The Parable of the Sadhu

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UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN[pic 2]

Academiejaar 2017-2018

Faculteit Toegepaste Economische Wetenschappen

Master in de toegepaste economische wetenschappen (Major Accountancy/ Minor revisoraat)

Case 1: The parable of the Sadhu

Anke Meeussen

Sara Meeussen                

                                        Prof. Ann Vanstraelen

Question 1: Throughout ‘the parable of the sadhu’, Bowen McCoy refers to the breakdown between individual and corporate ethic. Explain what he meant by that and how, if we view the hikers on the trek up the mountain in Nepal as an organization, the ethical person-organization fit applied to the decisions made on the climb.

Part 1: explain the breakdown between individual and corporate ethics

In the case, Bowen McCoy stated that there is a breakdown between individual and corporate ethics. Individual ethics can be defined as what a person believes is right, while corporate ethics are a set of, hopefully right and ethical, behaviors that a business follows for the execution of its activities. However, the ethical decision making process can be affected by organizational factors. This in turn can cause a breakdown between the individual and corporate ethics.

During the case, it was mentioned that there was no sense of purpose between the individuals of the group to solve the situation at hand. There was no process for developing a consensus within the group and there was no leader present. All these elements resulted in the fact that every person started to act as an individual, and not as part of a group. On the mountain, everyone reacted in their own way to the situation according to their individual ethics, but not one person tried to be the leader. Only Stephen tried to take responsibility because he realized the true dimension of the situation they were facing. However, Stephen was not able to deal with this situation on his own because the situation was too complex for one person to handle. The lack of support from the others eventually resulted in the fact that no one on the mountain made an ethical choice regarding the Sadhu.

We can conclude that there clearly was a breakdown between individual and corporate ethics in this case. In order for the corporation/group to be strong, it is necessary that the individuals share a preconceived notion of acceptable and ethical behavior. The group and the individuals are thus interdependent from each other and the notion of shared values is at the heart of finding an ethical solution and acting on it. However, in this case there was a lack of a shared notion between the individuals which resulted in each individual only thinking about themselves during this complex situation. Each individual was willing to help the Sadhu only until it became inconvenient for them. Then they told themselves that there was nothing more they could do for the Sadhu, passed responsibility to others and left in order to reach their personal goal, which was to get across the pass.