Ethical Decision Making

Ethical Decision Making
What makes a decision ethical? How do the influences affect our decision-making processes? Who are the influences? What should they be? Where do ethics and morals come into play? Webster’s (1982) defines ethical as “involving or expressing moral approval or disapproval; conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct”. This paper will discuss what ethics in decision-making there are, what the ground rules are, if any, and the elements of an ethically defensible decision.
A person who is ethical is concerned with doing the right thing. When making a decision one should apply ethics to weigh the value or magnitude of impact. Often at times this can be challenging because there are so many influences that affect ones decisions. Ambiguity can play a big part in the circumstances, details, stakeholders, and morals in which decisions are made. Organizations usually have a universal standard of values such as a mission statement or a visio...