mordidas case study presented by: greg ehmer wesley kean reid macarthur bhargav viradia
TRANSCRIPT
Mordidas Case StudyPresented by:
Greg EhmerWesley Kean
Reid MacArthurBhargav Viradia
Case Synopsis
Setting: Mexico City, Mexico
Traffic officers pull over cars, officer presents law confirmation of prohibited action, driver slips a bribe (mordidas in Spanish)
Smooth, efficient, and routine transaction widely accepted by both officers and drivers
Suburb mayor single handedly makes traffic tickets illegal, resulting in stopped payoffs but a free driving zone in suburb
Despite being wrong, the process is economically efficient, cutting out the middle men in getting officers paid
Video: http://businessethicsworkshop.com/Chapter_4/Mordida%20in%20the%20booklet.html
Cultural Relativism vs. Traditional Ethical Theories
Cultural Relativism = The suspicion that values and morality are culture specific and not the result of universal reason. They’re what a community believes.
Traditional Ethical Theories = Formulating rules for action that everyone—people in all times, places, and communities—must obey if they want to consider themselves ethically responsible.
Confliction: For cultural relativism, all guidelines are culture specific and one set of rules is not wrong or inferior to another. Conversely, traditional ethics are to be followed in all cultures
Traffic Ticket System in Mexico City
Values
Inconsistency
Ease
Efficient
Advantages
Equitable distribution of wealth
Cuts down on government costs and court traffic
Money always goes to the officers
Ethical Justification
Cultural relativism: Mordidas is a long standing and accepted means of transaction
between the police officials and the violators.
Help cops survive
Cops are not paid as much as they are in US
Traffic Ticket System in the United States
Values
Integrity
Accountability
Fairness
Advantages
Universality
Consistency and protocol
Ethical Justification
Idea of fairness: Aristotle: treat equals equally and unequal unequally (progressive
nature of ticket)
Right to trial
Community as a whole benefits
Mexico City vs. USA Ticket Systems: Does Mexico City’s
Prevail? Yes.
Cops in Mexico are paid much less than in US
Widely Accepted and long standing in Mexico
Trust issues between government and people Money may end up with a corrupt political
Not enough money to run an efficient court system
No
Encouraging corruption (slippery slope)
Makes the law subjective Allows upper class to be beyond reproach
FedEx Branch visit in Mexico City
Situation: Does culturalist ethics support your reimbursement claim to FedEx for two mordidas paid out-of-pocket?
No
Traffic ticket is a personal demeanor and the company should not pay for it.
FCPA and Mexican government
FedEx New Recruits
Situation: New FedEx recruits come to Mexico City. For mordidas advice, do you counsel a culturalist approach or advise to obey the books?
Obey by the book
Consistency and accountability: Not compromising the values of the company
Kant: 1st version of categorical imperative: universalized action. Mordidas would screw up Mexico.
Office Space in Mexico City: Accept the Cash
Gift? Situation: You are opening a new FedEx office in
Mexico City. Do you play by local rules and take a generous cash gift in exchange for a certain office space?
Yes
Location is of utmost priority because of the nature of the industry FedEx is in.
We will be paying the money back in rent
It is a gift (incentive).
Win – win. Person offering the most money might have a better place.
Office Space in Mexico City: Conflicting Cash Bribes?
Situation: You are opening a new FedEx office in Mexico City. You have two equal spaces and each owner offers you a bribe, one being larger. What do you do?
Take the money.
Given that both are giving a bribe, it’s time to make the most of the situation (enlightened egoism)
More money shows that he had a great willingness to sacrifice for business.
My Common Virtues
Prudence, Justice, Courage, Faith, Hope, Charity/Love, Respect, Fairness, and Honesty
Shaping Social Institutions
Religious institutions (The Catholic Church - Seven Virtues)
Education (pre-high school)
Family
Friends
Television
Applying Virtues in Mexico City Driving
Violation Situation: You are caught by officer for driving a bit fast in
Mexico City? What do you do? What virtues apply?
Not pay mordidas:
We are representing our company
Don’t want to be caught up in USA for your transgressions in a foreign nation
Doing the right thing
Virtues
Integrity
Honesty
Fairness
FedEx New Recruits, Bribery, and Virtues
Situation: You are training FedEx recruits in Mexico City. In dealing with bribery, what virtues do you instill in them and what previous life experiences could the recruits have to prepare them for the Mexican streets?
Virtues
Integrity
Honesty
Fairness
Previous experience
Not taking the easy way out by cheating on a test
Halloween: Only taking one piece of candy i.e. doing the right thing when no one is watching
Generally, taking the high road or not taking the easy route
The Mexico City Suburb Mayor and Virtues
Situation: Could the mayor’s actions of canceling traffic tickets be considered part of the government’s role in virtue ethics, and if so what virtues? What effect would this have in developing better practitioners of those virtues?
Yes
Virtues Instilled
Honesty
Fairness
Obedience
Integrity
Self accountability
Provides for a primary tasks of ethics:
Provide education about those virtues (towards the self and family)
Provide experience using those virtues to better represent society
Allows the people to grow and develop together