Fresh thinking on ethics for management consultants from the latest Management Consulting Journal

1. No laughing matter

What happens when something goes against a code of conduct? This is what happened when a major Dutch bank received a loan request from a bar owner who wanted to sell laughing gas to a young clientele; a tantalising case study covered in Camilla Ørsted Rytter Hansen’s paper. 

Laughing gas had just been legalised for recreational use in the Netherlands, and the bar owner saw an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. The bar was legally allowed to sell the drug, and the bank’s guiding principles behind its code of conduct required its employees to serve the client and be professional. But the bank representative dealing with the request also had concerns over the transaction, and she shared them with colleagues in the ethics department. 

Those internal advisors explored the case using various ethical perspectives:

• Consequentialism, which judges what is right or wrong solely by its consequences. For example, while laughing gas is enjoyed by some people, it’s also known to play a role in traffic accidents and can be highly addictive.
• Deontology, which judges what is right or wrong based on virtues such as principles and values. While taking laughing gas or targeting young people with it might conflict with many people’s inner “moral compass”, the bar owner is free to do what he likes within the law, including making a profit from selling the gas.
• The perspective of all stakeholders – bank, bar owner, clients, advisors, society as a whole, government as legislator, and the media. 

By acknowledging consequences, deontology and the various stakeholders’ perspectives, the internal advisors were able to supplement the bank’s guiding principles, and decided to reject the bar owner’s request. Hansen also points out the importance of frontline employees who, in the first instance, are prepared to share their concerns with internal advisors.