L8 Ethics and Fairness

Question 1

Which are the two types of moral reasoning?

Answer 1

• Consequentalist: locates morality in the consequences of an act
• Categorical: locates morality in certain duties and rights

Question 2

The belief in a just world is a cognitive bias.

True / False

Answer 2

True: believing that the world is an orderly, predictable and just place is a “contract” with the world regarding the consequences of your behavior.
You expect to get rewarded or punished for your behavior because you expect the world to be fair, so you act in a fair way.

Question 3

What is the Equity/Justice Theory?

Answer 3

A model of motivation that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or give-and-take relationships (you expect a particular outcome for a particular input)

Question 4

Which can be the results of the Equity/Justice Theory ratio?

Answer 4

My ratio = My output / My input
Other’s ratio = Their output / Their input

• Negative equity: other’s ratio > my ratio (others receive more than me)
• Equity: my ratio = other’s ratio
• Positive equity: my ratio > other’s ratio (I’m getting more than the others)

Question 5

Which are the different types of social comparison?

Answer 5

1. Upward comparison (with someone that is better off, which can be good for motivation and inspiration)
2. Downward comparison (with someone that is worse off, which is not very useful)
3. Comparison with similar others

Question 6

Which are the different ways to restore equity? (when you are not treated fairly)

Answer 6

• Alter the inputs (e.g., if you are not getting enough money for your work, stop working that hard)
• Alter the outputs (e.g., try to convince your manager to raise your salary)
• Leave the situation (e.g., quit your job)
• Change the object of comparison (e.g., maybe you are comparing yourself with someone more experienced)

Question 7

What is organizational justice?

Answer 7

The way employees judges the actions of the organization and the way they react to these actions (in terms of attitudes and behavior)

Question 8

Which are the components of organizational justice?

Answer 8

• Distributive (actual slice of the pie)
• Procedural (procedures to slice the pie)
• Interactional (communication about slicing the pie)

Question 9

Which are the norms to determine if the outcome is fair? (distributive justice)

Answer 9

• Equality (blind justice)
• Equity (proportionality principle)
• Need-based (welfare-based)

Question 10

Which are the rules for fair procedures? (procedural justice)

Answer 10

• Consistency (across time and people involved)
• Bias-surpression: no self-interest or preconceptions
• Accuracy: use of valid information and informed opinion
• Correctability: opportunity to reverse decisions
• Representativeness: reflect perspectives of all individuals/groups that are affected by the allocation (outcome)
• Ethicality (consistent with values of people involved)

Question 11

What is the difference between a high and a low distributive justice? Which effect does it have in process and reactions?

Answer 11

• High distributive justice = positive outcome = positive reaction = fair process
• Low distributive justice = negative outcome = negative reaction = unfair process

Question 12

Which are the components of interactional justice?

Answer 12

1. Interpersonal justice: how do you explain the process (politeness, dignity and respect)
2. Informational justice: explanation of procedures and outcome (what do you explain, degree of information revealing)

Question 13

We need consistency between beliefs and behavior, but what happens when we perceive inconsistency (or injustice)?

Answer 13

When our real-life experience (behavior) does not match the deeply-rooted need for justice (belief), we perceive an inconsistency that leads to cognitive dissonance, which motivates a corrective action (coping strategy).

Question 14

Give some examples of coping strategies.

Answer 14

• Denial
• Withdrawal (retirada)
• Acceptance
• Reinterpretation
• Prevention (try to avoid the negative outcome to happen)
• Restoring (try to change the negative outcome)

Question 15

Which are the common ethical challenges in negotiations?

Answer 15

• Negotiation creates incentives to violate ethical standards
• Ambiguity to what is right and wrong
• Psychological tendencies can foster poor decision making
• Good people can engage in unethical behavior without being aware

Question 16

Which are the key aspects to lying in negotiations?

Answer 16

1) The liar is aware he is misrepresenting information about a material fact
2) The other party relies on this material fact and by doing so is damaged economically or emotionally

Question 17

Which are the potential subjects of lying during a negotiation?

Answer 17

• Positions
• Interests
• Priorities and preferences
• BATNAs / reservation prices
• Key facts (personal facts about you they cannot know and that can related with / relevant in the negotiation)

Question 18

Why people behave unethical in negotiations?

Answer 18

• Bounded ethicality (you don’t have all the information to make the right choices)
• Illusion of superiority (people assume the other person will also lie, so they lie as well)
• Illusion of control (they might promise things they cannot deliver because it is beyond their control)
• Overconfidence (they think they have all the information / know everything they have to know)

Question 19

Which are the common tricky tactics in negotiations? Explain them.

Answer 19

1) Deliberate deception / misrepresentation: fake facts, ambiguous authority (when the other party has not the final decision power of what you are negotiating), dubious intentions
2) Psychological warfare: making the other party uncomfortable to create an unconscious desire to end the negotiation as soon as possible (stressful situations, personal attacks, good guy / bad guy routine, threats)
3) Positional pressure tactics: structure the situation so that the other party has to make concessions (refusal to negotiate, extreme or escalating demands, lock-in tactics, hardhearted partner, calculated delay, “take it or leave it”)

Question 20

Which techniques can you use to know if you are being ethical?

Answer 20

• Front-page test (would you mind if what you said / do is printed in the front page of a newspaper?)
• Reverse Golden Rule (don’t do to the other what you don’t want for yourself)
• Role modeling
• Third-party advice
• Strengthen your BATNA