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Ethical decision-making

by Simon Longstaff

Introduction

While people in business have always had to face a host of complex ethical issues, the current environment of continuous and rapid change presents an array of novel challenges. In previous times, people could draw upon a fairly stable stock of values and principles that had been tried, tested and found to be adequate to the task of providing guidance.

Unfortunately, the shape of the world is such that it is no longer satisfactory to rely on a set of 'virtuous habits'. Instead, business leaders need to be able to exercise sophisticated judgement and then justify their decisions by appeal to a set of well-developed reasons. In other words, people have to think through ethical questions and not just apply solutions that might have worked at some time in the past.

In turn, this means that people have to be comfortable with the language of ethics. Unfortunately, the evidence seems to suggest that many are not. There is, for example, a phenomenon known as the “moral muteness of managers”. Put simply, while many business people act according to ethical principles, they are reluctant to describe their actions in moral terms.

Having lost the language of ethics, many people in business feel ill-equipped to tackle the complex issues that they now have to confront on an almost daily business. How does one strike an appropriate balance between the demands of competing stakeholders? How do you determine the standards that should apply when doing business in a different country with different cultural patterns? How do you make proper allowance for the effect of new technologies on employees, consumers and the wider society in which the company is located? Finally, how do you do this under the increasingly watchful gaze of the media?

Fortunately, there are a few relatively simple filters that can be applied by those wanting to 'road-test' their judgement. A brief selection of these follows. Most will be fairly familiar:

1. Would I be happy for this decision to be on the public record?

Often associated with former US Supreme Court Judge, Justice Brandeis, the 'Sunlight Test' asks a person to imagine how they might feel knowing that the decision was going to be made (and questioned) in the full light of public scrutiny. More importantly, how would you feel if the people you most admire knew about the proposed course of action?

Of course, the 'Sunlight Test' has its weaknesses. In particular, imagine a situation in which a person especially admires the opinion of scoundrels. A member of an organised crime gang may derive particular kudos for engaging in especially heinous behaviour. More realistically, people in business might belong to an organisation that celebrates an ethos of winning at all costs - irrespective of the damage done to others. It all depends on the nature of the people from whom positive reinforcement is sought.

2. What would happen if everybody did this?

Would you be happy if your proposed course of action became the rule for everyone. If not, then what makes you so special? Most frameworks for ethical decision-making start from an initial position that the right decision for one person should be right for everybody in the same position.

3. How would I like it if someone did this to me?

This question is linked to the former one. It is, of course, the 'golden rule' being, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Of course, some would argue that there is, in some cases, an obligation to treat people in a way that is better than you would expect for yourself. But at a basic level, the fact that you would not like the same thing to happen to you may be reason enough for stopping to think again.

4. Will the proposed course of action bring about a good result?

Many people naturally judge the ethical status of an action according to its consequences. However, how do we decide that a particular outcome is good? Are there some things that are forbidden no matter how ‘good’ the outcome might seem to be? For example, can you sacrifice one innocent individual for the good of ten other people? Can you sack one good worker in order to save the jobs of ten?

5. What will this proposed course of action do to my character or the character of my organisation?

Many people argue that our decisions help to shape our character and vice versa. That is, we cannot lie and cheat without somehow becoming a fraudulent liar.

This is one of the reasons that people often counsel against, say, paying bribes in order to secure a commercial advantage in a difficult market. Once such practice becomes habitual, it may be difficult to prevent the underlying values and principles from spreading throughout the organisation. After all, if it works in one place- then why not everywhere else?

6. Is the proposed course of action consistent with my espoused values and principles?

Plenty of people (and organisations) are happy to tell you what they stand for. Unfortunately, what they do in practice is not always in alignment with what they espouse. This gap between word and deed is known to be one of the most powerful sources of cynicism in contemporary society.

Conclusion

There are, of course, a number of other questions that can and should be asked. Furthermore, the sophistication with which such questions are explored is the difference between successful and credible ethical reflection and an exercise in mere 'navel gazing'.

It should also be noted that there is no guarantee that the asking of these questions is going to generate an answer that all will agree to be right. Whatever one decides, the odds are that someone else will have come up with an answer that is different. But this is to miss the point! While it is extremely unlikely that anyone can generate an answer that would attract universal assent, it is possible to engage in a process of reflection that all could agree to be scrupulously, honest, competent and sincere.

In these days of increased accountability, the prize of being able to stand up and articulate a sound set of reasons for pursuing a course of action is well worth having. That is why we spend so much time, at St James Ethics Centre, helping to assist and equip people to work through the difficult ethical issues that help to shape the environment within which they live and work.

How the Ethics Centre can help

If you are facing an ethical dilemma our free, confidential and non-judgemental ethics counselling service, Ethi-Call, is likely to be of assistance.

Learn more about this unique service.

You can telephone 1800 672 303* to arrange to speak with one of our trained ethics counsellors.

* nb. this is an Australian 'free call' telephone number. Contact us if you are unable to get through on this number.

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