FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2019, file photo, Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch speaks during the Major ... [+]
Being in business can be messy business. There are three ethical choices you can make as a business owner. Which choice will you make as you seek to attract high-paying clients?
As a business owner, author and baseball fan, I am saddened by the ethical lapse of the Houston Astros. As a business owner you can take a virtue (right or wrong) approach, a duty-based approach, or a utilitarian (consequence) approach.
Those who follow the utilitarian approach think the ends justify the means because what they do will be best for the majority. As the Mississippi philosopher Zig Ziglar once said, “That’s just stinkin’ thinkin’.”
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were each suspended without pay for the 2020 season by Major League Baseball, which on January 13, 2020 released the findings from its investigation of Houston’s sign-stealing allegations.
Astros owner Jim Crane announced in a news conference later that day at Minute Maid Park in Houston that Luhnow and Hinch had both been dismissed by the organization.
To paraphrase the line from the film Casablanca, “I am shocked that cheating is going on.” And here sir are your winnings.
To be fair, according to Major League Baseball the investigation revealed “absolutely no evidence” that Crane was aware of any of the team’s shenanigans.
“Crane is extraordinarily troubled and upset by the conduct of members of his organization, fully supported my investigation and provided unfettered access to any and all information requested,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said.
Obviously utilitarian ethical thinking is alive and well in baseball and business. If you follow utilitarian ethics you do a cost-benefit analysis before making decisions about following regulations, taking care of customers, paying taxes, and so much more.
If you are more worried about winning and making money than you are of being a benefit to society as a whole, that is utilitarian ethics at play. In this case, cutting corners to win will benefit the Houston fans.
I was amused to read that The Los Angeles Dodgers issued the following statement in response to Major League Baseball’s investigation into the Astros:
“All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today’s punishment of the Houston Astros as it’s inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time.”
In other words, we lost the World Series to cheaters, but we can’t comment on that.
“I find that the conduct of the Astros, and its senior baseball operations executives, merits significant discipline,” Manfred said as part of the nine-page ruling. “I base this finding on the fact that the club’s senior baseball operations executives were given express notice in September 2017 that I would hold them accountable for violations of our policies covering sign stealing, and those individuals took no action to ensure that the club’s players and staff complied with those policies during the 2017 postseason and the 2018 regular season.
Other teams are being investigated. The Astros are not alone in the “if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying mentality.” In football teams like the New England Patriots have had their share of questionable utilitarian ethics.
Every business owner is inclined to favor one ethical approach over the others. But know this: reputations can take years to build and can be lost overnight. Before you do that cost-benefit analysis, make sure you consider the real consequences of your action. Do the ends really justify the means?
