Question

Why might these sources of individual values not prove very helpful when making complex business decisions

Answer 1

Answer:

The first part of the question is missing:

"We all learn values from sources such as family, religion, and school. Why might these..."

To be honest, most of the time business decisions are not clean cut ethical or unethical, even if you are not doing anything wrong or illegal. When you are doing business you will try to make the largest possible profit and money doesn't just appear from no where, if you earn money, you will be taking it away from someone else. In the best case scenario, you will be giving that customer a higher perceived value than the cost of your product or service, so everyone wins.

But many times, not everyone wins. E.g. you manage a construction company and you will bid for a project, hopefully you will win and make money, but others will lose. Empathy is good for marketing, but very bad for finances.

When thousands of jobs are replaced not by Chinese workers, but instead by computers and robots, it's just bad luck for the unemployed. When large stores like Sears go bankrupt while Amazon surges, good for Amazon, bad for Sears.