24319979 models in ethical decision making
TRANSCRIPT
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Models of ethical decision-
making
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Stages in ethical decision-making
Recognise
moral issue
Make moral
judgement
Establish
moral intent
Engage in
moralbehaviour
Ethical decision-making process
Source: Derived from Rest (1986), as depicted in Jones (1991).
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Relationship with normativetheory
The role of normative theory in thestages of ethical decision-making isprimarily in relation to moral
judgement. Moral judgements can be made
according to considerations ofrights, duty, consequences, etc.
However, the issue ofwhetherand hownormative theory is used by anindividual decision-maker depends ona range of different factors that
influence
the decision-making process
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Influences on ethicaldecision-making
Two broad categories: individual and situational(Ford and Richardson 1994) Individual factors.The unique
characteristics of the individual actuallymaking the relevant decision.
birth factors acquired by experience and
socialisation
Situational factors. The particularfeatures of the context that influencewhether the individual will make an ethicalor unethical decision.
the issue itself (such as the intensity oft
he moral issue)
the ethical framing of the issue.
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H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n
Framework for understandingethical decision-making
Recognisemoral issue
Make moraljudgement
Establishmoral intent
Engage inmoral
behaviour
Situational factors
Individual factors
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Limitations of ethicaldecision-making models
Useful for structuring our discussion andseeing the different elements that comeinto play but Not always particularly straightforward
(or sensible) to break down variouselements into discrete units
Various stages related or interdependent National or cultural bias
Must be aware that the model is intendednot as a definitive representation ofethical decision-making, but as arelatively
simple way to present acomplex process
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H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n
Individual influences on
ethical decision-making
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Individual influences onethical decision-making
Factor
Age and gender
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H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n
Psychological factors
Cognitive moral development (CMD)refers to the different levels of reasoningthat an individual can apply to ethicalissues and problems
Criticisms of CMD Gender bias Implicit value judgements Invariance of stages
An individuals locus of controldetermines the extent to which theybelieve that they have control over theevents in their life
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Psychological factorsStages of cognitive moral development
Level Stage Explanation IllustrationI
-Preconventional 1 Obedience andpunishment Individuals define right and wrongaccording to expected rewards andpunishments from authority figures
Whilst this type of moral reasoning isusually,associated with small children we can also
see that businesspeople frequently makeunethical
decisions because they think their companywould
(either reward it or let it go unpunished see).Gellerman 1986
2 Instrumentalpurpose and
Exchange
Individuals are concerned withtheir
own immediate interests and defineright according to whether there
isfairness in the exchanges or deals
they make to achieve those.interests
An employee might cover for the absence of aco
worker so that their own absences mightsubsequently be covered for in return a
you , scratch my back I ll scratch yoursreciprocity( ).Trevio and Nelson 1999II Conventional 3 Interpersonal
,accordconformity and
MutualExpectations
Individuals live up to what isexpected of them by theirimmediate peers and those close to
them
An employee might decide that using company,resources such as the telephone the internet
andemail for personal use whilst at work is
acceptablebecause everyone else in their office does
.it
4 Social accordand system
maintenance
Individuals consideration of theexpectations of others broadens to
,social accord more generallyrather
than just the specific peoplearound
.them
A factory manager may decide to provideemployee benefits and salaries above the
industryminimum in order to ensure that employeesreceive wages and conditions deemed
,acceptable by consumers pressure groups andother social.groups
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Psychological factorsStages of cognitive moral development
(cont)Level Stage Explanation IllustrationIII -Post
Conventional5 Social
contract andIndividualrights
Individuals go beyondidentifying with others
,expectations andassesses
right and wrong accordingto the upholding of basic
,rights values andcontracts
.of society
The public affairs manager of a foodmanufacturer may decide to reveal
which of the firm s products containgenetically modified ingredients out
of respect for consumers rights to,know even though they are not
,obliged to by law and have not beenpressurised into by consumers or.anyone else
6 UniversalEthicalprinciples
Individuals will makedecisions autonomously
-based on self chosenUniversal ethical,principles
, ,such as justice equality
,and rights which they
believe everyone should.follow
A purchasing manager may decide thatit would be wrong to continue to buy
products or ingredients that weretested
on animals because he believes thisdoesn t respect animal rights to be
free.from suffering
Source: Adapted from Ferrell et al. (2002); Kohlberg (1969); Trevino and Nelson(1999)
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Personal integrity & moralimagination
Personalintegrity Integrity is
defined as anadherence tomoralprinciples orvalues
Moralimagination Concerned with
whether onehas a sense ofthe variety ofpossibilitiesand moral
consequencesof theirdecisions, theability toimagine a wide
range of
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Situational influences on
decision-making
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Situational influences onethicaldecision-making
Type of
factor
Fact
Mor
I -r l
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Moral Intensity
Jones (1991:374-8) proposes that theintensity of an issue will varyaccording to six factors:
Magnitude of consequences Social consensus Probability of effect
Temporal immediacy Proximity Concentration of effect
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The same problem or dilemma canbe perceived very differentlyaccording to the way that the issueis framed
Language important aspect of moralframing
Moral muteness (Bird & Walters1989) because of: Harmony Efficiency Image of power and effectiveness
Moral framing
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Systems of reward
Adherence to ethical principles andstandards stands less chance ofbeing repeated and spread
throughout a company when it goesunnoticed and unrewarded What is right in the corporation is not
what is right in a mans home or in
his church. What is right in thecorporation is what the guy above
you wants from you. Thats whatmorality is in the corporation
(Jackall, 1988:6)
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Authority People do what they
are told to do or
what they thinktheyre being toldto do
Bureaucracy Bauman (1989,
1993) and ten Bos(1997) argue
bureaucracy has anumber of effectson ethicaldecision-making Suppression of
moralautonomy
Instrumentalmorality
Distancing
Denial of moral
A u th o rity a n d B u re a u cra cy
Wor ro es an
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Wor ro es anorganisational norms &
cultureWork roles Work roles can
encapsulate awhole set ofexpectationsabout what tovalue, how torelate to others,and how to
behave
the group normswhich delineateacceptable
standards ofbehaviourwithin the workcommunity
Organisationalnorms and culture
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