Ch:3 Ethical Dilemma

What is an Ethical Dilemma?

Introduction:
-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 life, most of them come with relatively straightforward
solutions.
-On the other hand, ethical dilemmas are extremely complicated challenges that
cannot be easily solved. Therefore, the ability to find the optimal solution in such
situations is critical to everyone.
-Every person may encounter an ethical dilemma in almost every aspect of their
life, including personal, social, and professional.
• “ethical dilemma is a conflict between alternatives where, no matter what a
person does, some ethical principle will be compromised. Analyzing the
options and their consequences provides the basic elements for decision-
making”
In short,
-In a perfect world, businesses and their employees would always do the right
thing. Unfortunately, in the real world, ethical dilemmas are a common
occurrence in the workplace. -An ethical dilemma is a problem where a person
has to choose between a moral and an immoral act.
-Employees must deal with pressures to perform and help the company succeed
as well as deal with personal temptations to take the easy way out. In the end,
workers will likely face many dilemmas in their careers; companies should
provide training and information to assist them in making the right decision.
Example of Ethical Dilemma?
Some examples of ethical dilemma examples include:
• Taking credit for others’ work
• Offering a client a worse product for your own profit
• Utilizing inside knowledge for your own profit
Ethical dilemmas in business
-Ethical dilemmas are especially significant in professional life, as they frequently
occur in the workplace. Some companies and professional organizations adhere to
their own codes of conduct and ethical standards. Violation of the standards may
lead to disciplinary sanctions.
-Almost every aspect of business can become a possible ground for ethical
dilemmas. It may include relationships with co-workers, management, clients,
and business partners
What Causes an Ethical Dilemma in Conducting Business?
1.Pressure from Management: Each company's culture is different, but some
companies stress profits and results above all else. In these environments,
management may turn a blind eye to ethical breaches if a worker produces
results, given the firm's mentality of "the end justifies the means." Whistle-
blowers may be reluctant to come forward for fear of being regarded as
untrustworthy and not a team player. Therefore, ethical dilemmas can arise when
people feel pressured to do immoral things to please their bosses or when they
feel that they can't point out their coworkers' or superiors' bad behaviors.
2.Ambition and Discrimination: Individual workers may be under financial
pressure or simply hunger for recognition. If they can't get the rewards they seek
through accepted channels, they may be desperate enough to do something
unethical, such as falsifying numbers or taking credit for another person's work to
get ahead.
Though diversity is an important part of business, some people may not be
comfortable with people from different backgrounds and possibly be reluctant to
treat them fairly. This kind of discrimination is not only unethical but illegal and
still remains common.
3.Used as Negotiation Tactics
While these factors can cause ethical dilemmas for workers within their own
companies, doing business with other firms can also present opportunities
for breaches. Pressure to get the very best deal or price from another
business can cause some workers to negotiate in bad faith or lie to get a
concession. Negotiators may also try to bribe their way to a good deal.
While this is illegal in the U.S., it still sometimes happens; in other nations,
it is more common, and sometimes even expected, which can put
negotiators in a difficult position.
4.Value Ethical Behavior
These ethical dilemmas can be difficult for workers to grapple with,
especially if they don't know what the company's official guidelines are.
Therefore, it is in an organization's best interest to provide ethical training
to its employees, to help them identify unethical behavior and give them
tools with which to comply. Every company should have an ethical policy
 that spells out its penalties for infractions. Moreover, management must
lead by example, showing that the company takes ethics seriously and that
violators will be punished according to the organization's policies, including
possible suspension or termination.

Sources of Ethical Behavior

• Value-forming Institutions
• Family, School, colleges,Society, movies, Mentors, Motivational Speech,
• Personal Value & Goals
• Personal Ethics
• Peers & Colleagues Influence
• Work & career
• Professional Codes & Conduct
• From Surroundings
• From Religion, Culture
• Through Responsibilities
• Through laws,(Abiding By law)
• Good market image
• For survival, Profit, Growth
• Through good books(Holy Books)
• Through Experience
• Social Media
• Philosophy
• Idol Person
• Observation
1.Value-forming Institutions. The life and development of a society are both
based upon and produce values. Therefore, there can be various institutions in the
society which inculcate values in an individual. In particular, there are four major
institutions which provide the basic sources of values for persons and
organizations: family, school, state, and religion. Value systems are constructed
over a lifetime of experience in which the value-shaping influences of these
institutions predominate.
A key characteristic of all these basic value-forming sources is their inter
relatedness. The values fostered by each reinforces the values of the others and
together. The values fostered by each reinforces the values of the others, and
together they exert many influences on the value patterns exhibited both by
individuals and organizations.
The basic process of value formation by these institutions is that they
prescribe what is good or bad for an individual. Good behavior is rewarded and bad
behavior is punished. This recurs in the daily routine of the individual and he learns
a particular behavior which is rewarded and reinforced. Since an organization is an
agglomeration of individuals, its values are the collective values of individuals. This
is the reason why there is a conflict of individual and organizational values.
 2.Values and goals: There is an important relationship between the goals and
values of an organization. The goals of a business organization and its managers
may either be explicit or implicit. Clearly, a business is an economic institution
and as such, pursues an essentially economic goal that is maximization of profit
as put by classical economic theory.
However, the goals of business organizations and managers are extremely
complex and empirical evidence abounds that the ultimate goals of profit
maximization are tempered by a much wider range of values explicit and implicit
in an organization’s goals that temper the profit maximization concept. Among
these are leadership, integrity, knowledge and skills, amity, influence and power
and survival. All these factors change the goals of the organization and
consequently the expected behavior from individuals.
3.Peers and Colleagues: An individual gets clue of behavior from his peers
and colleagues. He develops and applies beliefs, attitudes, and values derived
from the groups of peers and colleagues with whom he is associated. An
individual in a work g out tends to conform to the group’s norms as long as he
values the friendship and approval of his associates or fears the possibility that
they will cut him from rights, privileges, and benefits they can offer.
In the case of values, the individual feels an intimate involvement with a
number of people, a nation, a society or a business organization, or a work group.
Values strengthen, protect, and solidify a given group, and while departure from
values may invoke no immediate penalty, a sense of estrangement may follow.
Therefore, the individual tries to follow that group norm of behavior.
3. Work and Career: Work consists of the tasks or responsibilities associated with a
.particular job or position in an organization. Essentially work is human energy
directed at the achievement of a desired end. In organizations, this work is
organized, directed, controlled and entrusted to individuals willing to become
employees through a more or less permanent association with the organization.
An individual’s experience over a period of time constitutes his career.
Generally, this career is within an occupation, and in an occupational career the
individual follows a related, progressive series of jobs, positions, or stages of
development. Work and career create special values that give its own values and
persons performing the work will follow those values. For example, in an
organization, sales people, accountants, engineers will have different values
according to their specialty.
4. Professional Codes: Professional codes are an increasing source of ethical norms
for managers in business organizations. There are three types of codes available in
an organization. First is the so-called company creeds or philosophies which usually
cover those basic philosophies and behavior that govern the business. Most of the
companies have such sets, either Expressly or otherwise. Sometimes these
documents are prepared to build the company’s image by showing the company’s
concern for ethical behavior in the society.
 Second, a code is found in company operational policies which set up guides to
action that have an ethical content. Such policy guidelines may be for various
 activities such as recruitment and selection, selling, handling customer complaints.
etc.
 Third, since people belong to various professions, they are also governed by code
of conduct framed by their associations. Such codes have been devised by various
professional bodies like All India Management Association, Institute of Company
Secretaries of India, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost
and Works Accountants of India, and so on.
 These codes are consonant with customs, mores, beliefs, social values, public laws,
and generally desirable behavior. The enforcement of these codes is by various
sanctions such as fines or even the expulsion of deviant members. However, in the
case of management codes, such sanction is not very effective because of lack of
enforcement body and also because majority of managers are not the members of
the association.

5. Religion

It is one of the oldest foundations of ethical standards. Religion wields varying

influences across various sects of people. It is believed that ethics is a manifestation
of the divine and so it draws a line between the good and the bad in the society.
Depending upon the degree of religious influence we have different sects of people;
we have sects, those who are referred to as orthodox or fundamentalists and those
who are called as moderates. Needless to mention, religion exerts itself to a greater
degree among the orthodox and to lesser extent in case of moderates.
Fundamentally however all the religions operate on the principle of reciprocity
towards ones fellow beings!

6. Culture

Culture is a pattern of behaviors and values that are transferred from one
generation to another, those that are considered as ideal or within the acceptable
limits. No wonder therefore that it is the culture that predominantly determines
what is wrong and what is right. It is the culture that defines certain behavior as
acceptable and others as unacceptable.

Human civilization in fact has passed through various cultures, wherein the moral
code was redrafted depending upon the epoch that was. What was immoral or
unacceptable in certain culture became acceptable later on and vice versa.

During the early years of human development where ones who were the strongest
were the ones who survived! Violence, hostility and ferocity were thus the
acceptable. Approximately 10,000 year ago when human civilization entered the
settlement phase, hard work, patience and peace were seen as virtues and the
earlier ones were considered otherwise. These values are still put in practice by the
managers of today!
 Still further, when human civilization witnessed the industrial revolution, the ethics
of agrarian economy was replaced by the law pertaining to technology, property
rights etc. Ever since a tussle has ensued between the values of the agrarian and
the industrial economy!

7. Law

Laws are procedures and code of conduct that are laid down by the legal system of
the state. They are meant to guide human behavior within the social fabric. The
major problem with the law is that all the ethical expectations cannot be covered
by the law and specially with ever changing outer environment the law keeps on
changing but often fails to keep pace. In business, complying with the rule of law
is taken as ethical behavior, but organizations often break laws by evading taxes,
compromising on quality, service norms etc.

Ethical Dilemma & How to resolve it?

1. Determine whether there is an ethical issue or/and dilemma. Is there a conflict of

values, or rights, or pro
2. fessional responsibilities?
3. Identify the key values and principles involved. What meanings and limitations
are typically attached to these competing values?
4. Rank the values or ethical principles which – in your professional judgement – are
most relevant to the issue or dilemma. What reasons can you provide for
prioritizing one competing value/principle over another?
5. Develop an action plan that is consistent with the ethical priorities that have been
determined as central to the dilemma. Have you conferred with clients and
colleagues, as appropriate, about the potential risks and consequences of
alternative courses of action? Can you support or justify your action plan with the
values/principles on which the plan is based?
6. Implement your plan, utilizing the most appropriate practice skills and
competencies. How will you make use of core social work skills such as sensitive
communication, skillful negotiation, and cultural competence?
7. Reflect on the outcome of this ethical decision making process. How would you
evaluate the consequences of this process for those involved: client(s),
professional(s), and agency(ies)?

Process Of solve Ethical Dilemma

1. Establish the facts surrounding the ethical dilemma.

Facts are important in law enforcement. To investigate all cases, officers must
rely on facts to guard against misinformation and cognitive biases. This is also
true in ethical dilemmas that we face. If the facts are not known to us, we must
 investigate everything that surrounds the dilemma to ensure we are acting on the
right information. Avoid acting on rumours and gossip by verifying information
through factual information and evidence.
2. Determine your legal obligations and duties.
We must be sure what our professional and legal obligations are. Professional and
legal obligations will likely allow us to easily decide on a course of action to take
in an ethical dilemma. However, while professional and legal obligations may not
always require a course of action that coincides with these obligations, our
awareness of any professional and legal obligations must be known to allow us to
be fully cognizant of the consequences of our actions should we choose to ignore
professional or legal obligations.
3. Establish the interested participants involved.
It is important to know who will be impacted by the course of action that we
decide upon. Often the primary participants are easy to identify and it is the
secondary participants that are often not considered. These may include friends,
families, or employees that are related somehow to the primary participants in
the ethical dilemma. Knowing the impact of the decision made to secondary
participants may be particularly important for a decision made with utilitarian
underpinnings; where the rights of those who are not part of the majority may
not be considered.
4. Determine the ethical values of each participant.
Determining ethical values is important to allow us an understanding of what is
truly at stake. A participant in an ethical dilemma may value loyalty as the most
important value. However, another participant may value equality as the more
important value. When considered, the value of loyalty may not compare with
equality, depending upon the ethical dilemma.
5. Consider normative ethical theories as an aide to determine a course of
action.
When considering options, normative ethical theories may assist us in
determining the consequences of actions, or the duties we may be obligated to
follow that fall outside of the laws, rules, and procedures. We may also assess
whether the decision we are considering is rational from another perspective we
have not considered. We may also settle on an option, and rely on an ethical
theory to assist us in articulating the reasoning behind the option we have
chosen.
6. Consider options that would be ethically sound.
There may be several options to consider, and each option ought to be considered
critically by determining what harm it would cause and what values the person
being harmed holds. The participant should consider the positives and negatives
of the decision and determine the risks and benefits associated with each option,
as well as the benefits of each action, with these values in mind.
7. Consideration of the possible negative and positive outcomes of each
possible option.
 Try to predict what may otherwise be unintended consequences of your decision.
These consequences may not be readily apparent, but they require a critical
analysis of the consequences of your decision. To help with this, try asking the
following questions:

 Would the action taken be well received if it was on the front page of a
newspaper? While this should be a consideration, keep in mind that often the
right decision may be the least popular in public opinion.
 If the decision is job-related, would the agency or company you work for still hire
you if it knew you would make this decision? If the answer is yes, then this
should give weight to the decision you are about to make.
 If the decision is not job-related, would the agency you would like to work for still
hire you if it knew all the facts surrounding the dilemma and the decision you
would make? If the answer is yes, then this should give weight to the decision
you are about to make.

Conclusion

• In short, we can say that when we are facing ethical dilemma/Ethical

Problem we have to follow these steps:
1. Know your Principles
2. Debate Moral choices
3. Review the code of Ethics
4. Engage people up and down the hierarchy
5. Dealing with questionable behavior
6. Get Input from variety of sources
7. Consider the Pros and cons
8. Taking corrective Action
A Ten Step Process for Resolving Ethical Issues

1. Identify the problem as you see it.

2. Get the story straight - gather relevant data.
3. Ask yourself if the problem is a regulatory issue or a process issue related to
regulatory requirements.
4. Compare the issue to a specific rule in ASHA's Code of Ethics. Determine if rules
the Code of Ethics apply to your problem and can help develop a course of action
for you to pursue.
5. Identify who has the power and control in the situation.
6. Identify what is in your control and what is not.
7. Identify your resources. These can be a supervisor, special education director, or
colleague. Ask yourself if you need more information, clarification, or ideas from
others who have had a similar problem.
8. Make a list of possible actions and their positive and negative consequences.
9. Make a plan that you can defend professionally and ethically and that meets the
requirements of the regulations.
10. Take action and evaluate your plan as you proceed. Determine next steps.

How to resolve ethical problems

1.Gather the relevant facts and identify the problems

-Do I have all the facts relevant to the situation?

-Am I making assumptions? If so, could facts be identified to replace these

assumptions?
-Is it really your problem? Can anybody else help?
2) Identify the affected parties
 Who are the individuals, organisations and key stakeholders affected?

 In what way are they affected?

 Are there conflicts between different stakeholders?

 Who are your allies?

3) Consider the ethical issues involved

 Have you referred to ICAEW's Code of Ethics?

 What are the professional, organisational and personal ethics issues?

 Would these ethical issues affect the reputation of the accountancy profession?

 Would these ethical issues affect the public interest?

4) Identify which fundamental principles are affected

 What are the threats to compliance with the fundamental principles of:

 Integrity

 Objectivity

 Professional competence and due care

 Confidentiality

 Professional behaviour
 Have you considered the following threats?

 Self interest

 Self-review

 Advocacy

 Familiarity

 Intimidation

 If so, are the treats to compliance with the fundamental principles clearly
insignificant?

 Are there safeguards which can eliminate or reduce the threats to an acceptable
level? Safeguards can be created by:

 Profession, legislation and regulation

 Work environment

 Individual

5) Refer to the employing organisation's internal procedures

 Does your organisation's policies and procedure provide guidance on the situation?

 How can you escalate concerns within the organisation? Who should be involved,
in what role and at what stage?

 Does the organisation have a whistleblowing procedure?

 At what point should you seek guidance from external sources such as ICAEW

6) Consider and evaluate alternative courses of action

 You should consider:

 Your organisation's policies, procedures and guidelines

 Applicable laws and regulation

 Universal values and principles generally accepted by society

 Consequences

 Test your proposed course of action. Ask yourself the following questions:

 Have all the consequences associated with the proposed course of action been
discussed and evaluated?

 Is there any reason why the proposed course of action should not stand the test of
time?

 Would a similar course of action be undertaken in a similar situation?

 Would the suggested course of action stand to scrutiny from peers, family and
friends?

7) Implement the course of action and monitor its progress

When faced with an ethical issue, it may be in your best interests to document your
thought processes, discussions and the decisions taken. Written records will be
useful if you need to justify your course of action.

Note:For Detail ans Code of Professional Ethics For employees, Refer

Notes of Ch:-1.
- The work environment
- Conflicts of interest

- Protecting company assets

- Anti-bribery and corruption
- Attendance and punctuality
- Absence without notice
- General harassment and sexual harassment
- Cell Phone use at work place
- Dress Code
- Substance abuse
- Tobacco Products
- Internet use at work
- Professional Behaviour(also Follow personal ethics)
- Be inclusive.
- Be considerate
- Be respectful
- Choose your words carefully.
- Don't harass
- Time management,
- Punctuality,
- Transparency,
- Confidentiality
- Promoting Green Business Practices