The Elements and Impact of Ethical Decision Making

The Elements and Impact of Ethical Decision Making We must first examine the thinking process and define the meaning of morality. We continually make decisions without regard to ethics or moral values on a daily basis. We can define morality as a system of shared rules, or values that dictate specific behavior during the interaction of people. Morality or moral value is about doing the right thing and brings up questions on how we ought to act in any given situation. According to John Wilcox and Susan Ebbs, in The Leadership Compass, "Moral behavior is concerned primarily with how we treat one another individually and in groups… - the key then is that morality brings us in contact with others and asks us to consider the quality of that contact" (Shanks, 1997). This paper will discuss the elements of an ethically defendable decision and the impact of ethics on decision-making.

Elements and Ground Rules

As in problem solving, we must first identify the problem, so to in morally sound decision-making, we must first identify or recognize a moral issue. We do this by asking questions that determining whether an action is right or wrong according to the standards of a given society. What is acceptable in one society may not be morally acceptable in another; however, the ethical relevancy of the behavior does not change. Questions like, Will this behavior cause harm to someone? Could this b...

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...ion today? Did I do more good than harm? Was I fair and just? There are more, but I think you get my point. The impact of ethics in decision-making is that it challenges us to become better individuals all around, by making us aware of our own actions and behavior. We are really talking about expectations and we should not expect more than we are willing to put back into society.

References

Shanks, Thomas S. J., (1997). Markula center for applied ethics. Everyday Ethics. Retrieved on

January 30, 2004, from: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n1/everdayethics.html.

Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, Thomas S. J., & Meyer, M. J., (no date). Markkula center for

applied ethics. Thinking Ethically: A Framework for Moral Decision Making. Retrieved on

January 24, 2004, from: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html