Answer questions based on the podcast and article (link below).
- Planet Money Podcast - "Why People Do Bad Things": http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/17/150815268/why-people-do-bad-things
- Links to an external site.
- Slate - "Can You Train Business School Students to Be Ethical": http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/2012/09/business_school_and_ethics_can_we_train_mbas_to_do_the_right_thing_.html
- Links to an external site.
WHY:
Research done by behavioral psychologists and economists over the past 15 years has changed our view on ethical behavior. They have found that most unethical behavior is the result of our "ethical blind spots". This leads to the all too common phenomenon of "good people doing bad things". As future leaders of organizations you need to understand how this happens, and how you - as a leader - might be able steer behavior toward more ethical ends.
- From "Can You Train Business School Students to Be Ethical": A "new generation" of psychologists is thinking about creating ethical leaders and their thinking is based on a different premise. What is the premise?
- From "Why People Do Bad Things": Lamar Pierce notes most people would say they would never behave like Toby, and they would be wrong. He goes on to note that the assumption that we would not do wrong is based on a flawed premise. What is this flawed premise?
- From "Can You Train Business School Students to Be Ethical": Why do accounting, finance, and marketing professors need to incorporate ethics into their classes?
- From "Why People Do Bad Things": What are some concrete proposals to get people to account for the ethical weaknesses or blind spots?
- From "Can You Train Business School Students to Be Ethical": A) What was the result of moving the signature on an expense report from the end of the form to the beginning of the form? B) Why did it lead to this result?
- From "Why People Do Bad Things": The podcast noted Toby needed help from people both within his company and outside his company to pull off his fraud. Why were these people willing to help him?