Business Ethics Chapter 2 Building Ethics at the
Business Ethics Chapter 2 Building Ethics at the Individual Level Copyright© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Individuals and Ethics • Unethical behavior: any actions that violate accepted societal norms • While culture plays a big role in unethical behavior, individuals are also big contributors of unethical behaviors • Need to understand ethics at the individual level © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Why should companies attempt to understand individual ethics? • Unethical behavior can lead to a decrease in general well-being • Understanding individual ethics can help a company ensure its employees’ well-being • Reducing unethical behavior should result in more productive and happier employees © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Awareness • Moral awareness: refers to the ability of an individual to understand the ethicality of a situation or behavior • Determinants • Ethical predispositions refer to the “cognitive framework” individuals prefer to use in moral decisionmaking © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Awareness • Other Determinants • Moral attentiveness refers to the ability of individuals to access and interpret the moral content of information and stimuli they are presented with © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Exhibit 2. 1 Moral Awareness Worldwide © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Awareness • The necessary steps for companies to promote ethical behavior • Companies need to provide training regarding proper identification of issues with moral implications • Companies can highlight issues with moral implications so as to create a norm that such issues are wrong © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Judgment • Moral judgment: refers to the process by which someone reasons about how to deal with an ethical situation • Biases often interfere with making correct moral judgment © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Biases • Conscious bias whereby the employee intentionally relies on biases to make unethical choices • Unconscious biases occur when the most wellmeaning person unwittingly allows unconscious thoughts and feelings to influence seemingly objective decisions © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Types of Biases • Implicit prejudice occurs when people rely on unconscious biases and prejudice when people judge others • In-group favoritism occurs because people tend to favor those individuals who share similar characteristics to their own, such as being from the same school, social class, or religion • Motivated blindness takes place when people turn a blind eye to unethical behavior because such behavior is beneficial to them © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Types of Biases • Conflict of interest occurs when decision-making can be unconsciously affected because the decision-maker may benefit from the chosen decision • Obedience to authority whereby employees justify unethical behavior as orders that came from their managers or CEO • Conformity bias whereby the employee has the tendency of imitating or accepting the values of others • Incrementalism whereby employees engage in minor unethical behaviors that eventually lead to major ethical infractions © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Reducing Unconscious Biases • It is important for companies to collect data to determine whether employees are engaging in implicit prejudice • Companies can also train their employees to be empathetic and to understand the process behind decision making • Employees should also be trained to understand the presence of conflicts of interest © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Intentions and Behaviors • Moral intention and behaviors refer to the employees’ choices and decisions when confronting moral situations © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Discussion Questions • Have you ever justified a decision although the decision is not ethical? • Example: have you ever returned a used item to a store with the thought that the company can handle such returns? • What are some other examples? • What justification did you provide in those cases? © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Intensity • According to Jones, the moral intensity of behavior dependent on six elements • 1. Magnitude of consequences—refers to the degree of harm that the victims of an unethical choice will have to endure • 2. Social consensus—the degree to which others agree that a specific behavior is wrong • 3. Probability of effect—the probability that any action will result in harm to victims of the action © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Intensity • 4. Temporal immediacy—the length of time between the action and the harmful consequences of such actions • 5. Proximity—the psychological or cultural nearness to the victim • 6. Concentration of effect—the number of people affected by the act © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Intensity • If all six elements are perceived as high, the employee is likely to have moral intentions and behave morally • What can companies do? • Becomes critical for companies to provide training regarding proper identification of issues with moral implications • For example, training can be provided to help employees see the harm they can inflict on victims (i. e. , magnitude of consequences) or their closeness to potential victims (i. e. , proximity) © 2019 Taylor & Francis
What can companies do? • Companies can highlight issues with moral implications so as to create a norm that such issues are wrong • Companies can provide training to employees, sensitizing them to these many examples of unethical behavior • Furthermore, for each of the misconducts discussed, the moral intensity of the actions can be clarified. Each of the six elements can be discussed within the context of each of the misconducts. © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement and Biases • Moral disengagement: refers to this deactivation process where, when faced with potential behavior counter to their own personal standards, a person may choose to deactivate the standard and still engage in the behavior • It was developed to explain how individuals can behave unethically despite having moral standards © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement and Biases • Moral justification: occurs when individuals justify certain actions to make them seem more morally acceptable • Euphemistic labeling: refers to the use of morally neutral language to make something seem less immoral • Advantageous comparison: occurs when someone compares a worse behavior with another behavior and rationalizes the behavior on that basis © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement and Biases • Displacement of responsibility: occurs when the perpetrator of an unethical behavior can attribute the behavior to other factors • Diffusion of responsibility: can occur if decisions are being made by a group • Distortion of consequences: occurs when an individual can disconnect the actions from their harmful consequences © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement and Biases • Dehumanization: occurs when the target of the decision is derogated or is seen as lacking in human qualities • Attribution of blame: occurs when the decision-maker ascribes the blame for the decision to the target © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Exhibit 2. 3 Moral Disengagement and Tobacco Industry © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Limiting Moral Disengagement • A company needs to create an ethical culture where employees do not feel harassed • Companies need to carefully screen new applicants to ensure that only those who are low on moral disengagement are hired © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Exhibit 2. 4 Moral Disengagement Questions © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement Questions © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Moral Disengagement • Suggestions to emphasize hiring of people high on empathy and low on cynicism • Training can be given to those who are more prone to use moral disengagement tactics • Ethics officers can be appointed so that they can review decision-making processes across projects in the organization © 2019 Taylor & Francis
Conclusion • Individual ethics contribute to ethical behavior in companies • Chapter 2 presented you with many key factors affecting individual ethics • Company needs to address each aspect to ensure that their employees behave ethically © 2019 Taylor & Francis
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