Transcript Ethics of change - Uni

Ethics of change
Innovation, change, decision-making in
international organisations
SoSe 2004, Prof. Dr. Beneke
Faye Surayan
Tanja Mackensen
Wiebke Keuneke
Ethics of Change
Ethics and Philosophy
Ethics and Innovation
Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Ethics and Culture
Ethics and Philosophy:
Plato
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“the good”
“virtuous habits of behaviour”
“mental powers”
“ideal society”
Criticism
 absolutism
 Aristotle’s (348-322 BC) “Doctrine of the Mean”.
Ethics and Philosophy: Aristotle
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The good life for man is a life of happiness.
to achieve happiness, men must act moderately
virtues of moderation
the golden mean: courage, liberality, pride
Criticism
 Cases of telling the truth or keeping a promise
Ethics and Philosophy:
Epicurus
 “Hedonism”
 “pleasure is the sole good”
 dynamic pleasures” vs. “passive pleasures”
Criticism
 Doing as one pleases = World of Chaos
Ethics and Philosophy:
Bentham + Mill
 Utilitarianism: “Principle of Utility”
 Many parallels towards the idea of democracy:
-> each man counts equally before the law
-> rule by the majority
Criticism
 “some people are inherently more important than
others, and that their happiness or unhappiness
counts more than that of the average man”
(Nietzsche)
Ethics and Philosophy:
Kant
 presence of an obligation = ones duty
 absence of an obligation = matter of inclination
 “Categorical Imperative”:
one should always act as if every action were to
become a universal law
Criticism
 neglected the conflict of duties
Ethics applied
?
Computer
science
Artificial
intelligence
Genetic
engineering
Nuclear
energy
?
?
?
Stemcell
research
Euthanasia
?
Ethics and Innovation I
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1883-1950)
 Innovations: new combinations that
devalue/degrade older combinations and
replace them
 “creative destruction“
Ethics and Innovation I
Schumpeter‘s “Unternehmer“
 a leader (“Führerschaft“) in the field of
economics
 Someone “carries out new combinations“
 decision maker
 Motivations: Power & Influence rather than
duties (“Siegerwillen“, “Erfolghabenwollen“)
Ethics and Innovation I
Schumpeter‘s “Unternehmer“
 What are the consequences of carrying out “new
combinations“ and “creative destruction“?
 Who is affected by the consequences?
 Criticism on Schumpeter: Ethical questions are not
mentioned
Ethics and Innovation II
 Ethics : A hindrance for innovations
vs.
 Ethics : A motivator for innovations
Ethics and Entrepreneurship
 Ethical skills – knowledge – practise
 Influence on innovative
entrepreneurship
 Economical performance of an
achievement-oriented society
Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Different statements to those questions:
 Daoists: Finding the way (dao) by indefatigable
practise
 Aristotle: Gap between knowledge and action
 Nietzsche:“Der Moralität geht der Zwang voraus, ja
sie selber ist noch eine Zeitlang Zwang, dem man
sich, zur Vermeidung der Unlust, fügt. Später wird sie
Sitte, noch später freier Gehorsam.“
Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Two faces of ethical practise:
 Explicit ethics:
norms, rights, laws
 Implicit ethics:
private ethics, virtues, reflections about moral
What kind of person do I want to be?
Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial actions
CompetenceVirtue
Motivationenvironment
RightsMorals/laws
Ethics
Test
 Do you think it is okay to evade taxes?
 Having insider information, would you consider
doing stock exchange business?
(staying 100 % anonymous)
 As the CEO of a company, would you accept a
hundredfold salary than a normal employee earns?
 Your company wants to release a new product that
would drive your competitor bankrupt and leaves a
lot of people unemployed,
To do or not to do?
Ethics and Culture I
“Klon des Erfolgs“
 Stemcell research in Asia
 Private sponsors, Donation of eggcells
 Korea: 3% of the Gross Domestic Product for
education and research
 Liberal laws concerning research
 Asian Ethics of Medicine: Healths of patients value
more than the embryos
 “ Die haben keine Hemmungen vor neuen
Technologien“ , “Die sind hoch innovativ“
Ethics and Culture II
 Openness towards innovation
Example: Asian Countries
 Values behind the openness
Confucius: knowledge as the highest good
 Cultural Dimensions
Collectivism vs. Individualism
High Context vs. Low Context Societies
Ethics and Culture III
 10 commandments
 Human rights
 Ethikrat des Bundestages
 European Group on Ethics of Sciences and New
Technologies (European Commission)
 World Commission on Ethics of Sciences and New
Technologies (COMEST)
Ethics and Discussion
Do you think it is possible at all to have
universal/global ethics/morals/values
in the form of rules?
Ethics and End
Thank you very much for your
attention and participation!
Bibliography
Comission of the European Commmunities, Commission Working Document “Science, Society
and the citizen in Europe“, Brussels (14.11.2000)
URL: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/area/science-society-en.pdf (23.Juli 2004)
Hall, Edward T.: “The Dance of Life“, Anchor Books, New York (1983)
Hofstede, Geert: “Cultures and Organiszations“, HarperCollinsBusiness, London (1994)
Lenk, Hans (Hrsg.):“Wissenschaft und Ethik“, Reclam, Stuttgart (1991)
Leube, Kurt R. (Hrsg.): “The Essence of J.A. Schumpeter: Die wesentlichen Texte“, MANZ, Wien
(1996)
Precht, Folkert: “Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Wissenschaftsethik und Gestaltung des sozialen
Wandels“ aus unesco heute online, Ausgabe 11-12, November / Dezember 2003
URL: http://www.unesco-heute.de/1103/gksc.htm (30. Mai 2004)
Röpke, Jochen: “Der ethische Unternehmer: Ethik und Innovation in einer unternehmerischen
Wissensgesellschaft“
URL:http://www.wiwi.unimarburg.de/Lehrstuehle/VWL/WITHE03/documents/unternehm.pdf (24.März. 2004)
Sentker, Andreas: “Klon des Erfolgs“, DIE ZEIT Nr.9 (19.Februar 2004)
Weber, Susanne: “Innovation und schöpferische Zerstörung, Fragen zu einem Leitbegriff
moderner ökonomischer Strategien“
URL: http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/PRPH/webinn.pdf (28. Mai. 2004)