Overview of Ethics
Blurring Ethical Lines
Ethical decisions involve judgments of facts and situations subject to interpretation and other influences.
Key Takeaways
- Identifying the ethical choice can be difficult since many situations are ambiguous and facts are subject to interpretation.
- In organizations, employees can look to the code of ethics or the values statement to guide handling ethical gray areas.
- Individual ethical judgment can be clouded by rationalizations to justify one's actions.
Key Terms
- Business ethics: The branch of ethics that examines questions of moral right and wrong arising in the context of business practice or theory.
- Norms: According to sociologists, social norms are the laws that govern society's behaviors.
Law and ethics are not the same things. Both exist to influence behavior, but complying with the law is mandatory while adhering to an ethical code is voluntary. Laws define what is permissible, while ethics speak to what is right, good, and just. Lawyers and judges are responsible for clarifying the meaning of law when there is ambiguity, or a matter is subject to interpretation. Where ethics are concerned, that responsibility lies with each individual. In organizations, employees can look to the code of ethics or the statement of values for guidance about handling ethical gray areas.
Even when an individual has a clear sense of right and wrong, or good and bad, it can be difficult to know what is ethical in a given situation. Ethical choices involve judgment because they involve weighing the potential consequences of one's actions for other people. One analyzes ethical issues by asking questions such as: What could happen? How likely is it to happen? What might the harm be? Who might be hurt? The answers are not always clear-cut.
Individual judgments can be influenced, even clouded, by several factors. A study by Professor Robert Prentice suggests that self-image can influence an individual's decision-making process, making him or her feel justified in taking shortcuts or doing things that could be seen as ethically questionable. In addition, there are times when people believe that the ends justify the means. In other words, if the result of an action is good, then it is okay if the action itself is unethical.
There is a saying that a good person does good deeds when no one is looking. The same goes for ethical decisions. Ethical people follow their beliefs even when they believe no one will discover what they have done. In many cases of ethical breaches in organizations, those who acted unethically likely believed they would not be discovered. Others may have thought that if the issues were discovered, the actions wouldn't be traced back to them. They had the opportunity to be ethical but chose not to be.
This way to ethics: Ethical decisions are not always clear-cut.