Before making a decision or implementing a change or introducing a new system, I am sure you consider the five “E’s”:
Efficacy (will it work at all?)
Efficiency (will it work with minimal resources?)
Effectiveness (Does it contribute to the company?)
Ethics or ethics (sound moral?)
Elegance (is it beautiful?)
Let’s talk a bit about the fourth “E” – Ethics.
There is an ethical dimension to every decision.
Every time a human being, or entity, intervenes in the life of another human being or entity, directly or indirectly, an ethical situation arises.
There is a story, probably apocryphal, that illustrates this.
There was a cyclonic storm and millions of fish were washed ashore and struggling to survive on the beach. A man came to the beach and patiently began to collect the fish, one by one, and throw them into the sea. A funny passerby asked what difference it would make, to which the man pointed to the fish in his hand and said, “Ask this fish?”
Thus, we see that apparently routine decisions, which at the organizational level do not seem to have an important ethical magnitude, have a great ethical importance at the individual level.
Some people believe that ethics is of little importance to entrepreneurs. “Ethics is ethics” and “Business is business,” they say. Therefore, many top managers today tend to rationalize when faced with an ethical dilemma and take the position that they must wear multiple ethical hats and cover themselves with three separate conflicting codes of ethics:
A code applicable to the professional or technical aspects of your work (Professional or Technical Ethics);
Another code for your business behavior (Business Ethics);
And a third ethical code for his personal life (Personal Ethics).
This leads to the development of a schizophrenic ethical personality in which the individual can live for professional excellence and high ethical standards for himself and within the organization, but resort to unethical practices to succeed in business at all costs.
This approach by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is at the center of many ethical dilemmas in managerial decision making.
Each person, entity, group, institution or constituency that is likely to be affected by the decision is an “interested party” with a moral claim on the decision maker.
This stakeholder concept provides a systematic way to perceive and resolve the various interests involved in our ethical decision making.
There is an ethical dimension to every decision. Therefore, any of your decisions, which affect other people, have ethical implications and virtually all of your important decisions reflect your sensitivity and commitment to ethics.
In short, while doing your work in your workplace, you need to analyze and determine various ethical dimensions when dealing with your superiors, colleagues, subordinates, clients, and all other stakeholders related to your work.
Different stakeholders have different ethical perspectives.
For example, take the case of workplace romance.
Whereas, some organizations [and stakeholders] They may feel that there is nothing ethically wrong with workplace romance and many even encourage organizational romance / marriage between colleagues by awarding various benefits / incentives, some others may discourage or even prohibit workplace romance. Of course, sexual harassment would be universally considered unethical.
A useful technique for solving these ethical dilemmas is the CATWOE model adapted from Systems Management.
The ethical dilemma occurs due to the mismatch in the ethical perspectives of various actors involved in the ethical situation.
A CATWOE analysis helps the manager identify all the stakeholders involved in a decision and their respective ethical perspectives.
CATWOE is an acronym for categorizing various stakeholders:
CATWOE MODEL
C = CUSTOMERS OR CUSTOMERS OF THE DECISION
A = ACTORS OR AGENTS IMPLEMENTING THE DECISION
T = TRANSFORMATION PROCESS, THE DECISION MAKER
W = WELTANSCHAUUNG, PREDOMINATED WORLD VISION
O = OWNERS / PROPERTY
E = ENVIRONMENTAL / ENVIRONMENTAL TAXATION
To elaborate a bit:
C: The ‘system clients’. In this context, “customers” means those who are on the receiving end of whatever the system does. Is it clear from your definition of “C” who will win or who will lose with your decision?
A: The ‘actors’, that is, those who would actually carry out the activities foreseen in the theoretical system that is being defined.
T: The ‘transformation process’. What does the system do with the inputs to turn them into outputs?
W: Weltanschauung – The ‘world view’ behind the root definition. Placing the system in its broader context can highlight the consequences of the system as a whole. For example, the system may be in place to help make the world environmentally safe, and the consequences of a system failure could be significant pollution.
Or: The ‘owner (s)’, that is, those who have enough formal power over the system to stop its existence if they so wish (although they generally will not want to do this).
E: The ‘environmental constraints’. These include things like ethical limits, regulations, financial restrictions, resource limitations, limits set by terms of reference, etc.
CARDINAL ASPECTS OF ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
All decisions must take into account and reflect a concern for the interest and well-being of all stakeholders.
Ethical values and principles always take precedence over unethical and unethical values and principles.
It is ethically appropriate to violate an ethical principle only when it is clearly necessary to promote another true ethical principle that, in accordance with the conscience of the decision maker, will produce the greatest balance of good in the long run.
THE FIVE-STEP APPROACH TO ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
Step Action
1 Identify and rank stakeholders in the situation using CATWOE and understand their ethical perspectives
2 Identify your dominant ethical perspectives
3 Build a network of ethical conflicts, mapping different ethical perspectives [CATWOE – six nodes]
4 Identify those aspects of the web where it can be assumed that there is no significant conflict. These can be removed from the ethical decision-making model.
5 Focus on those areas where the conflict exists. Use conflict resolution techniques to achieve the “overall good” for the system.
Ethical decision-making involves the process by which a person evaluates and chooses between alternatives in a manner consistent with their values or fundamental ethical principles.
Therefore, when you make an ethical decision, you:
(a) Perceive and eliminate unethical options
(b) Select the best of several competing ethical alternatives.
Ethical decision making requires more than believing in the importance of ethics. It also requires sensitivity to perceive the ethical implications of your decisions; the ability to evaluate complex, ambiguous, and incomplete facts and the ability to implement ethical decision-making without jeopardizing your career.
Ethical decision making requires three things: ethical commitment, ethical awareness, and ethical competence.
The CATWOE model will help you in decision management, to improve the ethical aspect of your management, professional and personal decisions.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
