Business Ethics Requires You to Become a Careful Thinker
Brian Berkey has a flip phone. Why would a Wharton School professor of legal studies and business ethics choose to forgo a connected smartphone? Like any good academic, he’s been watching the data.
Dr. Berkey has been in part influenced by the research of his department’s former PhD student Vikram R. Bhargava, who co-authored the study Ethics of the Attention Economy: the Problem of Social Media Addiction, published in Business Ethics Quarterly.
“There’s been some interesting discussion in business ethics about the ways in which tech firms are at least generally designing some of their products to be addictive,” notes Berkey, an expert in business and environmental ethics who specializes in moral and political philosophy. “With social media and smartphones, the goal is to keep people staring at a screen for as long as possible, and to get people basically addicted. The model is not so different from tobacco and gambling and these other kinds of things that are harmful to the people who end up [addicted]. There’s reason to believe that is where we are going to end up with some of these technologies. Even though we didn’t see it so clearly at the time, there’s something quite objectionable about deliberately designing products to get people addicted, even if those products are smartphones or social media platforms.”
Holding Companies Accountable
As a business ethicist and philosopher, Dr. Berkey thinks a lot about how people acting in positions within companies – like the CEO, for instance – should approach their decision-making, particularly around social justice issues like climate change, designing driverless cars, and creating potentially addictive or biased technologies.
So, who should hold a company accountable for the ethical standards around technological development? Often, the consumer plays a vital role. “What we might think of as the first line of defense, government regulation, lags behind the development of the technologies; governments are rarely prepared to effectively regulate new products, especially new technological developments in the early stages,” notes Berkey. “And then, there’s often debate for many years and pushback from the industry, when discussion of regulation gets going. So, in terms of who holds the companies accountable, I think the only plausible answer is that it’s all of us.” Screentime monitors and less-addictive grayscale screens are examples, he adds, of early consumer-driven solutions.
The ethics of technology – from product development and algorithmic discrimination to surveillance and privacy – is ripe for discussion and debate in business-ethics circles these days. And it is just one of many topics that Berkey and his Wharton colleagues are considering as they explore doing the right thing in the context of business.
Amy Sepinwall, a Wharton associate professor of legal studies and business ethics, uses her background in both law and philosophy to help students begin to think foundationally about right and wrong and to understand moral theories and moral justice.
“A lot of people who are not working in business and who didn’t have a business education believe that any 18-year-old who wants to go to business school as opposed to studying film theory or something must be a moral monster. That’s radically unfair to these students.” –Wharton Professor, Amy Sepinwall
“Sometimes I think it’s easiest to define business ethics not as what someone ought to do in business, morally speaking, but instead what are some of the typical questions that we should think about related to business and ethics,” notes Sepinwall. “Some of those include: What should the purpose of a corporation be; should it be run just in the interest of shareholders or in the interest of wider society? How should managers treat their workers, from equality in the workplace to the degree of oversight over employees? What is a fair distribution of profits among stakeholders? What are corporations’ obligations to the global poor if they have particular competencies, expertise or even drugs that are too expensive for people in developing countries to afford? How should we understand the market and the limits of the market? Even if people are willing to buy certain things, does that mean they should be bought and sold, like organs or surrogacy?”
Much of Dr. Sepinwall’s recent research focuses on corporate constitutional rights and gender and racial justice, specifically corporations with conscientious commitments that sometimes interfere with people’s equality interests. What gets her students going? Thinking about the rights of business owners relative to the rights of customers.
“A very current issue in the law is around people who work in the wedding industry and don’t want to have to provide their services for same-sex couples,” says Sepinwall, who has closely followed the case of Masterpiece Cakes (Masterpiece Cakeshop) v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. “The piece I’m working on right now is precisely on that issue: To what extent if at all should the government [consent] to the interests of certain business owners not to have to provide their goods and services for same sex couples? Should a baker be able to refuse to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding because he opposes the wedding on religious grounds?”
A Force for Good
While going deep into discussions about these dilemmas, Dr. Sepinwall observes that students are “unavoidably drawn” to wanting to know what the law says about ethically charged issues. They believe that the law will always step in to make sure nothing bad happens. As both a lawyer and a philosopher, she pushes back on that idea. “They think that if something really is immoral, then a law will prohibit it,” says Sepinwall. “In business ethics we have to say no to that. At best, the law is providing a floor, and sometimes the right thing to do is not the thing that you are legally required to do, but it is still the thing you ought to do anyway.”
Thinking analytically is an important skill for contemplating the ethical issues facing business, notes Sepinwall, who adds that the Wharton undergrads taking her classes often welcome the vibrance of business-ethics discussions alongside their finance requirements. She thinks it’s equally important for students to check in with yourself as a way to maintain your integrity. Who are you? What do you care about? Why are you making a particular decision?
From where she stands, the next generation of business leaders, while not always willing to voice moral judgment, is both earnest and ethical. “A lot of people who are not working in business and who didn’t have a business education believe that any 18-year-old who wants to go to business school as opposed to studying film theory or something must be a moral monster,” observes Sepinwall. “That’s radically unfair to these students. I think they see working in business as a way of making the world better. Sometimes that’s for lofty reasons, like providing clean water in developing countries. Maybe they want to make the next iPhone, which is massively important to the world too. They see business as a force for good.”
Dr. Berkey also wants to stress that ethics is not always about acting in accordance with your conscience. Instead, he spends a lot of time asking whether his inclinations are getting things right. “In scholarly business ethics, we take seriously the possibility that we might be wrong, listen to other people and try to be open-minded. The most important thing to consider is whether we ought to change our thinking.”
Conversation Starters
Wharton’s Brian Berkey says, “There’s something quite objectionable about deliberately designing products to get people addicted, even if those products are smartphones or social media platforms.” Do you agree with his perspective that these tech innovations are addictive and ultimately harmful to society? Share your thoughts in the comment section of this article.
Have you wrestled with an ethical issue that required deep thought and consideration about doing the right thing, either in business or otherwise? Share your story in the comment thread of this article.
Dr. Amy Sepinwall believes that younger generations see business as a force for good. Would you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?
I do agree , because it’s a ethical thing and force is a good reason
I can see where the idea that tech innovation can become addictive and ultimately harmful because, in the past few years, there has been an increase in mental health issues, especially during the COVID period. Another thing that was seen through this period, was the increase in the use of cellphones which can be seen as an addictive habit, which is not good. Furthermore, I recently faced the ethical dilemma of keeping the secret from my roommate that she was going to let go of her job. The reason for not telling her was because it was an internal decision that I was informed of and trusted with. Although I did want to tell her because I would want someone to tell me that I was going to be terminated if they knew, I did end up honoring the confidentially placed in me. Lastly, I agree with Sepinwall’s assessment because we can now see more companies focusing on sustainability and their impact as a company. As part of a younger generation, I can see my generation leading businesses that have a great focus on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics. We have different prioritizations and will implement a more ethical approach in companies.
It is concerning when products are designed to be addictive. Such addictive products can affect your mental health and overall well-being. Phones today are essential to everyone’s daily lives. I am at fault for this too because there are times I am constantly on my phone or when I cannot find it, it is like I go into a panic because I feel like I always need my phone. This is not healthy, and I have taken notice of that and tried to restrict my screen time on my phone to help me with this. In today’s world phones are especially addictive, especially with the younger generation. I remember when I was younger, I did not have a phone until I was in high school. Kids now in first grade have the newest iPhone and cannot live without them because they become so addicted to them. For example, I recently went to a family event where I saw my little cousins glued to their phones and were socially awkward. When I was younger all my cousins and I would play board games, play tag, hide, and seek, or do some kind of activity because we loved being outside. This has all changed because kids would rather be on their phones than be active and go outside. Being on your phone at such an early age causes kids to grow up always needing a screen to look at, creates social isolation, and can even impact their ability to focus. Many people depend on their phones for everything, and this can be an extremely challenging thing to break.
I once dealt with an ethical issue that left me to think long and hard about doing the right thing. My girlfriend had come to me about an argument she was having with her mom and left her really upset. While listening to the argument I had realized that my girlfriend was wrong in the argument with her mom, but I did not know what to tell her. I did not want her to feel like I was going against her and feel like she was not being heard. I also did not want to lie to her and just agree and go along with what she says when I do not believe that is true. Although doing the right thing is telling her the truth about how she was wrong in the situation I also did not want it to come off like I am not being there for her by disagreeing with her. It left me in a position where I would either make her upset or be dishonest with her. Eventually I did the right thing and was honest with her about what I thought and made it clear to her that I was not taking sides. I also reassured her that I understood where she came from and why she was upset about the argument. Instead of just disagreeing with her and saying she was wrong I simply gave her another perspective on the argument.
I completely agree with the assessment by Dr. Amy Sepinwall. Younger generations are more focused on doing the right thing and helping each other rather than using each other. People are paying more attention to the negative impact businesses can have on society and are using their voices to change this and promote sustainability which will benefit everyone. People are demanding businesses to be more responsible and contribute to helping the environment instead of destroying it. Many people who take notice of businesses who are doing things that are unethical stand up and use their voice to fight against these businesses. Many people have led boycotts or protests to change the ways of business that are unfair and unjust to society. Some people have even taken it upon themselves to create businesses or organizations that their focus is to help those in need or lead environmentally friendly practices to help benefit society and morally do the right thing. Younger generations know the positive impact businesses can have and how much they can truly help with social issues, environmental issues, and economic issues across the world.