1

Academic Concept Worksheet #2

Article: Messick, D.M. (2008). What can psychology tell us about business ethics? Journal of
Business Ethics, 89, 73-80. [Conflict of Interest and Implicit Stereotypes Article]
Focus of Article:
1. Conflict of Interest Situations
2. Implicit Stereotypes in Discrimination and Harassment

Conflict of Interest [COI] Situations in Business Ethics (pp. 77-80 of Messick article)

1. What is a COI situation?

 One party has a vested interest in the outcome of a situation and this makes it hard for him/her to be
objective
 Example: someone has a personal relationship with an employee and is influenced by the personal
relationship

2. a) If people are in a potential conflict of interest situation and still think they can be fair and objective toward all the
parties in that situation, should they remain in that situation? i.e., Can they really be as fair and objective as they
think?

 People really cannot be as fair and as objective as they think they can
 They often show biases that they are often unaware of

b) What does research say about bias in human judgment as it pertains to the ethical issue of conflict of interest?

c) Given that people are not very good at identifying when they may be biased, what should they do to manage
potential conflict of interest situations?

 Declare that they have an actual or potential (or perceived) COI

 Opt out (where possible)
 Recuse yourself
 Look for policies and/or procedures that will help manage the situation

Articles: Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University (2007). Ignorance isn’t bliss:
Unethical conduct often inadvertently overlooked. CPA Practice Management Forum.

Trebunsel, A.E., & Messick, D.M. (2004). Ethical fading: The role of self deception
in unethical behaviour. Social Justice Research 17(2), 223-236.

1. What does these 2 articles tell us about how COI situations or other ethical problems could emerge?

 Self-deception: we slide down a slippery slope a little bit at a time

 Psychological numbing
 at first we are startled by/notice something, but the more it happens (the more we are
exposed to it), the less we are startled by/notice it (it blends into the background and we
become numb to it)
 Induction process:
 Something seems ok (because it is accepted as being ok)
 Something similar happens and because it is similar, it is ok
 Start slipping over the line in more and more areas (letting things slide)

2. What does research by Gino and Bazerman say about whether people are able to identify unethical behaviour that
unfolds gradually or incrementally over time?

 Experiment to demonstrate "slippery slope"

 Research suported view that we slip into unethical behaviour incrementally (a little bit at a time)
 2

3. What is the “boiling frog syndrome?”

 if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out immediately
 if unethical behaviour occurs all at once without gradual or incremental progress, it will be noticed
immediately
 if you put a frog in a pot of water and then gradually increase the water temperature to a boil, the frog will
remain in the pot
 if unethical behaviour occurs gradually, we may become oblivious to what is occurring and allow it
to go on (not because we choose to, but because we are unaware of it)

4. What should companies do to prevent the gradual erosion of ethical standards and problems associated with those
?