Ethical Dilemma

A problem in the decision-making process between two possible but

unacceptable options from an ethical perspective

An ethical dilemma (ethical paradox or moral dilemma) is a problem in the decision-

making process between two possible options, neither of which is absolutely
acceptable from an ethical perspective. Although we face many ethical and moral
problems in our lives, most of them come with relatively straightforward solution.

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

In recent years, formal frameworks have been developed to help people resolve
ethical dilemmas. Such a framework aims to identify the ethical issues and decide
on an appropriate course of action using the person’s values.

The six-step approach that follows is intended to be a relatively simple approach to

resolving ethical dilemmas:

1. Obtain relevant facts.

2. Identify the ethical issues from the facts.
3. Determine who is affected by the outcome of the dilemma and how each
person or group is affected.
4. Identify the alternatives available to the person who must resolve the
dilemma.
5. Identify the likely consequence of each alternative.
6. Decide the appropriate action.

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Identify the Ethical Issues

1. Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to some group, or

unevenly beneficial to people? Does this decision involve a choice between a
good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two “goods” or between two
“bads”?
2. Is this issue about more than solely what is legal or what is most efficient? If
so, how?
Get the Facts

3. What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn
more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?
4. What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are the
concerns of some of those individuals or groups more important? Why?
5. What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been
consulted? Have I identified creative options?

Evaluate Alternative Actions

6. Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:

• Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights
Lens)
• Which option treats people fairly, giving them each what they are due? (The
Justice Lens)
• Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm for as many
stakeholders as possible? (The Utilitarian Lens)
• Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members?
(The Common Good Lens)
• Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue
Lens)
• Which option appropriately takes into account the relationships, concerns, and
feelings of all stakeholders? (The Care Ethics Lens)

Choose an Option for Action and Test It

7. After an evaluation using all of these lenses, which option best addresses the
situation?
8. If I told someone I respect (or a public audience) which option I have chosen,
what would they say?
9. How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to
the concerns of all stakeholders?

Implement Your Decision and Reflect on the Outcome

10. How did my decision turn out, and what have I learned from this specific
situation? What (if any) follow-up actions should I take?
Ethics – Factors Affecting Individual Ethics
Individual ethics are determined by the following factors:
1. Family Influences – Individuals, as children, develop ethical standards if
other family members engage in ethical behavior.
2. Peer Group Influences – The children, when they grow up, are influenced
by the behavior of their friends and peer group. High or low standard of
ethical behavior is likely to be followed in the same manner by the members
of the peer group.
3. Life Experience – The way an individual’s behavior is dealt with in real
life situations also affects his ethics. If his behavior (right or wrong) is
reprimanded by his elders, he tends to avoid repeating it in future thinking
that it is unethical and vice-versa.
A person who speaks harshly, if, never objected to by his parents or elders,
will form a habit of speaking in that manner and will feel nothing unethical
about it.
4. Personal Values – Ethical standards change according to the priority
accorded to different behaviours being pursued by an individual. A person
who believes in the material world will have different ethical standards than
the one who prioritizes religious or social norms.
5. Situational Factors – Sometimes, people are made to behave in a
particular manner because of the situational factors. An honest man may
resort to stealing if he is left with no other choice for meeting his financial
requirements in crisis. Though wrong in content, the unethical behaviour
has been adopted as warranted by situational factors.

Ethics – Code of Ethics

A code is a statement of policies, principles, or rules that guide behavior.
Certainly, codes of ethics do not apply only to business enterprises; they
should guide the behavior of persons in all organizations and in everyday
life. Code of ethics specifies how an organization expects its employees to
behave while on the job.
Developing code of ethics can be a useful way to promote ethical behavior
and clarify company expectations of employee conduct in various situations
and makes clear that the company expects its people to recognize the
ethical dimensions in decisions and actions.
An increasing number of companies are developing codes of ethics and
implementing ethics training workshops and seminars. However, when
faced with a question of ethics, managers tend to ignore codes of ethics and
try to solve their dilemma on their own.

Examples of Ethical Dilemmas:

Let us illustrate ethical dilemmas with the following
two examples:
i. As the purchase officer in an organization, an engineer has
to choose between many options in purchasing a particular
item. Quite often it is not the lowest price that matters but
many other conditions, such as purchase agreement and long
term benefits. On a festive occasion, one of the suppliers
comes with sweets and gifts for the engineer.
The supplier directly does not tell the engineer to select his
item for purchase but gives the gift to him. Is it morally right
to accept the gift? The engineer feels that it is just a normal
gesture during the festive season as he knows him well and
has had long discussions with him about products.
The engineer feels that his decision to purchase any product is
not going to be decided by this gift given by the supplier.
However, he is concerned about the situation he is in. The
supplier does not give him these gifts for nothing; he expects
that he will consider his product favourably and find reasons
to bypass lower tenders. Now, there is a ethical dilemma.

Ethics – Development: Greek Ethics, Medieval

Ethics and Modern Ethics
Ethics has developed as a science of moral reasoning
in the following phases:
1. Greek Ethics:
It advocates that ethics deals with duties of a person as moral
citizen of the nation. A good or ethical man is the one who
performs his duties as a good citizen. Famous advocates of
this view are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
2. Medieval Ethics:
This is the period when Christianity spread in Europe. It
spread the thoughts that ethics is not simply a part of politics
(as said in the Greek philosophy). It does not deal with duties
of a person. Rather, it deals with increasing the inner aspect of
a person’s morality.
3. Modern Ethics:
This era of ethics believes in performing actions whose results
bring good to us and to others. It deals with determining
Tightness of the acts. It tells about what individuals or
institutions ought to do.
Ethics – Guidelines for Ethical Behaviour
Though each individual or group has his own sets of ethical
values, a few guideline have been prescribed to be followed:
1. Obey the Law – Obeying the legal practices prevalent in a country is
conforming to the ethical values.
2. Tell the Truth – Disclosing the fair accounting results to the concerned
parties and telling the truth is also an ethical behaviour on the part of
managers.
3. Respect for People – Management ethics requires managers to show
respect towards whomsoever he comes in contact with.
4. The Golden Rule – The golden business principle is “Treat others as you
would want to be treated”. This, if followed, will always result in ethical
behaviour.
5. Above All, Do No Harm – Even if law does not prohibit the use of
chemicals in producing certain products, managers must avoid using them
if their use happens to be an environmental pollutant.
6. Practice Participation – Not Paternalism – Managers should not decide
on their own as to what is good or bad for the different stakeholders. They
must assess their needs, analyse them in the light of business needs, and
integrate the two needs by allowing the various stakeholders to participate
in the decision making processes.