Ethical Decision Making and Behavior
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Ethical Decision Making and Behavior
As we practice resolving dilemmas we find ethics to be less a goal than a pathway, less a destination than a trip, less an inoculation than a process. —Ethicist Rushworth Kidder
WHAT’S AHEAD
This chapter surveys the components of ethical behavior—moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character—and introduces systematic approaches to ethical problem solving. We’ll take a look at four decision-making formats: Kidder’s ethical checkpoints, the SAD formula, Nash’s 12 questions, and the case study method. After presenting each approach, I’ll discuss its relative advantages and disadvantages.
U
nderstanding how we make and follow through on ethical decisions is the first step to making better choices; taking a systematic approach is the second. We’ll explore both of these steps in this chapter. After examining the ethical decision-making process, we’ll see how guidelines or formats can guide our ethical deliberations.
235
236——PART III. Ethical Standards and Strategies
Components of Moral Action
There are a number of models of ethical decision making and action. For example, business ethics educators Charles Powers and David Vogel identify six factors or elements that underlie moral reasoning and behavior and that are particularly relevant in organizational settings.1 The first is moral imagination, the recognition that even routine choices and relationships have an ethical dimension. The second is moral identification and ordering, which, as the name suggests, refers to the ability to identify important issues, determine priorities, and sort out competing values. The third factor is moral evaluation, or using analytical skills to evaluate options. The fourth element is tolerating moral disagreement and ambiguity, which arises when managers disagree about values and courses of action. The fifth is the ability to integrate managerial competence with moral competence. This integration involves
Ethical Decision Making and Behavior
As we practice resolving dilemmas we find ethics to be less a goal than a pathway, less a destination than a trip, less an inoculation than a process. —Ethicist Rushworth Kidder
WHAT’S AHEAD
This chapter surveys the components of ethical behavior—moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character—and introduces systematic approaches to ethical problem solving. We’ll take a look at four decision-making formats: Kidder’s ethical checkpoints, the SAD formula, Nash’s 12 questions, and the case study method. After presenting each approach, I’ll discuss its relative advantages and disadvantages.
U
nderstanding how we make and follow through on ethical decisions is the first step to making better choices; taking a systematic approach is the second. We’ll explore both of these steps in this chapter. After examining the ethical decision-making process, we’ll see how guidelines or formats can guide our ethical deliberations.
235
236——PART III. Ethical Standards and Strategies
Components of Moral Action
There are a number of models of ethical decision making and action. For example, business ethics educators Charles Powers and David Vogel identify six factors or elements that underlie moral reasoning and behavior and that are particularly relevant in organizational settings.1 The first is moral imagination, the recognition that even routine choices and relationships have an ethical dimension. The second is moral identification and ordering, which, as the name suggests, refers to the ability to identify important issues, determine priorities, and sort out competing values. The third factor is moral evaluation, or using analytical skills to evaluate options. The fourth element is tolerating moral disagreement and ambiguity, which arises when managers disagree about values and courses of action. The fifth is the ability to integrate managerial competence with moral competence. This integration involves