Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making
Mental Models, Milgram and the Problem of Obedience

An examination of how obedience affects and overpowers the ethics of decision-making in business, and how this can be overcome.

Patricia H. Werhane (Author), Laura Pincus Hartman (Author), Crina Archer (Author), Elaine E. Englehardt (Author), Michael S. Pritchard (Author)

9781107442054, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 June 2014

260 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.35 kg

'This book takes a bold leap from the traditional normative critiques of business ethics to address the perplexing interaction of ethics and mental framing. The authors are multi-talented and draw on the latest research in moral decision-making to meticulously reconstruct the origins of our moral knowledge base. The book's insights into classic business ethics examples invite ethicists and practitioners to escape the confines of their own epistemological boundaries to effect the breakthrough that the authors call 'moral imagination'.' Laura Nash, co-author of Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Work and Life

In commerce, many moral failures are due to narrow mindsets that preclude taking into account the moral dimensions of a decision or action. In turn, sometimes these mindsets are caused by failing to question managerial decisions from a moral point of view, because of a perceived authority of management. In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram conducted controversial experiments to investigate just how far obedience to an authority figure could subvert his subjects' moral beliefs. In this thought-provoking work, the authors examine the prevalence of narrow mental models and the phenomenon of obedience to an authority to analyse and understand the challenges which business professionals encounter in making ethical decisions. Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making proposes processes - including collaborative input and critique - by which individuals may reduce or overcome these challenges. It provides decision-makers at all levels in an organisation with the means to place ethical considerations at the heart of managerial decision-making.

1. Introduction
2. The role of mental models in social construction
3. The Milgram studies: obedience, disobedience, and ethical challenges
4. Obstacles to ethical decision-making in the perception of ethical context
5. Obstacles to ethical decision-making in impact analysis and action
6. Managing ethical obstacles
7. Problematic mental models: some applications
8. Conclusion
Author index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Business ethics & social responsibility [KJG], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]