Ethics:
A code of moral principles and values that govern the behaviours of a person or group
What needs to happen for an unethical issue to exist?
When at least one outcomes of the action would be viewed as immoral or wrong
What is an ethical decision?
A decision that is both legal and morally acceptable to the community
What are the 7 ethical values?
- Integrity
- Fairness
- Respect
- Transparency
- Citizenship (fulfilling the economic, legal, and societal responsibilities that organizations have)
- Responsibility
- Non-maleficience (avoid harming other people)
If an action fails even one of these, then it is seen as unethical
Methods to avoid overlooking unethical issues:
- Perspective Taking
- Watch for violations of norms, ethical guidelines, and the law
- Test decisions/actions using the ethical values
What are the three ethical decision-making criteria
- Utilitarianism: maximize benefit/utility for the most amount of people
(requires to estimate the outcome for all stakeholders) - Rights: ensure rights are not violated
- Justice: ensures people are being treated fairly and impartial in its treatment of people
2 Common examples that fail a Utilitarianism test:
1) Pursuing personal goals at the expense of societal goals
2) Pursuing inefficient solutions
What does the Rights Decision Criteria State?
Decision passes a test of Rights if it respects the fundamental rights shared by all human beings
What are the rights under the Rights Decision Criteria?
- Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Right to life and safety
- Right of free/informed consent
- Right to free speech
- Right to privacy
- Right to due process
What is Systemic Disadvantage?
When a system is setup in a way that automatically puts people at a disadvantage
Based on the Decision Criteria, an ethical decision should pass:
All 3 (Utilitarianism, Justice and Rights)
What is Rationalization?
Convincing oneself their actions do not go against moral standards
(one of the most common threats to ethical decision making)
Ways in which we rationalize:
- Deny responsibility
- Deny that others were harmed
- Think some groups are more important than others
- Think others deserve what they get
- Think we deserve to be rewarded
- Moral disengagement
What is Perceived conflict of interest?
When it looks like your personal interests could affect your judgment, even if they actually don’t
ie: interviewing your cousin for a job
What are Bad Apple Person Traits?
Personality differences that can cause unethical behaviour
- Dark Triad of personality (Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, Narcissism)
- Moral identity
- Need for power
- Risk taking preferences
What is Bad Barrel and what are its situational causes?
Means the environment is the problem, not (just) the person
- Gain (e.g., anticipation of reward or lack of punishment)
- Role conflict
- Scarce Resources
- Pressures to conform
What is Signalling Theory?
How one party sends signals to reduce uncertainty about unobservable qualities
What is Ethical Leadership?
Demonstrating normatively appropriate behaviours through actions and
relationships
What is Ethical Leadership Positively Related to?
- Job satisfaction
- Organizational Commitment
- Trust in leader
What is Ethical Leadership Negatively Related to?
Subordinate work stress
Deviance
Turnover
What is CSR?
Refers to management’s obligation to make choices and take action so that
the org contributes to the welfare and interest of all organizational
stakeholders
