Replies to Carr by Timothy B. Blodgett

Carr “tells it like it is.” About one-third of the letters to the editor supported Carr. –Getting the job done is the only thing that counts in business. –Good ethics do not excuse poor job performance.

Carr is wrong – Part 1. About two-thirds of the letters criticized Carr. –Deception never succeeds as a long-term business strategy. –Carr is wrong that businessmen do not expect the truth to be spoken. –Businesses may not owe people the whole truth, but there other ways to keep information private besides lying.

Carr is wrong – Part 2 More criticisms…. –Business cannot be separated this easily from the rest of society and its norms and expectations. –Business is more complex than poker, and in fact consists of several “games” taking place simultaneously. –Carr’s notions are nothing more than self- justifying hogwash.

Does It Pay to Bluff in Business? Norman E. Bowie

Bowie argues that bluffing during collective bargaining causes economic inefficiency. Collective bargaining is adversarial, which carries over into the workplace and reduces productivity. Bluffing and deception undermine trust, which may be needed in the future to solve a problem. Business success rests on cooperation, which is eroded by adversarial interactions. In the long term, the business stability that comes from “ethical practice” pays off. (The Utilitarian principle.)

Is It Ever Right to Lie? By Robert C. Solomon

Is Solomon’s position paradoxical? He says that it is never right to lie. He also says that telling a lie is often prudent and preferable. Which is it?

Solomon in non-paradoxical terms. Telling the truth is an important value. However, other values are more important and sometimes outweigh the truth. –Saving someone’s life – yes. –Protecting someone’s feelings – maybe. –Making things more convenient for ourselves – no.

Why does telling the truth normally take precedence in business? Reality is complex and interconnected, and it is very difficult to sustain even simple lies. Getting caught in lies can wreck a business or career. If the general principle, “Lie whenever you feel like it,” was widely followed in business, then business would be impossible.

Concluding points. Advertising may not tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but lies span a continuum from “telling less than the whole truth” to “vicious falsehoods,” and the differences between these can be understood. Against Carr’s position, Solomon states that lying is against the rules of poker, and definitely is not in the rules of business.