Ethical Decision Making

Belief

• A belief is any idea held to be true:– Descriptive beliefs can be empirically measured

and determined to be true or false. – Evaluative beliefs involve some positive or

negative judgment about a characteristic or object of the belief.

– Prescriptive beliefs reflect a decision about the desirability of some action or means to an end.

– Proscriptive beliefs reflect a judgment about the undesirability of some action or means to an end.

Values

• A value is a construct that reflects a preference for specific behavior or achieved outcome. – While society, through its various educational,

religious, and political institutions, attempts to sway the individual to appreciate certain ways of behaving or desired outcomes, the individual does not passively internalize these values.

– Rather the manager is an active participant, merging social norms with his unique history and experience to transform and adopt particular values

Moral Value

• Moral values, or morals, are the fundamental baseline values that dictate appropriate behavior.– Moral values are the guideposts a society needs to

function properly. – Examples: honesty, justice, fairness, responsibility,

& respect

Moral Agent

• A moral agent organizes his values into a value system. These sets of values then form– Prescriptions – statements of what to do – Proscriptions – statements about what not to do

Moral Reasoning

• Moral reasoning refers to the cognitive process managers use to make decisions about ethical and unethical behaviors in order to solve problems.– Values play an essential role in the moral reasoning process

because value differences among individuals can result in different judgments about the “right” course of action.

– Determining the “right” thing to do is not an entirely rational process. The nature of information processing in the human brain is a complex blend of neurological and cognitive activities and inherently involves non-conscious processes of association and judgment.

Unconscious Bias

• Implicit prejudice involves unconscious beliefs or feelings toward certain people or groups, which distorts the manager’s expectations and judgments about the person or group.

• In-group favoritism involves showing preference for individuals who are similar to perceived personal characteristics (e.g., “like me”).

• Over-claiming credit is a bias that exists when the manager overrates the quality of his work or contribution to the group.

• A conflict of interest exists when competing professional or personal interests do not allow the manager to perform his duties impartially.

Sources of Ethical Standards1. Statutory, administrative, and case law is a legitimate source of ethical guidance.

While violating the law is almost always considered unethical, compliance with the letter of the law does not necessarily make a behavior ethical.

2. Organizational policies are standards of behavior that specify the right way to do the job task within the agency.

3. Professional and trade association codes are similar to agency policies but tend to be more aspirational in nature in order to uphold the reputation of the profession or trade.

4. Community (social) expectations are unwritten guidelines and change over time. These social mores pertain to fairness or rightness and can be powerful determinants of a person’s reputation.

5. Individual’s conscience reflects a moral standard based on personal, religious, or philosophical understandings of morality. None of these types of standards should be considered more important than the others. Rather, each standard provides a set of parameters that serves as a means to judge ethical behavior in the business setting.

Ethical Issue

• An ethical issue is a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires the individual to select among several actions that may be evaluated as right or wrong, good or bad, benefit or harm, propriety or impropriety, and ethical or unethical.– Right action versus wrong action– Right action versus right action

Models for Framing Ethical Issues

1. Truth versus loyalty2. Individual versus community3. Short term versus long term4. Justice versus mercy

Why Good People Do Bad Things

1. Oversimplify the problem2. Euphemistic labeling3. Advantageous comparison4. Displacement of responsibility5. Attribute blame elsewhere6. Diffusion of responsibility7. Disregard for consequences8. Need to be liked9. Overconfidence

Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making

• A regular decision involves a choice between two or more alternatives.

• An ethical decision has an additional connotation of what “should” be done in a particular situation.

• “Should” statements come from individual values and ethical principles as well as organizational values and mission statements.

Three Principles

• Kidder (1995) suggested three underlying principles for resolving ethical issues: 1. Ends-based thinking considers the consequences

of a decision and selecting the option that is best for the greatest number of people.

2. Rules-based thinking defends standards for behavior outlined in laws, regulations, and policies.

3. Case-based thinking considers the Golden Rule—do to others as you want others to do to you.

Stakeholder Approach

• The manager attempts to create a win–win situation so that all the relevant constituents benefit to some degree from a decision.

• Essentially, this involves an analysis of benefits and burdens.

• For each possible decision, consider who will receive the benefit and to what degree from the action and who will carry the burden and to what degree from the action.

Results Approach

• The manager evaluates the action against1. End result ethics – expected consequences to

the agency. 2. Rules ethics – relevant policies and procedures. 3. Organizational values ethics – acknowledged

written and unwritten agency rules. 4. Personal conviction ethics – personal beliefs and

principles.

FILOP

• The manager determines 1. What are the Facts shaping the dilemma?, 2. How can the ethical Issue be framed?3. What Laws (or regulations) are relevant in

the situation?4. What are the potential Options for

consideration?5. How do Principles shape behavior?

Building a Strong Ethical Culture

1. Communicate mission and values statements2. Adopt a code of conduct3. Conduct a core process analysis4. Implement a needs assessment5. Hire ethical people 6. Provide ethics training7. Correct unethical behavior8. Lead by example9. Be proactive