Ethical Dilemmas

Each person has his/her own unique moral imperatives and personal ethics which
compel him/her to act in a particular unique way. A dilemma arises when there is
a conflict between these individual opinions. therefore, an ethical dilemma may
occur either within the person or between two or more people. For example,
abortion, for some, is ethically wrong as it means depriving an unborn of its life
while some consider it socially correct , especially in case where the embryo is
either detected with an incurable illness or the parents are otherwise unable to
provide or care for it . A workplace is considered a breeding ground for ethical
dilemmas between individuals as they all came from different socio-economic
backgrounds and beliefs. There is a case of ethical dilemma between an employer
and an employee. Let us consider an example. During recruitment, it is the duty of
an organization to explain its current state to the candidate. MR. X loses his job
after 1 year of employment because the company was acquired by another
organization and he was not aware of it. This is an absolute breach of professional
ethics.
Resolving an Ethical Dilemma
In a business setting mangers are put to test when they face the
challenge of resolving an ethical dilemma. Often certain situations
do not fall in the ambit of procedures or the official code of
conduct and this is when the managers feel the heat.
The problem with ethical decision making is that a decision in
itself cannot be taken in a vacuum; one single decision affects lots
of other decisions and the key is to strike a balance to ensure a
win-win situation is arrived upon.
Though there are no golden rules to resolve ethical issues but
managers can take a number of initiatives to resolve ethical
issues. A brief description is given below.

Know the Principles

In ethical decision making there are three basic principles that

can be used for resolution of problem. These three principles are
that of intuitionism, moral idealism and utilitarianism.

The principle of intuition works on the assumption that the HR

person or the manager is competent enough to understand the
seriousness of the situation and act accordingly, such that the
final decision does not bring any harm to any person involved
directly or indirectly.
The principle of moral idealism on the other hand states that
there is a clear distinction between good and bad, between what
is acceptable and what is not and that the same is true for all
situations. It therefore asks to abide by the rule of law without any
exception.
Utilitarianism concerns itself with the results or the implications.
There is no clear distinction between what is good and what is
bad; the focus is on the situation and the outcome. What may be
acceptable in a certain situation can be unacceptable at some
other place. It underlines that if the net result of the decision is an
increase in the happiness of the organization, the decision is the
right one.

Debate Moral Choices

Before taking a decision, moral decisions need to be thought upon

and not just accepted blindly. It is a good idea to make
hypothetical situations, develop case studies and then engage
others in brainstorming upon the same. This throws some light
into the unknown aspects and widens the horizon of
understanding and rational decision making.

Balance Sheet Approach

In balance sheet approach, the manager writes down the pros and
cons of the decision. This helps arrive at a clear picture of things
and by organizing things in a better way.

Engage People Up and Down the Hierarchy

One good practice is to announce ones stand on various ethical

issues loudly such that a clear message to every member of the
organization and to those who are at the greater risk of falling
prey to unethical practices. This will prevent the employees from
resorting to unethical means.

Integrating
Management

Ethical

Decision

Making

into

Strategic

Morality and ethical make up for a perennial debate and ethical

perfection is almost impossible. A better way to deal with this is to
integrate ethical decision making into strategic management of
the organization.
List of Ethical Issues in Business

In the complex global business environment of the 21st century, companies of

every size face a multitude of ethical issues. Businesses have the responsibility to
develop codes of conduct and ethics that every member of the organization must
abide by and put into action. Fundamental ethical issues include concepts such and
integrity and trust, but more complex issues include accommodating diversity,
decision-making, compliance and governance.
Fundamental Issues
The most fundamental or essential ethical issues that businesses must face are
integrity and trust. A basic understanding of integrity includes the idea of
conducting your business affairs with honesty and a commitment to treating every

customer fairly. When customers perceive that a company is exhibiting an

unwavering commitment to ethical business practices, a high level of trust can
develop between the business and the people it seeks to serve. A relationship of
trust between you and your customers may be a key determinate to your company's
success.
Diversity Issues
According to the HSBC Group, "the world is a rich and diverse place full of
interesting cultures and people, who should be treated with respect and from whom
there is a great deal to learn." An ethical response to diversity begins with
recruiting a diverse workforce, enforces equal opportunity in all training programs
and is fulfilled when every employee is able to enjoy a respectful workplace
environment that values their contributions. Maximizing the value of each
employees' contribution is a key element in your business's success.
Decision-Making Issues
According to Santa Clara University, the following framework for ethical decisionmaking is a useful method for exploring ethical dilemmas and identifying ethical
courses of action: "recognizes an ethical issue, gets the facts, evaluates alternative
actions, makes a decision and tests it and reflects on the outcome." Ethical
decision-making processes should center on protecting employee and customer
rights, making sure all business operations are fair and just, protecting the common
good and making sure individual values and beliefs of workers are protected.
Compliance and Governance Issues
Businesses are expected to fully comply with environmental laws, federal and state
safety regulations, fiscal and monetary reporting statutes and all applicable civil
rights laws. The Aluminum Company of America's approach to compliance issues
states, "no one may ask any employee to break the law, or go against company
values, policies and procedures." ALCOA's commitment to compliance is
underpinned by the company's approach to corporate governance; "we expect all
directors, officers and other Alcoans to conduct business in compliance with our
Business Conduct Policies."

Examples of Making Ethical Decisions in Business

Business ethics includes a wide range of moral or ethical principles that arise in a
business environment. Business ethics include individuals' actions in a company as
well as the organization's actions and positions on ethical matters. Although stories
of business corruption crowd the news, there are many companies conducting
ethical business every day. Some examples of making ethical decisions in business
offer a glimpse of ways companies can put ethical business principles into action.
Going Green
Many companies have opted to play a part in helping the environment by making
the decision to go green. Office recycling is common in businesses, so employees
can help reduce environmental waste by recycling office paper, cans, bottles and
other materials. Some businesses go beyond the basic recycling and offer extensive
recycling programs, allowing employees to recycle everything from batteries to
computer equipment. Businesses make decisions to help the environment by
creating policies to reduce company waste and consumption of resources. Some
companies set timers to turn off lights at night, use refurbished office supplies or
buy organic or recycled items. Some clothing companies, for instance, sell organic
shirts to help cut back on the pollutants released into the environment by the
creation of regular shirts.
Social Responsibility
Some businesses make the decision to actively better social conditions by
improving local economic conditions, offering opportunities to low-income people
or serving people in need. Small businesses often donate a certain percent of

profits or a set dollar amount to charities annually. Some companies become more
involved, by hiring at-risk teens or low-income people and paying fair wages.
Businesses sometimes have an ethical policy of serving people who are normally
discriminated against, such as a bank giving business loans to women and
minorities. When doing business, companies may be faced with ethical decisions
that affect social issues, such as how much to pay employees, whom to hire and
when to turn away customers that hurt the community. Banks, for instance, face an
ethical decision when deciding to loan money to companies that damage the
environment. A bank that refuses to loan money to the destructive business is
taking an ethical stand.
Individual Ethics
Individuals make decisions based on ethics in business settings all the time. An
employee who refuses to spread or participate in workplace gossip, for instance,
makes the decision not to spread potentially false information that is damaging to
someone's reputation. Other individual ethical decisions at work may involve being
honest, not stealing money and keeping customer information confidential.
Considerations
Business ethics encompass a wide variety of circumstances and can vary from
business to business, depending on the industry and the location and nature of the
individual company. Small businesses can enact ethical codes and distribute the
codes to employees to help ensure everyone in the organization is working toward
the same goal of upholding principles and procedures that are important to the
company

How to Handle Ethical Issues in the Workplace

Morality and values-based dilemmas in the workplace are, at best, difficult to
handle when employees have to choose between whats right and whats wrong
according to their own principles. Forward-thinking employers who implement
workplace ethics policies are usually well-prepared for the potential conflicts of
interest that arise due to the diversity of opinion, values and culture in the
workforce. However, handling ethical issues in the workplace requires a steady and
cautious approach to matters which can potentially be dangerous or illegal.

Develop a workplace policy based on your companys philosophy, mission

statement and code of conduct. Incorporate the policy into your performance
management program to hold employees accountable for their actions and alert
them to their responsibilities to uphold professional standards throughout their job
performance and interaction with peers and supervisors. Revise your employee
handbook to include the policy and provide copies of the revised handbook to
employees. Obtain signed acknowledgement forms from employees that indicate
they received and understand the workplace ethics policy.
Provide workplace ethics training to employees. Utilize varied instruction methods
to engage employees in learning how to address and resolve ethical dilemmas.
Experiential learning, or role-play, is an effective way to facilitate workplace ethics
training. Examples of workplace ethics simulations involve scenarios about the
misappropriation of company funds, personal values related to improper workplace
relationships and the organizations compliance with regulatory controls.
Designate an ombudsperson in charge of handling employees informal concerns
pertaining to workplace ethics. Consider whether your organization also needs an
ethics hotline, which is a confidential service employees may contact whenever
they encounter workplace dilemmas that put them into uncomfortable or
threatening positions. Confidential hotlines are an effective way to assure
employees anonymity, which is a concern for employees whose alerts are
considered whistle blowing actions.
Research federal, state and municipal labor and employment laws pertaining to
whistle blowing. Refrain from making employment decisions, such as termination
or suspension, in connection with whistle blowing or an employees right to
protected activity under whistle blowing laws or public policy. Seek legal advice
for employee reports of workplace ethics issues that increase your organizations
liability under federal, state or municipal employment law. Under the Texas
Whistleblower Act, for example, public-sector employees may be entitled to
damages if an employer engages in retaliatory actions based on an employee who,
in good faith, files a complaint related to workplace ethics. The Act grants "[a]
public employee who claims that his suspension, termination, or other adverse
personnel action was in retaliation for his good faith reporting of violations of the
law the right to sue for damages and other relief."
Apply your workplace policy consistently when addressing workplace issues and
employee concerns about workplace ethics. Use the same business principles in
every circumstance, regardless of the perceived seriousness or the level of

employees involved. Communicate the same expectations for all employees

whether they are in executive positions or front-line production roles and
approach every issue with equal interpretation of the company policy.
3 steps to solving ethical dilemmas
1 Know your values
There are certain values about which society agrees. For example, we tend to value
honesty. Our discussion here isnt designed to change your values instead, its
about applying them. Before you can apply them, you have to know what they are.
If you havent formally contemplated your values, or even if you havent thought
about it for a while, check out our article on core values.
2 Select a model
According to the book, Moral Issues in Business, ethical theories can be divided
into two classifications: consequential theories (the formal term for these is
teleological theories) and non-consequential theories (formal name is deontological
theories).
The following is not a complete list of ethical theories, but it certainly covers the
most significant ones for business people Consequential theories
With consequential theories, actions are judged by outcomes. If an action results in
a positive result, it is morally right. If not, it is wrong.
Egoism An act is moral if it promotes your best long-term interest.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Useful for decision-making

Ignores wrongs

Flexible

Ignores interest of others

Doesnt build relationships
Inconsistent (i.e. right for me, wrong for you)
Cant resolve conflicts of interest

Utilitarianism An act is moral if it produces the great ratio of good to evil for
everyone.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Useful for decision-making

May ignore wrongs

Flexible

May conflict with justice

Recognizes interests of all

Difficult to design rules

Resolves conflict of interest

Situational An act is moral if it creates the greatest amount of love.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Humanizes decisions

Lacks definite criteria for decision-making

Rejects moral legalism

Non-consequential-theories
According to non-consequential theories, a factor (single rule non-consequential
theories) or factors (multiple rule non-consequential theories) other than the
outcome should be considered when faced with an ethical dilemma.
Single rule
Golden Rule An act is moral if you treat others the way you would wish to be
treated.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Personalizes decisions

Needs modification to fit commerce

Brings fairness into play

We cant know how others feel and

think

Carries childhood teachings into

business

Categorical Imperative (Kant) An act is moral if you would wish that everyone
behaved in the same manner.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Useful for decisions (i.e. do your

Doesnt resolve conflicts of duties
duty)
Recognizes responsibilities

Subject to misinterpretation of duty

Provides humanistic dimension

Results of acting on duty can be

disastrous

Respects rights of others

Multiple rules
Prima Facie Duties (Ross) An act is moral if you fulfill your duties; if there is
conflict, fulfill the duty to which you are most obligated. Prima facie duties
include, but are not limited to: fidelity, gratitude, justice, beneficence, selfimprovement, and non-injury.
Strengths

Weaknesses

List of duties is educational in itself Difficult to determine weight of duties

Sensitive to consequences

No basic agreement on moral principles

Maximum Principle of Justice (Rawls) An act is moral if it provides an equal

amount of liberty for you and others, except when social or economic inequalities
exist. In that case, the worst-off in society should benefit more from the act.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Shows inherent respect for individuals

Concerned only with justice

Encourages social responsibility by all Assumes a high level of rationality

Shows concern for less fortunate

Assumes acting without self-interest

Proportionality (Garrett) An act is moral if, in engaging in it, you dont will a
major evil to you or anyone else and if you dont will, risk or permit a minor evil to
yourself or anyone else without a proportionate reason.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Synthesizes most useful theories

Definitions are vague

Provides flexibility without immorality

Highly subjective

You probably noticed that all of these theories have weaknesses. So you may think
that selecting an ethical theory is an exercise in futility. However, once you select
the ethical theory that you feel is most closely aligned with your core values, youll
find solving ethical dilemmas much easier. You can recognize the weakness of
your method, while feeling confident in your process.
3 Use a problem-solving process
Now you know your values and you have a model with which to apply them. The
remaining piece is to follow an orderly process to solve the problem, because not
all ethical dilemmas are as simple as your friend and her baby that we discussed
earlier.
We recommend that you SOLVE IT! Thats our acronym for the timeless problemsolving process. When you follow a process such as this to solve an ethical
dilemma, or any problem for that matter, you feel good about your ultimate
decision. You know youve considered all of the alternatives and chosen the best
alternative under the circumstances
How to Resolve Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace
Employees make decisions at all levels of a company, whether at the top, on the
front line or anywhere in between. Every employee in an organization is exposed
to the risk of facing an ethical dilemma at some point, and some ethical decisions
can be more challenging to fully understand than others. Knowing how to resolve
ethical dilemmas in the workplace can increase your decision-making effectiveness

while keeping you and your company on the right side of the law and public
sentiment.
Consult your company's code of ethics for formal guidance. This simple act may
be able to resolve your dilemma immediately, depending on how comprehensive
and specific your company's ethics statement is. Your code of ethics can provide a
backdrop on which to weigh the pros and cons of business decisions, giving you a
clearer picture of which decision is more in line with the company's ethical
commitments.
Share your dilemma with your supervisor to take advantage of her experience.
Front-line employees can face a number of ethical dilemmas in their jobs, such as
deciding whether to give out a refund that does not specifically adhere to company
policies or whether to report suspicions of internal theft which cannot be proven.
Taking ethical questions to supervisors can keep employees out of trouble in
addition to resolving conflicts.
Discuss your dilemma with other executives if you are at the top of your
organization. Executives and company owners make some of the farthest-reaching
decisions in any organization, adding weight and additional challenges to ethical
dilemmas. As an executive, it is important to show your competence at solving
problems on your own, but there is nothing wrong with asking for help from time
to time. Other executive team members should appreciate your commitment to
making the right decision and should be able to provide unique insights into your
problem.
Speak with peers and colleagues from other companies if you can do so without
divulging company secrets. If you are a sole proprietor, you may not have any
other top-level managers to consult with. Seek out someone you trust from a
business networking group, a previous employer or your college years to gain
insight from others. Consider speaking with friends from diverse cultural
backgrounds to gain an even wider range of insights.
Read past news articles about other companies faced with your specific dilemma.
Determine how others have dealt with your challenge before and take note of the
outcome of their decisions. News outlets like to cover certain large company
decisions, such as laying off workers, endorsing political candidates and bending
accounting rules, which can have ethical impacts in society. Reading what
happened to others after making their decisions can give you a glimpse into what
to expect if you make a similar decision.

What Causes an Ethical Dilemma in Conducting Business?

In a perfect world, businesses and their employees would always do the right thing.
Unfortunately, in the real world, ethical dilemmas are a common occurrence in the
workplace. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, dilemmas are situations
or problems where a person has to make a difficult choice; an ethical dilemma is a
problem where a person has to choose between a moral and an immoral act.
Employees must deal with pressures to perform and help the company succeed as
well as personal temptations to take the easy way out. In the end, workers will
likely face many dilemmas in their careers; companies should provide training and
information to assist them in making the right decision.

Pressure from Management

Each company's culture is different, but some companies stress profits and results
above all else. In these environments, management may turn a blind eye to ethical
breaches if a worker produces results, given the firm's mentality of "the end
justifies the means." Whistle-blowers may be reluctant to come forward for fear of
being regarded as untrustworthy and not a team player. Therefore, ethical
dilemmas can arise when people feel pressured to do immoral things to please their
bosses or when they feel that they can't point out their coworkers' or superiors' bad
behaviors.
Ambition and Discrimination
Individual workers may be under financial pressure or simply hunger for
recognition. If they can't get the rewards they seek through accepted channels, they
may be desperate enough to do something unethical, such as falsifying numbers or
taking credit for another person's work to get ahead. Though diversity is an
important part of business, some people may not be comfortable with people from
different backgrounds and possibly be reluctant to treat them fairly. This kind of
discrimination is not only unethical but illegal and still remains common.
Negotiation Tactics
While these factors can cause ethical dilemmas for workers within their own
companies, doing business with other firms can also present opportunities for
breaches. Pressure to get the very best deal or price from another business can
cause some workers to negotiate in bad faith or lie to get a concession. Negotiators
may also try to bribe their way to a good deal. While this is illegal in the U.S., it
still sometimes happens; in other nations, it is more common, and sometimes even
expected, which can put negotiators in a difficult position.
Solutions
These ethical dilemmas can be difficult for workers to grapple with, especially if
they don't know what the company's official guidelines are. Therefore, it is in an
organization's best interest to provide ethical training to its employees, to help
them identify unethical behavior and give them tools with which to comply. Every
company should have an ethical policy that spells out its penalties for infractions.
Moreover, management must lead by example, showing that the company takes

ethics seriously and that violators will be punished according to the organization's
policies, including possible suspension or termination.

Source
smallbusiness.chron.com/list-ethical-issues-business-55223.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/resolve-ethical-dilemmas-workplace11008.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/handle-ethical-issues-workplace-10157.html
http://biggsuccess.com/bigg-articles/3-steps-to-solve-an-ethical-dilemma/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-ethical-dilemma-conducting-business23439.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-making-ethicaldecisions-business-30591.html