What principles would you need to be aware of when dealing with the ethical dilemmas in this case study?
One tricky part of the job that human service professionals have to face in the course of their jobs is to make decisions pertaining to ethical dilemmas. Often, such decisions can be tricky because they trigger conflicts of interests between various stakeholders of the dilemma whereas human service professionals have their responsibility towards more than one stakeholder groups at the same time. This means they cannot violate the rights of one stakeholder in order to protect the rights of another stakeholder. Such decisions are often referred to as 'Right versus Right' decisions (Corey, Corey & Callanan,2005). This paper aims at evaluating the decision making process of human service professionals under situations facing ethical dilemma. The ethical dilemma being discussed in this paper involves the problem of
It is important to look at ethical dilemmas in a systematic way, thus increasing the chance of achieving a solution that gives the best possible outcome. An ethical problem solving model taken from American sources (Paradise and Siegelwaks, 1982; Austin et al., 1990) was used to develop a six-step process to follow, in order to achieve this (Bond 2010, pg. 227). This process informs this paper, and I am in the role of counsellor.
In order to make ethical decisions, it is helpful to think about several questions, including: 1) who will be impacted by the decision, 2) who will benefit from the decision, and 3) who will suffer from the decision.
Apply the ethical decision making model presented in week one lectures (adapted from Beemsterboer, 2010; Velasquez et al, 2009) to the case study.
Thesis Statement: In order to determine whether a moral issue is categorized as a bribe, the ethical concepts of bribery must first be defined.
The method of ethical decision making which was developed by Dr. Cathryn A. Baird presented two components contained in all ethical decisions which are; The Four ethical Lenses and the 4+1 Decision process. The Four Ethical Lenses issue claims that different ethical theories and the means in which we tend to approach the situations which form part of our ethical traditions are looked at in four different perspectives. From each perspective there are different values on which to decide whether the action taken is either ethical or not and each lens also lays emphasis on determining whether the decision made is of ethical requirement. In the 4+1 Decision Process, people who are responsible for making final decisions in an organization do it
I will use the “Practisioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making” model of Holly Forerster-Miller and Thomas
It is a relevant ethical dilemma because it is a situation in which an ethical decision needs to be made by a businessman (CFO of Gabriel Resources) where viable options to this case are available which will be judged further in this essay by applying ethical theory and concepts.
a. Identify the ethical dilemma faced by the CIO in this situation using the three normative theories of business ethics. Identify all stakeholders involved. How will each stakeholder group be affected by the decision taken by the management?
I choice to use the Seven Step Model of a Decision-Making Model for Resolving Ethical Issues in order to define what is ethical in this case study.
Ethical theory fails to provide a solution when there is a conflict of interest. A moral theory
Making consistently ethical decisions is difficult. Most decisions have to be made in the context of economic, professional and social pressures, which can sometimes challenge our ethical goals and conceal or confuse the moral issues. In addition, making ethical choices is complex because in many situations there are a multitude of competing interests and values. Other times, crucial facts are unknown or ambiguous. Since many actions are likely to benefit some people at the expense of others, the decision maker must prioritize competing moral claims and must be proficient at predicting the likely consequences of various choices. An ethical person often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows.
Mr. Chong knows about recent cases of corporate bribery in Malaysia and in the retail industry. There had been scandals regarding foreign investors who bribed public officials or financed government programs to obtain business privileges or competitive advantage (Inkpen, 2010). Moreover, there was a recent case of bribery involving a Jextra’s country manager in the Philippines. More likely, this manager also encountered similar ethical dilemmas like Mr. Chong. Some individual factors that may have driven him to act unethically in the Philippines could have been pressure from the company to expand and gain competitive advantage in the region. Alternatively, he might have simply wanted to advance his career as a country manager, lacked of ethics or did not know the local laws regarding bribery. Additionally, he might not have received or requested support from the top management regarding the social and ethical issues raised in the Philippines. Mr. Chong, as an experienced manager, should have anticipated that he would encounter legal and ethical risks in Malaysia.
All employees (including the company executives) should be guided by moral principles and ethical values when making decisions (Balc & Simionescu, 2012). The ability of executives to make ethical decisions can be influenced by their cognitive bias (Zeni, Buckley, Mumford & Griffith, 2015). Utilitarianism is one of the frameworks that can be used to address ethical dilemmas. Utilitarianism holds that decision makers should take alternatives that maximize the happiness of the majority of the stakeholders (Choe & Min, 2011 and Marques, 2015). This presentation will discuss how the 8-step ethical decision making process can be applied when addressing a dilemma using the utilitarianism framework. The presentation will also guide the executives of Toyota on how to address the negative publicity associated with the production of cars with faulty acceleration system.