Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

• Businesspeople face two types of ethical challenges: ethical dilemmas and ethical decisions.
• An ethical dilemma is a morally problematic situation in which you must choose between two or more alternatives that aren't equally acceptable to different groups.

• Such a dilemma is often characterized as a "right-versus-right" decision and is usually solved in a series of five steps:

  1. Define the problem and collect the relevant facts.
  2. Identify feasible options.
  3. Assess the effect of each option on stakeholders (owners, employees, customers, communities).
  4. Establish criteria for determining the most appropriate option.
  5. Select the best option, based on the established criteria.
• An ethical decision entails a "right-versus-wrong" decision – one in which there's a right (ethical) choice and a wrong (unethical or downright illegal) choice.
• When you make a decision that's unmistakably unethical or illegal, you've committed an ethical lapse.

• If you're presented with what appears to be an ethical decision, asking yourself the following questions will improve your odds of making an ethical choice:

  1. Is the action illegal?
  2. Is it unfair to some parties?
  3. If I take it, will I feel bad about it?
  4. Will I be ashamed to tell my family, friends, coworkers, or boss about my action?
  5. Would I want my decision written up in the local newspaper?

If you answer yes to any one of these five questions, you're probably about to do something that you shouldn't.