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Lecturer: Dr Theodora Issa
Welcome to
Business Ethics 300 (BE300)
Lecture 10
Why should managers review their decisions?
Reflection
REVIEW!
2/11/2014
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In this lecture we are going to discuss
Why should managers
review their decisions?
(REFLECTION)
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First
TRIED to build upon in the workshops?
and
What did we do in the last NINE weeks in the
lectures
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BE-300 THIS WEEKS LECTURE
will allow us to review the S-T-A ands
connect to the R - reviewing
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This weeks objectives
Explain the importance of
reviewing decisions
Define and apply the idea of
reflection-on-action
Define and apply the idea of
reflection-in-action
Synthesise S-T-A-R into a
coherent approach
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WEEK 1
Introduction to Business Ethics What
is Business Ethics?
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WEEK 2
What is Business for? (Telos of
Business, Dirty hands, Teleopathy )
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Non-Consequentialism
Consequentialism
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WEEK 3
How do we reconcile competing values
and priorities?
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Teaching Weeks 1 - 3
In weeks 1, 2 and 3 we looked at
how and why we should be able to
recognise the ethical dimensions
of a problem or issue.
It helps us to discover what
assumptions are being made
about the world and how that
affects our decision making.
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This has so far covered
The S in the S-T-A-R
framework
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WEEK 4 we commenced our discussion on
the second part of the S-T-A-R framework -
THE T TALKING about the ethical issue
The Ethics of the Free Market
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WEEK 5 continued with our discussion on
the second part of the S-T-A-R framework
THE T TALKING about the ethical issue
Moral Relativism
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WEEK 6 continued with our discussion on
the second part of the S-T-A-R framework
THE T TALKING about the ethical issue
which was the FINAL session on TALKING
When should managers speak out?
The Seeing-Talking Practitioner
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Teaching Weeks 4, 5, and 6
In teaching weeks 4, 5, and 6 we examined how
and why managers should speak out.
Once we take an ethical position we should be able
to express it in an effective way and encourage
other to speak out.
By becoming seeing-talking practitioners we can
avoid ethical (and legal) transgressions that can put
a business in a bad light or even lead to prosecution
and the negative consequences of whistleblowing.
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WEEK 7 Commenced the discussion about
the A in the S.T.A.R. framework ACTING
(doing something)
How to Decide?
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WEEK 8 continued the discussion about
the A in the S.T.A.R. framework ACTING
(doing something)
Decision making Problem Solving (1)
Heuristics biases ?
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WEEK 9 continued the discussion about
the A in the S.T.A.R. framework ACTING
(doing something)
Decision making Problem Solving (2)
Tacit Knowing?
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Teaching weeks 7, 8, and 9
In teaching weeks 7, 8, and 9
we explored how we can take
action based on our ethical
positions.
Most important was the roles of
reason and reasonableness and
the usefulness of heuristics and
tacit knowing.
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Thus
It became clear that a rigid decision-making
model like those in the appendix of Grace and
Cohen (2013) are not really that useful in the
busy practice world of the manager. Such as
The American
Accounting
Association
Model
Seven steps
The Laura
Nash Model
Twelve
Questions
The Michael
Rion Model
six questions
Mary Guy:
Values, rules
and a decision
making model
AND
OTHERS
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Therefore
So we have looked
at how to:
See (S) the
ethical
dimension,
Talk (T) about
ethical aspects
of
problems/issues
and
Act (A) ethically
in making
decisions.
As you have just
done in the
previous weeks,
In this week we
are looking at
how to Review
(R).
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Introduction
So far, we have learned that an effective
approach to thinking about business
ethics in practice is to See (S) the
ethical dimensions, Talk (T) about
ethical issues and Act (A) on our ethical
positions.
The fourth element is to review
(R)..
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Introduction
In the area of business ethics reviewing
means reflecting on and revising our
beliefs, values, and ideas about our ethical
approaches to management practice.
However, it is not enough just to review
what you have done, it is also important to
lock in the improvements you make as a
result.
To do this we must return to the Seeing
(S) aspect of what we have learned about
to make sure that you incorporate you new
knowledge into your practice
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So S-T-A-R becomes:
S
T
A
R
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There are two ways of reviewing what you
do:

Reflection-
on-action and
Reflection-in-
action.
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Reflection-on-action (Schon, 1991)
This means looking back on decision that you made or action
that you took.
Looking back on what you do as a manager is important
because it is an aspect of critical thinking that brings with it
many practice benefits.
It is about looking back on a decision or action to
understand your intentions, actions and outcomes and
see how it could be done better next time.
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Therefore
To do this you should
ask and answer
questions about
your practice.
You look back at a
decision or action,
understand it and
learn from it.
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Well
To follow are some suggestions on the sorts of questions
you should ask yourself, but you may want to develop
some better ones of your own:

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Teaching weeks 1, 2, and 3
Teaching weeks 1, 2, and
3 (S) (SEEING)
How well did I
recognise
various
stakeholders?
On what
ethical basis
did I make my
decision?
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Teaching weeks 4, 5, and 6
Teaching weeks 4,5, and
6 (T) (TALKING)
How well did I
communicate with
others about my
decisions, before,
during and after I
took action?
On what
basis did I
prioritise
various
interests/va
lues?
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Teaching week 7
Teaching week 7 (A)
(ACTING)
How well
did I reason
things
through?
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Teaching weeks 8 and 9
Teaching week 8 and 9 (A)
(ACTING)
Were there
any biases
in my
decision-
making?
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Teaching weeks 10, 11, and 12
Teaching weeks 10, 11 and
12 (R ) (REFLECTING)
How can I
improve
and what
effects will
it have?
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Reflection-in-action (Schon, 1991)
This is different as this refers to how you deal with
uncertainties and unexpected events while you
are making a decision or taking action.
It is about thinking on your feet so that you
remain one step ahead of the situation by being
able to critically analyse the situation and having a
good awareness of what is going on around you.
It also means being able to store-up new
experiences to learn from.
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Therefore,
Reflecting-in-action and
reflecting-on-action are two
very useful techniques for
improving your practice.
It helps build your repertoire
or range of skills, knowledge,
memories etc. that you can
draw on in future.
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Well
You might have already noticed
that these models have some
overlaps which is not surprising
given the main function of
reflection:
to learn from both experience
and theory, bringing both
together to deepen
understanding.
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CONCLUSION
It is clear that we review how we do things in two ways.
The first is reflecting-in-action that
is thinking on our feet when we
are in a situation.
The second is reflecting-on-
action. That is thinking about
what we did after an event.
We have now learned where Reviewing fits into the S-
T-A-R approach.
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CONCLUSION
If we understand this, we can use them to
improve what we do as managers because
we are learning and developing.
Now that we understand reviewing we can
now use S-T-A-R to answer the question
posed at the beginning of the unit, How to
decide the right thing to do?
It is time now to begin practising your
knowledge so that you can make better
sense of the approach and how to use
your toolbox effectively.
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MOVING FORWARD
In the next two
weeks you will be
tackling case
studies (from peer-
reviewed journal
articles and news)
so that you can
sharpen your skills
and knowledge.
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What is required from you for the next two
weeks
Organise and
review the
resources you
have built-up in this
unit over the
semester and bring
them with you to
the next seminar.
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Acknowledgements
These slides were derived
from material provided by
the previous unit
coordinator, the publishers
of the Grace and Cohen
book, the material on the
blackboard, and other
sources derived from the
web, including some
images relevant to the
concepts under
discussion.
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Thank you!
BE300 - TI/DP