Preserving a culture.35 Bob Littman is owner of a series of galleries and a major client of Artifacts, an importer of ethnic arts.While having lunch with Mary, a manager at Artifacts, he is introduced to Len.

A buyer for Artifacts, Len has traveled widely in South America in search of native artwork. One of his major sources is the Amazonia36 people, whom he has gotten to know quite well, even learning their language. Bob is very interested in Amazonia basketry and indicates that he would like to place a series of large orders, provided the Amazonia will make certain changes in the patterns and colors of their baskets to suit the tastes of his customers. A deal of this magnitude would be highly profitable both for Artifacts and the Amazonia.Mary is enthusiastic about the idea. She proposes that Len return to South America and convince the Amazonia to modify their designs, which should be a minor matter given their obvious skills. Len, however, was an anthropology major in college and understands that the Amazonia basket designs are not just pleasing patterns. Symbolism plays a central and powerful role in many traditional cultures. The design elements that displease Bob contain symbols that denote important events in the group’s long history. Even if the Amazonia agree to change their designs, he fears that they may not appreciate the risk of losing their symbolic tradition and the long-term impact on their culture. To make matters worse, meeting the production quotas would require that both men and women work on the baskets. Basket weaving is an integral part of a woman’s role in Amazonia culture and never undertaken by men. The honor of preserving and celebrating the history of their people inspires women to spend a lifetime mastering the intricate designs. If Len explains all this to Mary, should she ask him to take this assignment? If she does, how should Len deal with the request?

Hint. A principle stated at the beginning of the next chapter may be helpful in analyzing this case.

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TABLE 6.4 Consent rates for organ donation as measured by an online survey Opt-in default Opt-out default Neutral 42% 82% 79% Source: Based on Eric J. Johnson and Daniel Goldstein, "Do defaults save lives?" Science, 302, November 21, 2003, pp. 1338-1339.