Utilitarianism

Unethical behavior is costly – society should create extra Clarify facts

rule, standard
Good ethic is a glue that holds organization and society
Senior manager should serve as moral exemplar
To control unethical behavior, manager should be well
developed ethical reasoning skill - without solid foundation
prepared in ethic? They will make mistakes
a. They fail to recognize ethical issue when they arise
- some untrained people think legal = ethical
b. Some untrained people try to make a simple rule
- always tell the truth, do no harm = barely work
Using the utilitarianism (or consequentialism) model, the rightness of What is known? Based on 5W1H
actions is judged solely on the basis of their consequences. Dene the ethical issue
Rights and duties What stakeholders are harmed? Are there conflict?
The rights and duties model maintains that every individual has certain Specify the alternatives
List alternative course of action including
moral entitlements in virtue of their being human.
compromises
Justice/fairness
Compare values and alternatives
The justice or fairness model maintains that people should be treated Check if there is clear compelling decision
the same except when they are different in relevant ways. Assess the consequences
Virtues Short/long term positive/negative for major
A final commonly used model of moral behavior is rooted in virtues. alternatives
Make a decision
Prominent examples of virtues are integrity, loyalty, and courage.
Balance consequences against the primary ethical
principles or values, choose best

ETHICAL MODELS
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD
ETHICAL ANALYSES ANALYZING ETHICAL
ISSUES

o n t r o l
g e m e n tc d SPREADING GOOD ETHICS Once good ethic

m an a t e m - Re lat e
established, communicate
WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION
s y s c a l is s u e s
to the employees, and
WHY DO PEOPLE BEHAVE managers should take
UNETHICALLY?
ethi steps to ensure
employees following the
that

rules

Some are basically dishonest – greed from the

root The ethics of creating budgetary slack
SOME COMMON MANAGEMENT Negotiation processes provide opportunities for lower-level employees
Moral disengagement – they ignore and their
conscience does not stop
CONTROL-RELATED ETHICAL to “game” the process, that is, to distort their positions in order to be
given more easily achievable targets.
Develop rationalization – “this is for all of us” ISSUES
The ethics of managing earnings
“everybody does it” “boss told me to do it”
A common form of manipulation is earnings management, which
Lack of moral courage – know it is wrong no includes any action that changes reported earnings while providing no
strength to do right around real economic advantage to the organization and, sometimes, actually
causing harm.
The ethics of responding to flawed control indicators
Results targets and action prescriptions provide signals to employees as
to what the organization considers important, be it profits, growth, or
quality.