REPORT

FIRESIDE CHAT WITH DR SIMON LONGSTAFF AND MR. CYRIL

SURESH SHROFF

ETHICS – IN EVERYDAY LIFE

DATE: 12TH AUGUST, 2019 | ISME
Speakers: Dr. Longstaff is an Executive Director of The Ethics Centre and was introduced by
Mr. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Managing Partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and the
founder of Everyday Ethics Centre.
Introductory Speeches: Mr. Shroff started off by greeting Dr. Shahani and the audience. He
shared that he himself was also a student of Dr. Shahani back in the day. He then lay the stage for
Dr. Longstaff to begin the interactive session on ‘Ethics In Everyday Life’.
“What ought one do” (Plato, value theory), a thought that instilled the complexity of ethics in 4
simple words. Dr. Simon Longstaff with his examples and experiences made us understand the
values and the principles of ethics in everyday life in the simplest of manners. He started off with
a fundamental question “what is the most important human characteristic when it comes to
ethics?”, while students thought about situation, values and morals, he directed them to the
importance of choices. A choice as he said can save humanity or wage wars, a choice can strip one
off 7 tour de France titles and ban you from the Australian cricket team.
Further, he explained the importance of values and principles how values are good, but principles
are right, how you can value success but to be ethical, it has to be backed by the right principles.
His personal experiences of ethical dilemmas he faced were not only inspiring but also made
students realize the importance of gratitude and a clear conscience. He concluded by saying that
profit motif must be balanced by ethics and should have a strong ethical foundation.
The talk was followed by a Q&A session where the audience raised questions about ethics. This
discussion covered topics such as the foundation of ethics and its link with the company culture.
Dr. Longstaff said he believed that the foundation should have ethical practices as a compulsion
which will then create the company culture.
Fireside Chat Session: During the fire-side chat, Dr. Longstaff’s response to the queries of the
students are as under
Q1) What is the relationship between Freedom and Responsibility, and are ethics closer
to the concept of responsibility or freedom?
Dr. Longstaff: Both of them are intimately connected. The only way in which a person can be
held culpable, is if he were actually capable of doing something other than what he did in that
situation. Responsibility is therefore linked to freedom of choice. Human beings, are different
from other beings present in this world, in that they are driven by more than just instinct and
desire, i.e. morality/ethics etc. Therefore, freedom and responsibility are connected. There is an
inherent injustice if a person is punished for doing something wherein he had no other choice in
that situation. Therefore, we cannot be separating ethics from responsibility or freedom and these
are both essential elements of the same.

Q2) What made you choose the area of Ethcis as your career choice?
Dr. Longstaff: The truth is actually, I’m not entirely sure. My mother died when I was 7 years old.
She was a devout catholic and when she was pregnant with her 4th child, she was told if she chose
to continue the pregnancy, she and the child would both die. She continued with the pregnancy
and died as a result of it. Later finding out that she had a choice and due to her beliefs chose to
continue with her pregnancy, directly or indirectly had an effect on me as well. At the age of 16, I
had no money, and started as a cleaner, worked hard and started studies at Cambridge University
and that is where his inclination for philosophy developed. Philosophy is not about trying to prove
yourself right all the time or being the smartest person in the room but it is about inquiring the
truth.

Q3) How does the Ethics Centre help society? How do you help clients who are faced with
ethical dilemmas?
Dr. Longstaff: We have several types of clients. Some of them are individuals, as my mother was
when she had a tough decision to make. Some people come to decide whether to end their
treatment of a life threatening disease and at times companies and institutions approach us for
helping them take important decisions that have an ethical dimension. We are not moral police,
we are just enablers who give information and help these clients make more informed decisions.
Q4) How do we deal with conflicts between personal and professional values?
Dr. Longstaff: The ecology of a business, whether it’s a corporation or a professional service, that
ecology is radically changing, such that now, you not only distinguish yourself in the marketplace
by what you do but also by what you mean, i.e., what you stand for. Since products are more or
less being made/invented at the same time by competitors, in order to stand out and attract
customers, potential employees and supply chain, you need to stick to what you stand for and
therefore people are drawn to companies that share, if not the same but at least similar values.
Either you work for a company that allows you to make that choice, or you leave or escalate the
issue and trust that your peers support you and you yourself believe that you have made the right
decision.
Q5) How does culture play into the foundations of Ethics?
Dr. Longstaff: I think it’s the other way around, I think that culture is an artefact that is produced
from ethics. Ethics is at the absolute bottom of this, i.e. we take decisions based on ethics that in-
turn produces a culture. Any organization, whose culture gets corrupted, its origin lies in deviation
of ethics i.e. a normalization of deviance, such that the fundamental ethics of the organization is
changed.
Q6) I have a family business and due to expansion, we would have to lay off a number of
employees. Some of them have been very loyal to the family for many years and others are
new but have been better performers. Should we look at performance or loyalty while
laying off these employees?
Dr. Longstaff: Every business will at some point face this dilemma. The question is not whether
to lay off or not, I think the question is that you embrace the fact that there will be a transition
period and that the process/compensation is fair, just and orderly. No one is guaranteed a job at
any place for life, but what is reasonable to expect is that the person would be given fair warning
and that he would be given all the support the company can afford to provide.
Q7) Leading companies such as Facebook and Google have been found guilty of unethical
practices. Do you think in today’s cut-throat competition, such companies should be held
responsible for such things?
Dr. Longstaff: Yes. I believe it undermines the productivity of the employees at some level since
they feel the repercussions of a culture of unethical behaviour. The thing is that if you don’t
exercise self-restraint, even as an organization, society will impose the restrains on you (e.g. anti-
trust regulations etc.) So it is always wiser to exercise self-restrain rather than wait for regulations/
laws to post-facto interfere, as ultimately that would be a costlier affair. Different companies and
societies have various ethics and rules and regulations etc., however, what is important is that
whatever you say you are, as an organization, let that be the truth.
Q8) Dr. Shahani asked, what is the biggest ethical dilemma you have faced in your life
and how did you resolve it?
Dr. Longstaff: It had to do with some advice I was giving to an organization. I became aware of
some confidential information through which I knew there was a chance the organization would
do considerable harm. I had come to know this confidential information due to my position as
Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. Now, as you know a big part of my job is to protect the
confidentiality of my clients. Therefore, the dilemma was whether I would breach confidentiality
for public interest. Ultimately I was able to convince the company not to go through with the said
act as the same was not only ethically unsound but also was not beneficial for them in the long
run.

Student Comments and Takeaways:

[TO BE INCLUDED AFTER FEED BACK IS RECEIVED]