Question

Is bluffing in business ethical? Summarize Carr’s argument. Do you agree with him? Does bluffing pass Hooker’s generalization test in poker? Does it pass the generalization test in business? Discuss.

Answer 1

     Albert Z Carr has tried to demonstrate in his article that the ethics of business while being different from the general social rules of morality may still be very close to the ethics of poker. He draws the analogy by stating that bluffing to a certain extent is permissible in both poker and business or rather is a part of it. In fact Carr’s article is quite persuasive and we can very well understand that why businesses employ he techniques of bluffing from time to time. As Carr explains bluffing does not always equal cheating or lying. The everyday situations in business are not as straightforward or simple that they allow for the truth to be spoken without any difficulty. At various instances a person may be faced with a choice which is slightly different from his personal sense of ethics.   Moreover, in case of business always trying to stick to the truth may put a person and sometimes the whole business at a severe disadvantage. (Carr, 1968)

At some points, however, Carr’s point may seem like trying to support the view that ethics are fine upto the point that they do not necessarily collide with the profits. However, at a deeper level he is stating the opposite; that ethics would certainly in many conditions not allow businesses to take a more profitable course. What should one do in such a condition? Whether one should bluff or stick to his ethics? Carr has tried to answer the same question in his article. He does not set any clear line on bluffing or that to which extent bluffing is fine. Again it is like the game of poker and you should bluff only till you can handle it confidently. So, bluffing in business can be shrewd strategy and that which keeps it from failing on account of being bound by ethics. We are certainly bound by ethics but rather than having to make ethical choices we can make smarter choices.

   It is not always that ethics may come to be in collision with profits. Many times you can be ethical and profitable as well and that leads to satisfaction. But yet business is played by the rules of strategy and the major tests of every move in business are legality and profit. So, bluffing can be a strategy that helps the player strike a balance between the two. To be successful in business one should have the attitude of a game player. One who has mastered the rules of his business as well as its ethical outlook very well recognizes that occasional bluffs may be ethically justified as well as important or rather essential in terms of the game’s necessity.

What we do generally in society is weigh the facts against truth and the farther a fact is from truth the closer it is to deception. In case of business, one cannot deceive himself of his profits either by trying to remain very close to the truth as it goes against the laws of financial profit. This is where Carr’s argument seems strong and true and therefore, bluffing in common life can be vastly different from that in business. In business it is a careful move and a part of strategy. So, where the line lies? Bluff is a part of business and if one has mastered it then he will do it without departing very far from ethics.

In poker a player bluffs for the reason that it gives him a better chance of winning. Then everyone who has a reason to seek better chances to win also has a reason to attempt to confuse his opponent. Similarly, in case of business too when someone bluffs the reason is that it gives him a better chance to earn profits. The same rule applies to others also that they to seek to bluff for better profits. For others it cannot be that they will not bluff believing that it will hurt their ethics. So, bluffing passes the generalizability test in both the cases.

      So, Carr’s point is that instead of seeing bluffing as deceptive or contrary to business ethics, one should see it as an essential part of business strategy and rational. Bluffing is not about lying or deceiving. Instead it is a trick that may help one gain the economic profits without getting very far from his ethics. The question is of mastering the art and playing the game mindfully. Sometimes, it helps when there is a collision between ethics and profits because profits and ethics do not always coincide. Carr’s article is therefore, quite interesting, however also intriguing and informative. His points are also true as we already know about the business world where bluffing may be a shrewd move, which just looks deceptive and cruel.