BLIND OBEDIENCE 1. Examples of cruelty done on Human beings in India under blind obedience: – i) Religious and Cultural domain: eg. Gujarat violence Graham Staines murder case (religious fanaticism) Sati praha B abri Masjid demolition ii) Political domain: eg. Fundamentalist terrorist groups in India (ULF A-Assam, Laska r-e-To iba – Akshardham Temple) iii) Social domain: Conservative practices in society (female infanticide) iv) Corporate domain: Exploitation of Laborers in coalmines of Jharkhand-low security measures; Hazardous working conditions-disposal of hazardous wastes (violation of pollution norms).
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Reasons behind this phenomenon: – i) Social Structure ii) Economic Constituents iii) Illiteracy iv) Political exploitation 4. Lessons for Corporate executives: – -Consequences of deviating from standard policy should not be set so high, that people are afraid of using their own ethical values in arriving at a judgment. -In situations of dilemma, executives should give preferences for their logical reasoning and values, over a stringent blind following of corporate policies. -Corporate executives should analyze any situation using a balanced and holistic view taking into account its short run and long run merits and demerits. -Corporate executives should not analyze any situation from the organization perspective alone but also taking into account the benefit of society as a whole. 3.
Development Process Behind “Blind Obedience” a) The development of an appealing objective -In NAZI campaign -The Schutzstafflen whose job was to actually exterminate Jews. “The SS as an exterminator of ‘inferior’ races” b) Indoctrination of members: -Principles reiterated over and over again so that new entrants are thoroughly sleeper in them. -Just to quote one of the principles used by the SS “We have only one task-to stand firm and carry on the racial struggle without mercy” c) The obligation of obedience: -Seeks to establish unconditional obedience in the minds of the new entrants -In the SS, the members had to carry out tasks, however distasteful, illegal or human. -“One who passionately believes in the principles must himself subject himself voluntarily to obligation to obey” Stanley Milgrams’s obedience experiments are also relevant in this respect. The subject was a teacher who was supposed to give electric shocks to a student (the co-subjects) for every wrong answer. The intensity of electric shocks was increased with each wrong answer.
The Term Paper on Contemporary Corporate Board Governance
Contemporary Corporate Board Governance Given revelations of numerous corporate scandals since the turn of the century, we can no longer ignore the negative impact that unethical and unlawful behaviors have had on the economic stability and capital welfare of the nation. Organizational culture is based on a set of widely shared meanings, beliefs, principles and values and is supposed to set the ...
An astonishing 60-70% of the subjects chose to administer shock to their co-subjects. The study shows that a substantial proportion of people subdue their conscience to the command of a legitimated authority.
