. Bodily Integrity 4. Senses, Imagination, and Thought 5. Emotions 6. Practical Reason 7. Affiliation 8. Other Species 9. Play 10. Control over one’s Environment: a)Political b) Material Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 38
Conception of Well-Being Life Play Bodily Health Environment Bodily Integrity Senses, Imagination, Thought Other Species Affiliation Emotions Practical Reason
Capabilities better metrics of well-being than… • material resources (income, wealth etc. ) since different people have different needs and abilities to use resources. • utilities or preference satisfaction since utilities and preferences are adaptive to circumstances. • functioning since different people value different functions and capabilities leave room for individual choice. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 40
The central human capabilities The principle of each person as an end: The capabilities sought are sought for each and every person (Kant). Intrinsic value: The central capabilities are not instrumental to further pursuits: they have value in themselves, in making the life that includes them fully human(Nussbaum 2000, 74 -75) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020
Equality as a human capability 7. Affiliation ”Having the social basis of self-respect and non-humiliation; being able to be treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others. ” (Nussbaum 2000, 79)
Equality of human capabilities Equality with respect to human capabilities does not always mean that individuals should be treated in the same way. In order to have equality with respect to human capabilities, societies would have to attend to special needs (e. g. , pregnancy) and to barriers that are encountered by some groups (e. g. , subtle forms of sex discrimination) (Nussbaum 2000, 68).
Objections and Replies from Nussbaum Universal values is nothing but camouflaged western imperialism • Nussbaum: Universal values can and should be flexible. They may be ordered and specified according to culture and specific preferences • Claiming these values and ideals to be Western is to paint a un-nuanced picture of non-Western countries where there equally exists proponents for such values (e. g. women’s movements in India and Africa) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 44
Argument from Culture What counts as good/bad, right/wrong can only be evaluated in accordance with a particular cultures own moral standards; no particular cultures moral standards can meaningfully be evaluated as better or worse Nussbaum: Cultures are never homogenous: We must not only consider and protect diversity among cultures, but also within them • Cultural norms may themselves be highly non-relativistic and intolerant towards minority and divergent notions of good/bad, right/wrong (cultural relativism is self-defeating) • Why should we follow local norms rather than the best we can get? Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 45
Argument from the good of diversity Cultural diversity is a value in itself which should be protected. Nussbaum: in order protect diversity among and within cultures we need universal values (e. g. minority groups, women) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 46
Argument from Paternalism We should let people act on their own choices and ends/respect their autonomy Nussbaum: In order to meaningfully speak of autonomous choices, certain circumstances must be in place. People must be in a position to substantially (not just formally) exercise their autonomy (e. g many cultural systems exclude women from this) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 47
A Decent Factory • A documentary about globalization; Nokia as the subject. • Two European women – Finnish Nokia employee and a British consultant – are auditing a factory of a Nokia supplier in China lead by a European male manager. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 48
While Watching the Film • Consider the position of the women in the factory from the perspective of Nussbaum’s basic capabilities. • Identify aspects in the lives of these women where they are in danger to fall below a decent level of capability to function? Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 49
Class exercise! Using the cross-cultural normative evaluative framework of Nussbaum (capabilities approach) discuss in groups: 1) The position of the women in the factory? 2) Which aspects of their lives can be problematized? 3) Are certain aspects more pressing than others? Why?
A Decent Factory: A Capability Interpretation • The industrial order described in the film has some main features of the total institution. • In total institutions the human functions and capabilities are under bureaucratic control and are handled in an impersonal manner to advance the ends of the organization. • Total institutions do not normally draw attention to what each person is able to do and to be. • Thus, seen from the perspective of the capabilities approach we will most likely find some problematic features in the industrial order under scrutiny. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 51
Position of Women in The Factory 1. Life: Toxic chemicals, forced abortion (2. child) 2. Bodily Health: Working positions, noise, temperature, open sewers 3. Bodily Integrity: Security, control of movement, no privacy, separate boys/girls, no free choice in matters of reproduction 4. Senses, Imagination, and Thought: Management control thought and speech, boring and tiring work 5. Emotions: Difficult to establish relations to each other, long distance to home 6. Practical Reason: Company makes all the major decisions Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 52
Position of Women in The Factory Affiliation: Strong hierarchical distinction workers/managers, remove humanity from workers (speak of them as machines “low in maintenance”; no employment contracts ) 8. Other Species: No apparent concern for nature 9. Play: 12 hour shifts, very tiring work, no recreational activities 10. Control over one’s environment: Forced deduction for food/accommodation; suggestion box (we don’t know how or whether they make use of these); wellbeing committee (headed by manager which might be problematic); No real/substantial choice (low wage, no privacy; farming work does not bring in enough income for survival etc. ) Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 53
Session message It might be possible to sketch universal standards of decency in terms of basic human capabilities and use them to identify business practices in global economy that may push people below the decency level. Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 54
The Follow-up Question • Equal work: A Corporate Responsibility? http: //bostonreview. net/forum/can-globalbrands-create-just-supply-chains-richard-locke Presentation name and author - 12/8/2020 55
Main points of today • Keep the practicalities in your mind (or calendar)! • Remember to ask and interrupt us during the sessions if something is unclear • Write a reflection paper for tomorrow’s class on Ethical Reasoning and Decision Making 56
Suggested readings Books • Kamel Mellahi, Kevin Morrell and Geoffrey Wood: The ethical business : challenges and controversies. • Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten: Business ethics : a European perspective : managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Academic Journals (available in http: //lib. hse. fi/EN/) • Journal of Business Ethics • Business Ethics Quarterly Internet ’aid’ for concepts in philosophy etc. • Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http: //www. iep. utm. edu/ • Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http: //plato. stanford. edu/ Movie • The Corporation (Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance. ) 57
- Slides: 57
