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IN ARMENIA, MORE - AND HIGHER PAID - JOBS IS THE ANSWER
Published: Monday August 26, 2013
New AUA graduate students at orientation. AUA via Facebook
by Mihran Aroian
You just entered a coffee shop where the smell of freshly baked muffins
is wafting from the oven. You step up to the counter and order a large
to-go cup of freshly brewed coffee along with a banana-nut muffin. You
give the young clerk $10 and are rewarded with a steaming hot cup
of coffee and a freshly baked muffin. As you walk out the door, you
count your change and notice that the clerk gave you change for a
$20 bill. What would you do?
You have three choices: go back to the clerk and return the money,
leave the store and commit to yourself to pay back the money next
time you return, or enjoy the coffee, muffin, and the extra $10!
Having done this little experiment for many years with thousands of
college students in Texas, the results in the US are 60% keep the free
money, 15% promise to return the money next time they visit the store,
and 25% return the excess money to the clerk.
I have done this same experiment in Armenia with 4 classes for a total
of approximately 100 students and the results are as follows. Two
students keep the free money and 98 students return the money. That
is pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. In Armenia, where
the per capita income is far below the US, people are willing to act
more ethically. Now, we don't know what actually happens - but nor
do we know in the US! In the US, when you ask the students why they
would keep the extra money, the answer is typically that the clerk
made the error and why should the customer be held responsible? In
Armenia, the students immediately recognize that the clerk will be
held responsible for the monetary error and the likelihood is high
that the clerk will lose his job or, at the very least, have to make
up the difference. In the US, there are a few students who recognize
this same negative outcome for the clerk.
On a very different subject, the likelihood of overt cheating (as
defined my most higher educational institutes in the US) is also very
different when compared to Armenia. I asked students in Armenia if
their friend was unable to come to class to take an exam, would they
step in and take the exam for the absent student? Although I have not
asked this question in the US, I am confident enough to know that 100%
of the students would say that this was both unethical and against
the policies of their university.
In Armenia, approximately 25% of the students said that they would take
the exam for their friend. In their mind, it had nothing to do with
cheating - since they did not personally benefit. They were simply
helping a friend who was unable to attend class. What was even more
surprising was that only a few of the students recognized that they
had signed a code of conduct that prohibited this course of action. How
could so few students recognize this behavior as unethical? How could
they not know that they had signed a commitment not to engage in such
unethical academic behavior? Why would they be willing to take such
a risk?
It comes down to wanting to help someone that they have a relationship
with that simply needs some help!
There are examples of where Armenian students and American students
were equally as convinced of unethical behavior and there were also
examples of where Armenian students were equally as confused about
unethical behavior. For example, when provided with the text in the
next paragraph, both Armenian and American students were virtually
identical in their response.
You figure out a way to use a complex financial transaction to make
your results look much better in the short run, even though you know
there is no underlying change in your company's performance. In fact,
you know that in the future there will be significant consequences
for shareholders and other stakeholders. But, in the short run,
you'll make a lot of money by doing this.
Virtually 100% of all students, Armenian and American, recognize this
as unethical behavior. However, there are scenarios where students from
both countries are just as unsure as to what constitutes unethical
behavior. For the most part, when actions and consequences are
black and white and clearly cause someone harm, Armenian students
are more astute as to the ethical nature of the situation. But when
it is not clear who is being harmed or what damage is being caused
to a third-party, Armenian students are more likely to engage in
such behavior.
Ethical behavior in Armenia has a very different meaning than in
America. In Armenia, if you need or want a higher course grade,
simply pay-off the professor. In America, it is unheard of! The
thought that grades can be purchased is simply not a part of the
American culture. It may happen, but not on a wholesale level.
In Armenia, low-level governmental employees earn significantly less
than the national average. This includes policemen. If you want to put
food on the table, you have to supplement your income, which can lead
to many unethical acts. Corruption in Armenia may include the wealthy
oligarch families that are overtly corrupt but it includes even the
most common of citizens - people trying to feed their families and
wanting to provide the very basics to survive and live.
We may look at Armenia and wonder how corruption becomes a part
of society yet when the average citizen has nothing to live on,
corruption becomes a way to simply survive in a society where real
jobs are scarce and survival is on a day-to-day basis.
When you travel to the smaller towns in Armenia you learn that the
only way to survive is to leave Armenia to look for work. Many of
the men travel to Russia to find work for six months in order to send
money home. They return to be with their families but what kind of a
life is it to have to leave in order to find work only to return to
be dismayed by the lack of job prospects?
Teaching business ethics to students in Armenia was a privilege
but when you put it into perspective, trying to teach ethical
decision-making in a society that is simply trying to survive is
challenging. When you see your next door neighbor surviving because
they know how the system works makes it hard to convince someone that
they should play by the rules.
When it comes down to taking care of yourself, your loved ones,
and your friends, business ethics can be a foreign concept. If you
cannot eat, why should you worry about making the right ethical choice?
What does Armenia need in order to solve so many of her problems?
Jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I want our future business leaders in
Armenia to be ethical but I also know that they need jobs. Without
the very basic necessities in life like food, water, shelter and
clothing how can we expect Armenians to work towards a higher level
business thinking?
As Armenians in the diaspora, if we want to help solve so many of
the problems that are faced in Armenia, we need to help them find jobs.
They already have too many taxi drivers earning $1.50 per trip and
paying $5 per gallon of gas. What they need are some real jobs in
manufacturing and export. Armenia needs to generate some hard currency
that can help grow the economy. Did you know that the GDP of Armenia
is only $10 billion? Vermont has the lowest GDP in the US yet it has
25% of the Armenian population and three-times the GDP of Armenia.
In the not too distant future, a new web site will be opening that
aims to help bring jobs to Armenia. This web site will allow some
of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in Armenia tap into the vast
Armenian diaspora network to find connections that are necessary to
bring their products to world markets.
For example, a small high tech company in Gyumri, the second largest
city in Armenia, has developed some of the latest and greatest
earthquake detection technology and aside from selling a few units to
the Armenian government, they do not have the connections or resources
to bring this technology to the world. As it turns out, there are
three major companies in the world that manufacture and distribute
this type of technology and are located in the US, IK, and Japan.
What are the chances that an Armenian works at one of these three
companies? Could they help this small company in Gyumri to make
introductions to either license, sell or market their technology
outside of Armenia? The chances are probably pretty high. When we can
bring the power of the diaspora network to help Armenian business,
we not only provide for opportunities of growth, jobs and prosperity -
but we also provide hope and a future for our homeland.
Mihran Aroian is an instructor at the McCombs School of Business at
the University of Texas at Austin and the McCoy College of Business
at Texas State University. For the past two summers, he has been a
lecturer at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan.
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=7199A393-0EC4-11E3-8FBA00155D008B1E&pagewanted=all
Published: Monday August 26, 2013
New AUA graduate students at orientation. AUA via Facebook
by Mihran Aroian
You just entered a coffee shop where the smell of freshly baked muffins
is wafting from the oven. You step up to the counter and order a large
to-go cup of freshly brewed coffee along with a banana-nut muffin. You
give the young clerk $10 and are rewarded with a steaming hot cup
of coffee and a freshly baked muffin. As you walk out the door, you
count your change and notice that the clerk gave you change for a
$20 bill. What would you do?
You have three choices: go back to the clerk and return the money,
leave the store and commit to yourself to pay back the money next
time you return, or enjoy the coffee, muffin, and the extra $10!
Having done this little experiment for many years with thousands of
college students in Texas, the results in the US are 60% keep the free
money, 15% promise to return the money next time they visit the store,
and 25% return the excess money to the clerk.
I have done this same experiment in Armenia with 4 classes for a total
of approximately 100 students and the results are as follows. Two
students keep the free money and 98 students return the money. That
is pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. In Armenia, where
the per capita income is far below the US, people are willing to act
more ethically. Now, we don't know what actually happens - but nor
do we know in the US! In the US, when you ask the students why they
would keep the extra money, the answer is typically that the clerk
made the error and why should the customer be held responsible? In
Armenia, the students immediately recognize that the clerk will be
held responsible for the monetary error and the likelihood is high
that the clerk will lose his job or, at the very least, have to make
up the difference. In the US, there are a few students who recognize
this same negative outcome for the clerk.
On a very different subject, the likelihood of overt cheating (as
defined my most higher educational institutes in the US) is also very
different when compared to Armenia. I asked students in Armenia if
their friend was unable to come to class to take an exam, would they
step in and take the exam for the absent student? Although I have not
asked this question in the US, I am confident enough to know that 100%
of the students would say that this was both unethical and against
the policies of their university.
In Armenia, approximately 25% of the students said that they would take
the exam for their friend. In their mind, it had nothing to do with
cheating - since they did not personally benefit. They were simply
helping a friend who was unable to attend class. What was even more
surprising was that only a few of the students recognized that they
had signed a code of conduct that prohibited this course of action. How
could so few students recognize this behavior as unethical? How could
they not know that they had signed a commitment not to engage in such
unethical academic behavior? Why would they be willing to take such
a risk?
It comes down to wanting to help someone that they have a relationship
with that simply needs some help!
There are examples of where Armenian students and American students
were equally as convinced of unethical behavior and there were also
examples of where Armenian students were equally as confused about
unethical behavior. For example, when provided with the text in the
next paragraph, both Armenian and American students were virtually
identical in their response.
You figure out a way to use a complex financial transaction to make
your results look much better in the short run, even though you know
there is no underlying change in your company's performance. In fact,
you know that in the future there will be significant consequences
for shareholders and other stakeholders. But, in the short run,
you'll make a lot of money by doing this.
Virtually 100% of all students, Armenian and American, recognize this
as unethical behavior. However, there are scenarios where students from
both countries are just as unsure as to what constitutes unethical
behavior. For the most part, when actions and consequences are
black and white and clearly cause someone harm, Armenian students
are more astute as to the ethical nature of the situation. But when
it is not clear who is being harmed or what damage is being caused
to a third-party, Armenian students are more likely to engage in
such behavior.
Ethical behavior in Armenia has a very different meaning than in
America. In Armenia, if you need or want a higher course grade,
simply pay-off the professor. In America, it is unheard of! The
thought that grades can be purchased is simply not a part of the
American culture. It may happen, but not on a wholesale level.
In Armenia, low-level governmental employees earn significantly less
than the national average. This includes policemen. If you want to put
food on the table, you have to supplement your income, which can lead
to many unethical acts. Corruption in Armenia may include the wealthy
oligarch families that are overtly corrupt but it includes even the
most common of citizens - people trying to feed their families and
wanting to provide the very basics to survive and live.
We may look at Armenia and wonder how corruption becomes a part
of society yet when the average citizen has nothing to live on,
corruption becomes a way to simply survive in a society where real
jobs are scarce and survival is on a day-to-day basis.
When you travel to the smaller towns in Armenia you learn that the
only way to survive is to leave Armenia to look for work. Many of
the men travel to Russia to find work for six months in order to send
money home. They return to be with their families but what kind of a
life is it to have to leave in order to find work only to return to
be dismayed by the lack of job prospects?
Teaching business ethics to students in Armenia was a privilege
but when you put it into perspective, trying to teach ethical
decision-making in a society that is simply trying to survive is
challenging. When you see your next door neighbor surviving because
they know how the system works makes it hard to convince someone that
they should play by the rules.
When it comes down to taking care of yourself, your loved ones,
and your friends, business ethics can be a foreign concept. If you
cannot eat, why should you worry about making the right ethical choice?
What does Armenia need in order to solve so many of her problems?
Jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I want our future business leaders in
Armenia to be ethical but I also know that they need jobs. Without
the very basic necessities in life like food, water, shelter and
clothing how can we expect Armenians to work towards a higher level
business thinking?
As Armenians in the diaspora, if we want to help solve so many of
the problems that are faced in Armenia, we need to help them find jobs.
They already have too many taxi drivers earning $1.50 per trip and
paying $5 per gallon of gas. What they need are some real jobs in
manufacturing and export. Armenia needs to generate some hard currency
that can help grow the economy. Did you know that the GDP of Armenia
is only $10 billion? Vermont has the lowest GDP in the US yet it has
25% of the Armenian population and three-times the GDP of Armenia.
In the not too distant future, a new web site will be opening that
aims to help bring jobs to Armenia. This web site will allow some
of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in Armenia tap into the vast
Armenian diaspora network to find connections that are necessary to
bring their products to world markets.
For example, a small high tech company in Gyumri, the second largest
city in Armenia, has developed some of the latest and greatest
earthquake detection technology and aside from selling a few units to
the Armenian government, they do not have the connections or resources
to bring this technology to the world. As it turns out, there are
three major companies in the world that manufacture and distribute
this type of technology and are located in the US, IK, and Japan.
What are the chances that an Armenian works at one of these three
companies? Could they help this small company in Gyumri to make
introductions to either license, sell or market their technology
outside of Armenia? The chances are probably pretty high. When we can
bring the power of the diaspora network to help Armenian business,
we not only provide for opportunities of growth, jobs and prosperity -
but we also provide hope and a future for our homeland.
Mihran Aroian is an instructor at the McCombs School of Business at
the University of Texas at Austin and the McCoy College of Business
at Texas State University. For the past two summers, he has been a
lecturer at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan.
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=7199A393-0EC4-11E3-8FBA00155D008B1E&pagewanted=all