The Four Ethical Lenses and The 4+1 Decision Process

The method of ethical decision making which was developed by Dr. Cathryn A. Baird presented two components contained in all ethical decisions which are; The Four ethical Lenses and the 4+1 Decision process. The Four Ethical Lenses issue claims that different ethical theories and the means in which we tend to approach the situations which form part of our ethical traditions are looked at in four different perspectives. From each perspective there are different values on which to decide whether the action taken is either ethical or not and each lens also lays emphasis on determining whether the decision made is of ethical requirement. In the 4+1 Decision Process, people who are responsible for making final decisions in an organization do it using four specific decision making steps and eventually will end up with one extra decision which gives a chance to reflect. The 4+1 decision process allows the decision makers to give solutions when faced with complicated ethical issues (John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, 2000).

In order to address the above components, five decision making steps have to be put in place, these are; being attentive, being intelligent, being reasonable, being responsible, and being reflective. The first step, being attentive, involves evaluating the whole situation and coming up with the data and information about the problem at hand. In so doing the following questions are viewed; what facts to bear in mind, what direction to take so as to get the expected solution, and what is the main issue to work on. In the second step, being intelligent, the information is clearly studied to determine whether the collected data is revealing the correct details concerning the problem. Determine the stakeholde...

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...due to fear. Sometimes an employee may be having an issue but fails to deliver it due to fear if getting sacked bearing in mind that the cost of living is very high. A situation may appear that due to this gap, something might crop up either the employees trying to harm the employers and before it is realized a loss has already occurred. It is good to be open in work places and to have forums where people can state what they think would be the appropriate measures to take for company or organization growth. Information should be shared freely within an organization.

List of References

Baird Catharyn A. Dr. Baird method. Retrieved from: The attached document

John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, University Of New Mexico, (2000).

Environmental Ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.worldcat.org/title/environmental-ethics/oclc/4372676&referer=brief_results