Make an Ethical Difference by Mark Pastin

Author:Mark Pastin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

SITUATION #8 Dead River (continued)

The problem in the Dead River case is that holding the companies accountable today for what they did when they were run by different people with different employees punishes current managers, employees, and shareholders for deeds in which they had no part. On the other hand, if the companies are not held accountable, the people who live along the river will be punished for something they did not do, and companies will escape responsibility for their actions merely by outliving them. This dispute actually went to trial with the sides taking the above stances. A mistrial was declared. It became evident to the parties to this dispute that settling matters in court would serve no one’s purpose. This meant that the parties themselves had to reach agreement, which, to the surprise of many, they did. Because the ground rules of the two sides could not be brought into agreement, the two sides took the process to the next step, which is to look at the interests involved. The companies agreed to pay those who lived along the river a significant amount. While this amount was less than it would take to clean up the dioxin, it was enough to significantly help those affected by it. Even though there was no agreement on ground rules, it was possible to achieve agreement based on interests.

This is often the kind of agreement on ethical issues you can achieve. You have to allow for this kind of ethical agreement if you want to make an ethical difference in the real world. It may not please the philosophers and pundits, but it serves as the basis for taking action.

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