Ethical Decision Making

Generally, ethical decision making is defined as “responsible decision making, and deliberation will result in more responsible behavior” (Hartman et al., 2017, p.10). They appreciate that ethics is an academic discipline and an arena in human life that defines “how humans should properly live their lives” (Hartman et al., 2017, p.11). Ethical decision making can be learned through behavioral change by social or environmental influential circumstances or adopted using ethical decision-making tools. Some crucial elements in ethical decision making are morality, which concerns structuring the kind of a person one ought to be, personal integrity – concerns with the application of the morals, and social ethics – a sense of how humans should live together in a community.

Unlike other pragmatic decision-making forms, ethical decision-making serves the ends of human well-being and is not motivated by personal or selfish well-being. Hartman et al. (2017, p.14) acknowledge that ethical decision making can be approached from a normative perspective, in which norms guide the standard and appropriateness of behavior. The norms lead people to adopt values – beliefs that are in line with a particular choice of actions. It is these values that differentiate ethical decision making from other pragmatic forms. That is, they are decisions guided by beliefs (norms or simply values) that “impartially promote human well-being” (Hartman et al., 2017, p.17).

In the advocacy for ethical decision making, the role of management is critical. First, leaders should distinctively understand ethical decision making, different from other forms of pragmatic decision-making styles. They would thus promote a workplace culture with norms that value rights and responsibilities, goodness, fairness, justice, virtue, kindness, loyalty, trustworthiness, and honesty (Hartman et al., 2017, p.14). Bulog & Grančić (2017) explain that an ethical decision-making model places an organization at a competitive edge against its rivals.

References

Bulog, I., & Grančić, I. (2017). The Benefits of Business Ethics – Ethical Behavior of Decision Makers: the Empirical Findings from Croatia. Mediterranean Journal Of Social Sciences, 8(4-1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.2478/mjss-2018-0067

Hartman, L., DesJardins, J., & MacDonald, C. (2017). Business ethics (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.