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Alaina Faye Molle

Moral Myopia and Ethical Fading 

Moral myopia is highlighted by a constant disconnect between behavior and the words of virtue that the individual or industry claims to embrace(Plaisance, 2015).  Through moral myopia, individuals and industries simply have no awareness of entire dimensions of moral behavior (Plaisance, 2015). Two strategies to combat moral myopia include asking for and listening to external opinions, and also using moral frameworks like deontology. 

Ethical fading is very similar to moral myopia. The most significant difference is that while under moral myopia there is no recognition of an ethical dimension, under ethical fading recognition of an ethical dimension fades under the pressure of other influences such as a high pressure boss or a sales quota (UT McCombs School of Business, 2019c). People under the influence of ethical fading are engaging in a form of self-deception, blinded to ethical components of life or business (UT McCombs School of Business, 2019c). Two strategies to combat ethical fading again includes asking for and listening to external opinions, as well as introspection by leaders to self-evaluate if ethical components that used to seem important might have fallen to the wayside under the pressures of life.

Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of Interest are “a set of conditions in which professional judgement concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) tends to be unduly influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain)” according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (Smith, 2006). These conflicts are nearly universal as sales seeks to influence the decisions of purchase makers and decision makers everywhere (Smith, 2006). Two strategies to combat conflicts of interest include strict rules for reporting of gifts and screening for high risk individuals who may be vulnerable to compromise, such as is done though the security clearance screening process in the military. 

Conformity Bias, Moral Muteness, Groupthink

Conformity bias is the habit of people to assume that the behavior of the majority is as moral as it is normal (UT McCombs School of Business, 2019g). Two strategies to combat conformity bias are to objectively evaluate actions according to a moral framework such as deontology, and for leaders to maintain a strong moral compass (Hill, 2017).

Moral muteness makes a dangerous combination with conformity bias, as it is the tendency of people to see unethical actions or behavior and subsequently ignore it or say nothing. Two strategies to combat moral muteness are educational classes such as Ethics in Leadership, and public awareness campaigns to shift public opinion such as was seen following #MeToo scandals.

Groupthink is similar again to conformity bias and is the tendency to adopt a herd mentality, where people will adopt an answer even when they know it is wrong due to a desire to conform to the group. Two strategies to combat groupthink are the cultivation of leadership skills and an open door policy by leaders and senior leaders.

Deontology

Deontology is the ethical theory that the morality of actions should be measured by the actions themselves and nominally, that actions should be universally adoptable and lead to a better world (Six Religions, 2014). Two lessons from deontology that can help create an ethical culture are that everyone should be able to participate in evaluating behavior as ethical or unethical, and by promoting the idea that people should treat each other how they themselves would want to be treated. This in turn creates an ethical environment because people will think about how they would want to be treated. 

Utilitarianism 

Furthermore, Utilitarianism aims to create outcomes that maximize goodness or utility for the largest number of people (Six Religions, 2014). Two lessons from utilitarianism that can help create an ethical environment are that sometimes the maximum good for a society is best achieved after some sacrifice of smaller organizations and second that organizations exist inside of a larger world and that societal good cannot be ignored when making business decisions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper has briefly defined each ethical concern and identified some strategies to help leaders minimize the amount of risks occurring at their organization.

References

Hill, L. A. (2017, January 11). The most overlooked leadership skill? Having a moral compass. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/the-most-overlooked-leadership-skill-having-a-moral-compass

Plaisance, P. L. (2015). Advertisers still suffer from ‘moral myopia.’ Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/virtue-in-the-media-world/201511/advertisers-still-suffer-moral-myopia

Six Religions. (2014, February 20). Moral philosophy – Deontology vs. utilitarianism [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/aDMedWiZ_I

Smith, R. (2006). Conflicts of interest: How money clouds objectivity. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 99(6), 292-297. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1472724

UT McCombs School of Business. (2019c, February 19). Concepts Unwrapped | Ethical fading [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/UdU4VZqRIO0

UT McCombs School of Business. (2019g, February 19). Concepts Unwrapped | Conformity bias [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/h9McrEaovu