Ethics of change

1. Ethics of change Innovation, change, decision-making in international organisations SoSe 2004, Prof. Dr. Beneke Faye Surayan Tanja Mackensen Wiebke Keuneke

2. Ethics of Change Ethics and Philosophy Ethics and Innovation Ethics and Entrepreneurship Ethics and Culture

3. Ethics and Philosophy: Plato • “the good” • “virtuous habits of behaviour” • “mental powers” • “ideal society” Criticism • absolutism • Aristotle’s (348-322 BC) “Doctrine of the Mean”.

4. Ethics and Philosophy: Aristotle • 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

5. Ethics and Philosophy:Epicurus • “Hedonism” • “pleasure is the sole good” • dynamic pleasures” vs. “passive pleasures” Criticism • Doing as one pleases = World of Chaos

6. 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)

7. 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

8. Ethics applied Computer science ? Artificial intelligence ? Genetic engineering Nuclear energy ? Stemcell research Euthanasia ? ?

9. Ethics and Innovation I Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1883-1950) • Innovations: new combinations that devalue/degrade older combinations and replace them • “creative destruction“

10. 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“)

11. 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

12. Ethics and Innovation II • Ethics : A hindrance for innovations vs. • Ethics : A motivator for innovations

13. Ethics and Entrepreneurship • Ethical skills – knowledge – practise • Influence on innovative entrepreneurship • Economical performance of an achievement-oriented society

14. 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.“

15. 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?

16. Ethics and Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial actions Competence- Virtue Motivation- environment Rights- Morals/laws Ethics

17. 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?

18. 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“

19. 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

20. 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)

21. Ethics and Discussion Do you think it is possible at all to have universal/global ethics/morals/values in the form of rules?

22. Ethics and End Thank you very much for your attention and participation!

23. 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.uni-marburg.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)