Ethics Week 7 – Reputational Capital
Another word for reputational capital would be "social capital" which alerts us that, although our reputation is part of who we are, in another very real sense our reputation is constructed in the minds of others. That which is revealed by our decisions becomes part of our reputation. If our decision is received well by others, then our reputational capital increases. If our decision is received badly, our reputational capital decreases. In Chapter 6, Become Who You Are, we are reminded that our reputation is not static, nor pre-ordained, nor entirely in the hands of others; we can take an active role in deciding who we wish to be.
Self-Serving Bias-The tendency we have to process info, gather info, and remember it in such a manner to advance our self-interests and support our pre-existing views. Even when people try to be fair and impartial, their judgments are inevitably shaded by their own self-interest, in ways that seem indefensible to others. Affects the information that we seek out and how we process it. Scientists review articles they will tend to conclude those supporting their pre-existing point of views are stronger than those opposing their POV. Our interests cloud our ethical judgments.
Over-Confidence Bias- Good Character can be overmined by over confidence. Over confident execs with unrealistic beliefs about future performance more likely to commit financial fraud (fraud will be only way to deliver promises). Ethical overconfidenceENRON
Three Stories of Practical Wisdom
“Practical Wisdom is the combination of moral skill and moral will.”
Practical Wisdom 1-
Wisdom is a way of seeing the world that depends on a combination of formal knowledge and embodied knowledge where:
- formal knowledge might be described as “things we know” or “know what”
- Embodied knowledge is “things we know how to do” or “know how”
Practical Wisdom 2-

Practical Wisdom 3:

Typical Rationalizations
A rationalization is an excuse we make to justify behavior that we know to be unethical. Ethics scholars have noted a number of common rationalizations including the following identified by Mary Gentile. Expected or Standard Practice | “Everyone does this, so it’s really standard practice. It’s even expected.” | Materiality | “The impact of this action is not material. It doesn’t really hurt anyone.” | Locus of Responsibility | “This is not my responsibility; I’m just following orders here.” | Locus of Loyalty | “I know this isn’t quite fair to the customer but I don’t want to hurt my reports/team/boss/company.” | (Source: “Ways of Thinking About Our Values”, Mary C. Gentile, p23.)
Here is another longer list of rationalizations from an article entitled "Business as Usual" (Anand, Ashforth & Joshi, 2005). Strategy | Description | Examples | Denial of responsibility | The actors engaged in corrupt behaviours perceive that they have no other choice than to participate in such activities | “What can I do? My arm is being twisted.”“It is none of my business what the corporation does in overseas bribery.” | Denial of injury | The actors are convinced that no one is harmed by their actions; hence the actions are not really corrupt. | “No one was really hurt.”“It could have been worse.” | Denial of victim | The actors counter any blame for their actions by arguing that the violated party deserved whatever happened. | “They deserved it.”“They chose to participate.” | Social weighting | The actors assume two practices that moderated the salience of corrupt behaviour: 1. Condemn the condemner; 2. Selective social comparison. | “You have no right to criticize us.”“Others are worse than we are.” | Appeal to higher loyalties | The actors argue that their violation of norms is due to their attempt to realize a higher-order value. | “We answered to a more important cause.”“I would not report it because of loyalty to my boss.” | Metaphor of the ledger | The actors argue that