Bud Selig, A-Rod, & the Moral Dimension of Business Models

According to USA Today, Major League Baseball Commisioner is agonizing about whether to suspend Alex Rodriguez for use of banned performance enhancing drugs.   What does this have to do with business models?  This case gets at the moral dimension of business models …

At the heart of every business is a promise — a web of promises, in fact.  A business makes and delivers on a promise to customers — which depends on also making and keeping promises to suppliers, employees, investors, and the public.  Most of us do not like it much at all if someone makes a promise to us and then breaks it. 

At the heart of the A-Rod case is the potential conflict between the implied promise to fans about the integrity of the game and the promise made to the players' union about banned substances.  Technically, A-Rod's use of banned substances occured in 2001 to 2003 — before they were subject to penalty by the league.   Can Selig suspend A-Rod for an action that damages the game but that technically is not punishable? 

As the steward of Major League Baseball, Selig must now apply moral judgement to resolve this question.  The entire business model of MLB – all of the future revenue from ticket sales, television rights, and merchandising rights — depends on the trust of the system. 

Selig acknowledges that this decision is "very hard.  I've got to think about all that kind of stuff."   Let us hope that he chooses wisely.