Ethics are the principles that influence the behavior of an individual. They are what the individual uses to judge if a situation is morally wrong or right. In a business set up, corporate ethics examine and solve any problems that may arise. The decisions can be made by an individual or a group of people. The process of analyzing problems and coming up with one or more alternatives of solving the problem is referred to as ethical decision making ( Fraedrich, Ferrell, & Ferrell, 2013). There are certain parameters that are considered when making decisions. The most common parameters include utilitarianism, Rawl’s theory of justice and universalism. It is important to ensure that everyone in a business, both senior and junior, behaves in an ethical manner as this has a number of benefits arising from it. These benefits include maintaining the good image of the organization, positive interrelations amongst the employees and senior officials, client satisfaction as well as improved productivity. Ethical decision making is very crucial in a business as it determines how well people within an organization relate and if handled wrongly it may lead to unfavorable working conditions.
Sometimes an ethical dilemma may arise within an organization. An ethical dilemma refers to a situation whereby a variety of choices are available but each solutions is not preferred by the chooser. In trying to resolve an ethical dilemma a number of approaches may be employed ( Woiceshyn, 2011). First and foremost is to revisit the organization’s code of conduct and determine the possible solution of the dilemma at hand as stipulated. Secondly, if the issue is within junior employees, they could share it with a supervisor. The supervisor may have an experience in the issue at hand and this way the employees will also steer away from trouble. Thirdly, if the dilemma is within top management, they can discuss it and come up with the best solution, but care should be taken not to cause more conflict.
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There are a number of problems that cause friction within an organization. These issues include employee discrimination, biases in decision making, mistrust between partners, negligence and having side deals that lead to conflicts of interest. For this paper, employee discrimination will be of importance. Employee discrimination arises when a hard decision is to made on the basis of the gender, race, religion or background of a particular employee. An example of a case of employment discrimination is when the boss of a male dominates department is faced with a complaint from a new female employee claiming that the other employees are harassing her ( Woiceshyn, 2011 ). The dilemma in this situation would be to decide whether to move the female employee to another department or sanctioning those responsible for her complains. Whichever decision is employed, it will be pegged on the gender of the employee.
As a boss, when faced with such a dilemma, one should consider the above-mentioned parameters of ethical decision making. The decision arrived at should be fair and just ( Brown et. al ., 2010) . For example, taking into account Rawl’s theory of justice, the boss will consider two principles while coming up with a decision. First, the liberty of both parties should be compatible. This involves hearing both sides of the story and coming up with a just conclusion. Second, the decision arrived at should be socially acceptable by all. Rawl’s theory promotes universalism and also exhibits some levels of utilitarianism whereby the final decision works for the greater good of the organization. This theory of justice works best in an organization that has a clear code of ethics in that the individuals have to abide by the decision based on moral obligation.
In resolving this dilemma, the best approach would be to have a meeting with everyone involved in the situation and advise them in accordance to the company’s code of ethics. The mode of communication should be calm and not reprimanding. The male employees should be encouraged to provide the female employee with a favorable working condition so that she can perform her tasks well. The female employee should also be encourage to act and dress appropriately, in a manner that does not attract attention. The female employee should also be asked to give her opinion of the best solution for the case. If it is in her will, she can be moved to another department. Finally, the boss should talk to top executives and request for more diversity in the department. With a more gender-balanced environment, such situations will not arise again in future ( Rossouw et. al., 2010 ).
The above approach in solving the dilemma is considered as the best all parties are involved in the decision making. The approach also puts into consideration the parameters of ethical decision making. According to Ruedy, & Schweitzer (2010), good decision is not only just, but also promotes unity within the work environment. Needless to say, not all parameters of ethical decision making can apply to a situation because every dilemma has some level of uniqueness. Therefore, every dilemma should be considered individually
References
Brown, T. A., Sautter, J. A., Littvay, L., Sautter, A. C., & Bearnes, B. (2010). Ethics and personality: Empathy and narcissism as moderators of ethical decision making in business students. Journal of Education for Business , 85 (4), 203-208.
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases . Nelson Education.
Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L., & Ferrell, O. C. (2013). Ethical decision making in business: A managerial approach . South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Rossouw, D., Van Vuuren, L., Ghani, A. H. A., & Adam, M. Z. A. (2010). Business ethics . Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Ruedy, N. E., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2010). In the moment: The effect of mindfulness on ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics , 95 , 73-87.
Woiceshyn, J. (2011). A model for ethical decision making in business: Reasoning, intuition, and rational moral principles. Journal of Business Ethics , 104 (3), 311-323.
