Introduction:
We make various decisions about so many things in our lives daily. These decisions that we make, may or may not have an impact on other people. But when it does affect other people, we have to be extra cautious of its consequences. In this post we will discuss about the meaning of ethics, ethical decision making and how we can try to do the right thing always.
What do you mean by ethics?
Ethics refers to the moral principles and guidelines that guide a person on what is right and wrong. Ethics is a word with deep meaning and importance.
It is not the same as gut feelings because people can feel right when doing something morally wrong. Law and order in most cases have a moral ground but sometimes it can also deviate from being ethical and morally right. Similarly, religion and religious beliefs in most cases are ethically aligned but can deviate from time to time.
That is why we study ethics and moral science as subjects in our schools and colleges. Because it is not just about some fixed guidelines. It more about critical thinking and developing a benevolent and creative mindset.
What is Ethical Decision Making?
Decision making involving an ethical dilemma is known as ethical decision making. Not all decisions that we make in our day to day lives involve ethical analysis.
For example, questions like which clothes to wear today? or what to have in the breakfast? do not involve any ethical analysis. As these problems do have any consequences on anybody else’s life.
But the decisions that have some impact on other people, animals or environment require significant ethical analysis so that what we decide to do is not morally wrong.
Importance of ethical decision making
Ethical decision making is a very important concept that should be studied and implemented in all sectors and departments that have an effect on the humans and the environment including all other living beings.
Some points on why ethical decision is important are given below:
- Ethical decision making encourages people and businesses to be more aware of their actions.
- It encourages people and organizations to think and reevaluate their decisions multiple times.
- It makes the person and organizations be responsible of the decisions they make.
- It makes the organization feel accountable for the damages it may have done in other’s life and try to improve it.
- It builds trust and credibility for the corporations and business who choose to be ethical.
How to make Ethical Decisions?
Here is a quick guide that can help you make a decision when facing an ethical dilemma.
1. Gather all the facts and identify the issue:
The first step towards finding the solutions of an ethical dilemma is to gather all the facts that you can. Put your gut feelings aside for a while and try to see the issue with correct facts. List down all the things that you know about the situation. Try to gather information about the things that may be hidden from you. Put them all together and identify whether this issue is an ethical issue or not and what type of issue it is.
For example, you work in an organization that supplies milk in a city. But as time passes you find that this company is supplying poor quality milk to the consumers. In such a situation you find yourself in an ethical dilemma of whistleblowing. In this dilemma you cannot decide whether to tell the public about this or not. So, the first step towards finding the solution of this dilemma is by gathering all the facts. Know whether what you are seeing is true or not.
2. Consider all the stakeholders:
While dealing with an ethical dilemma it is important to consider all the stakeholders involved in that situation. Not only the people directly being impacted but also the people who may have its impact in future.
Knowing all the stakeholders and their values will help you decide what is the right thing to do.
Going back to the previous example, here the consumers who drink that milk, organization you are working in, and yourself are the stakeholders (only taking primary stakeholders). Also, clearly write down all the values associated with these stakeholders.
3. Define the Dilemma:
After listing all the shareholders along with their values that are at risk, carefully analyse the situation. This way you can write a dilemma statement which will help you go to the next steps.
4. List other perspectives:
List all other perspectives and alternatives you can find regarding this issue.
For example: at first you think there are only two solutions to this dilemma. One is to tell the public and risk your career and life or stay silent about and risk the health of the thousands of people. But as you think again and do your research you will find many other creative and useful solutions as well.
5. Comparing and choosing an alternative:
Sit with the list of options and carefully analyse their consequences to find the best solution. And out of these alternatives choose the most creative one that is somewhere in the middle. A type of option in which no extreme risk is involved.
As in the previous example: If you tell the public about the milk is of poor quality, it might impact your present and future career endeavours. But if you stay silent, it will impact thousands of people’s health. So, you may decide to follow a more realistic and doable route such as anonymously telling some NGO or a food safety organization or some media person. This way risk lowers significantly, and you can still uphold your principles of telling the truth.
7. Choose your values and making a decision:
After careful analysis and following all these steps, you can finally find a best suitable solution to this dilemma. I am not using that example of milk organization any more to tell you what was the best decision for that employee, because it is completely dependent on one’s own situation and principles. No one generalize the solution of an ethical dilemma. And that is why ethical decision making requires critical thinking and a creative mindset.
Also read: How to solve any problem: A step-by-step Approach
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