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Behavioral ethics is a new field of social scientific research that seeks to understand how people
actually behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas. It refers to behavior that is judged according
to generally accepted norms of behavior.
1)Altruism-Altruism means acting in the best interest of others rather than in one’s own self-interest.
Some people believe altruism constitutes the essence of morality.
Altruism builds social connections. For example, studies show that people who are altruistic tend to
be happier, to be healthier, and to live longer.
So, while altruism leads us to do what’s best for others, it also makes us feel good in the process.
2) Corporate Social Responsibility- Corporate Social Responsibility, or “CSR,” refers to the need for
businesses to be good corporate citizens. CSR involves going beyond the law’s requirements in
protecting the environment and contributing to social welfare. It is widely accepted as an obligation
of modern business.
CSR goes beyond earning money for shareholders. It’s concerned with protecting the interests of all
stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which businesses
operate. Examples of CSR include adopting humane employee practices, caring for the environment,
and engaging in philanthropic endeavors.
Some people contend that companies owe no duty to society outside making as much money as
possible within the law. But those who support Corporate Social Responsibility believe that companies
should pursue a deeper purpose beyond simply maximizing profits.
3)Loss Aversion-Loss aversion is the notion that people hate losses more than they enjoy gains.
Studies show that people are more likely to lie and cheat to avoid losing something they already have
than to acquire it in the first place. For example, say a person makes an innocent mistake. Then, to
avoid injury to her reputation, she may intentionally lie to cover it up.
The desire to keep what one already has can be overwhelming. Indeed, the natural aversion to loss
can lead us to make unethical and illegal choices that, ironically, might be costlier in the long run.
4)Framing -A frame of reference, or point of view, refers to the way we look at a given situation. How
a person views that situation can affect her understanding of the facts and influence how she
determines right from wrong.
Some frames minimize or even omit the ethical aspects of a decision. For example, studies show that
if people are prompted to frame a situation only in terms of money or economic interests, they often
leave out ethical considerations.
So, by remembering to consider the ethical implications of any situation, we can keep ethics in our
frame of reference when making decisions.
Studies show that we can easily see how the self-serving bias affects others’ actions, but we have
difficulty realizing how it affects our own.
So, the self-serving bias often blinds us to the ways in which we are prejudice in favor of ourselves.
Indeed, it can cause even the most well-intentioned of us to completely overlook our own bad actions.
7)Moral Licensing-Moral licensing claims that engaging in moral behavior makes people feel
“licensed” to compensate by subsequently engaging in morally questionable or even unethical
behavior
8)Passive stakeholders- They Lie low / Do not normally seek to participate in an organization's policy
making/ do not interfere with the Organization’s decision-making process. e.g. most shareholders,
government, local communities.
9)Moral Myopia-Moral myopia refers to the inability to see ethical issues clearly.
The term, describes what happens when we do not recognize the moral implications of a problem or
we have a distorted moral vision. An extreme version of moral myopia is called moral blindness.
Moral myopia is closely related to ethical fading. In both cases, people’s perception of reality becomes
altered so that ethical issues are indistinct and hidden from view.
10)Tangible and abstract-The bias of tangible and abstract describes the fact that people are
influenced more by what is immediately observable than by factors that are hypothetical or distant,
such as something that could happen in the future or is happening far away.
For example, people may make decisions about natural resources without adequately considering the
impact those decisions may have on future generations, or on people in other countries.
So, the principle of the tangible and abstract underscores how we can become blind to the negative
consequences of our actions. Indeed, we make moral errors by discounting factors outside our
immediate frame of reference.
11)Conflict of interest-A conflict of interest arises when what is in a person’s best interest is not in the
best interest of another person or organization to which that individual owes loyalty.
A conflict of interest can also exist when a person must answer to two different individuals or groups
whose needs are at odds with each other. In this case, serving one individual or group will injure the
other.
So, those of us who wish to be ethical people must consciously avoid situations where we benefit
ourselves by being disloyal to others.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
Professional ethics establishes a baseline for common decency, respect, fairness and integrity in a
professional environment.
It serves as the invisible glue for the community of entrepreneurs, leaders and businesses.
The questionnaire aims to entail all the factors related to ethics to give us a clearer picture of how
ethics are perceived and performed in the professional world.
It also analyses different aspects of the theory of nudging, its positive and negative impact.
The interviews have been conducted with different professionals on ethical issues.
Difference in ethical values in different organisations. Every organisation has different set of
rules and principles which may differ from another organisation.
Examining the extent to which ethics are important in a given profession. There a few
professions where ethics is the basis. For example- social work, defence etc. Whereas there
are a few professions where ethics are merely a set of rules to be followed.
Analysing all kinds of biases people face at work place. Every professional face certain
biases/dilemma at some stage. How to deal with it is the question.
Examining the solutions to ethical dilemmas. One problem can have a hundred solutions.
Choosing the best one to deal with ethical dilemma is a tough call.
Analysing the involvement of stakeholders (Mendelow’s matrix)
Analysing variety of perceptions on nudge theory as manipulation or a motivation. Examining
the positive and negative impact of nudge theory.
INDIVIDUAL REPORTS
1) SUKUN KHEMANI
FY BBA-B
B-051
Data:
80% of the people said that they faced conflict of interest often.
20% of the people said that it did not occur often.
Analysis:
Q2 Is it difficult for you to help your employees to focus on abstract goals rather than tangible goals?
Data:
Analysis:
Tangible goals are short term goals/targets that we can see. Abstract goals are long term goals
that are not visible.
Majority said yes because people tend to do things or are more influenced by what is visible.
Minority said no because they felt tangible goals are equally important. EG: achieving weekly
targets.
Analysis:
People who said yes mentioned that pay for performance schemes motivates employees and
some of them could even personally relate to it.
People who said no reasoned that after a point of time it is unethical. Giving someone
incentives for your benefit is not quite right.
Q4 Do you think being in association with another organization having moral myopia makes you
unethical as well?
Data:
Analysis:
Everyone justified their answer by saying, as long as we are true to ourselves as individuals,
nothing can make us unethical. One of them gave an example by saying that supposing you
have a friend that smokes, would that mean you are unethical?
One of them highlighted that passive stakeholders might think so because they are not
involved much but that is not the case.
Data:
All of them said passive stakeholders should be involved more in the working of the
organisation.
None of them disregarded their involvement.
Analysis:
Data:
Analysis:
Reason for saying that the performance will increase was that if the organisation only focuses
on its goals and targets, it will certainly grow.
Some of them said that the performance will increase but organisations are not only for profit
and growth but they also have to cater the environment and society.
Q7 When do you think people are more vulnerable to moral licensing? How can you guard against
being the victim of moral licensing?
Data:
Analysis:
It is term used when our brain gives us a free pass to do something immoral when we have
done some honourable thing to balance the moral equilibrium.
Most of them said that when people have done many good(moral) things, they are vulnerable
to moral licensing.
They said people can guard against it by not counting the number of good things which they
have done.
Data:
Analysis:
They have been nudged by seeing others perform better and by motivation
Rest have nudged their colleagues through information sharing and motivation.
Q9 How often do you think social and organizational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
Data:
All of them said that social and organisational pressures contribute to unethical behaviour
very of often.
Analysis:
Q10 How do you think advertisers use framing to affect the public’s decision?
Data:
Analysis:
Data:
Analysis:
Majority said no giving the reason that you cannot do a right thing in a wrong way.
Rest of them said it depends on the situation and sometimes these types of actions have to
be taken.
Data:
Analysis:
Majority said yes stating the reason that nudging can make us do things that we don’t want
to do so it is a kind of manipulation.
Rest said no stating the reason that if be alert of our surroundings, we can’t be manipulated.
Q13 Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
Data:
Analysis:
Majority said that it increases our ability to solve the problem as we get a kick start by a nudge
and we feel motivated.
Rest of them agreed to the statement because they said nudging can be used in a negative
way and it may reduce our ability to solve a problem.
Q14 What do you think is the basis of CSR? Altruism or mainly a compulsion?
Data:
Analysis:
Majority said it is a mix of both as CSR needs both Altruism and mainly compulsion.
Some said it is only Altruism as thinking about others only leads to implementation of social
responsibility.
Rest said it is mainly a compulsion because most organisations are mainly focused on gains.
Q15 What steps do you think can be taken to avoid unethical decisions due to loss aversion?
Data:
Analysis:
Q16 Do you know people who seem to remember the past events in their life that put themselves in
favourable light?
Data:
Analysis:
People who responded said that they know a few instances where they have seen
people in powerful positions because they remember things quite well.
It gives them an upper hand always.
Data:
Analysis:
2) TRIPTI BANKA
FYBBA-B
B-052
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
The questions asked while conducting the interviews and their respective analysis is as follows-
Is it difficult for you to help your employees focus on abstract goals rather than tangible goals?
ALL OF THEM SAID THAT ITS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO MAKE THEIR EMPLOYEES FOCUS ON
ABSTRACT GOALS RATHER THAN TANGIBLE GOALS.
ANALYSIS
➢ The fact that the abstract goals are abstract becomes a lot more difficult for the
employees to think about it in the first place as there is no actual number to fetch.
Analysing the abstract goals and converting it to deliverable numbers is
the means resorted to in this scenario.
➢ Abstract goals can mainly be related to the vision of an organisation. Just as a vision
of an organisation is more futuristic and farfetched employees don’t care about them
most of the time.
➢ With experience comes the ability to forecast. Also, as a manager goes high with his
experience, he tends to be clearer in his vision and the abstract factors that might
affect the future of the organisation.
How do you think self- serving bias as an organisation affects the performance of the organisation?
ALMOST ALL OF THEM NEARLY SAID THAT IT EXERTS AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON THE WORKING OF
ORGANISATIONS.
ANALYSIS
➢ Sometimes the employees tend to get so embedded on an idea or a mission that their
logic and number go for a toss and they start believing what they have committed to
and then self-serving bias takes over and affects the performance of the organisation
as a whole.
➢ In an organisation it’s not only a person delivering towards the growth of it but several
teams of people. If self-serving bias is in play the employees tend to believe what they
want to and it affects the work done by the team and corrodes the integrity of the
team at the same time.
How often do you think social and organisational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
65%- Sometimes, not always
35%-Often
ANALYSIS
➢ If an organisation is very clear in its values and its core purpose is well defined, then
ethical violations do not occur due to social and organisational pressure. So, in that
case if the values are correct and circulated to the bottom most hierarchy chances of
ethical violations are far and few.
➢ In most of the cases, greater impact is caused by social pressure rather than
organisational pressure. As organisational pressure can be diverted by tackling the
problem in a right way whereas social pressure which often includes conformity bias
makes an employee’s decision change.
What steps do you think should be taken to avoid unethical means due to loss aversion?
ANALYSIS
➢ Loss aversion per say is a natural human tendency where people weigh their gains
much more than their losses. One appropriate way to avoid the unethical means is by
teaching them about loss aversion and how it affects their decision making.
➢ Other behavioural ways of priming might just reduce the extent to which loss aversion
peeps into someone’s psyche but making them understand is the best possible way.
➢ Ignoring the losses in the course of life and understanding that they are a part of
whatever we do can help people to avoid unethical means.
How do you think advertisers use framing to affect the public’s decision?
ANALYSIS
➢ They use it to opinionated people about the product.
➢ During advertising hooks is what marketers use the most. It can be visual hooks, verbal
hooks. They use these hooks and instigates emotions into a prospect’s perception. It
plays with the customer’s psychological needs.
➢ They pitch the idea of a product with tempt statements where the people necessarily
feel good about the product and decides to experiment it.
14%-YES
72%-NO
14%-SOMETIMES
Is it difficult for you to make your employees focus on abstract goals as well as tangible goals?
14%-YES
29%-NO
57%-SOMETIMES
62%-YES
25%-NO
13%-MAYBE
Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
28%-YES
29%-NO
43%-SOMETIMES
25%-POSITIVE WAY
80%-Often
20%-Rarely
When people suffer from superiority complex and think they are above others
When people become overfriendly and don’t mind doing something wrong to others
afterwards.
How do you think advertisers use framing in order to influence the viewers? Do you think
it is ethical?
Majority said that it is their job to sell products by hook or by crook. It is not unethical as long
as you are adhering to the professional ethics.
Minority said that in specific cases they cross the ethical line, like while advertising the
negative externalities.
Most of them said that they are mainly important for the big businesses.
Others said that they are important in all kinds of businesses to give the much-needed
feedback.
What steps do you think can be taken to avoid unethical decisions taken by your employees due to
loss aversion?
All of them had the same answer – Don’t treat failure as a liability, embrace it and learn from
it.
How often do you think social and organisational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
Everyone agreed that social pressure has more effect on unethical decision making than
organisational pressure.
DATA ANALYSIS
Following is the analysis of the different answers given for the questionnaire
Majority said yes because they think that it acts like an incentive for the employees and
apart from incentives, rewarding through monetary benefits may motivate them to work
harder.
Minority who said it depends on various factors were referring to the different types of
organisations where pay for performance might not be appropriate like NGOs and other
social enterprises where altruism is paramount and not any monetary benefits.
People are more vulnerable to moral licensing when they try/aim to be overtly
helpful/philanthropic so they feel it is their right to violate certain rules.
Moral licensing also comes into place when people claim to have a higher moral ground.
Do you think being in association with an organisation having moral myopia makes you unethical
as well?
Majority said yes – why? Being in association with that organisation will time to time make
you compromise on your morals. One may not realise, but will be affected by the immorality
of the other organisation.
Minority said no – why? Not always the association between two companies will be a level
where they would completely understand each other’s working. As long as you are not doing
anything wrong, there’s no harm.
Majority said no – why? The means teach you way more than the end. It shapes you and your
work. End is just a small part of the process.
People who said sometimes- why? Sometimes we have to give more priority to the end when
it comes to business. At that time means are just small stepping stones.
People who said yes- why? If there is a greater good with the result then why not? For
example, war/live border with other countries are for greater good of their country. In such
cases end will always justify the means.
What steps do you think should be taken to avoid unethical means due to loss aversion?
is it difficult for you to help your subordinates to focus on abstract goals rather than tangible goals
only?
Majority said sometimes- why? It depends on the final goal of the project. If it is profit, then
definitely people focus more on tangible goals, but if it is something such as non-profit, it is
easier for people to focus on abstract goals.
Some said yes- why? Abstract goals are harder to achieve since they are qualitative in nature.
People lacking emotional quotient are unable to accept critical feedback to help their path in
the long run.
Some said no- why? Each step is a tangible goal leading to an abstract goal. They are the
building blocks. Hence there is no disconnect between the two. So, if employees are aware of
the connect it does not become very difficult to make than focus on both.
How often do you think social and organisational pressure contribute to unethical means?
Social factors are becoming stronger day by day and have a significant weight on everyone’s
moral compass.
Organisational pressure can be fought with by just saying no. Whereas in social pressure is
hard to battle, your decisions might not always be in favour of the society you live in, which
create certain obstructions and pressure to change your decision.
How do you think advertisers use framing to affect public’s decision? Do you think it is ethical?
Majority said yes- why? It is an advertiser’s job to influence minds. And if they are successful
at it without violating their professional ethics then it is ethical. Consumers always have a
choice to not exercise that option. It is partly the viewers’ responsibility to crosscheck the
facts every now and then.
people who said no- why? Advertising in its very nature is unethical because it enhances the
intended message by reinforcing supporting evidence while hiding the contradictory
evidence. By using such framing techniques, it removes any objectivity and leaves the viewer
without enough information to take an unbiased and prudent decision.
They are mainly present for oversight and are an integral part of the organisation. They give
the much-needed feedback. They have the power to force corrective actions for large
businesses.
They affect decisions in a very indirect way. They are important for every business be it of
any size.
For example, decisions of the GOI will affect all kinds of businesses irrespective of the sizes.
Majority said yes – why? Nudging sometimes makes us to what we are not willing to from
within. Theory of nudge lays with our psychology to influence. Hence, it is purely a form of
manipulation.
Few people said no- why? Nudging does not compel you to do something. Eat every step you
have a choice to go in the other direction. So, it not a form of manipulation.
Minority said sometimes – why? It is sometimes a manipulation when it is in a negative way,
but a better tool than threats or pay for performance schemes which are toxic in nature at
times.
Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
43% said sometimes- why? Sometimes the nudge defers the root cause solutions. At a macro
level it might not solve all the problems but just a few.
28% said yes- why? Nudge theory focuses more on results and not on the cause of the
problem. It always solves a problem at a superficial level to give quick results.
29% said no- why? Nudging varies from case to case. If the objective is not the result and to
deal with the root problem, nudging can be used to do that as well. The objective of using the
nudge needs to be decided carefully.
86% said compulsion- why? CSR is primarily a compulsion because of the law for profit driven
companies. The CSR has poor metrics for measuring impacts. There is very low level of
involvement in most of the projects. This shows the seriousness of the company to CSR.
14% said can’t say-why? We cannot generalise all the corporate institutions. There are few
companies like TATA, Wipro who were involved in social work even before the law.
4) URJA THAKKAR
FYBBA-B
B-053
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
The top management is more into decision making and thus face conflict of interest on a daily
basis.
In organizations there are specific formats to deal with it for e.g., bring the person with conflict of
interest on the same page and then tackle the problem., keeping in mind that the organizational goal
is more important.
2. Is it difficult for you to help your employees to focus on abstract goals rather than tangible goals?
Most of the professionals from large organizations said that it is difficult for them to make
their employees focus on abstract goals and align their goals to the organization’s goals. I think it is
mainly because the employees in large organizations are from different backgrounds.
In small organizations it is not a problem because they are a group of people who share a
common goal and vision.
Yes, they are appropriate because good organizations believe in recognizing people who are
productive, efficient and help the organization grow Paying such people is a good incentive and
organizations do not hesitate to use it as an incentive scheme. At the same time, they make sure that
quality is not affected due to quantity.
4. Do you think being in association with another organization having moral myopia makes you
unethical as well?
A lot of them said that it is not true. Sometimes for doing business you need to have such associations.
They already have designated or assigned the tasks to particular people so they don’t get
involved but at times their guidance and support is needed to stay focused. But if they get overly
involved it affects the performance of the employees in a negative way as they feel restricted and feel
like they are constantly being monitored within the organization.
6. How do you think self-serving bias as an organization affects the performance of the organization?
Biasness of any kind impacts the organization in a negative way. Self-serving bias in particular
makes the person very selfish and morally wrong which could lead to a lot of problems. Thus, it is bad
for the organization and the people as well.
7. When do you think people are more vulnerable to moral licensing? How can you guard against
being the victim of moral licensing?
People are more vulnerable to moral licensing when they have witnessed someone doing it
and action has not been taken against the person.
Values of organization have to be inculcated deeply in the people to guard against moral licencing.
8. How have you nudged or been nudged in your organization?
People at the lower levels in the organisations said that they have not nudged but have been
nudged several times by their superiors.
The higher authorities said that they nudge their employees from time to time to increase
productivity.
9. How often do you think social and organizational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
So many times, it does, in order to get attention of an individual we do activities that are unethical or
not genuine.
1)Yes. Ends do justify means. Professionals who said that ends justify means backed their
answer saying that in most of the organizations the end results matter the most and the process does
not matter that much as long as unethical means are used to a limit.
2)No. Ends do not justify the means and the process matters just as much as the end result.
The interviewees said that it is the process and not the end result that gives them the satisfaction and
happiness that they get when the work is complete.
Yes. Everyone I interviewed said that nudging is a form of manipulation but there are two
different aspects to it. If nudging is used in a positive way and the intention is not malicious then there
is nothing wrong in manipulating employees using nudging. Otherwise it is a wrong practice.
12. Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
The people who said yes told me that if the problem is short term and they need immediate
results then nudging is the best way to go and it does solve the original problem because the end goal
of the manager or the organization is to get work done.
13. What do you think is the basis of CSR? Altruism or mainly a compulsion?
I interviewed people who do CSR as well as the people on the other side of the table.
The corporates who give out the 2% of their profits for CSR said that in the beginning it was
mainly because of compulsion and the rules and regulations imposed upon them. But soon they
realised its benefits for their social image and the impact their donations made in the lives of people
they started taking more interest.
The NGO or social organizations who receive donations from the corporates said that the
companies take a lot of time and effort to analyse the impact of their donations and how they are
exactly being used. Many of the big multinationals have started their own NGOs so as to reduce
complications.
14. What steps do you think can be taken to avoid unethical decisions due to loss aversion?
1)Inculcating organizational values into the employees which also include a good handholding of the
employees at the senior management or middle management level.
15. Do you know people who seem to remember the past events in their life that put themselves
in favourable light?
The main problem while implementing CSR is that the companies roll out money just for the
sake of abiding by the rules and regulations and thus many times their funds are not used to the
maximum potential.
DATA REPRESENTATION
*Note: some of the questions have non-quantifiable data and thus their explanations are given in
data analysis.
Most of the professionals said that they face conflict of interest on a daily basis.
The top management and managers face conflict of interest on a much frequent basis than
the employees who deal with the technical aspects in the organization.
2. Is it difficult for you to help your employees to focus on abstract goals rather than tangible goals?
Every professional I interviewed said the Pay for Performance schemes is one of the best ways
to incentivise and motivate people.
4. Do you think being in association with another organization having moral myopia makes you
unethical as well?
Around 4-5 people said that no being in association with another organization having moral
myopia makes does not make you unethical.
9. How often do you think social and organizational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
The professionals said that 70-80% of unethical decisions are taken due to social and
organizational pressure.
12. Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
15. Do you know people who seem to remember the past events in their life that put themselves in
favourable light?
5) URMILA NIMKAR
FYBBA-B
B-055
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
On conducting interviews of ten professionals I got a deeper understanding of the different morals and
ethics every company follows. Without corporate and social responsibility the company cannot function
efficiently. Ethics enable the employees to see the bigger purpose and goals of the organisation. With
time, a manager can help inculcate these morals within the employees in his team.
Ethics are to be followed on a daily basis. Qualities such as altruism, deontology, etc., ensure nobody
is harmed by the actions or decisions made by the company. Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
describes a company's efforts to improve the society in various ways. These efforts range from donating
money to nonprofits to implementing environmentally-friendly policies in the workplace.
CSR is important for companies and nonprofits and employees.
ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONS
ANALYSIS- Young or new employees are more focused towards short term and materialistic gains
than employees who have been working for the company for a longer period. Over the period of time,
under correct mentorship, employees learn to restrain themselves from acting impulsively and work
towards achieving targets in an ethical way.
Q2) Is it difficult for you to help your employees to focus on abstract goals rather than tangible
goals?
ANALYSIS- Some managers said their employees were always able to see the bigger goals and work
towards them without anyone else guiding them. However, some mangers did say that employees could
get carried away and make rash decisions resulting in short term gains at the expense of various things
like public image of the company. With the right guidance, every employee can be taught to achieve
bigger, long-term goals of the company that they are working for.
ANALYSIS- Managers said that these schemes can work wonders sometimes since the employees are
extremely motivated to work for rewards. Pay for performance schemes ensure that the employees
talents are being utilized. However, employees can resort to manipulation and unethical behaviours to
achieve these rewards. In such circumstances the outcome of pay for performance schemes can be
disastrous when everyone starts acting in a selfish manner and forgets about the purpose they are
working for.
Q4) Do you think being in association with another organisation having moral myopia makes you
unethical as well?
ANALYSIS- Some companies are highly against working with companies who have moral myopia.
They believe that companies who act unethically can influence the employees and spoil the image of
the company. Moral myopia can have disastrous effects in the long term and companies should make a
thorough research of the company they plan on working with in order to ensure the company doesn’t
receive any negative publicity.
Some people believe that as long as the company does not flaw on their side and works in an ethical
manner, they can carry out business with companies having moral myopia.
Q5) What is your take on the extent of involvement of the passive stakeholders?
ANALYSIS- Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have an interest in the success and progression
of a company. Internal stakeholders include silent partners, shareholders and investors. The role of
the stakeholder varies depending on the organisation and the particular project being developed or
decided upon. Passive stakeholders cannot be a vital part of decision making processes every time.
Although, sometimes certain decisions need to be made according to their opinions.
At the end of the day the employees who have a daily role in the activities of the company should get a
greater say in decision making due to their constant involvement.
Q6) How do you think self-serving bias as an organisation affects the performance of the it?
ANALYSIS- A self-serving bias is any cognitive or perceptual process that is distorted by the need to
maintain and enhance self-esteem, or the tendency to perceive oneself in an overly favorable manner.
Self-serving bias cannot always be beneficial for the company. If unethical practices are made for the
selfish gains of the organisation, it could set a wrong example for new employees and the company
could suffer various consequences. Self-serving bias can however increase the revenue of the company.
Q7) When do you think people are more vulnerable to moral licensing? How can you guard
against being the victim of moral licensing?
ANALYSIS- You can guard against moral licensing by restraining yourself every time you get the urge
to act in an unethical way. One should remember that nothing can justify being selfish. No amount of
explanation or justification can make a wrong decision right.
ANALYSIS- Most of the employees have been nudged constantly in their life. However, they have
refrained from giving employees under them bad nudges. Good nudges increase the efficiency of
employees and help them carry out business effectively. This shows that employees with more
experience have a greater sense of right and wrong.
Q9) How often do you think social and organisational pressure contribute to unethical behaviour?
ANALYSIS- All employees agree to the fact that social and organisational pressures are the main cause
of unethical behaviour. One may act unethically due to personal problems faced at a family level or
social problems being faced by him in his peer group. Organisations could also pressurise an individual
to act unethically often by resorting to threats of firing employees who do not meet targets.
Q10) How do you think advertisers use framing to affect the public’s decision?
ANALYSIS- Advertising is a complex process. Various individuals are involved in the making fo
advertisements as they are the main way a seller can influence the buying behaviour of a consumer.
Influencing customers and inclining their buying behaviour to promote sales of your product is possible
through good advertising. It is an expensive affair, but if done with precision, can contribute to a great
increase in demand for the product.
ANALYSIS- All the employees believe that ends cannot justify the means because doing harm to any
individual or group of individuals cannot be justified with the explanation that the outcome was
successful. One needs to pay close attention to the consequences various people might face due to his
actions.
ANALYSIS- Nudging is a very well thought process and can often lead to manipulation. However, it
is a good form of manipulation when no one is harmed. Nudging an employee towards practicing in
ethical ways is always good but, encouraging an employee to work in an unethical way can set a very
wrong and bad example for the employees who will join the company in the future.
Q13) Do you think the application of nudge reduces our ability to solve the original problem?
ANALYSIS- If one does not have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and can get easily
manipulated, then yes, bad nudges can cause unethical practices. Good nudges can ensure that the
employees are constantly being pushed to achieve bigger goals.
Q14) What do you think is the basis of CSR? Altruism or mainly a compulsion?
ANALYSIS- It is a combination of both. One has to work in order to achieve targets, while also acting
in the best interest of others.
Q15) What steps do you think can be taken to avoid unethical decisions due to loss aversion?
ANALYSIS- The employees themselves have to inculcate being responsible and make ethical
decisions. However, managers responsible for a team of employees need to pay close attention to the
way every individual in his team carries out business. It is expected that a good leader can prevent loss
aversion amongst his employees.
Q16) Do you know people who seem to remember the past events in their life that put themselves
in favorable light?
ANALYSIS- This is highly possible because people learn better with experience. After being exposed
to various circumstances, most of the employees often find themselves in similar situations and often
know the necessary steps which need to be taken for achieving success.
ANALYSIS- Not everyone has the same ethical compass. It can be difficult to alter someone’s views
of right or wrong. Getting a group of people to work ethically for the greater good of the company and
people can be challenging. There is often conflict of interests within the various employees in a team.
In such circumstances, managers who are responsible for the team need to come up with innovative
solutions to ensure CSR is implemented.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
IS IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES FOCUS ON ABSTRACT GOALS RATHER THAN
TANGIBLE GOALS?
Chart Title
14%
57% 29%
YES NO SOMETIMES
DO YOU THINK PAY FOR PERFORMANCE SCHEMES ARE APPROPRIATE?
Most of the people in all the interviews said yes because it somewhere motivates to put that extra
effort which is in organisation’s and self interest simultaneously. And it also increases the quality
of performance. Organisational goals are achieved faster
Some said it depends on the organisation one is working for. People working in NGOs or social
enterprises should not be driven by monetary gains, but altruism only
Some said no because they believed giving someone else the Incentive for your benefit is unethical.
Also, it is very easy to resort to unethical means when it comes to monetary benefits.
CHART TITLE
YES NO DEPENDS ON OTHER FACTORS
33%
45%
22%
DO YOU THINK BEING IN ASSOCIATION WITH A NOTHER ORGANISATION HAVING MORAL MYOPIA
MAKES YOU UNETHICAL AS WELL?
Very few people out of all the interviews said no, their reason being-
Not always the association between two companies will be a level where they would completely
understand each other’s working. As long as you are not doing anything wrong, there’s no harm. Also,
as long as you are true to your roots nothing can make you unethical.
Majority said yes, their reason being - Being in association with that organisation will time to time
make you compromise on your morals. One may not realise, but will be affected by the immorality of
the other organisation.
CHART TITLE
YES NO
17%
83%
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE EXTENT OF INVOLVEMENT OF PASSIVE STAKEHOLDER?
The passive stakeholders give the much-needed feedback and overview from time to time. Everyone
had the same opinion abut their involvement which should be increased in order to increase
transparency and build an environment of trust in an organisation.
Negative way- Self-serving bias inculcates selfish feeling among the employees which sooner or later
affects the performance of the organisation adversely. All organisations are accountable to their
stakeholders and cannot afford to have self-serving bias.
Positive way- As long as the workings under self-serving bias are selfish but not illegal will have a
positive impact on the organisation’s performance.
WHEN DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE VULNERABLE TO MORAL LICENCING? HOW CAN YOU GUARD
AGAINST BEING A VICTIM OF MORAL LICENSING?
When people try too hard and fake to do good deeds they fall under the trap of moral licensing.
Because then they feel they have the right to do something wrong with the same people he/she
helped.
The only way by which one can guard herself/himself is by not thinking of the consequences of doing
a good deed. By letting others judge you and not your own mental scoreboard.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU THINK SOCIAL AND ORGANISATIONAL PRESSURE CONTRIBUTE TO UNETHICAL
BEHAVIOUR?
Social pressures are more prevalent than organisational pressure. Organisational pressure is easier to
deal with. Whereas you might take a few decisions which may not be in favour of the society to live in
and the people who are around you. This factor may create undue pressure on you to change your
decision.
In case of conflict of interest, people tend to face negative nudge to take sides.
Chart Title
13%
YES
25% NO
62% MAYBE
Majority said yes, because Nudging sometimes makes us to what we are not willing to do from within.
Theory of nudge plays with our psychology to influence our thoughts. Hence, it is purely a form of
manipulation. It also drives socially and morally ethical behaviour.
Few people said no, Theory of nudge provides a stimulus to make a desire work without restricting
them on other options. So, it is totally dependent on the other person what is his choice architecture
and how effectively he/she gets manipulated.
DO YOU THINK THE APPLICATION OF NUDGE REDUCES THE ABILITY TO SOLVE THE ORIGINAL
PROBLEM?
Chart Title
28% YES
43% NO
SOMETIMES
29%
In the short run and when immediate results are needed nudging is the best tool that can be used to
get the results. But if it’s a long-term problem then root cause analysis needs to be done to solve the
problem. Nudging mostly solves a few problems and not all.
Few said that it varies from case to case. If your objective is to solve the root problem then one should
nudge towards that, if the objective is to get immediate results then one should nudge towards that.
A mix of both altruism and compulsion was what most of them believed in. Initially by the rules laid
by the government which mandate them to pay 2% of their profits makes it a compulsion for them.
But when they realise that it makes a difference, they take up more interest in it. Essentially, then its
is driven by altruism.
For profit driven and smaller organisations its mainly a compulsion as they focus more on scaling up
their business and they are of the view that CSR is not the only way they can give back to the society.
Still there are projects under CSR not even having a structured organisation. Which shows how
seriously CSR is take by a few corporates.
Chart Title
25% ALTRUISM
COMPULSION
WHAT STEPS DO YOU THINK CAN BE TAKEN TO AVOID UNETHICAL DECISIONS DUE TO LOSS
AVERSION?
Inculcating organisational values into the employees and conducting behavioural training programs.
Keeping an environment where there is freedom and room for making mistakes at the same time
rectifying it would also help.
Making them understand that losses are a part of life and one should learn from them.
Most of the interviewees said no, their reason being- You learn more through the means than you will
ever learn from the end. You cannot do a right thing through a wrong way. The satisfaction after
achieving something is due to the process and not the ed product.
Few said yes, because in most of the organisations the ned result matter the most and not the process
as long as unethical means are used to a limit such as lobbying
Few people said yes, because if it brings greater good for sure then the means will automatically get
justified in the future.
Chart Title
14% 14%
72%
YES NO SOMETIMES
HOW DO YOU THINK ADVERTISERS USE FRAMING TO AFFECT THE PUBLICS’ DECISIONS?
Majority said yes- why? It is an advertiser’s job to influence minds. And if they are successful at it
without violating their professional ethics then it is ethical. Consumers always have a choice to not
exercise that option. It is partly the viewers’ responsibility to crosscheck the facts every now and then.
People who said no- why? Advertising in its very nature is unethical because it enhances the intended
message by reinforcing supporting evidence while hiding the contradictory evidence. By using such
framing techniques, it removes any objectivity and leaves the viewer without enough information to
take an unbiased and prudent decision.
DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO REMEMBER THE PAST EVENTS IN THEIR LIVES THAT PUT
THEMSELVES IN FAVOURABLE LIGHT?
Most of them knew people who seemed to remember the past events and they agreed that it puts
them into favourable light in future as compared to a person who maybe clueless at that point because
he/she did not remember the past which puts them in the position of low power.
Companies roll out money just for the sake of abiding by the rules and regulations. And thus, many
times their funds are not used to the maximum potential – misallocation of funds.
The CSR has poor metrics for measuring impacts. There is very low level of involvement in most of the
projects.
SUMMARY
On taking interviews of various professionals, from different organizations, with different goals and
purposes, we see how ethics followed are more or less same across all these diverse companies.
Different employees have different opinions as to what ethics need to be followed and in what order
of priority. Various concepts such as nudging, incentive-gaming, altruism, etc., need to be
implemented in the organisation across the different levels. This could be challenging however we see
how professionals have developed ethics by working for companies and their opinion on various
components of corporate social responsibility.
Some organizations encourage incentive-gaming as they value the competitive spirit and efficiency of
their employees. However, maintaining the quality of the work and ensuring ethical behaviour has
been highlighted while using “pay for performance” schemes. The company introduces such schemes
with the intention of making sure every employee is given an opportunity to utilize their talents.
Problems arise when employees resort to unethical means to gain rewards.
With matters relating to conflict of interest and abstract versus tangible goals, majority of the people
said that recently people are more influenced by what is easily visible. They often fail to see the “bigger
picture.” When caught up between two decisions, one must remember that acting ethically will ensure
that the company does not face any damage to their public image and continues to work in an ethical
manner.
In regards to being in association with companies who have moral myopia, a high majority believes
that being in business with a company having moral myopia does not make them unethical as long as
they are true to themselves and act ethically on their side.
In case of self-serving bias there are some people who say they increase efficiency, whereas some are
more concerned with the ill-effects it has. While implementing self-serving bias it is extremely
important to ensure one does not gain at the expense of others.
Only a handful of people believe in moral licensing. However people who do a lot of good things are
more prone to moral licensing. They often feel that their good deeds entitle them to make some
unethical and wrong decisions. This is a human tendency everyone must fight against.
Nudging is used as a tool to push the employees towards achieving targets when they are lagging
behind. Nudging can be done in various ways by people to increase efficiency and productivity. It can
be used to significantly the change the performance of one or more individuals working for a
organization.
On analyzing the relationship between nudging and manipulation, some people highlighted how
nudging is a good form of manipulation. Manipulating employees to work towards achieving success
and meeting targets can helps the company’s growth.
Different people believe that corporate social responsibility is a mainly based on various combinations
of altruism, compulsion, or a mixture of both.
Loss aversion can be prevented by educating people about the disastrous effects it could have not
only on a particular individual, but on the company as a whole.
Advertising is done to attract consumers and influence their buying behaviour in favor of their product.
This is done through various processes and ultimately affects the psychology of the consumer.
When asked about “ends justifying means”, majority of the people are against it. They believe that
one cannot simply make unethical decisions and justify it by achieving success.
Finally, we can conclude that there are various ways of implementing CSR in a company, however,
there are various problems while doing so. Innovative solutions can help companies to grow in such a
manner that they achieve success while giving back to the community.
CONCLUSION
We started by brainstorming together to make a questionnaire which was pretty challenging, but it
helped us analyse the whole module with a different perspective which lead to a better understanding
of the concepts. The project helped us to learn how to take appointments, follow up on that and take
interview of different professionals, which was an experience in itself. It helped us creating business
contacts for our future help as well. We had to analyse the data we had collected which was fairly an
interesting task. It taught us how ethics are subjective. It differs from organisation to organisation. It
also taught us that ethics differ from person to person having more impact than the organisations’
ethics. It showed how people battle with ethical issues every day and protect themselves from being
a victim of it. More importantly, by individual interviews we learnt how the leaders/managers can
create a work environment and relations with the employees to curb unethical practices in the
workplace. In comparative analysis, while comparing our analysis with each other we found a lot of
similarities and differences. We concluded that there were certain principles which were followed by
every profession, be it business or IT. The differences made us understand how the nature of the job
automatically changes work ethics. We could quickly relate it to the real-life examples. we also learnt
the various applicability of the nudge theory from real life examples. We got an opportunity to analyse
its positive and negative impacts in a professional environment, which was an interesting topic to
ponder over.
But what we concluded was that there are a few organisations who follow ethics strictly and make a
position in the market on the basis of their morals. But there are also organisations who are so profit
driven that for them ethics is just a rule book to be abided by only under certain circumstances.
In conclusion we can say that ethics can make or break an organisation. Especially when the
stakeholders get to know about any unethical practices happening in the organisation. Ethics should
ideally be the bedrock of any organisation.
ANNEXURE
QUESTIONS FOR EVMCSR
CONTACT DETAILS
TRIPTI BANKA
B-052
MS. MARY SANTOSH JOHN
Principal Controller of Defence Accounts Navy (Western Command)
M No.-9022590112
MR. SIDDHARTHA ROY
Area Sales Manager, Marico Limited
M No.-8879205131
MR. B RAMACHANDRAN
Regional Sales Development Manager, Marico Limited
M No.-7506184555
MR CHANDRAPAL KHASIYA
Cambridge Assessment English, Allen Career Institute
M. No.-9205731413
MS DURGA
Interned at Ernst & Young
M No.-9404957400
MR. AKHIL MAHESHWARI
Regional Sales Head, Marico Limited
M No.-9833090503
TRISHA
B-053
ANIKATE SINGH
Senior Manager at Data Platform at – SAP Concur
anikatesingh@gmail.com
+1(206)6977601
NIHARIKA SINGH
Manager, Toyota Europe
Managing Director, Instabasket (start-up), Europe
rika@instabasket.edu
+32474042178
ABHINAV
Senior Consultant, Cartesian Consulting, Mumbai
asinha@cartesianconsulting.com
8691042032
AMIT SINGH
Senior Manger Compliance, PayPal
amit.singh@gmail.com
+352621321588
TANYA SINHA
Fellow at Teach For India, Hyderabad
(Currently doing MBA in IRMA)
tanya19sinha@gmail.com
9740396093
NITISH KUMAR
Senior Programme Coordinator, Selco
nitishh23@gmail.com
9489151423
TARUN KUMAR
Senior Officer, Indian Air Force
tarun4301@gmail.com
9571004830
URJA THAKKAR
Mr. Shivam Kamal
Designation: Self employed
Contact Details: +91 9558872059
Mr. Piyush Chaturvedi
Designation:
Name of the Organization:
Contact Details: piyushchaturvedi1993@gmail.com
Dr. Nitya Prakash
Designation: Head of Hiring, Training and Deploying
Name of the Organization: Reliance Jio Ltd.
Contact Details: prakashnitya@ymail.com
Mrs. Bhavisha Sanadhya
Designation: Director
Name of the Organization: Guidance and Care
Contact Details: bsanadhya@gmail.com
SUKUN KHEMANI
B-051
Karan Tanwani
Restaurant owner, Yashika
karantanwani@rocketmail.com
9819997777
Purswani
MBA student, work experience of 2 years
yashikapurswani@gmail.com
9075087118
Rakesh Khemani
Owner of a petrol pump
Rakeshmk182@gmail.com
9822116882
Chandni Tanwani
Professor, Swami Vivekanand college, Mumbai
Chandni.tanwani@gmail.com
8692077777
Karishma Pariyani
Employee at Axis Bank
Karishapariyani12@rediffmail.com
9850163638
Priyanka Shetty
Owner of an NGO- Sharan
9702477000
Tanya Gopal
Employee at D’décor
9561890879
URMILA NIMKAR (B-055)
Kedar Nimkar
email id: kedarvnimkar@gmail.com
Chetan Parekh
email id: Chetan.Parekh@cedar-consulting.com
Mamta Kakad
email id: mamtakakad@gmail.com
Rishi Khanna
phone: 07259356696
Panjabrao Kakad
phone: +91 82916 78106
Ria Nadkarni
email id: riasn148@yahoo.com
Deepak Kakad
phone: +91 98214 17337
Insha Bhati
phone: +91 93265 84230
Dhriti Khanna
phone: 98200 30364
CONTRIBUTION BY MEMBERS
INTRODUCTION- URJA THAKKAR (B-054)
OBJECTIVES- TRISHA SINHA (B-053)
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS – SUKUN KHEMANI (B-051)
TRIPTI BANKA (B-053)
TRISHA SINHA (B-053)
URJA THAKKAR (B-054)
SUMMARY – URMILA NIMKAR (B-055)
CONCLUSION – TRISHA SINHA (B-053)
PLAGIARISM REPORT – TRIPTI BANKA (B-052)
REPORT