The aim of this report is examine an ethnographic study of a mesmerizing hub of entertainment and social interaction, a casino. Since acuity is definitely not at its peak parameters when one is having a good time, countless meaningful aspects tend to elude us. However, real life generates a plethora of instances when some extra attention could completely revolve things for a better outcome. Managers face such challenges frequently, as they deal with problems which could be avoided or solved with the help of visionary insights from the myriad of things happening that no other person has taken any notice of. Following this eyes-wide-open exercise, ethical theories will be brought into discussion and further used to critically evaluate the extent to which the company’s ethical commitments are obeyed.
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The organisation I have chosen for this ethnographic study is Gala Casino in Bradford. Situated near the city centre amongst other popular attractions such as the Cinema and several restaurants, it attracts people of all ages into its dazzling entertainment chambers. It benefits from the advantage of a generous multi-storey car park for easy, direct access into its premises. Intuitively, passionate gamblers would rather carry their bets/gains by a safe means.
The doors open into the lobby where a receptionist grants access to members and registers outsiders. Only adults are allowed in due to legislation in vigour. New visitors are checked for ID and can be introduced by existing members. Should they wish so, membership can be granted. Personal data is logged into the system under confidence guarantee so that on further visits access may be permitted just by saying the birth-date. The advantage for new members is that they also receive some ‘free-money’ to gamble on condition it be bet all at once on two different visits. So newcomers are lured to return if only to gamble that amount.
Upon entry into the actual hall the atmosphere strikes you as luxurious yet casual and more welcoming than most places in the town. Three sectors are vaguely delineated in the economy of this space: the gaming area, the lounges and the restaurant. There is a pleasant background music played by a cheerful live band. Some people are singing along as they watch the performance and relax in the lounges. The place seems to offer a full social experience with quality music, food, and lots of good-looking people gathered together in a pleasant environment. Waitresses scurry about offering non-alcoholic drinks on the house such as lemonade and tea.
At the first roulette table a woman seems to be celebrating her birthday with a group of friends. They are wearing party cones and indulging themselves with champagne poured in tall glasses. The roulette dealer does not seem to mind their being loud and gesticulating so much. He remains composed and mechanically repeats the algorithm of his job. When chips are thrown randomly on the table, he checks to make sure no questionable bet or behaviour permeates the game. As the table gets crowded it becomes harder to keep everybody under control and more authority is enforced through managers and camera surveillance. The whole place seems like a panopticon. The sophisticated technology ensures that subjects are unaware whether being observed, however they discipline themselves as if permanently in focus. Whenever a new player joins in and wishes to trade in money for chips, he/she is asked to place it on the table where a camera can record it. Then it is inserted through a tight slot with the aid of a transparent glass slider. Winning bets are acknowledged through the positioning of a transparent Plexiglas pawn on top of them.
There are mostly men in charge with the roulette, blackjack and poker tables. There are also several other people walking around to make sure everything takes place according to rules. They seem quite pedant in carrying out their task as their faces display a permanently alert glare. Once in a while they step in at the tables exchange some jargon phrases with the dealer or blatantly draw their attention for some apparently insignificant misconduct such as allowing a paper clip to sit awkwardly close to the bets zone.
All these observations shall constitute the foundation for the analysis to proceed which will be performed through an ethical perspective. This ethnographic study has been triggered by the feeling that there is overwhelming evidence proving legal casino gambling to be ‘bad.’ Some misleading influences consist in the social costs involved per pathological gambler, national income leakages from money ill-spent (Walker, 2004), and other condemnable consequences such as alcohol and tobacco abuse or depression. Furthermore, Samuelson (1976) argues that the only acceptable reason to prohibit gambling must stem from “extraneous ethical or religious grounds; or must be based on the notion that society knows better than individuals what is truly good for them; or the notion that we are all imperfect beings who wish in the long run we were not free to yield to short-run temptations” (p. 426, note 7).
The first detailed reference of casinos emerged in the early seventeenth century in Venice. It was portrayed as a location where new abuses were introduced, sheltering the worst corruption of good manners, which led to the stigmata that such enterprises do not serve for honest and civil entertainment (Walker, 1999). Clearly, even since its inception until present days, the place triggered fierce disputes upon its morality. This justifies the purpose of this report of scrutinizing casino management through the perspective of two ethical theories: utilitarianism and deontology. These two broad ethical evaluations are used to assist the individual decision maker when making a choice between the various alternatives perceived as likely to solve an ethical problem (Vitell et al, 2001).
The former, Utilitarianism belongs to the class of teleological or consequentialist ethics, which support the creed that the end (telos) of moral actions is of utmost importance to the detriment of its content of moral judgment (McDonald, 1978). Consequentialism implies the use of, or justification of the use of any and all means available in order to achieve the goal. This principle resembles the Machiavellian political manipulation whereby the end justifies the means. The entitlements of others might be blatantly ignored or might not be given enough recognition (Micewski and Troy, 2007). “The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.” (Mill, 1863, p2)
On the other hand, Deontology is concerned with what “ought” to be done, with obligation, with rights and duties, with promises and commitments which any rational being is bound to respect (McDonald, 1978). One central element of Kantian ethics is that the moral worth of any action is based entirely on the agent’s motivation: human behaviour cannot be determined as either good or bad as function of the consequences it generates, but only regarding the stimulus which moved the agent to take a particular course of action. Kant stresses this prominently in the opening of the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: “It is impossible to think of anything at all in the world, or indeed even beyond it, that could be considered good without limitation except a good will”. Kantian ethics can provide a sound implication for management theory, i.e. stakeholders should be considered as ends in themselves, rather than means to achieve some other (corporate) end (Colle, Werhane, 2008).
While utilitarianism presents itself as an adequate reasoning pattern for legislative ways of thought, deontology is situated closer to judicial ways of thought. The decision on the legality of an action does not rely on measuring if its consequences maximize pleasure or satisfaction. A person is bound by the law quite independently of any specific good consequences produced by his obedience or disobedience of the law. In the eyes of a deontologist a crime will always be a crime regardless of whether someone suffers from it or there are no damages (McDonald, 1978).
All things considered, both formalism and utilitarianism risk to be employed excessively if the each other’s complementary is utterly dismissed. When relying on Kant’s work and dismissing the latter, failure to use vision and imagination may have as consequences obsolescence or dogmatism. However, not to take into account the stabilizing effect of tradition and to permit imagination to outweigh rigor in the social process may jeopardize coherence and clarity-the lack of which would resemble societal insanity. (Brady, 1985)
The present analysis, however, will take into account the two paths to reach a balanced view upon the way ethics function in Gala Casino. Throughout their existence, casinos have been sunk in adverse publicity concerning their management and mores. There has been “evidence of skimming, junketing, fraud, corruption and the provision of unlawful credit” which has been revealed in the hearings and subsequent appeals against the closure of casinos (Miers, 1981, p1). Yet very little of all these is visible upon a bare-eyed visit into the gaming parlours.
From the very entrance into the building the organizational culture is obvious. Legislation is obeyed ad litteram and every measure is taken to respect obligations. The reception personnel check identification and permit access solely to adults. The abundant use of technology and supervision ensures activities develop in a fair, predictable manner with no room for interpretation. Monetary transactions are overseen by micro-cameras planted discretely and microphones recording communication. At the same time, the tension is diffused in the welcoming environment which relieves risk pressure while casting away suspicions of intrusion. It is after all an ethical compromise accepted for the sake of maintaining a certain level of common happiness.
Adopting a deontological posture, the responsible gaming commitment of the casino admits that whilst most customers are able to enjoy their gambling, for some customers gambling ceases to be fun. For those customers who wish to restrict their gambling, a self-exclusion facility is provided as option. This encompasses a formal process whereby the gambler agrees to be banned from operating an account with Gala for a minimum period ranging between six months and up to five years upon request. During this period no marketing material may be delivered nor any deposits or bets accepted. Only after the expiry of the exclusion period, the account may be re-opened by telephone as the only available method of activation (Gala, 2011). In theory, all these sound rather virtuous and seem to go beyond the ‘duty’ boundaries regarding care for the customer. The gap towards practice, nevertheless, lies in the lack of any mention of counselling towards the right timing to appeal to self-exclusion. An addicted gambler will rarely know or have the strength to stop and opt for such a potential escape. Thus, sceptics might inquire on the outcomes and genuine benefits for the customers of such a position.
Furthermore, the organization takes another ethical stand by supporting the claim that gambling is not advised during recovery periods for any dependency or under the influence of alcohol or any other substance (Gala, 2011). Again, this shows commitment and esteem towards the clients, respecting the Kantian imperative of treating people as ends in themselves rather than means to achieve a purpose. In contrast, field observations pointed to a lack of involvement of personnel as far as offering such valuable piece of advice is concerned. Even more, drinking was permitted during gambling and everybody seemed happy with it. At this point utilitarianism seems the adequate lens to judge the situation. In one respect, at the moment of occurrence all the protagonists displayed satisfaction and delight with the behaviour of the other party. The lady and her friends were celebrating her anniversary, having a good time during the game. The dealer was cashing in heavily and avoided spoiling the fun of the customers by advising sobriety when gambling. As such, the total welfare was enhanced by refraining from acting for duty sake. Nonetheless, consequences may gain a less colourful sight on the next day when the lady might even consider suing the casino for unethical conduct. Therefore, the ethical boundary is quite blurred in this case and rather subjective, too, depending on the perceptions of those involved.
Carrying forward the previous argument, the ethical status of the organisation can also be interpreted in light of how its stakeholders are treated. After customers, casino employees should also be regarded as individual characters rather than just no-names filling a position. An employee’s experience of the extent to which the company abides by the assumed ethical stand will have an impact on his or her ethical decision making. Otherwise put, employees’ perception of the company’s fairness shapes their moral intents (Johnson, 2007). Research shows that frontline casino employees are exposed to disproportionately high degrees of gambling, drinking and smoking relative to other occupations (Lee et al, 2008). What is more, they seem vulnerable to ethical dilemmas since a great amount of their income is earned from customer tipping offered in a working environment which shelters the service and consumption of alcohol (Kincaid et al., 2007) as mentioned before. However, this action might lead to gamblers becoming intoxicated while they are playing (McCain et al, 2009). This is the point when deadlock is reached and either company regulations or own ethics should intervene. As Schwepker and Good (2007) indicate employees who behave ethically conduct their job with integrity and try to bypass deceptive practices achieving a mutually beneficial relationship with customers.
Finally, it would be naive to believe that undertaking this exercise reveals the full frame of ethics surrounding the organization. The social repudiation endured over time by casinos was caused by faults greater than questionable morals. Nonetheless, just by infiltrating beyond the appearances several contrasts were pointed out. Ethical theories combined with field experience exposed the company as duly subdued to legislation in vigour. Only adults are allowed to gamble and consume alcoholic beverages. Gala does the least to ensure that its culture is in congruence with the views of society (Svensson and Wood, 2003).
Moreover, this organization also displays some deontological claims through the preventive use of surveillance technology, gambling self-exclusion facility, and sobriety advice. The cameras were not as invasive as their omnipresence might suggest and did not disturb the general welfare; quite the contrary, on occasion their testimony could be used to confirm information perturbed by chaotic gambling patterns. The other two issues were proven to be somewhat questionable since they cast a shadow of doubt on their genuine involvement to abide by these promises. There remains a suspicion as to whether Gala truly perceives its Customers and other stakeholders as partners to develop organizational wealth with, rather than the tools by which they accomplish it (Metcalfe, 1998). Nonetheless, at least for the respective evening of euphoria some customers benefit from the consequences of the relaxing atmosphere provided and possible gains pocketed.
