Abstract

Among questions receiving attention in this symposium of twenty-seven spokesmen of large organizations are these: What are the consequences, for discerning and acting upon values and responsibilities, of the complexity of today's public and private organizations? How are a man's duties and ethical alternatives affected by the fact that he is an administrator in a big corporate, academic, governmental, religious, or military institution? The perennial tension between democracy and efficiency in organizational decision-making is also amply documented. Almost every contributor refers several devastating counter-instances to any simple formal procedure, utilitarian or idealist, for deciding among ethical options faced by the executive. But the conclusion, that there is no method applicable in all situations wherein choice is to be based on the ethical merits of the candidates alone, is less astonishing than the frequency with which it is drawn.--W. H. C.