How Ethical & Unethical Decisions Are Made: 11 Key Factors That Dramatically Impact How Ethical Decisions Are REALLY Made
by Thomas SchearPublish: Jul 22, 2014Book Overview
Every organization and the individuals who work in them will at one time or another have faced an ethical dilemma or some other ambiguous situation. How do these situations get resolved? It seems that what people recoil from the most is answering questions that don’t have a pat answer or a situation that does not have an obvious solution. But that is the nature of ethical dilemmas else they would not be called a dilemma. That is why the are called dilemma. There are codes of ethics/conduct, laws, rules, regulations in place to help remove the uncertainty. There are step-by-step guides offered up by numerous authors to move someone from the dilemma to a final ethical outcome. But much consternation occurs, and yet unethical decisions and actions can result. So, there must be deeper and equally impactful factors why ethical decisions are made and, on the other hand, why some organizations consistently arrive at unethical/illegal outcomes that ends up damaging everyone involved.This book itemizes and explores those factors in both the individual and the organization so the reader can better understand what is going on in the background with themselves and within the organization.
After reading and applying the elements of this book:
By using the Interactive Ethics Model (IEM), you will know and better identify the factors that impact the ethical decision-making process: Understanding the IEM enables you to identify the factors that impact ethical decision making as they manifest themselves in yourself, your coworkers, your supervisors and managers, CEOs and the board that may direct the organization.
You will know how ethical and unethical decisions are made: Seeing that codes, laws, rules, regulations, etc. aren’t the complete picture, you will be able to identify how the many factors of all those involved interplay, interact and otherwise influence each other as the decision process continues. You will be able to see those factors at work in yourself, in those around you and in the organization which either promote an ethical outcome or may take the process off track leading to an unethical/illegal outcome.
As a learning tool when training ethics in an organization, IEM can be used to lead to better and more consistent outcomes. The inventories laid out in the book can be used to assess/evaluate by the individuals in the organization and the organization to arrive at a portrait of what each brings to the table when facing an ethical dilemma. This takes a great deal of insight and reflection to identify any personal and corporate challenges, then much courage to admit to the challenges and as much courage to agree how the problems can be solved, create a plan then take action.
You and the managers in your organization will have the information you need: You will be able to keep an eye out for any red flags that may come up, telling you that something going on with you and/or something going on with the organization that may be impacting the decision-making process in a way that may lead to trouble with the final outcome.
