Professional and Business Ethics Through Film: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking

By Jadranka Skorin-Kapov

This book considers ethical issues arising in professional and business settings and the role of individuals making decisions and coping with moral dilemmas. Readers can benefit from engagement in filmic narratives, as a simulated environment for developing a stance towards ethical challenges. The book starts by elaborating on critical thinking and on normative ethical theories, subsequently presenting the structure and cinematic elements of narrative film. These two avenues are tools for evaluating films and for discussions on various ethical problems in contemporary business, including: the corporate and banking financial machinations (greed, fraud, social responsibility); workplace ethical challenges (harassment, violence, inequity, inequality); professional and business ethical challenges (corruption, whistleblowing, outsourcing, downsizing, competition, and innovation); environmental and social issues; international business and human rights; and personal responsibility and identity challenges due to career pressures, loss of privacy and cyber harassment, and job structure changes in light of changing technology. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Release date: Aug 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9783319893334

Book preview

© The Author(s) 2019

Jadranka Skorin-KapovProfessional and Business Ethics Through Filmhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89333-4_1

1. Introduction

Jadranka Skorin-Kapov¹  

(1)

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

Jadranka Skorin-Kapov

Email: [e-mail]

In this book, we present issues related to professional and business ethics . This is achieved through discussions of real-world cases and through discussions of relevant narrative films. There are three main reasons for this approach: philosophical (ethics), artistic (creativity), and pragmatic (business). The reasons are outlined in the following paragraphs.

It is unquestionable that humanity faces numerous societal challenges (overpopulation, inequality in wealth distribution, globalization, technological developments, political upheavals, and wars), and numerous environmental problems (climate change , pollution, replenishment of natural resources). While ethical conduct, in general, was always valued, the importance of ethical considerations in professional and business settings in current times is especially pronounced due to the far-reaching consequences resulting from globalization and from connectivity based on technological advances. Faced with uncertain future, it is mandatory to consider ethical issues and to strive toward just, fair, and more ethical relationships, including personal, societal, and professional relations. The fast rate of technological change has a profound impact on the job structure, creating new ways of conducting business and new ways of social interactions. The unstoppable march of technology is a double edge sword, creating new jobs, but also discarding many current jobs as obsolete in the future, and using industrial robots or intelligent machines (Fingar 2015).

This book considers ethical issues arising in professional and in business settings, and the role of individuals making decisions and coping with moral dilemmas. The companies today cannot look only at the bottom line profit—the sustainability, environmental protection, and social implications, have to be taken into account. Some companies qualify for the title B Corporation (the benefit corporation ) with a mission statement including a pledge for improving our habitat. Businesses today need to consider the problems facing various stakeholders and society as a whole, including depleted natural resources, increased gap in wealth distribution, unprecedented development of technology, current and anticipated drastic changes in the job structure, and changes in the nature of humanity.

While companies proclaim ethical codes of conduct and there are many companies qualified as benefit corporations, there are still numerous examples of blatant unethical behavior including financial machinations and accounting fraud , greediness, violations of human rights, harassment, and various forms of discriminations. This is the reason for mandating a prominent role of ethics in our professional and business education. Ideally, the education of future professionals and business people should balance professional skills development with nourishment of virtues and ethics, resulting with better preparation for uncertain future careers and with better equipment for a meaningful, fulfilling professional life. Hence, the goal of this book is to contribute to the ethical education, including the development of moral virtues and skills, and social and environmental responsibility, in a new generation of business students.

In our time, the narrative film seems to be the most prevalent artistic and entertainment form. While there are people that never went to an opera, or a ballet show, or visited a gallery, it is hardly conceivable to imagine someone never seeing a movie. Film is the newcomer among the art forms, called the Seventh Art form, in addition to architecture, dance, music, painting, poetry, and sculpture.¹

Narratives presented in films allow spectators to evaluate behavior in simulated environment. Even if I am not in a situation as presented in a film, I can imagine myself in a given position and can think about my possible response. My experience can be enriched by envisioning myself as a professional, or as a CEO of a company, or as any business person with power and responsibilities. Such virtual experience can help in getting to know myself better and in evaluating my moral convictions. In fact, inclusion of simulated environment as part of educational training is a pragmatic approach toward preparation for challenging jobs. This is certainly used when educating pilots and astronauts, before sending them into space. In engineering and in architectural design students engage in modeling to get needed experience for tackling real projects. Similarly, business students preparing for managerial careers bringing various ethical challenges related to business practices, leadership, entrepreneurship, teamwork, and bringing various personal challenges in juggling professional and private lives, can benefit from engagement in filmic narratives. There are a number of books on teaching business ethics supported by case studies, usually in multiple editions, for example, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (Ferrell et al. 2015), Business Ethics (Shaw 2014), or Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants (Brooks and Dunn 2014). The present book also discusses relevant real business cases, however, the main approach is to engage in discussions on relevant narrative films presenting either fictional or biographical stories. This approach is taken in order to enrich student’s experience through visual and dramatic elements, exploring fictional scenarios or dramatically enhanced real cases. We live in a world saturated with images, often faced with virtual environments, hence using narrative film for engaging in ethical questions seems a worthwhile approach.

With respect to the challenge of using filmic art in provoking empathy, our goal is to provoke discussions on ethically challenging films: do they contribute to personal development and to changed perspective toward one’s personal fulfillment and well-being? Aristotle’s analysis of pity, fear, and catharsis as related to tragic spectacles, can be adapted to our contemporary experience of film and the feeling of empathy while identifying with the character on the screen. According to Aristotle, a good tragic spectacle (as a form of art) induces emotions of pity and fear that lead to catharsis or purification of such emotions, contributing to one’s virtuous development. Since virtues …arise in us neither by nature nor contrary to nature; but our nature can receive them and perfect them by habituation,² it is important to develop proper habits regarding virtuous dispositions. Aristotle’s analysis suggests that such habits could be obtained via emotional outlets when watching tragic spectacles. Adapted to our contemporary situation, we can ask whether identification with a filmic character can contribute to one’s virtuous development.

Another reason for engagement with narrative film is the possible benefit from its artistic value. Of course, documentary films can serve as excellent source for enriching discussions regarding real business situations. For example, Inside Job (Charles H. Ferguson , 2010) is a documentary presenting Wall Street corruption leading to the economic crisis of 2008, and it received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A narrative film based on real characters involved in 2008 financial crisis and on the book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (Lewis 2015) is The Big Short (Adam McKay , 2015). The film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards, winning the Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. While both films are very effective, and while the documentary uses various cinematic elements (to be discussed in a subsequent chapter), the narrative film allows for a bigger repertoire of cinematic elements and presents characters as individuals we follow in actions, allowing potential identification with such characters, in turn increasing spectators’ engagement. In addition, there are narrative films with purely fictional story, augmenting the factual state of affairs. Viewed as art, and regardless of the moral implications of the story, film’s artistic force can open up unexpected horizons of creative thinking. Hence, inclusion of artistic elements provides a possibility for nourishment of creativity and for novel thinking, or thinking outside of the box. This is the allure of cinematic presentation.

Among the various art forms, film is the most complex and the most expensive product, combining creativity and business expertize of various participants. Film combines elements from literature, visual, and audio arts. In addition, in presenting a story, film uses a specific cinematic language through editing and special effects.³ We will elaborate this point later on.

Considering the potential of narrative film, we can explore ways in which it can provoke ethical triggers as well as creative thinking. Our goal is to use the power of film and visual analysis in contributing to virtuous dispositions as well as to creativity of our students, aiding in proper development of future business leaders.

Established by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1972, the Jefferson Lecture honors individuals with distinguished achievements in the humanities. In 2013 Jefferson Lecture Martin Scorsese delivered a talk entitled "Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema." He said,

We’re face to face with images all the time in a way that we never have been before. And that’s why I believe we need to stress visual literacy in our schools. Young people need to understand that not all images are there to be consumed like fast food and then forgotten – we need to educate them to understand the difference between moving images that engage their humanity and their intelligence, and moving images that are just selling them something.⁴

Another great director, Sidney Lumet , said along similar lines,

While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing.⁵

Yet another reason for engaging with narrative film when discussing business ethics and critical thinking stems from film’s position between art and business. As a product, a film is a very expensive undertaking, with expenses from production, distribution, and marketing. For this reason, many films are made in a way to maximize potential box office profit. There are independent films and films outside genres that are made with low budget, and less concerned with entertaining value contributing to profits. While a film is a collaborative effort with many artistic sensibilities (including e.g. screenplay, cinematography, music, editing), the film director serves as a unifying force. A film director that develops a recognizable artistic style is termed the auteur, in analogy of the author of a novel. However, often a filmmaker has to juggle between artistic expressions and budgetary considerations, and most of the films are done for exclusive entertainment value, without genuinely addressing some serious personal or social problems, or without proposing novel and surprising ways of presentation for which the spectators would not be currently ready. The film production has to be managed and calculated economically, with a view to make a profit, or at least to recover the cost. These constraints have to be approached in a careful way, to ensure the possibility of making another film afterward. Hence, a filmmaker has to juggle between the potential budgetary constraints and the need to offer a novel representation of an issue, or a novel cinematic experience, in other words, to create a work of art.⁶

For a business student, learning about cinematic elements and their applications to deliver a message effectively to spectators (i.e. customers) in order to profit from the film (i.e. product), can be beneficial for a future business career dependent on profits, sales, customers, competitors.

There are a number of books relating film to philosophical inquiries, which is not surprising given that films provoke aesthetic experiences, stir emotions, and may trigger reevaluation of our morality code. The relation between filmic experience and philosophical inquiry can start from different sides. It can either start from philosophy in applying its concepts in film analysis (e.g. the concept of friendship and how is it depicted in film), or it can start from film and its capacity to trigger a philosophical discourse. Examples for the first instance (from philosophy to film) are books relating philosophy and cognitive science to film (Carroll and Choi 2006), illustrating the emotional impact of film (Plantinga and Smith 1999; Tan 2011; Smith 2003), or the use of film to explicate philosophical concepts (e.g. responsibility, personal identity) (Stoehr 2002; Litch 2010; Teays 2012).

Another approach is to start by analyzing a film, and by interpreting the characters and their actions, move toward a philosophical inquiry (Gilmore 2005; Shaw 2008).

Finally, there are books that propose a two-way relationship between film and philosophy, without preference for a given direction. Film can enrich philosophical inquiry and, vice versa, philosophical questioning can enrich a film. Examples include New Takes in Film-Philosophy (Carel and Tuck 2011) and Thinking Through Film: Doing Philosophy, Watching Movies (Cox and Levine 2012). In Business Ethics Through Movies: A Case Study Approach (Teays 2015), a number of films relevant for business ethics is discussed, however, without providing a critical approach to film as an artistic or entertaining product, and to the cinematic structure of films relevant for business students.

Our task is to provoke discussions on various films from three different sides: film’s artistic import, film’s ethical import, and film’s business import. This is why the subtitle reads: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking .

The fact is that we live in the world saturated with images and this saturation might result with insensitivity and lack of empathy. Concerned with everyday challenges and struggles, and possibly desensitized due to information overload and saturation with images, we might feel as if we have seen it all and it becomes difficult to get surprised. Art, in general, has the potential to surprise us and to invoke an aesthetic experience. Film can have a pure entertainment value, but it can also have an artistic value, able to surprise us in an irreducible way. This would result when images on the screen surpass my capability to process them according to my sensible intuition. Development of cinematic techniques facilitates such encounters, sometimes creating sublime experiences, providing a common ground to aesthetics and ethics.⁷

As a spectator, I will value a film with respect on how effective it is in pulling me into its story, i.e. how much can I identify or empathize with the characters on the screen. New cinematic technology contributed to ways of provoking spectators on neuronal basis, prior to reflection.⁸ The process of spectator identification with the fictional world presented on the screen was explained through the work of neuroscientists who discovered the activity of mirror neurons in the brain, subsequently termed embodied simulation (Gallese and Guerra 2012). Applied to the experience of watching a film, embodied simulation explains the feeling of empathy triggered in movies. Namely, a spectator can experience feelings as if being in the position of a character on the screen and, moreover, this occurs without a conscious effort due to similar neuronal wiring. This research was anticipated in Deleuze’s writing on film when he said that cinema not only puts movement in the image, it also puts movement in the mind.⁹

Cinematic elements invoking embodied simulation , and resulting with convoluted senses of space and time, may genuinely surprise a spectator. In such experiences reality initially defies representation and appearance, subsequently resulting with surprise. Our expectations are based on former experience, so when I am surprised and my expectations are not met, it means that something new entered my experiential space. This provides augmentation of my experiential space, enriches my experience. It can trigger my creativity and provoke novel thinking. Nurturing creative thinking has both an aesthetic and an ethical value. It can lead to novel expressions for product design or for new modes of organizing and conducting business transactions. It can also contribute to my sense of responsibility and empathy allowing me to see more clearly potential aftereffects of business decisions. Hence, our goal with this book is to discuss ways in which narrative films can be used to foster the capacity for being surprised, in turn provoking the ethical considerations, sense of morality, and the overall sense of well-being.

As already said, apart from its artistic value in provoking enriching aesthetic experience, and apart from its philosophical value in contributing to one’s morality code, the experience of film can benefit a business student by nurturing creativity and novel ways of thinking applicable in a business setting. One can look at the film as a product made to be sold to spectators and look for its characteristics that make it successful. As a customer evaluating a product, a student needs to critically evaluate the film in terms of its artistic creativity versus its business goal, including a marketing potential for propagating a certain view or ideological position. The discussion of film as a product should include the questions of why, how, and for whom is the film made. Specifically, we can ask:

Why: the story, including plot, characters, setting, meaning;

How: cinematics (formal elements) including shots, scenes, sounds, style;

Who: the audience, or who are the customers?

Hence, in this book the discussion about films will engage the reader in different ways. It will include: a discussion of the ethical situation, actions, and characters depicted in a film by using different ethical positions; evaluations of moral beliefs by imagining oneself in the fictional role presented in film; consideration of implications for propagating viewpoints, ideas, and marketing strategies relying nowadays heavily on visual tools; and a comparison of the fictional filmic situation with real-world cases. In experiencing a film, I first receive it aesthetically, and the reflection follows afterward. In writing about it, or when discussing it, I somehow go backwards by first assessing its message and ethical issues, and then evaluating how was the message delivered.

To facilitate discussions, we propose a template for analyzing films by taking into account what is presented on screen, and how it is presented.

A Template for Analyzing Films

1.

What is the main theme of the film (what is the story about, in general)?

2.

Present a short synopsis, or the plot.

3.

What are the ethical situations presented in the film and what are the characters’ motivations? Relate characters’ behavior to ethical theories: utilitarianism , ethics based on duties (deontological), ethics based on virtue.

4.

How is the conflict presented through cinematic elements (e.g. shots, editing, lighting, sound)?

5.

What message is propagated through the film?

6.

What emotions or questions were provoked by the film? How would you act?

7.

What is your reception of the film? How entertaining did you find the film?

8.

Are there relevant real-world cases that could be compared with the situation in this film?

The films discussed in this book are selected based on their potential to explicate a certain argument, be it ethical, or artistic, or businesslike. While there are many films I highly value, not all the films discussed in this book fall into the category of my favorite films. The films selected are quite diverse, including American and foreign films, some very recent films and some not that recent, but still very relevant. Using a diverse set of films, we will be able to discuss ethical issues facing us today, presented in different styles. With respect to ethics, we will seek answers to various questions, including the following: Does the end justify the means? What is cultural relativism? What are cultural values? What are the sources of discrimination? What is responsibility? How important are environmental issues? The films will induce discussion about professional behavior and business: What is workforce ethics? What is greediness? What is bribery? What is whistleblowing ? What is fraud ?

Following this introductory chapter, the book is organized in additional seven chapters. We start by elaborating on elements of normative ethical theories and critical thinking, and by presenting the nature and structure of narrative film and its cinematic elements. These two avenues are needed as tools for discussions on various ethical problems in contemporary business, subsequently evaluating relevant films. The issues to be discussed include:

The corporate and banking financial machinations (greed , fraud, social responsibility);

Workplace ethical challenges (harassment, violence, inequity , inequality );

Professional and business ethical challenges (corruption , whistleblowing, outsourcing and downsizing , innovation and competition );

Relation of businesses with stakeholders in society and dealing with environmental issues (climate, vital resources, international relations and human rights, social inequality);

Personal responsibility and identity challenges due to career pressures , loss of privacy and cyber harassment , job structure changes in light of changing technology.

Every chapter is organized as follows: (1) A theoretical discussion on the issue, including discussion on professional and/or business cases; (2) Discussion on some relevant films; (3) Questions for subsequent discussions. A short synopsis of each chapter follows.

In Ethical Positions and Decision Making we introduce elements of professional and business ethics , followed by definitions of various approaches to decision making and thinking, including creative qualitative thinking and quantitative thinking. This is intended to prepare the reader for a critical approach toward evaluating messages projected through the screen. A business student should be aware and familiar with such evaluation strategies.

The second part of this chapter provides a concise yet relevant summary of moral agency , ethical dilemmas, applied ethics , and normative ethical approaches such as Virtue Ethics , Deontological (Duty) Ethics and Consequentialist (Goal) Ethics.

The ethical approaches are illustrated by discussing the Ford Pinto case involving product safety from 1977–1978 (Sherefkin 2003) and the Volkswagen emission scandal from 2015 (Ewing 2015).¹⁰

Film discussions afterward consider the original Norwegian film Insomnia (Eric Skjoldberg , 1997) and its American remake five years later, Insomnia (Christopher Nolan , 2002). The main theme of Insomnia films is the fragility of a moral decision making, and how a person can end up on an unethical path. While presenting the same plot, the two films invite different ethical considerations and we elaborate on their differences.

The next chapter is entitled Mythical Structure of Narration, Cinematic Elements, Film Genres and it contains three parts. In the first part we present the mythical structure of narration , based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung on archetypes and the structure of selfhood, subsequently applied by Joseph Campbell in writing on myths occurring in different cultures, and finally its implications in the writing of Hollywood’s development executive Christopher Vogler on the practical guide for screenplays. The connection Jung-Campbell-Vogler is illustrated in a discussion of a highly popular film from the Star Wars saga, the Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner , 1980). To observe how this mythological structure applies to contemporary situation, we look at Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderberg , 2000), a film based on a real case.

In the second part, we consider cinematic language and the difference between the narrative and the documentary film. Presented is Inside Job (Charles H. Ferguson , 2010), the influential documentary depicting the financial world. Some differences in approaching narrative and documentary films are illustrated by considering two different film adaptations of a fraud related to stock market manipulation, and a documentary on the same story. Hence, film discussions include Boiler Room (Ben Younger , 2000), The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese , 2013), and the documentary The Real Wolf of Wall Street (Jordan Belfort , Daniel Alonso, Kelly Evans, 2014).¹¹

In the third part of this chapter, we present various approaches to narrative film, from blockbusters to independent films, films from different cultures, and more or less conventional films. We differentiate among filmic elements such as story, plot, and style; consider business implications behind development of various film genres ; and observe how artistic efforts are balanced with spectatorship’s expectations in order to secure future productions. Discussions involve the following films: Jaws (Steven Spielberg , 1975), The Marriage of Maria Braun (R. W. Fassbinder , 1979), Funny Games (Michael Haneke , 1997, 2007), Noah (Darren Aronofsky, 2014), and Arrival (Denis Villeneuve , 2016) .

The subsequent chapter entitled Financial Machinations and Ethical Perspectives has three subsections. We first analyze business greed and the case of Enron collapse in 2001 (Oppel Jr. and Sorkin 2001). Since greed often involves manipulation infringing on human rights, we look at films provoking thoughts on manipulating people. Some films are comedies, yet leaving a sour feeling by encountering injustice. Films discussed include Equity (Meera Menon , 2016), Arbitrage (Nicolas Jarecki , 2012), Trading Places (John Landis , 1983), and Hudsucker Proxy (Joel and Ethan Coen , 1994).

We continue discussions on business greed leading to fraud , mentioning the case of Nick Leeson’s involvement and the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank (Stevenson 1995). This was adapted for the screen in Rogue Trader (James Dearden , 1999). In addition, we look at Wall Street (Oliver Stone , 1987), Other People’s Money (Norman Jewison , 1991), and Barbarians at the Gate (Glenn Jordan, 1993). The last film presents the case of RJR Nabisco 1988 LBO (Leveraged Buyout) (Richter 1988).

Greedy view of profit usually comes in conflict with social responsibility, and this led to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008. Case discussion considers the Lehman Brothers 2008 collapse (Farndale 2008). Financial practices widening the gap between profit and responsibility are illustrated through films Margin Call (J. C. Chandor , 2011) and The Big Short (Adam McKay , 2015).

In a chapter entitled Workplace Harassment , Violence , Inequity, and Inequality we present forms and types of business and professional workplace harassment and violence, and the ethical issues related to inequality and inequity . The cases presented include Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Company from 1988 (Legal_Momentum 1997), and some controversial psychological experiments using human subjects (the Murray experiments on mind control during 1959–1961 (Chase 2000), the Milgram experiment involving behavioral study of obedience during 1961–1963 (Milgram 1963), and the Stanford Prison experiment in 1971 (McLeod 2017). Some cases are adapted for films, such as North Country (Niki Caro , 2005), Stanford Prison Experiment (Kyle Patrick Alvarez, 2015), and Experimenter (Michael Almereyda , 2015). In addition, we analyze The Hunt (Thomas Vinterberg , 2012) addressing workplace harassment and mob mentality as the impact of false accusations. We also discuss Whiplash (Damien Chazelle , 2014) questioning the unorthodox measures of the teacher to stimulate his students.

In the next part of this chapter, we present cases of workplace violence, e.g. in schools, factories, hospitals. The list of mass shootings in America is a telling story of violence in various work environments.¹² Film discussions include A Most Violent Year (J. C. Chandor, 2014), Money Monster (Jodie Foster , 2016), and Network (Sidney Lumet , 1976). Lumet’s Network from 1976 remains very relevant. Another film from the 70s displaying workplace violence is Rollerball (Norman Jewison, 1975).

The subsequent discussion provides examples of workplace inequity and inequality. Among real business cases, we mention the Ford sewing machinists strike for equal pay for women in 1968, based on which Made in Dagenham (Nigel Cole , 2010) was filmed (Goodley 2013). A more recent case is Peggy Young versus UPS in violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 2008 (Zillman 2015). We discuss films Working Girl (Mike Nichols , 1988) and The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel , 2006).

The next chapter, entitled Professional and Business Ethical Challenges , has three parts dealing with business ethical challenges such as: corruption and whistleblowing , outsourcing and downsizing , competition and innovation .

The real cases we discuss as related to corruption include the Wells Fargo accounting fraud case in 2016 (Merle and Nakashima 2016), the FIFA corruption scandal in 2015 (Rollin 2016) and the whistleblowing case Wigand v. Brown & Williamson during 1996 (Brenner 1996). The Wigand case is adapted for film The Insider (Michael Mann , 1999). In addition to the whistleblowing case involving the tobacco industry, we see the reluctance of the media to air it and the main characters exemplify different ethical approaches in professional and in business ethics . Professional and business corruption is presented in numerous films, including The Fugitive (Andrew Davis 1993) and The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont , 1994).

Outsourcing and downsizing are usually related business issues. We discuss examples of companies using outsourcing policy such as Levi Strauss and Co. (McDougall 2014) and General Electric (GE) outsourcing to India in the 1990s (Solomon and Kranhold 2005). Downsizing always presents personal problems, often contributing to societal problems, and we look at cases with corporations such as General Motors, Boing, and GE. The fictional scenarios are discussed via foreign and domestic films: Outsourced (John Jeffcoat, 2007) Two Days, One Night (J. Dardenne and L. Dardenne , 2014), Up in the Air (Jason Reitman , 2009), and The Company Men (John Wells , 2010).

Business competition can be merciless, creating personal problems and involving lots of stress. Business innovation may involve disputes and lawsuits. Some interesting cases are adapted for the screen, and some are fictional stories. We present cases such as Mattel Inc. v. MGA Entertainment Inc. during 2005–2008 (Groom 2011), Adidas America Inc. v. Payless ShoeSource Inc. during 1994–2009 (Hunsberger 2008), and Robert Kearns against Ford and Chrysler from 1978–1992 (Schudel 2005). The following films are discussed: an adaptation of Kearns’ case in Flash of Genius (Marc Abraham , 2008), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (Francis Ford Coppola , 1988), Joy (David O. Russell , 2015), and The Founder (John Lee Hancock , 2016).

In the chapter entitled Business, Environment, Society we engage in discussions of business practices impacting environment and society at large, presented in three sections. First, we look at environmental issues involving quest for vital resources such as water and air, and involving climate change . We look at the Exxon Valdez case from 1989 (Holusha 1989), the Flint Michigan lead-tainted-water in 2014 (Wang 2015), and the Woburn, MA against W.R. Grace and Company and Beatrice Foods (1990s), We subsequently discuss the following films: an adaptation of the Woburn case in A Civil Action (Steven Zaillian , 1998), Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy , 2007), and The Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich , 2004).

Resource takeover is discussed in the film Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev , 2014). International business often brings into question human rights by violations due to inequality of different countries, or due to different cultures and different ethical codes of conduct. We look at the example of human rights violations in the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India in 1984 (Diamond 1985), and in Dhaka , Bangladesh, garment industry tragedy in 2013 (Al-Mahmood 2013). Further discussions include films The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles , 2005) and Blood Diamond (Edward Zwick , 2006).

Societal challenges and various ethical problems are based on increased inequality in wealth distribution, on different cultural norms, on lack of proper education, and on class structure. Since ethical questions concern relationships with others, the notion of connectivity, of actions having foreseeable and unforeseeable consequences on a local and on a global scale, has an ethical ring to it. There are films with plots connecting disparate situations via some actions, illustrating unforeseeable ethical consequences of decisions, e.g. Human Capital (Paolo Virzi , 2013), In a Better World (Suzanne Bier , 2010), and Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu , 2006).

The last chapter, entitled Career Pressures , Responsibility, Identity, addresses various anxieties related to: career development, personal and social responsibility, creation and maintenance of comfortable identity, loss of privacy cyber harassment , and the rapid technological changes.

Career challenges can result in various personal struggles , testing one’s morality code. We discuss examples of career-related stress, pressures, and responsibilities, and analyze films such as: Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley , 1992), The Inheritance (Per Fly , 2003), The Dinner (I nostri ragazzi) (Ivano De Matteo , 2014), and Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade , 2016).

Identity challenges are suitable for narrative films since the narrative usually involves societal critique at the same time, involving ethical dilemmas . Identity challenges could arise from inadequate job environments, from pressures of entertainment industry, and from pressures related to race, gender, or sexuality. We consider the following films: Office Space (Mike Judge , 1999), Reality (Matteo Garrone , 2012), Paterson (Jim Jarmusch , 2016), and Moonlight (Barry Jenkins , 2016).

Loss of privacy and cyber harassment are prominent topics in business environments. After mentioning some real cases, we look at Disconnect (Henry Alex Rubin , 2012) and The Circle (James Ponsoldt , 2017). We also discuss job-related and identity problems due to the rapid development of technology, robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI).¹³ The films discussed include: Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera , 2008) and Ex Machina (Alex Garland , 2015). Our predictions about future carry the sense of awe and wonder regarding the technological advances, but also the sense of anxiety and apprehension about the changing role of humanity. Science fiction films offer illustrations of our current fears and ethical concerns and we look at the classic sci-fi 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick , 1968), still relevant after half a century.

The present book provides a valuable source for contemplating ethical problems and dilemmas one could encounter in professional and in private life. The cases and film narratives discussed in this book will hopefully contribute toward development of ethical virtues, contributing to a sense of fulfillment and moral standing.

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