The Parable of Sadhu –

Question of Ethics
            The parable of Sadhu of Bowen McCoy (1983) is
one of the most popular stories that try to unravel the
ethical standards between individuals and corporates. In
the parable, McCoy related how they met a sadhu while
climbing the
Himalayas. The sadhu suffered from
hypothermia and was in the brink of dying. He needed
medical and clinical support and must be transported out
of the snow to be able to survive. In this conflicting
situation, McCoy, his friend, Stephen, and the rest of the
climbers, were put in a crossroad wherein they needed to
choose between the sadhu's life or their own goals.
According to Stephen, the situation is an example of
individual and corporate ethics, and they failed to do
their part as Christians
or as people of Western ethical
standards.

           
McCoy's problem
can be traced to the personal question
or on retroflection. Had they done the best for the old
holy man? Or had they been selfish and forgot their
responsibility to the old man and prioritized their goal of
climbing the mountain? In a sense, it is a question of
doing enough for those who are in needed. According to
McCoy (1983), "Real moral dilemmas are ambiguous,
and many of us hike right through them, unaware they
exist." This is an absolute fact of life. While many tried
to be ethical in some
respects, there are instances that we
are unaware of the ethical and moral crossroads we face
everyday.

            According to McCracken, Martin and Shaw

(1998), often times people are focused on business ethics,
but they failed to understand the meaning of virtue
ethics. It is a fight between individual and corporate
ethics. If we will sum up the ethical dilemmas faced by
McCoy and
Stephen, the foremost would be the action
when goal attainment is threatened by unexpected events.
McCoy (1983) proposed that each person or even
corporates have their own goals that should be attained at
specific period of time. However, in the case, there is a
clash between goal achievement and the moral obligation
on others as part of the ethical standards and norms of
our culture. McCoy had to make decisions in adverse
conditions without jeopardizing goals and without
forgetting moral
obligation.

            After what happened, Stephen tried to argue that

they had done their part and they could have done more
if they had a leader who would encourage them to do
things. Because no one is willing to assume
responsibility, they failed to do what must be done at its
potential. Stephen even pressed on the problem of their
actions. Stephen may have right that their
actions could
have been different if the sadhu had been dressed in a
different way or had been in a better condition. Stephen
argued that while they did their “bits” or part to help the
sadhu, they were just doing the surface and not the
fundamentals.

            I agree with Stephen, the ethical dilemma here

lies in the question of personal actions, but I also
disagree with him in
terms of corporate ethics and the
need of a leader to assume responsibility. At a personal
level, each of them has their own ethical orientation, but
they failed to realize it and just make a choice between
attainment of their goals and the life of the sadhu. I think
there is no need for a leader to act on it, but there is only
a need for individuals to put their moral obligation into
play. Corporates are not made of stones, but of people;
and the moral obligation of the corporate stands on the
moral obligation of the people within the corporate. To
say that the obligation should have a corporate one is not
right because it detaches the individual from his or her
moral obligation.

            From that, let us look at the way their decision

making process was. They had two options: a social and
a personal one. The social one dictates that they
backtrack down the mountain to
save the sadhu, but they
will not get to their goal of reaching the top. The
personal option ignores the need of the sadhu for them to
be able to achieve their personal desires. However, we
need to consider that each action has consequences. Even
if they leave the sadhu and attain their goal, they are left
with the question of guilt as already shown in the case.
On the other hand, if they had brought the sadhu to the
monastery, they would have failed their goals, but be true
to their conscience
and moral obligation.

            In the case parable, McCoy (1983) stressed the

moral fiber of Stephen who was a committed Quaker
with sound moral vision. Here we see a different reaction
than the rest (but well, it also failed to be real in the end
due to pressure from others). Even though Stephen
suffered from altitude sickness, he still chose to put his
actions in alignment with
his values. While we see
Stephen becoming a leader, but he fell down because of
the support failure (Campbell & Dardis, 2004). If
Stephen chose to carry the old man down the mountain,
he could have died even before reaching the nearest
village.

            In a sense, what we see here is the need of

collective action and support to create the realization of
ethics. A person may
have a strong moral fiber, but the
adverse conditions demand for collective realization, the
moral fiber of the person may not be of good use. If we
return to Stephen's problem between his moral vision and
his condition, we can see how moral vision of individual
members of corporates die because of lack of support
from the corporate. Due to the size or the enormity of the
task, a single person may not be able to do it. Because of
that, he or she may feel inadequate and thus just put his
or her
moral vision in the backseat.

References
Campbell, D. J. & Dardis, G. J. (2004). The “Be, Know,
Do” Model of Leader Development.         Human
Resource Planning, 27(2), 26-39
McCoy, B. (1983). "The Parable of the Sadhu". Harvard
Business Review, September - October 1983. 

McCraken, J., Martin, W. & Shaw, B. (1998). "Virtue

Ethics and the Parable of the Sadhu."            Journal of
Business Ethics, Vol. 17, No. 1. 

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