“Ethics is easy – just be transparent, accountable and do the right thing!”. Hmm. When speculating from the sidelines, this approach does sound reasonable and appropriate. But what about when you are actually in the thick of the game? Let’s say Some inappropriate material has been found on a senior employee’s computer, which breeches the organisations code of conduct and warrants instant dismissal. How open and accountable will you be? To quell any rumours, are you “transparent” and tell staff why the employee was terminated? If so, do you consider the potential impact on the employees’ partner and children? Is that the “right” thing to do? You are dammed if you do and doomed if you don’t.
Ethical issues like these are very commonplace in business today. I teach business ethics, and there is never any shortage of cases for my students to review. The hard part is to decide which ones from never-ending supply in the media. There are a number of tools and techniques that are taught in relation to ethical dilemmas, my favourite one being – “would you be happy it your mum knew what you did?” Other include the “front page test” which means would you be comfortable with the result of your choice being the front page of tomorrows newspapers?
Thee are very simplistic approaches, and ethical dilemma are often of the magnitude that the choice is between a bad option or another bad option. To help with the decision=making process in these cases, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and The Ethics Centre have teamed up to produce an excellent booklet entitled “Ethics in the Boardroom” (download it here). It is very simple to follow with excellent examples. The decision framework is five simple steps and very practical. It is a good resource for any CEO, Director or aspiring leader to review and ensure you have a process for making ethical decisions.
Dr Warrick Long, Leadership Postgraduate Studies Coordinator