The Parable of the Sadhu

Case Facts
Based on a real life incident that
happened with Bowen H. McCoy, MD
of Morgan Stanley
Participated in the sabbatical
program of
six months
On a trip to Himalaya for 60 days
Met with people from other countries

Encounter with Sadhu

One of the New Zealander found an Indian
Sadhu
The Sadhu was shivering & suffering from
Hypothermia
Everybody has contributed in reviving the
Sadhu
However, nobody took complete
responsibility for the Sadhus well being

Stephens Arguments
Each did their bit as long as it was
convenient, then passed on the buck
to others.
Ponders about how different the
action would have been - Had the
person been a well dressed Asian or
a Western Woman

McCoys Views
At first, McCoy was defensive to Stephens
arguments.
Things like Stress, Once in a lifetime
opportunity were his excuses
But later on, he realized how they had
walked by an ethical dilemma without
appropriate action

Ethical Dilemma
Individual Ethics Vs Group Ethics
Applicability of Rule based Ethical
Theory
Implementing Ethics in Corporate
World

Individual Vs Group
Every person did their bit for the
Sadhu
However, no one ensured the
ultimate well being of the Sadhu
Where does the ethical responsibility
of an individual end
Is there something called collective
or institutional responsibility?

Ethics in Workplace
How to ensure collaborative effort
towards end goal
Synchronizing individual efforts with
collective vision
Reaching consensus and selecting a
leader in crunch situation
How to ensure groups support?

Applicability of Rule Based Theories

Deontology
Utilitarianism
Distributive justice

Deontological Analysis
Action is moral if the action is
universalizable and reversible
In the case, the actions are
universalizable
Reversibility is also justifiable
However, the end result is not
satisfactory

Utilitarian Analysis
Maximum benefits for the maximum
no of people
No person was harmed in the case
Sadhu was benefited from their
actions
However, the final result is still
unsatisfactory

Distributive Justice
Tenets are
- Maximum freedom for all
- Inequities to be tolerated only when the
weakest are benefited
The case satisfies the necessary tenets for
distributive justice
However the end doesnt seem satisfactory

Teleological Analysis
End justifies the means
What is the end.completing once in
a life time trip or saving the Sadhu?
It doesnt specify the ends
Hence teleological analysis is not
satisfactory in this case

Virtue Theory
Morally good habits developed
through training and repetition
Moral virtues are the traits that
enable us to live well
Virtues are not rules to be followed,
but habits to be cultivated

Virtue Theory Vs Rule Based Theory

Rule based theories are threshold
theories whereas virtue theory is an
optimization theory
Rule based theory specifies the
minimum requirement for any action
Virtue theory aims at excellence

Failure Of Rule Based

Theories
What should the moral theories do?
Justify McCoys conclusion that the hikers
actions were blameworthy
Explain the relevance of the story to the
corporate world
Offer sound alternatives to the moral
failures that the story cites

Relevance to Corporate
World
None of them explain the relevance
Corporate World People have individual values
based on a set of shared goals.
Similarly in the story - the hikers want to take care
of the Sadhu, they want to finish and enjoy the hike
Rule based analysis looks at a moral question in
analysis
totally context-free
character-free
person gets his or her moral clues only from his
or her innate faculty of reason.

Coming Back to the Story

Rule base theories can distinguish only between actions that
are morally permissible or justifiable and actions that are not.
Surely the actions of the hikers were permissible.
Distinction in Sadhus Case

is not between actions that are right and those that are wrong, but
between actions that are merely okay and those that are excellent
between those that are merely justifiable and those that are
actually praiseworthy.

The Sadhu parable brings into relief our notions, about the
different moral characters of persons, rather than our
justifications of the moral worth of actions.

 As moral persons we have an obligation to expect the most from ourselves

and from others, and that is the way we and they behave well.
McCoy regrets, not that he and other group members acted impermissibly,
but that they acted merely permissibly.
That they acted only as anyone would be expected to act, and not as a
good person would be expected to act.
McCoy and his fellow hikers were given one of lifes rare opportunities to be
heroes, and they let it pass unmet.
The hikers actions, then, were blameworthy, because they were merely
justifiable in a situation which actually called for heroism and sacrifice.

Lessons of the Sadhu

Pose questions to oneself in terms of excellences of character,

to facilitate good habits of moral thinking.

See these good moral habits as the dose of prevention that

will help keep business persons out of moral jams in the first
place, and will help them sail heroically through those
situations in which they might otherwise be tempted by the
vices.

In a complex business situation, the individual requires &

deserves the support of the group

If such support is provided, a person has a stake in the success

of the group

Thank You