Dilemma in the Workplace

GEN - 480

Instructor: Becky Smith

November 24, 2008

In today's business landscape with the constant change and expansion of technology, organizations face challenging and difficult ethical choices. Organizations should not only focus on making good decisions, it must be made at the right way and at the right time.

Decision-Making Ethics and Morality

Morality plays an important role in ethical decision-making. Logically, moral lines should be clearly drawn and yet it is not uncommon to experience an ethical dilemma in the workplace. "An ethical dilemma occurs when a person must choose among actions that offer possible benefits while also violating ethical standards. Ethical decision-making refers to a process in which individuals can freely make a decision based on the evaluation of the interests of all parties when facing ethical dilemmas" (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005). When faced with an ethical dilemma one must consider ethical behavior, in other words, one must consider the decision that is morally good and right.

Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice

Illustration of moral schizophrenia

However, not all managers subscribe to the concept of ethical behavior; these managers are termed immoral managers.

An immoral manager will make decisions without moral consideration for the sole purpose of personal advancement. Such decisions can range from performing favors for advancement to saving capital by dumping drums of toxic waste into the ocean. Subordinates can be subject to immoral directives causing confusion between doing the right thing, possibly losing employment and following orders. For instance, an immoral manager might assign an employee to destroy incriminating documents. Subordinates can also make immoral decisions such as using the company's Internet resource and technology to chat and browse inappropriate material during working hours.

"The immoral manager, by contrast, fails to consider the ethics of a decision or behavior" (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005). This failure to consider the ethics of...