Reference no: EM133624514
Sources:
Holy Bible, New International Version
Rae, S., & Wong, K. (2012). A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics. Beyond Integrity (3rd ed.). Zondervan Academic.
and at least 10 additional references.
Making Biblically Sound Personal Ethical Decisions
Note: A personal ethical issue is one in which an individual decision maker faces a non-obvious decision involving moral questions. Personal refers to the decision maker (rather than group or company); not the substance of the issue requiring a decision.
General Discussion
What is the nature and challenge of personal ethical decisions in business?
How do personal ethical decisions come up in business?
What are common ethical issues in each of the following areas? List 2 or 3 for each area.
- Accounting and Finance
- Marketing and Sales
- Operations
- Managing People (as a manager in any department)
Choose one example that is simple and easy to explain. What makes it an ethical issue?
List the steps of an ethical decision-making process. Then explain very briefly how to apply the steps simple example. Talk about the process, but don't do the analysis and determine a decision.
Briefly explain and apply the duty, results, and virtue ethics theories to the simple example. That is, apply their criteria to determine the best decision. Compare the analyses and resulting decisions.
When different ethical theories produce different decisions, explain how a biblical perspective might be used to "harmonize" them. If your simple example produced different decisions, explain how a biblical perspective might resolve the differences.
Business Case
Choose and describe a personal ethics case. It can be a published case (from Rae & Wong, or another source), construct a case. The case should have enough detail and challenging issues to exercise your ethical decision-making skills.
- Describe the business in one or two short paragraphs-what it does, how it is organized, and any critical information that bears on the decision to evaluate.
- Describe the decision maker who is the focus of this case. Place the person within the organization, indicating reporting relationships and informal connections.
- Describe the problem facing the decision maker. Include as much detail as is needed to identify the issue and make a decision. Published cases may include some extra, irrelevant detail.
- What is the ethical issue? Different people in the case may frame the issue differently. Cut through the fog to define the issue precisely. Explain this thinking. This definition of the issue will drive the rest of the steps-getting facts, laying out decision options, etc.
- Follow the steps of this ethical decision-making process and apply the appropriate ethical criterion to reach a decision. As with the simple example, analyze it three times, applying the three normative ethical theories-duty, results, virtue-but do so under the guidance of a biblical perspective.
- Discuss this decision and any reservations about it. That is, was it a close call? Or an obvious conclusion?
Conclusions: Is there conclusion about making biblically sound personal ethical decisions in business?