Ethical considerations in

leadership and
management

Quiozon, Juliana Nicole D.

Moral Decision Making

- is having the ability to decide which is the right

course of action once we have spotted the ethical
issue
- Identifying and choosing alternatives based on values
and preferences.
- Process of sufficiently reducing uncertainly and doubt
about alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be
made.
 Moral Decision Making

1.Principle of moral discernment

2.Principle of well-formed conscience
3.Strategies of moral decision-making
process
Moral Decision Making

1.Principle of moral discernment

- It refers to the ability to discern what is
morally right from morally wrong that
requires moral reflectiveness on the
meaning of good and bad. It refers to
ability to draw conclusions from the
discernment to develop convictions
Moral Decision Making

The following actions can be made when making

decisions of discernment:
• Taking time in making decisions
• Use the both head and heart
• Assess important values involved in
the situation.
Moral Decision Making

1.Principle of moral discernment

• Principle of cooperation
• Principle of lesser evil
• Principle of double effect
Moral Decision Making

1.Principle of cooperation
- St. Alphonsus Liguori (1787)
- Defined as the participation of one
agent in the activity of another agent
to produce a particular effect or share
in a joint activity. 
 Moral Decision Making

•Principle of formal cooperation [absolute evil]

-It occurs when someone

intentionally helps another person
carry out a sinful act.
 Moral Decision Making

• Explicit formal cooperation

- occurs when someone wills the evil
action of the principal agent
Examples:
• A doctor who openly encourages or
recommends a direct abortion. 
• ''Yes, I'm happy to drive the getaway car
because I want to be an accomplice''
 Moral Decision Making

• Implicit formal cooperation

- happens when a person, for the sake of a good aim,
establishes the structure (procedure, protocol, or
contractual agreement) by which a specifically described
immoral action will take place, grants formal approval to
an immoral action, or wills the principal agent’s evil
action as the means for achieving some other good.
Examples:
• If a doctor believes that a certain surgery is immoral, yet still
preforms it, he is participating
 Moral Decision Making

•Principle of material cooperation

- The cooperator does not share the intention of the
evil act but participates in some way
• Mediate material cooperation - occurs when there is is
a degree of causal (not physical) separation between the action
and the principal agent’s immoral act. The degree of causal
distance may vary along a scale from proximate to remote. 
• Proximate (mediate) material cooperation
• Remote (mediate) material cooperation
 Moral Decision Making

•Principle of material cooperation

• Immediate material cooperation - when
the action is so intimately linked with the
principal agent’s immoral act that they are
nearly indistinguishable. [knowingly driving
the get away car at a bank robbery]
Moral Decision Making

Key points :
• Formal cooperation is always immoral
• Immediate material cooperation is
likewise immoral
• Mediate material cooperation may be
moral
Sample case scenario

“ Angelica attempted abortion because her

boyfriend Derek does not want to marry her and
brought Cytotec and bottled herbal medications
from Quiapo and suggested that she removed
the baby. In her attempt she was bleeding
profusely and her relatives, unaware of her
intention, rushed her to the hospital. The doctor
completed the procedure even if there is FHT.”
Sample case scenario

1. Angelica ________
2. Derek ________
3. Relatives _______
4. Doctors ________
5. Nurse on duty during procedure, nursing
aide and janitor on duty ________
Moral Decision Making

•Principle of lesser evil

- The principle that when faced with
selecting from two immoral options,
the one which is least immoral
should be chosen.
Moral Decision Making

•Principle of double effect

- This principle aims to provide specific
guidelines for determining when it is morally
permissible to perform an action in pursuit of a
good end in full knowledge that the action will
also bring about bad results.
Example:

• A physician considers the possibility of a

relieving a terminally ill patient pain. in order to
do so she would have to administer painkillers
that could harm the patient or even shorten the
patient’s life. Hence there is a moral dilemma
of relieving pain [good object] or causing harm
[bad object]
 Moral Decision Making

2.Principle of well-formed
conscience
- indicates that people are obligated to inform
themselves about ethical norms, incorporate that
knowledge into their daily lives, act according to that
knowledge, and take responsibility for those actions.
Moral Decision Making

Example :
The patient to make a decision with an
informed conscience, the physician has to
provide himself with the necessary information.
If the patient, owing to his age or condition, is
unable to judge the situation clearly, the
physician has to give adequate information to
those who bear responsibility for him.
Moral Decision Making

3.Strategies of moral decision making process

 The strategies are:
1) Identify the problem
2) Gather relevant information
3) Identify alternatives
4) Weigh evidence
5) Choose among alternatives
6) Take action
7) Review decision and consequences
Ethical Dilemma

Ethical Dillema is defined as “a

situation that arises when
attempted adherence to basic
ethical principles results in two
conflicting courses of action.
How to solve Ethical Dilemma?

• Refute the paradox [dilemma]

• Value theory approach
• Find alternative solutions
Examples of Ethical Dilemma

Some examples of ethical dilemma examples

include:
• Taking credit for other’s work
• Offering a client a worse product for your own
profit
• Utilizing inside knowledge for your own profit
 THE END
THANK YOU!