Four Approaches to Resolving Ethical Dilemmas Ethical dilemmas occur when there's a choice between two alternatives and it's not clear which alternative is the "right" option. Ethical dilemmas can occur when two of our own values conflict, when one of our values conflicts with one of the organization's values, or when two of the organization's values conflict (e. g., financial success vs. social responsibility). This activity is important because ethical dilemmas are common and are difficult to resolve, and knowing the different approaches for resolving them can help you to resolve ethical dilemmas you run up against in the workplace. The goal of this exercise is to challenge your knowledge of the four approaches to resolving ethical dilemmas. Each item represents either a definition of an approach to ethical decision-making, or an example of someone using an approach to ethical decision making. Read each item, then select the ethical decision-making approach it best corresponds with. 1. The most ethical decision is that which best upholds impartial standards of fairness and equity.
2. The most ethical decision is that which yields the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
3. The most ethical decision is that which will result in your own best long-term interests.
4. The most ethical decision is that which is most respectful of the fundamental rights of all human beings.
5. A manufacturing company decides to continue using a chemical that is leaching into the local water supply and potentially causing health problems in those who drink it because the local population is only about 2,000 people, and the company is producing low- cost, lightweight, collapsible tents for 50,000 homeless children.
6. Company policy requires managers to penalize employees earning less than a "Satisfactory" rating on their annual performance review by denying them their annual 2 percent salary raise. A manager applies the penalty to each employee with less than a "Satisfactory," even if she knows that for some employees, the raise would really help their financial situation.
7. A bank's retirement fund manager decides to increase the bank's 401K match from 5 percent to 8 percent, meaning the bank will now match employees' contributions up to 8 percent of their salary. This is a smart long-term decision for the manager because he earns a yearly bonus based on the percentage of their salary that his employees contribute to the retirement fund.
8. A company's chief Human Resources officer decides that even though it will save the company approximately $1 million dollars, cutting employees' medical insurance is not the right decision because of how it would ultimately affect employees' health.