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Introduction to circumstances of compromise

The following presents the circumstances of compromise as laid down by Martin Benjamin in Splitting the Difference . (See below for complete reference.) Benjamin provides five conditions that indicate when a compromise may be necessary. But he also argues that integrity helps draw a line beyond which compromise must not go. One should not sacrifice basic beliefs that constitute one's personal identity or self system. A good example of using integrity to draw the line on compromise can be found in the characterization of Thomas More in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons . (See also the movie of the same name.) In the preface to the play, Bolt explicitly presents what follows as an exercise in articulating and testing integrity.

    Circumstances of compromise

  • Under these conditions it may be necessary to "split the difference."
  • Factual uncertainty
  • Moral complexity .
  • Continuing Cooperative Relationship
  • Decision cannot be deferred
  • Scarcity of Resources

More on moral complexity

Martin Benjamin in Splitting the Difference quotes John Rawls on moral complexity: “Diversity naturally arises from our limited powers and distinct perspectives; it is unrealistic to suppose that all our differences are rooted in ignorance and perversity, or else in the rivalries that result from scarcity….Deep and unresolvable differences on matters of fundamental significance…[must be acknowledged] as a permanent condition of human life.”

    Application of circumstances of compromise

  • Factual Uncertainty . Where are the chips under consideration going? If they go to an essential system in an operative technology, then their malfunctioning could lead to loss of life. If they go to a non-essential system (like a prototype being tested) then maybe the testing process can be streamlined. This may require compromise between Hughes management, chip-testing team, and customers.
  • Moral Complexity : How should an employee like LaRue weigh his loyalty to supervisors and company and his obligation to the public and client? Setting aside his harassment of Gooderal, is Saia's position (or at least a part of it) morally defensible?
  • Continuing cooperative relationship : How important should it be to Gooderal that she needs to sustain her relationship with her supervisor, LaRue, for the long term? How important is it that Hughes managers respond to difficult messages rather than attempt to "shoot the messenger." (Again, thinking in terms of continuing cooperative relationship?)
  • Decision cannot be deferred : Why is it impossible to defer the decision on whether to respond to test skipping? This case poses several difficult constraints. How many of these can be "pushed back" through negotiation? Could Saia use his newly found accessibility to customers to negotiate with them an extension on the delivery deadlines?
  • Scarcity of resources : How are the resources of time, personnel, and money scarce in this case? Is there any way to push back these constraints by negotiating more time (extending deadlines for delivering chips), personnel (bringing in additional people to test chips), and resources (developing better tools to test chips more quickly). Could, for example, it be possible to transfer Hughes employees from other areas to help out, temporarily, on chip testing?

Questions & Answers

I'm interested in biological psychology and cognitive psychology
Tanya Reply
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physiological Psychology
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Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
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Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
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A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
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Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
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Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
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nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
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Source:  OpenStax, Professional ethics in engineering. OpenStax CNX. Aug 29, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col10399/1.4
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