B A 300 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Virtue Ethics, Consequentialism, Deontological Ethics
8 Steps to Sound Ethical Decision Making in Business
1. Gather the facts
2. Define the Ethical Issues
a. Toughest situations involve multiple ethical issues
b. A consequentialist would think about the ethical issues in terms of harms or
benefits
c. A virtue ethics approach would think about the ethical issues in terms of
community standards
3. Identify the affected parties (stakeholders)
a. Consequentialist will identify all stakeholders who will experience harm and
benefits
b. Deontologist might want to know whose rights are involved and who has a duty
to act in the situation
c. Being able to see situation from other perspectives is key
d. Once stakeholders are identified, role playing can help you see the issue from
different stakeholder perspectives
e. Stakeholders don’t have to be born yet
f. You may want to “test” a potential decision with affected parties before your
prospective course of action is made final
4. Identify the Consequences
a. Derived from consequentialist approaches
b. Long Term vs Short Term
c. Symbolic consequences
i. Every decision and action sends a message
d. Consequences of secrecy
5. Identify the obligations
6. Consider your character and integrity
a. A stained reputation is extremely difficult to overcome
7. Think creatively about potential actions
8. Check your gut
a. We are all hardwired to be empathetic and to desire fairness
When you’re asked to make a snap decision
● Gut never lies
● Ask for time to think it over
● Find out if your organization has a policy
● Ask manager or peers for advice
● New York Times test
● If you think that your decision could be misinterpreted or if someone could think the
objectivity of your decision has been compromised rethink it
Ethical Awareness and Ethical Judgement
● Must first recognize the ethical nature of situation at hand
● Ethical awareness→ ethical judgement→ ethical action
● Ethical awareness means that a situation or issue raises ethical concerns
● No recognition - no ethical judgement process
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Document Summary
When you"re asked to make a snap decision. Ask for time to think it over. Find out if your organization has a policy. If you think that your decision could be misinterpreted or if someone could think the objectivity of your decision has been compromised rethink it. Must first recognize the ethical nature of situation at hand. Ethical awareness means that a situation or issue raises ethical concerns. No recognition - no ethical judgement process. People are more likely to be ethically aware if. They believe that their peers will consider it to be ethically problematic. If ethical language is used to present the situation to the decision maker. If the decision is seen as having the potential to produce serious harm to others. Using ethical language (positive words- integrity, honesty, fairness) or negative words (lying, cheating, stealing) will trigger ethical thinking. Neutral language can be used to make an unethical action seem less problematic.
