Common ethical pitfalls in executive decision-making include conformity to unethical corporate culture, a focus on short-term gains, and focus on the legal side of decisions.
Conforming to an unethical corporate culture leads executives to make wrong decisions. It is highly unlikely for an individual to notice an unethical behavior if it has developed progressively over time (Poorkavoos, n.d.). Many executives made decisions based on their corporate culture without considering the required ethical values, which led to unethical decisions. These unethical cultures developed over time to the point that the executives considered them to be normal. For example, unethical decisions that developed at WorldCom, Enron, and the 2008 banks were caused by conformity to corporate culture (Brooks & Dunn, 2017).
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A focus on short-term objectives is another ethic pitfall in executive decision making. Organizations exist because they set goals. Nevertheless, setting goals can lead to harmful outcomes. Specific and challenging objectives enhance performance in certain cases, even though they have the potential to narrow the attention and focus of executive and blind them to vital matters regarding how to attain those objectives. While short-term objectives can improve performance, they are unsustainable in the long run. Challenging objectives with tight deadlines may compel executives to engage in unethical actions to ensure the objectives are attained in a short time. An example includes themed-Staffordshire NHS foundation trust scandal (Poorkavoos, n.d.).
Executives mostly concern themselves with the legal part of their decisions. They are tempted to consider all legal actions to be ethical, even though this can subject their decision to fines, increased government regulation, and consumer boycotts (Brooks & Dunn, 2017). Some laws do not consider the desires of the society and thus it is vital to examine each decision widely.
Many executives make decisions that lead to harmful outcomes despite having good intentions. The reason for this is that leaders sometimes fall into ethical pitfalls when making decisions.
References
Brooks, L. J., & Dunn, P. (2017). Business and professional ethics for directors, executives & accountants . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Poorkavoos, M. (n.d.). RESEARCH ARTICLE - Roffey. Retrieved May 9, 2018, from http://www.roffeypark.com/wp-content/uploads2/Ethical-Leadership-Paper.pdf
