MGMT 5050 | Week 5

Ethical frameworks – James Hardie

**This S&I has built on material developed for COMM5001 by Associate Professor Tracy Wilcox
 Trade Marks
“Prior to the invasion of Australia, First Nations communities had established a
chain of trade routes all over the continent. The exchange of goods and
services was also practised between neighbouring language groups as well as
other language groups across the continent.

Trading was vital to First Nation Peoples as it improved their quality of life.
Trading objects such as food, seeds, stones, ochres, tools, weapons was not
only a method of sharing resources but was a form of social control and lore. It
was a way of honouring each other's rights, boundaries, and cultural differences.

Many tribes developed good relationships as they respected shared stories of

their journeys and narratives of the Dreamtime. Trade was not only linked with
materialistic objects but included songs, dances and art, stories, rituals and
ceremonies which connected First Nations Peoples to Land, Sea and Sky.”

Award winning Designer Maker Debra Beale | In 2019 UNSW Business School
commissioned Debra Beale who created this exclusive design Trade Marks
Acknowledgement of Country
Ethical Thinking implies an ability to:
ST = Systems thinking
EF = Ethical frameworks
1. Think critically
2. Recognise issues or practices that have moral content
3. See beyond our own personal experience (ST)
4. Address issues from all sides (ST)
5. Consider the consequences of decisions, whether intended or
unintended (ST)
6. Evaluate the best arguments from each perspective (EF)
7. Arrive at a conclusion based on a systematic analysis of these
arguments (EF)
8. Defend viewpoints; analyse new information or perspectives (EF)
Systems thinking:
Conventional Thinking
The connection between problems and their
causes
is obvious and easy to trace
Others, either within or outside our organisation
are to blame for our problems and must be the
ones to change
A policy designed to achieve short-term successwill
also assure long-term success
In order to optimise the whole, we must optimise the In order to optimise the whole, we must improve
parts.
Aggressively tackle many independent initiatives
simultaneously
Systems Thinking
The relationship between problems and their causes
is indirect and not obvious
We(unwittingly) create our own problems and have
significant control or influence in solving them
through changing our behaviour
Most quick fixes have unintended
consequences. They make no difference or
make matters worse in the long run
relationships among the parts
Only a few ke coordinated changes sustained
over time will produce large systems change
Assessing right or wrong / good or bad via:

• The consequences of actions (teleology) ⎯

• A set of universal principles or duties (deontology)

• The quality of the person who undertakes the action (virtues)

All frameworks have differing degrees of usefulness,

and limitations
Consequence-based frameworks

• If the consequences are good, then the act is right/

correct

• What is right is determined by the ratio of good to bad

that an action produces

• But : Consequences for whom?

 Consequence-based frameworks
Ethical Egoism Utilitarianism

• An act is morally right if • Evaluates outcome for the

(and only if) it best group or whole of society
promotes an agent’s
long-term interests • If the consequences of an act
bring more “total good” than
• Agent can be an individual those of any alternative course
or an organisation of action, then this action is the
right one
Universal principles or duties

• We don’t have to know the likely results of an action

to know whether it is immoral/ unethical

• Actions can be judged as right or wrong in

themselves (regardless of consequences)
Some universal rules or norms

• People should be treated as ends in themselves (with

intrinsic worth), & never as instruments (or means to
ends)

• Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself

(the ‘golden rule’)
• All people have rights that should be considered
The ‘Golden Rule’ Islam
Not one of you truly believes until you wish for otherswhat
you wish for yourself.
TheProphet Muhammad, 13th of the 40 Hadithsof Nawawi
Baha'i Faith
Laynot on any soul a load that you would not wish Jainism
to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you One should treat all creatures in the world asone would like to
would not desire for yourself. be treated.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings Mahavira, Sutrakritanga

Buddhism Judaism
Treat not othersin waysthat you yourself would find hurtful. What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the
TheBuddha, Udana-Varga5.1 whole Torah;all the rest is commentary.
Goand learn it. Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath31a
Christianity
In everything, do to others asyou would have them do to Sikhism
you; for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus, Matthew I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed,
7:12 I am a friend to all.
GuruGranthSahib, pg. 1299
Confucianism
One word which sumsup the basis of all good conduct....loving- Taoism
kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to Regard your neighbour's gain asyour own gain and your
yourself. Confucius, Analects15.23 neighbour's lossasyour own loss. LaoTzu, T'ai ShangKan
YingP'ien, 213-218
Hinduism
This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause Zoroastrianism
pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517 Do not do unto otherswhatever is injurious to yourself.
Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29
Employee Rights & Duties (Crane & Matten)

• Right to participation
RIGHTS
• Right to freedom of
• Right to freedom from
conscience and speech
discrimination
• Right to due process • Right to privacy

• Right to healthy and safe working DUTIES

conditions • Duty to comply with labour
• Right to fair wages contract (performance, loyalty…
• Right to work whistleblowing?)

• Right to collective bargaining • Duty to comply with the law

and association; right to • Duty to respect the employer’s
withdraw labour
property
Seven steps of ethical decision making
as defined by Wilcox

Step 1: Assessing the situation

Step 2: Assumptions and worldviews
Step 3: Principles, duties and care needs
Step 4: Process, Outcomes and Consequences
Step 5: Character factors
Step 6: Comprehensive assessment
Step 7: Justify your decision
What is the case study about?

James Hardie reminds us, it is not just a legal story nor a

human story but a story of both

It becomes a stark reminder of why businesses

need to think about today and tomorrow.
Applying the frameworks to the case
study:
You can see that deontology or teleology could give a
different or similar answers.
But using the seven steps you start a holistic appraisal still
informed by ethical frameworks on your actions enabling you
to make decisions that are informed and considered.
Linking to stakeholders, it also reminds us why stakeholders
are more than employees or shareholders
Justice
• Fair treatment and due reward in
accordance with ethical / legal standards

Type
Distributive Based on the evaluation of outcomes or
results
Procedural Based on processes and activities that
produce the outcomes/ results
Interactional Based on relationships and the treatment
of others
Virtue theories

• The morality of an action is determined by the

virtuousness of the person rather than the
consequences or principles of duty / justice.
• What makes a ‘good’ person? A ‘good’ organisation?

• Examples: loyalty, courage, self-control, generosity,

compassion, community, truthfulness, faith, justice,
integrity, fairness, respect, trust, empathy
Virtues that support business
Trust Confidence in behaviour of others
Self-control To give up short term self-interest for long term benefits

Empathy To share the feelings or emotions of others

Fairness To deal equitably
Truthfulness Provide facts or correct information/ avoiding deception

Learning Gain knowledge to make better, more informed

decisions
Gratitude Recognition that people do not succeed alone
Civility Courtesy, politeness, respect, consideration of others

Moral leadership Strength of character

Ethics in Action: Generative AI has a number of
ethical considerations:

• Humans are responsible for output and actions, machines cannot be

• The information is scraped from other information – no fact checking
has been undertaken
• The information it draws from is historically biased
• The information may be out of date (Chat GPT 3 has had no internet
access since 2021)
• Ownership and acknowledgement of the information obtained
• Is it your work if a machine produced it – perhaps you are only the
prompt engineer not the author?
• Do we want to live in a world where machines do things without human
oversight or intervention?
Bringing it all together –
what does this mean for us?
Consider the last 5 weeks
How have you changed in relation to actions ethically and / or
SDG informed?

Each week we have been identifying, analysing and then applying

models to what has occurred.

You are developing your skills to lead, inform and advise in an

ethically and socially responsible manner.

As you now start working on Assignment 2.

Assignment 2 is very different – it is about the process of creating a
report
Memo assignments – general feedback
Memo assignments
Will be returned on Friday around 1pm. Three (3) pieces of specific feedback will be provided:

1. In text
2. a general comment about what you did or needed to do related to the task
3. A rubric showing how you achieved each criteria

You will also receive an email from me related to how you are going overall in the course in
relation to this assignment.

All fails have been double marked

No one is to contact their tutor, me or the course about their marks. There is NO NEGOTIATION.

If you wish to discuss your assignment with your tutor you can contact them AFTER Monday at
noon.

They will arrange a meeting to discuss how to improve your work. No remarks unless you have:
spoken with your tutor and you can explain the difference between what was marked and where
you believe it to be incorrect