Transcript Presentation Title Goes Here

Do the Right Thing!
Navigating Through
Ethical Dilemmas
James R. Brunet
DENR’s Managers Forum
Archdale Building
August 11, 2009
Session Overview
I.
What is Ethics?
A.
B.
C.
II.
Definition
Elements
Four Levels of Ethics
Philosophical Bases of Ethical Behavior
A.
B.
C.
D.
Virtue
Principles
Consequences
Conscience
Session Overview
III. Ethical Decision Making
A.
B.
Short Cuts
Ethical Problem Solving Model
I. What is Ethics?
A. Definition
“Refers to well-based standards of right
and wrong that prescribe what humans
ought to do, usually in terms of
obligations, principles, specific virtues, or
benefits to society”
Adapted from Issues in Ethics, Center for Applied
Ethics, Vol. 1, No. 1, October 1987
I. What is Ethics?
B. Elements
• Well-based standards: Ethics is knowable,
we can learn about ethics, not relativistic but
enduring
• Involves determining right from wrong, good
from bad
• Results in a suggested outcome, an
appropriate behavior, action or inaction
I. What is Ethics?
• Four Dimensions
1. Obligations/Duties
 The behavior expected of persons who occupy certain roles, e.g., soil
scientist, industry regulator, safety inspector, line supervisor
 Are there special responsibilities that accompany work done in the
name of the public?
2. Principles: unchanging moral certainties, external source
3. Virtues: ethics of character, internal source
4. Benefits to society: weigh costs and benefits, “greatest good”
• Requires individuals to take an active role in ethical
reasoning, navigating through the sometimes conflicting
obligations, principles, and virtues surrounding an ethical
decision
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
1. Social
•
•
Oblige members of a given society to act in ways
that both protect individuals and further the
progress of the group as a whole
Formal and informal (e.g., Denmark during Nazi
occupation)
2. Professional
•
•
Professional norms and obligations
Codes of Ethics (see ASPA code)
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
3. Organizational
•
•
May be formalized in a code (see NJ DEP
ethics.iit.edu/codes/coe/state.nj.env.protection.html
NC DENR Values in Strategic Plan 2008-09
– Duties
» Accountability
» “Spending authorized funds wisely and well”
– Virtues
» Integrity
» Respect
– Principles
» Professional standards emphasizing efficiency,
effectiveness and quality
– Consequences
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
3. Organizational (continued)
•
Why is this important?
–
–
–
–
Employees are more productive working within an
ethical setting
Employees more likely to stay – less turnover
Protection against civil liability
Public demands ethical administration
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
3. Organizational (continued)
•
What factors contribute to a favorable climate?
I. What is Ethics?
Factors Promoting an Ethical Workplace Environment,
Deloitte & Touche, 2007 (n=1,041)
45%
40%
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Behavior of
Management
Behavior of Direct
Positive
Compensation Behavior of Peers
Supervisor
Reinforcement for
Ethical Behavior
Factor
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
3. Organizational (continued)
•
Examples of positive ethical behavior
– Giving proper credit where it is due
– Always being straightforward and honest when dealing with
employees
– Treating all employees equally
– Being a responsible steward of company assets
– Recognizes and rewards ethical behavior of employees
– Talking about the importance of ethics on a regular basis
– Reporting or reprimanding other employees unethical behavior
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
3. Organizational (continued)
•
How to promote ethics in workplace—begin by
assessing the ethical climate
– Bonczek (1999) 40 Item Ethical Climate Survey
– Scoring 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly
Agree
– Values & Related Questions
» Accountability: 1, 7, 12, 16, 22, 27, 38
» Fairness: 13, 20, 21, 31
» Responsiveness/Customer Service: 4, 19, 28, 30, 34
» Communication: 15, 29, 35, 36, 37
» Integrity/Honesty: 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 40
» Leadership: 2, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 33, 39
» Trust: 3, 14, 17, 32
I. What is Ethics?
C. Four Levels of Ethics
4. Personal Morality
•
•
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Milgram’s “Shock Experiments”
II. Philosophical Bases of Ethical
Behavior
A. Virtue
•
A set of qualities that defines what a good person is; the
characteristics that mark one as a person of character and
integrity
•
“Virtues exist innately, as potentialities, within each individual,
and they push for actualization in the life of the individual”
(Hart)
•
The Six Pillars of Character (Josephson Institute)
–
–
Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship
Beyond these, Cooper (PAR, 1987, 324) adds rationality, prudence,
respect for law, self-discipline, civility, and independence
II. Philosophical Bases of Ethical
Behavior
B. Principles/Deontology
• Principles identify “kinds of action that are right or
obligatory.” Principles are universally and invariably
applicable.
• These are an external source of moral guidance
III. Philosophical Bases of Ethical
Behavior
• Source of principles for American public administrators
– Basic cultural, social, and political values that define a society
and its system of governance (called “regime values”) such
as democracy, freedom, property, etc.
– Principles imbedded in Constitutional amendments (due
process, free expression)
– Principles that are widely accepted in western society
including the sanctity of life, justice and truth telling
III. Philosophical Bases of Ethical
Behavior
C. Consequences/Utilitarianism/Teleology
• Utilitarianism holds that there are no moral principles which
provide justification for an action a priori. An action is right or
wrong depending on its consequences.
• Preferred choice is that which produces the greatest good for the
greatest number
• In cost-benefit analysis, the market model, and public choice,
“what is right or wrong, what is moral or ethical is to be judged in
terms of utility of consequences.”
• Ends justify the means
II. Philosophical Bases of Ethical
Behavior
D. Intuition
• Gut feeling, sixth sense, “little voice,” conscience
• Innate, not learned
III. Ethical Decision Making
Approaches
A. Short Cuts
•
•
•
Front Page News
Mirror Test
What would your mother think?
III. Ethical Decision Making
Approaches
B. Ethics Problem Solving Model
1. Description
2. Analysis
3. Decision
Final Thoughts
“To be good is noble.
To teach others to be good
is nobler…and no trouble.”
-Mark Twain