Ethical Decision-making Craig Dunn, Ph.D. MEET U.S. program

MEET U.S. Ethics Overview What is the most serious ethical dilemma you have faced in the workplace?

MEET U.S. Ethics Overview In order to answer this, consider a time when you felt uncomfortable with having to make a decision--either because you didn’t have a clear sense of what was the ‘right’ thing to do, or because you didn’t seem to have any ‘good’ options available. Alternatively, consider a time when you felt ‘uncomfortable’ with having to implement an organizational decision or policy.

MEET U.S. Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making Ethics is concerned with the following:

MEET U.S. Ethics is concerned with the following: –Good vs Bad Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Ethics is concerned with the following: –Good vs Bad –Right vs Wrong Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Ethics is concerned with the following: –Good vs Bad –Right vs Wrong –Fair vs Unfair Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Ethics is concerned with the following: –Good vs Bad –Right vs Wrong –Fair vs Unfair –Praise vs Blame Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Social Contract Theory Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another, that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well.

MEET U.S. Social Contract Theory List one rule which you think ought to be part of the social contract… What are the core values essential to the establishment of this rule?

MEET U.S. Social Contract Theory To escape the state of nature, then, people must agree to the establishment of rules to govern their relations with one another, and they must agree to the establishment of an agency--the state--with the power necessary to enforce those rules...

MEET U.S. Social Contract Theory...for it is the government, with its systems of laws, police, and courts, that ensures that people can live with a minimum fear of attack and that people will have to keep their bargains with one another.

MEET U.S. Deontology: –An ethical theory that holds that actions are right or wrong independent of their consequences Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Utilitarianism: –An ethical theory that holds that actions are right if they produce, or tend to produce, the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of persons Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Would you be willing to murder an innocent person if it would end hunger in the world? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. You are given the power to kill people by thinking of their deaths and twice repeating the word "good-bye." People would die a natural death and no one would suspect you… –Are there any situations in which you would use this power? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Brady's Survey of Ethical Theoretic Aptitudes Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Add up the number of odd-numbered questions to which you responded A Add up the number of even-numbered questions to which you responded B Sum the two, and subtract 8 from the total Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Justice: –Consists in giving each person his or her due, treating equals equally and unequals unequally Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Justice: –Consists in giving each person his or her due, treating equals equally and unequals unequally Distributive Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Justice: –Consists in giving each person his or her due, treating equals equally and unequals unequally Distributive Procedural Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Justice: –Consists in giving each person his or her due, treating equals equally and unequals unequally Distributive Procedural Compensatory Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Justice: –Consists in giving each person his or her due, treating equals equally and unequals unequally Distributive Procedural Compensatory Retributive Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Ethic of Care: –Asks us to recognize and take seriously the moral worth of relationships, particularly those characterized by caring Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? –Promote caring relationships? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Libertarianism: –Suggest right action consists in maximizing the capacity for free, informed personal choice Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? –Promote caring relationships? –Advance personal liberty? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Virtue theory: –Focus is on achieving our personal ethical ideal–a matter of who we are, not what we do Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? –Promote caring relationships? –Advance personal liberty? –Stimulate personal ideals? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Land Ethic: –A thing is right when it tends to preserve the beauty, stability, and integrity of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? –Promote caring relationships? –Advance personal liberty? –Stimulate personal ideals? –Contribute to sustainability? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. principles outcomes fairness caring liberty character sustainability Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Gather the facts Does the contemplated action: –Conform to important principles? –Create more good than harm? –Lead to fair outcomes? –Promote caring relationships? –Advance personal liberty? –Stimulate personal ideals? –Contribute to sustainability? Think creatively about potential actions Check your gut Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. What might a principle- based approach ‘look like’? Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Avoid all appearance of impropriety Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Do not sacrifice the public good for private gain Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Operate at all times with humility, never underestimating your capacity for self-deception Executive Entrepreneurial Training Program Ethical Decision-making

MEET U.S. Ethical Decision-making