dilemma

Examples of dilemma in the following topics:

• The Prisoner's Dilemma and Oligopoly

  • The prisoner's dilemma shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it is collectively in their best interest to do so.
  • Similarly to the prisoner's dilemma scenario, cooperation is difficult to maintain in an oligopoly because cooperation is not in the best interest of the individual players.
  • One traditional example of game theory and the prisoner's dilemma in practice involves soft drinks.
  • Prisoner dilemma scenarios are difficult strategic choices, as any deviation from established competitive practice may result in less profits and/or market share.
  • Analyze the prisoner's dilemma using the concepts of strategic dominance, Pareto optimality, and Nash equilibria

• Ethical Conflicts

  • A person who must choose between competing moral imperatives faces an ethical dilemma.
  • Several ideas from political philosophy can guide managers in resolving an ethical dilemma:
  • Justice: Another way to consider an ethical dilemma is by considering the principle that all people should be treated equally.
  • Common good: Finally, resolving an ethical dilemma might mean considering whether one choice is more in keeping with the long-term welfare of all affected parties.
  • Discuss the innate contradictions that often arise in an ethical dilemma, where two or more different moral imperatives conflict

• Scenario breakdown of the Mezirow phases of transformation

  • The learner must first face a disorienting dilemma.
  • A disorienting dilemma is triggered by a life crisis or major life transition, although it may also result from an accumulation of transformations in meaning schemes over a period of time (Mezirow, 1995, p. 50).
  • Mezirow (1997) points out that transformative learning theory always begins with a disorienting dilemma.

• Principle-Agent Problem

  • The principle-agent problem (agency dilemma) exists when conflicts of interest arise between a principal and an agent in a business setting.
  • In economics, the principal-agent problem (also known as an agency dilemma) exists when conflicts of interest arise between a principal and an agent in a business setting .

• Applying the Decision Tree

  • Consider an ethical dilemma involving a colleague.
  • The top box of the decision tree would state "Colleague Dilemma."
  • Decision trees therefore support the evaluation process and can help clarify often-complex ethical dilemmas.

• Game Theory Applications to Oligopoly

  • The prisoner's dilemma is a specific type of game in game theory that illustrates why cooperation may be difficult to maintain for oligopolists even when it is mutually beneficial.
  • In a prisoner's dilemma game, the dominant strategy for each player is to betray the other, even though cooperation would have led to a better collective outcome.

• Definition

  • After being faced with a disorienting dilemma in phase 1, the learner steps through the remaining phases reflecting on his/her own experiences.

• Growth through innovation

  • In his book, The Innovator's Dilemma, Christensen (1997) differentiates between "sustaining technologies" and "disruptive technologies".

• Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

  • He used the idea of moral dilemmas—stories that present conflicting ideas about two moral values—to teach 10 to 16 year-old boys about morality and values.
  • The best known moral dilemma created by Kohlberg is the "Heinz" dilemma, which discusses the idea of obeying the law versus saving a life.
  • Kohlberg emphasized that it is the way an individual reasons about a dilemma that determines positive moral development.
  • After presenting people with various moral dilemmas, Kohlberg reviewed people’s responses and placed them in different stages of moral reasoning.
  • This often occurs in moral dilemmas involving drinking and driving or business situations where participants have been shown to reason at a lower developmental stage, typically using more self-interest driven reasoning (i.e., stage two) than authority and social order obedience driven reasoning (i.e., stage four).

• Moral Development in Childhood

  • Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience - In this stage, children find it hard to distinguish between two separate moral points of view, especially in a moral dilemma.
  • At the postconventional or principled level, children can think of morals and values in an abstract way and begin to realize some moral dilemmas do not have a clear-cut, right or wrong answer.