What are the ethical considerations involved in decision making process?
Mia Phillips
Updated on March 03, 2026
Ethical decisions generate and sustain trust; demonstrate respect, responsibility, fairness and caring; and are consistent with good citizenship. These behaviors provide a foundation for making better decisions by setting the ground rules for our behavior.
What are the 6 steps of ethical decision making?
- 1 – GATHER THE FACTS. □ Don’t jump to conclusions without the facts.
- 2 – DEFINE THE ETHICAL ISSUE(S)
- 3 – IDENTIFY THE AFFECTED PARTIES.
- 4 – IDENTIFY THE CONSEQUENCES.
- 5 – IDENTIFY THE RELEVANT PRINCIPLES,
- 6 – CONSIDER YOUR CHARACTER &
- 7 – THINK CREATIVELY ABOUT POTENTIAL.
- 8 – CHECK YOUR GUT.
How do managers make decisions ethically?
Managers hold positions of authority that make them accountable for the ethical conduct of those who report to them. They fulfill this responsibility by making sure employees are aware of the organization’s ethical code and have the opportunity to ask questions to clarify their understanding.
What were your ethical obligations to those stakeholders?
The ethical responsibility of a stakeholder is to make known his or her preferences to the companies he or she purchases from or relies on. Such communication can lead to an increased commitment on the part of corporations to improve.
What are examples of ethical decisions?
Ethical behavior suggests someone is honest and forthright in communications whether written or oral. A salesperson explaining potential problems with a product is being honest. A customer service representative taking responsibility for failing to follow through with a service action is making an ethical decision.
What are the 4 steps leading to ethical behavior?
He concluded that ethical action is the result of four psychological processes: (1) moral sensitivity (recognition), (2) moral judgment (reasoning), (3) moral focus (motivation), and (4) moral character (action).
How to make ethical decisions as a manager?
A descriptive code requires managers to question what people think is right and follow that pattern when making decisions. Normative ethics uses the ethics from society to help managers make decisions by focusing on the end result. Consider the effects of the decision on more than one group of stakeholders.
How are ethical principles used to make decisions?
The ethical principles contained in the code can be descriptive or normative. A descriptive code requires managers to question what people think is right and follow that pattern when making decisions. Normative ethics uses the ethics from society to help managers make decisions by focusing on the end result.
What is the ethical problem of a manager?
The ethical problem is that managers often do not treat their decisions as dilemmas, implicitly or explicitly, because they value certain outcomes above all others, from the start. As such they transform ethical decisions into economic decisions—sometimes with devastating results.
How does normative ethics help managers make decisions?
Normative ethics uses the ethics from society to help managers make decisions by focusing on the end result. Consider the effects of the decision on more than one group of stakeholders. For example, publicly held companies often look to maximize shareholder returns.
